JOHN COLOBOS, SAINT. [This entry consists of two parts: Coptic
Tradition and Arabic Tradition.] John Colobos, the Little or the
Dwarf (fourth and fifth centuries), is one of the most striking
figures among the desert fathers. He is known principally from
the APOPHTHEGMATA PATRUM and from a Life in the form of a
panegyric composed by Zacharias, the bishop of Sakha, at the end
of the seventh century in Coptic, in Lower Egypt. This Life adds
certain extra information to the data in the apothegms, the
value of which it is difficult to assess with any precision.
Some of the apothegms also should be handled with caution. In
the fourth century there were many monks in Egypt bearing the
name John, and it is not easy to be sure of the establishment of
the role each played. The episode regarding the piece of wood
that was watered for three years as an act of obedience should,
according to Saint John CASSIAN, be attributed to JOHN OF
LYCOPOLIS (PG 65, cols. 154-57). On the other hand, we should
certainly keep the identi