Isḥaq of Edessa (fl. 6th cent.)

Priest and theological writer.brief

Priest and theological writer. Even less is known of this Isḥaq than of Isḥaq of Amid and Isḥaq of Antioch . According to a letter of Yaʿqub of Edessa to Yuḥanon of Litarba (Letter 14; ms. Brit. Libr. Add. 12,172, f. 123r–v), our only source of information, this Isḥaq was a priest of Edessa during the early part of the 6th cent. During the tenure of Pawlos as Metropolitan of Edessa (510–522), Isḥaq was of the orthodox (i.e., miaphysite) party. However, when Pawlos was deposed and subsequently replaced by Asclepius, a Chalcedonian, Isḥaq switched camps and became a Chalcedonian. In support of his new party, Isḥaq wrote a number of memre against non-Chalcedonian positions. Certain memre against ‘Nestorians’ in the collection of Isḥaq of Antioch may, however, be from this Isḥaq’s miaphysite period, when he may also have been that Isḥaq occasionally mentioned by Severus of Antioch in his letters.