George Kiraz was born in Bethlehem to a Syriac Orthodox merchant family which traces its roots back to Elazığ in Anatolia.
His research interests include finite-state technology, computational morphology and phonology, and Syriac studies.
He was consecrated and anointed a reader (Syriac Qoruyo) in Bethlehem on February 6, 1977, by the laying on of the hands of Mor Dioscoros Luqa Sha'ya, then Metropolitan of Jerusalem.
He was ordained a sub-deacon by the late Mor Julius Yeshu Çiçek at St. Mark's Monastery on January 9, 1983.
Kiraz has published a number of books about the Syriac language, and co-authored many others: He is directing the Antioch Bible project.