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The Peshitta ( ''or'' ') is the standard Syriac edition of the
Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...
for Syriac
Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
churches and traditions that follow the
liturgies Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a community, communal response to and participation in the sacred through activities reflecting praise, thanksgiving, ...
of the Syriac Rites. The Peshitta is originally and traditionally written in the
Classical Syriac The Syriac language ( ; ), also known natively in its spoken form in early Syriac literature as Edessan (), the Mesopotamian language () and Aramaic (), is an Eastern Middle Aramaic dialect. Classical Syriac is the academic term used to refer ...
dialect of the
Aramaic language Aramaic (; ) is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language that originated in the ancient Syria (region), region of Syria and quickly spread to Mesopotamia, the southern Levant, Sinai Peninsula, Sinai, Southeastern Anatolia Regi ...
, although editions of the Peshitta can be translated and/or written in different
language Language is a structured system of communication that consists of grammar and vocabulary. It is the primary means by which humans convey meaning, both in spoken and signed language, signed forms, and may also be conveyed through writing syste ...
s. The consensus within biblical scholarship, although not universal, is that the
Old Testament The Old Testament (OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew and occasionally Aramaic writings by the Isr ...
of the Peshitta was translated into Syriac from
Biblical Hebrew Biblical Hebrew ( or ), also called Classical Hebrew, is an archaic form of the Hebrew language, a language in the Canaanite languages, Canaanitic branch of the Semitic languages spoken by the Israelites in the area known as the Land of Isra ...
, probably in the 2nd century CE, and that the
New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...
of the Peshitta was translated from
Koine Greek Koine Greek (, ), also variously known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek, Septuagint Greek or New Testament Greek, was the koiné language, common supra-regional form of Greek language, Greek spoken and ...
, probably in the early 5th century. This New Testament, originally excluding certain disputed books (
2 Peter 2 Peter, also known as the Second Epistle of Peter and abbreviated as 2 Pet., is an epistle of the New Testament written in Koine Greek. It identifies the author as "Simon Peter" (in some translations, 'Simeon' or 'Shimon'), a bondservant and ...
,
2 John The Second Epistle of John is a book of the New Testament attributed to John the Evangelist, traditionally thought to be the author of the other two epistles of John, and the Gospel of John (though this is disputed). Most modern scholars beli ...
,
3 John The Third Epistle of John is the third-to-last book of the New Testament and the Christian Bible as a whole, and attributed to John the Evangelist, traditionally thought to be the author of the Gospel of John and the other two epistles of John ...
, Jude,
Revelation Revelation, or divine revelation, is the disclosing of some form of Religious views on truth, truth or Knowledge#Religion, knowledge through communication with a deity (god) or other supernatural entity or entities in the view of religion and t ...
), had become a standard by the early 5th century. The five excluded books were added in the Harklean Version (616 CE) of
Thomas of Harqel Thomas of Harqel was a miaphysite bishop from the early 7th century. Educated in Greek at the monastery of Qenneshre, he became bishop of Mabbug in Syria. He was deposed as bishop by the anti-miaphysite metropolitan Domitian of Melitene before ...
. The New Testament of the Peshitta often reflects the
Byzantine text-type In the textual criticism of the New Testament, the Byzantine text-type (also called Traditional Text, Ecclesiastical Text, Constantinopolitan Text, Antiocheian Text, or Syrian Text) is one of the main Textual criticism#New Testament, text types. ...
, although with some variations.


Etymology

''Peshitta'' is derived from the Syriac ''mappaqtâ pšîṭtâ'' (ܡܦܩܬܐ ܦܫܝܛܬܐ), literally meaning "simple version". However, it is also possible to translate ''pšîṭtâ'' as "common" (that is, for all people), or "straight", as well as the usual translation as "simple". Syriac is a dialect, or group of dialects, of Eastern
Aramaic Aramaic (; ) is a Northwest Semitic language that originated in the ancient region of Syria and quickly spread to Mesopotamia, the southern Levant, Sinai, southeastern Anatolia, and Eastern Arabia, where it has been continually written a ...
, originating around
Edessa Edessa (; ) was an ancient city (''polis'') in Upper Mesopotamia, in what is now Urfa or Şanlıurfa, Turkey. It was founded during the Hellenistic period by Macedonian general and self proclaimed king Seleucus I Nicator (), founder of the Sel ...
and is written in its own alphabet. This is transliterated into the
Latin script The Latin script, also known as the Roman script, is a writing system based on the letters of the classical Latin alphabet, derived from a form of the Greek alphabet which was in use in the ancient Greek city of Cumae in Magna Graecia. The Gree ...
in a number of ways, generating different spellings of the name: ''Peshitta'', ''Peshittâ'', ''Pshitta'', ''Pšittâ'', ''Pshitto'', ''Fshitto''. All of these are acceptable, but ''Peshitta'' is the most conventional spelling in English.


