Aramaic Peshitta
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Aramaic Peshitta Bible Repository
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In HEBREWS, ii. 6, Syr., 'the Scripture'; Grk., 'one somewhere.' vi. 2,
Syr., 'the teaching of immersion'; Grk., 'the teaching of immersions.' vi.
4, Syr., 'have gone down into immersion'; Grk., 'have been once
enlightened.' vii. 3, Syr., 'neither his father, nor his mother, was
written in family records, nor the beginning of his days, nor the end of his
life'; Grk., 'without father, without mother, without family record, having
neither beginning of days, nor end of life.' x. 32, Syr., 'in which ye
received immersion'; Grk., 'in which, having been enlightened.'
IN THE WORDS USED TO DESCRIBE CHURCH ELDERS, there is evidence that the
Peshito is not a mere word-for-word translation, as some imagine, of the
Greek Text. The Syrians sometimes used the Greek word EPISCOPOS, in the
form of EPISCOPE. It is used in Acts xx. 28, "The church -- the assembly,
over which the Holy Spirit has made you OVERSEERS;" for 'overseer' is the
meaning of EPISCOPOS, anglicised in the word 'bishop.' But in 1st Tim. iii.
1, where the Greek has "the office of overseer," the Peshito has, "the
office of elder." In verse 2, the Greek has overseer; the Peshito, elder.
In Phil. i. 1, the Greek has, overseers, the Peshito, elders. In Titus i.
7, the Greek has overseer, the Peshito, elder. In 1st Pet. ii. 25, the
Greek has overseer, the Peshito, care-taker. So that the difference of the
words used for the same office in all these cases but one, shows that the
Greek was not a mere translation of the Syriac.
[[ This was mis-stated by William Norton -- he meant to say "...shows that
the Syriac was not a mere translation of the Greek" which coincides with the
title of the section, namely, IV. - INTERNAL EVIDENCE THAT THE PESHITO WAS
MADE IN CENT. 1, AND IS NOT A MERE TRANSLATION OF THE GREEK. ]]
IN THE NAMES OF PLACES, the Peshito shows the same independence of the
Greek. In Matt. iv. 13, the Grk. has Capernaum; the Syr. has, The village
of Nahum. In John iii. 23, the Grk. has, Aenon; the Syr. has, The Fountain
of the Dove. In John xix. 38, the Grk. has Arimathea; the Syr. has,
Romtho; in Acts xxi. 7, the Grk. has Ptolemais; the Syriac has, Acu.
Mr. Jeremiah Jones, in his work on the Canon, 1798, contends that the use
of the name ACU, for Ptolemais, is a decisive proof that the Peshito must
have been made not far in time from A. D. 70, when Jerusalem was destroyed.
(vol. i. pg. 103.) He says that the most ancient name of this place among
the Israelites was Aco, or Acco, Judges i. 31; that this name was afterwards
changed to Ptolemais; that some say it had its new name from Ptolemy
Philadelphus, about 250 B. C. He says it is certain that the old name Aco,
was antiquated and out of use in the time of the Romans, and that the use of
the old name Acu, in the Peshito, can be accounted for in no other way, but
by supposing that the persons for whom the version was made were more
acquainted with it, than with the new name Ptolemais; that upon any other
supposition it would have been absurd for him to have used Acu. He says,
that until the destruction of Jerusalem, one may suppose that the Jews may
have retained the old name Aco still, out of fondness for its antiquity;
but, he says, "how they, or any other part of Syria, could, after the Roman
conquest, call it by a name different from the Romans, seems to me
impossible to conceive..... To suppose, therefore, that this translation, in
which we meet with this old name, instead of the new one, was made at any
great distance of time after the destruction of Jerusalem, is to suppose the
translator to have substituted an antiquated name known to but few, for a
name well known to all." (pp. 104, 105.)
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Mr. Jeremiah Jones says that a similar proof that the Peshito cannot have
been made much after A. D. 70, is found in the fact that the Peshito often
calls the Gentiles, as the Jews were accustomed to do, PROFANE PERSONS,
where the Greek calls them THE NATIONS, that is, the Gentiles. The Peshito
calls them profane, in Matt. vi. 7 ; x. 5 ; xviii. 17 ; Mark vii. 26 ; John
vii. 35 ; Acts xviii. 4, 17 ; 1 Cor. v. 1 ; x. 20, 27 ; xii. 2 ; 1 Pet. iv.
3. The expression is used, therefore, throughout the Peshito. Mr. Jones
says, that it shows that the writer was a Jew, for no other person would
have called all the world profane; and that after the destruction of the
temple, all Hebrew Christians must have seen that other nations were not to
be reckoned unclean and profane in the Jewish sense, and that therefore this
version must have been made either before, or soon after, A. D. 70. (On
Canon, Vol. i., pp. 106-110.)
