John was born at the village of Beth ‘Ellaya, and became a monk at either the monastery of Gubo Baroyo, according to the
Chronicle of
Michael the Syrian, or the monastery of Eusebona, as per
Bar Hebraeus'
Ecclesiastical History, where he studied
Greek,
Syriac, and theology. He was consecrated as a deacon, and later became the
syncellus (secretary) of the Patriarch
Athanasius I Gammolo. At the conclusion of the
Roman-Sasanian war of 602–628, John was sent to meet with
Shahanshah
Ardashir III of the
Sasanian Empire, and then afterwards to travel to the
Monastery of Saint Matthew near
Nineveh in
Assyria to re-establish the union between the Syriac
non-Chalcedonians in the Roman and Sasanian empires. He was welcomed by the monastery's archbishop Christopher,
archimandrite Addai, and monks, and convinced them to agree to restore the union. After a synod at the monastery and a meeting at
Tikrit concluded in favour of the restoration of the union, John returned to Athanasius with Christopher and the bishops George of
Sinjar, Daniel of
Banuhadra, Gregory of
Baremman, and Yardafne of Shahrzoul, and the monks
Marutha, Ith Alaha, and Aha. The union between the non-Chalcedonians in the two empires were subsequently restored as a consequence of John's mission. John succeeded Athanasius as patriarch of Antioch in 631 (
AG 942), and was consecrated by the archbishop Abraham of
Nisibis. 630/631 (
AG 942) is given as the year of John's consecration by the histories of
Elijah of Nisibis and Michael the Syrian, whereas the
Chronicle of
Thomas the Presbyter gives 631/632 (
AG 943), and the
Zuqnin Chronicle places it in 643/644 (
AG 955). Soon after his ascension to the patriarchal office, John witnessed the fall of
Roman Syria and the
Muslim conquest of the Levant. At the onset of his tenure as patriarch, John exchanged letters with the
archbishop Marutha of Tikrit concurrent with the
Muslim conquest of Persia, which allowed Marutha to inform John of the persecution of Syriac non-Chalcedonians in the Sasanian Empire by the
Nestorian archbishop
Barsauma in the 5th century. Formerly, Syriac non-Chalcedonians in Iran had been prevented from corresponding with their coreligionists in the Roman Empire as they had been labelled as Roman sympathisers and spies by Nestorians. In a single manuscript titled
Disputation of John and the Emir written in 874, it is detailed that John was summoned by an unnamed
emir to discuss the integrity of the Bible, the divinity of Christ, and Christian sources of law. The debate took place on 9 May 644, and the emir is identified as
Umayr ibn Sad al-Ansari. In the disputation, John was made to speak on behalf of all Christians, and was praised for his performance by
Chalcedonians who attended the debate. The manuscript was written by one of John's secretaries named Severus to reassure his coreligionists of his safety. At the emir's request, John also had the
Gospel translated from Syriac into Arabic by Arab Christians from the
Banu Uqayl,
Tanukh, and
Tayy tribes. The emir had initially demanded that mentions of the name of Christ, the
baptism, and the
Cross be removed from the translation, but relented following John's refusal. John died on 14 December 648 (
AG 960), and was buried at the Church of Saint
Zoora at
Amid. John's death is placed in 648 (
AG 960) by Michael the Syrian, the
Chronicle of 819, and the
Chronicle of 846, whilst the Zuqnin Chronicle gives 649/650 (
AG 961). ==Works==