Isho'dad of Merv

NINTH century. Nestorian* bishop of Hedatta on the Tigris. Facts concerning his life have been gathered largely from Arab sources. At one point he was considered as a candidate for a patriarchal see. His fame rests on his commentaries, which were written in Syriac and which demonstrate unusually rich acquaintance with earlier exegetical writings. Because of his attempt to reconcile in his own work the allegorical method of exposition current among Monophysites with the more scientific approach espoused by Theodore of Mopsuestia and the Nestorians, he ranks as a key figure for understanding biblical exposition in Eastern Christianity.