It must be admitted, I think, that the above differences are not
inconsistent with the proof given by Syrian testimony that "the Peshito was
written by Apostolic authority." (Wichelhaus, pg. 153.) Those differences
seem to indicate that the Apostles, who had authority to deviate from their
own words in one language, when writing or revising copies in another, did
so deviate with respect to the Peshito text, and the Greek text. And it is
evident that Wichelhaus and others, not only reject the evidence on which we
must rely in order to know the true origin of the Peshito, but also create
for themselves a difficulty which they do not solve; namely, that an
uninspired translator, whom they praise for his great general exactness, has
to be accused by them of practising, in some places, a "licentious" freedom
of which no mere translator, if faithful, can be supposed to have been
guilty.
Section VII. - CHARACTERISTIC DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE PESHITO-SYRIAC
AND THE GREEK.
The following passages, as well as the preceding, tend to illustrate
differences between the Syriac and the Greek. In some of them, it will
probably be thought that the Syriac has the truer meaning, or expresses the
true meaning more clearly than the Greek does. The translation of the Greek
is that of the Revised English Version, the marginal readings of which imply
some obscurity or ambiguity in the Greek text.
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Hebrews v. 7. (THE PESHITO-SYRIAC) , Also when he was clothed with
flesh, he offered up prayer....to him who was able to bring him to life from
death.
Hebrews v. 7. (THE GREEK), Who, in the days of his flesh, having
offered up prayers....unto him that was able to save him from death.
Margin, or out of death.
Hebrews vi. 2. (THE PESHITO-SYRIAC), The teaching of immersion.
Hebrews vi. 2. (THE GREEK), The teaching of baptisms. Margin, or,
washings.
Hebrews ix. 28. (THE PESHITO-SYRIAC), The Anointed was offered up once,
and in himself he slew the sins of many; and the second time he is to appear
without the sins, etc.
Hebrews ix. 28. (THE GREEK), Christ, having been once offered, to bear
the sins of many, shall appear a second time, apart from sin, etc.
Hebrews x. 5. (THE PESHITO-SYRIAC), But with a body thou hast clothed
me.
Hebrews x. 5. (THE GREEK), But a body didst thou prepare for me.
Hebrews x. 12. (THE PESHITO-SYRIAC), This [Priest] offered up one slain
offering on behalf of sins, and sat down at the right hand of God forever.
Hebrews x. 12. (THE GREEK), He, when he had offered one sacrifice for
sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God. Margin, or, for ever sat
down.
Hebrews x. 38. (THE PESHITO-SYRIAC), He who is righteous will have life
[-bliss] through trust in me.
Hebrews x. 38. (THE GREEK), My righteous one shall live by faith.
Margin - Some ancient authorities read, The righteous one.
Hebrews xi. 1. (THE PESHITO-SYRIAC), Trust is persuasion about things
hoped for, as if they were things done; and it is a revealing of those
things which are not seen.
Hebrews xi. 1. (THE GREEK), Faith is the assurance of [things] hoped
for, the proving of things not seen. Margin, assurance of, or, the giving
substance to. Proving, or test.
Hebrews xi. 12. (THE PESHITO-SYRIAC), Abraham, who was incapable from
age.
Hebrews xi. 12. (THE GREEK), As good as dead.
James i. 18. (THE PESHITO-SYRIAC), The Father of lights willed, and
begat us by the word of truth.
James i. 18. (THE GREEK), The Father of lights, of his own will,
brought us forth by the word of truth.
James ii. 10. (THE PESHITO-SYRIAC), He who sins in one thing is
condemned by the whole law.
James ii. 10. (THE GREEK), Whosoever shall stumble in one point, he is
become guilty of all.
James ii. 13. (THE PESHITO-SYRIAC), Ye are to be exalted by mercy above
condemning judgment.
James ii. 13. (THE GREEK), Mercy glorieth against judgment.
James iii. 6. (THE PESHITO-SYRIAC), The tongue is a fire, and the world
of sin is like a wood; and the tongue being itself in the midst of our
members, blackens our whole body.
James iii. 6. (THE GREEK), The tongue is a fire; the world of iniquity
among our members is the tongue, which defileth the whole body. Margin,
Or, a fire, that world of iniquity: the tongue is among our members that
which, etc. Or, that world of iniquity, the tongue, is among our members
that which, etc.
James iv. 5. (THE PESHITO-SYRIAC), Or think you that the Scripture has
said without reason, that the spirit which dwells in us, covets eagerly
through envy?
James iv. 5. (THE GREEK), Or, think ye that the Scripture speaketh in
vain? Doth the spirit, which he made to dwell in us, long unto envying?
Margin. Or, The Scripture saith in vain, the spirit which he made to dwell
in us, he yearneth for, even unto jealous envy?
Or, That spirit which he made to dwell in us, yearneth [for us], even unto
jealous envy?
Or, instead of, he made to dwell, some ancient authorities read, dwelleth in
us.
James v. 11. (THE PESHITO-SYRIAC), Ye have seen the ending which the
Lord worked out for Job.
James v. 11. (THE GREEK ), Ye have seen the end of the Lord.
1st Pet. ii. 24. (THE PESHITO-SYRIAC), And he bore our sins, all of
them, and carried them up in his body to the cross, that we might be dead to
sin, and have life [-bliss] by his righteousness.