Brief history

The Peshitta had from the 5th century onward a wide circulation in Asia, and was accepted and honored by the whole diversity of sects of Syriac Christianity. It had a great missionary influence: the Armenian and Georgian versions, as well as the Arabic and the Persian, owe not a little to the Syriac. The Nestorian tablet of
Chang'an Chang'an (; zh, t=長安, s=长安, p=Cháng'ān, first=t) is the traditional name of the city now named Xi'an and was the capital of several Chinese dynasties, ranging from 202 BCE to 907 CE. The site has been inhabited since Neolithic time ...
shows the presence of the Syriac scriptures in China in the 8th century. The Peshitta was first brought to Europe by
Moses of Mardin Moses of Mardin (Latin: ''Moses Mardenus'') was a Syriac Orthodox priest and bishop who played a significant role in printing the first Syriac bible and served as perhaps the first Syriac teacher/scholar in Europe. Biography Moses was born in t ...
, a noted Syrian ecclesiastic who unsuccessfully sought a patron for the work of printing it in Rome and Venice. However, he was successful in finding such a patron in the Imperial Chancellor of the
Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...
at Vienna in 1555—Albert Widmanstadt. He undertook the printing of the New Testament, and the
emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...
bore the cost of the special types which had to be cast for its issue in Syriac.
Immanuel Tremellius Immanuel Tremellius (; 1510 – 9 October 1580) was an Italian Jewish convert to Christianity. He was known as a leading Hebraist and Bible translator. Life He was born at Ferrara and educated at the University of Padua. He was converted about ...
, the converted Jew whose scholarship was so valuable to the English reformers and divines, made use of it, and in 1569 issued a Syriac New Testament in Hebrew script. In 1645, the ''
editio princeps In Textual scholarship, textual and classical scholarship, the ''editio princeps'' (plural: ''editiones principes'') of a work is the first printed edition of the work, that previously had existed only in manuscripts. These had to be copied by han ...
'' of the Old Testament was published by Gabriel Sionita for the Paris Polyglot, and in 1657 the whole Peshitta was included in Walton's ''
London Polyglot A polyglot is a book that contains side-by-side versions of the same text in several different languages. Some editions of the Bible or its parts are polyglots, in which the Hebrew and Greek originals are exhibited along with historical transla ...
''. An edition of the Peshitta was that of John Leusden and Karl Schaaf, and it is still quoted under the symbol "Syrschaaf", or "SyrSch".


New Testament

In a detailed examination of Matthew 1–14, George Gwilliam found that where texts differ, the Peshitta agrees with the ''
Textus Receptus The (Latin for 'received text') is the succession of printed Greek New Testament texts starting with Erasmus' ''Novum Instrumentum omne'' (1516) and including the editions of Robert Estienne, Stephanus, Theodore Beza, Beza, the House of Elzevir ...
'' only 108 times and with the ''
Codex Vaticanus The Codex Vaticanus ( The Vatican, Bibl. Vat., Vat. gr. 1209), is a manuscript of the Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Old Testament and the majority of the New Testament. It is designated by siglum B or 03 in the Gregory-Aland numb ...
'' 65 times. Meanwhile, in 137 instances it differs from both, usually with the support of the Old Syriac and the Old Latin, and in 31 instances it stands alone. A statement by
Eusebius Eusebius of Caesarea (30 May AD 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilius, was a historian of Christianity, exegete, and Christian polemicist from the Roman province of Syria Palaestina. In about AD 314 he became the bishop of Caesarea Maritima. ...
that Hegesippus "made some quotations from the Gospel according to the Hebrews and from the Syriac Gospel," means we should have a reference to a Syriac New Testament as early as 160–180 CE, the time of that Hebrew Christian writer. The translation of the New Testament has been admired by Syriac scholars, who have deemed it "careful, faithful, and literal" with it sometimes being referred to as the "Queen of the versions".


Critical edition of the New Testament

The standard
United Bible Societies The United Bible Societies (UBS) is a global fellowship of around 150 Bible societies operating in more than 240 countries and territories. It has working hubs in England, Singapore and Nairobi. The headquarters are located in Swindon, England. ...
1905 edition of the New Testament of the Peshitta was based on editions prepared by
Syriacists Syriac studies is the study of the Syriac language and Syriac Christianity. A specialist in Syriac studies is known as a Syriacist. Specifically, British, French, and German scholars of the 18th and 19th centuries who were involved in the study of ...
Philip E. Pusey (d. 1880), Gwilliam (d. 1914) and John Gwynn. These editions comprised Gwilliam & Pusey's 1901 critical edition of the gospels, Gwilliam's critical edition of
Acts The Acts of the Apostles (, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; ) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of its message to the Roman Empire. Acts and the Gospel of Luke make up a two-par ...
, Gwilliam & Pinkerton's critical edition of
Paul's Epistles The Pauline epistles, also known as Epistles of Paul or Letters of Paul, are the thirteen books of the New Testament attributed to Paul the Apostle, although the authorship of some is in dispute. Among these epistles are some of the earliest exta ...
and John Gwynn's critical edition of the General Epistles and later Revelation. This critical Peshitta text is based on a collation of more than seventy Peshitta and a few other Aramaic manuscripts. All 27 books of the common Western
Canon of the New Testament A biblical canon is a set of texts (also called "books") which a particular Jewish or Christian religious community regards as part of the Bible. The English word ''canon'' comes from the Greek , meaning ' rule' or ' measuring stick'. The us ...
are included in this British & Foreign Bible Society's 1905 Peshitta edition, as is the adultery pericope (John 7:53–8:11). The 1979 Syriac Bible, United Bible Society, uses the same text for its New Testament. The Online Bible reproduces the 1905 Syriac Peshitta NT in Hebrew characters.


