Jacob of Nisibis
Jacob of Nisibis ( Aramaic ܝܥܩܘܒ ܢܨܝܒܢܝܐ Yaʿqôḇ Nṣîḇnāyâ ; † 338 in Nisibis ) was an early Christian Syrian hermit and from 309 until his death bishop of Nisibis in southeastern Asia Minor . He is venerated as a saint in most Christian churches in the East and West .
Life
Like the Egyptian desert fathers at the same time , Jakob, whose origin is unknown, chose a strictly ascetic hermit life and retired to the Kurdish mountainous country with the Persian Eugene . Word of his spiritual power got around, and in 309 the Christian community in the then Roman border town of Nisibis elected him their bishop. Although he was reluctant to give up monastic life, he entered the office with determination and energy. He had the former bishop's church in Nisibis / Nusaybin, named after him today , built. His grave is also in it.
The famous theologian and hymn poet Ephrem the Syrians , born around 306 in Nisibis, calls the bishop his teacher.
In 325 Jacob attended the Council of Nicea and supported the anti-Arian position of Athanasius . Then he went on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and participated in the consecration of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher .
The later years of his episcopate were overshadowed by the military threat to Nisibis from the Sassanid Empire . Jacob probably died during the first siege by Shapur II. The later legend ascribes a miraculous rescue of the city from such an attack to him. She also sees in him the founder of the theological school of Nisibis , which, however, came into being after his death and was only indirectly linked to him, primarily through Ephrem. The authorship of the writings associated with his name by the Armenian tradition is also uncertain ; today they are more likely to be located in the vicinity of the Syrian-Persian monk Aphrahat .
Web links
- Michael Hanst: Jakob von Nisibis ( Memento from June 29, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) in the BBKL
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Jacob of Nisibis |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | James of Nisibis, Jacobus |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Syrian hermit, Bishop of Nisibis |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 3rd century |
| DATE OF DEATH | 338 |
| Place of death | Nisibis |