1st Pet. ii. 24. (THE GREEK), Who his own self, bare our sins in his
body upon the tree, that we, having died unto sins, might live unto
righteousness.
Margin. Or, carried up our sins to the tree.
1st Pet. iii. 20, 21. (THE PESHITO-SYRIAC), Into which [ark] only eight
persons entered, and were kept alive by the waters. In likeness to which
example, ye also have life [-bliss] through immersion, (not when ye wash the
body from filth, but when ye profess God with a pure conscience,) etc.
1st Pet. iii. 20, 21. (THE GREEK), Wherein few, that is eight souls,
were saved through water; which also, after a true likeness, doth now save
you, [even] baptism, not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the
interrogation of a good conscience toward God, etc.
Margin. Were saved, or, were brought safely through water. Interrogation,
or inquiry, or appeal.
1st Pet. v. 2. (THE PESHITO-SYRIAC), Take care [of the flock]
spiritually.
1st Pet. v. 2. (THE GREEK), Exercising the oversight.
1st John iii. 1. (THE PESHITO-SYRIAC), Who has called us sons, and has
also made us sons.
1st John iii. 1. (THE GREEK), That we should be called children of God.
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The different translations given by the Revisers, show how unable they
were to decide what is the right meaning of the Greek in some of the above
passages. The different meanings given, leave the reader in utter
uncertainty as to what the right meaning is. The meanings given by the
Peshito are not only clear, but most of them have the appearance of being
also correct.
Section VIII. - THE RESULT OF TRUSTING CHIEFLY TO CERTAIN FAULTY GREEK
COPIES, AND SLIGHTING THE PESHITO-SYRIAC.
The Greek copies, from having been less carefully written than those of
the Peshito, abound with various readings, some of which make the meaning of
important passages uncertain. The result is, that the infallible teaching of
those parts of Scripture is said to be destroyed.
Dr. PHILIP SCHAFF, who was President of the American committee which took
part in preparing the Revised English Version of 1881, says in his Companion
to it, 1883, that, as "most of the variations" of the Greek text "date from
early transcription in the first two centuries, AN INFALLIBLE TEXT IS
IMPOSSIBLE." (pg. 420.) He says this, as one who believes that the
Scriptures were given to be an "Infallible Guide in all matters of Christian
faith and duty." (pg. 494.)
Dr. SCRIVENER suggests, that in the 2,094 Greek manuscripts now known,
the variations may amount to more than 100,000. Comparatively few of them
affect the meaning of Scripture on points of great importance. But a
sufficient number of them do so, to afford those who undermine the authority
of Scripture, some seeming reason for saying that if Divine guidance made it
infallible at first, it has ceased to be so now. The aim of Biblical critics
has been, as Dr. Scrivener says, "to bring back the Greek text to the
condition in which it stood in the sacred autographs, by separating the pure
gold of God's word, from the dross which has mingled with it through the
accretions of so many centuries." (Introduction, 1883, pg. 5.)
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Dr. SCRIVENER admits, that notwithstanding the greatness of past efforts,
difficulties still "defy all our skill and industry to detect and estimate
aright." (pg. 520.) All these difficulties arise, either from wilful
alterations, or from THE WANT OF EXACT COPYING, especially in the second
century. Hence the extreme value of copies of the Peshito, which are proved
to have been made with the greatest care and exactness from the first. This
proof exists in the marvellous agreement of all early copies, wheresoever
and by whomsoever made.
As DR. SCHAFF says, to restore infallibility to the Greek text, in
doubtful places, BY MEANS OF GREEK COPIES, SEEMS TO BE "IMPOSSIBLE." The
only hope of knowing, in such places, what is true, and what is false, seems
to arise from the exactness of the Peshito copies. Even the penmanship of
some specimens of these, as given by Professor Adler, is of great exactness
and beauty; and the Rev. D. T. Stoddard, an American missionary at
Ooroomiah, in Persia, says of the Nestorian copies, "They are sometimes very
beautifully written, and the best type can never exceed, and perhaps not
even rival them in elegance." (Grammar of Modern Syriac, pg. 21.) This is no
slight proof of the care with which they have been written.
Dr. SCRIVENER says, "The Peshito-Syriac has not yet received that
critical care on the part of EDITORS which its antiquity and importance so
urgently demand," and "with such full means of information within our reach,
it will not be to our credit if a good critical edition of the Peshito be
much longer unattempted." (pp. 317-318.) But though a good critical edition
is much to be desired, there is far greater need of readiness on the part of
Biblical critics, to give to the Peshito the attention due to it, and the
influence which it ought to exercise. No great changes are to be expected
from a new critical edition, though such an edition is so much to be
desired.
The Rev. G. H. GWILLIAM, M. A., of Oxford University, will, it is to be
hoped, be enabled to complete his new critical edition of the Gospels of the
Peshito, "based on a number of copies of very great antiquity, and high
critical value." (Studia Biblica, 1885, pp. 153-154.) He has kindly told us
in advance, that in this new edition, "A certain number of corrections will
be made, but that these, for the most part, will be in comparatively
unimportant points of grammar and orthography." (Same, pg. 161.)