Translations

English * John Wesley Etheridge – ''A Literal Translation of the Four Gospels From the Peschito, or Ancient Syriac and The Apostolical Acts and Epistles From the Peschito, or Ancient Syriac: To Which Are Added, the Remaining Epistles and The Book of Revelation, After a Later Syriac Text'' (1849). * James Murdock – ''The New Testament, Or, The Book of the Holy Gospel of Our Lord and God, Jesus the Messiah'' (1851). * George M. Lamsa – ''The Holy Bible From the Ancient Eastern Text'' (1933) – Contains both the Old and New Testaments according to the Peshitta text. This translation is better known as the Lamsa Bible. He also wrote several other books on the Peshitta and Aramaic primacy such as ''Gospel Light'', ''New Testament Origin'', and ''Idioms of the Bible'', along with a New Testament commentary. To this end, several well-known Evangelical Protestant preachers have used or endorsed the Lamsa Bible, such as
Oral Roberts Granville Oral Roberts (January 24, 1918 – December 15, 2009) was an American Charismatic Christianity, Charismatic Christianity, Christian televangelist, who was one of the first to propagate Prosperity theology, Prosperity Gospel Theo ...
,
Billy Graham William Franklin Graham Jr. (; November 7, 1918 – February 21, 2018) was an American Evangelism, evangelist, ordained Southern Baptist minister, and Civil rights movement, civil rights advocate, whose broadcasts and world tours featuring liv ...
, and William M. Branham. * Janet Magiera – ''Aramaic Peshitta New Testament Translation'', ''Aramaic Peshitta New Testament Translation – Messianic Version'', and ''Aramaic Peshitta New Testament Vertical Interlinear'' (in three volumes) (2006). Magiera is connected to George Lamsa. *
The Way International The Way International is a Nondenominational Christianity, nondenominational Christian ministry based in New Knoxville, Ohio. The followers congregate primarily in home fellowships located throughout the United States, two US territories, and in ...
– ''Aramaic-English Interlinear New Testament'' * William Norton – ''A Translation, in English Daily Used, of the Peshito-Syriac Text, and of the Received Greek Text, of Hebrews, James, 1 Peter, and 1 John: With An Introduction On the Peshito-Syriac Text, and the Received Greek Text of 1881'' and ''A Translation in English Daily Used: of the Seventeen Letters Forming Part of the Peshito-Syriac Books''. William Norton was a Peshitta primacist, as shown in the introduction to his translation of Hebrews, James, I Peter, and I John. *
Gorgias Press Gorgias Press is a US-based independent academic publisher specializing in the history and religion of the Middle East and the larger pre-modern world. History Founded in 2001 by Christine and George Kiraz, the press is based in Piscataway, N ...
– '' Antioch Bible'', a Peshitta text and translation of the Old Testament (including deuterocanon) and New Testament. 35 volumes. Malayalam * Andumalil Mani Kathanar – ''Vishudha Grantham''. New Testament translation in Malayalam. * Mathew Uppani C. M. I – ''Peshitta Bible''. Translation (including Old and New Testaments) in Malayalam (1997). * Arch-corepiscopos Curien Kaniamparambil – ''Vishudhagrandham''. Translation (including Old and New Testaments) in Malayalam.


Manuscripts

Although physical evidence has yet to be found, 18th-century Maronite Orientalist Giuseppe Assemani stated in his Bibliotheca Orientalis that a Syriac Gospel dated 78 CE was found in Mesopotamia. The following manuscripts are in the British Archives: * British Library, Add. 14470 – complete text of 22 books of the New Testament, from the 5th/6th-century *
Rabbula Gospels The Rabbula Gospels, or Rabula Gospels (Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, cod. Plut. I, 56), is a 6th-century illuminated Syriac Gospel Book. One of the finest Byzantine works produced in West Asia, and one of the earliest Christian man ...
 – a 6th-century illuminated Syriac Gospel BookPeers, Glenn
Review of Bernabò
/ref> * Khaboris Codex – a 10th-century complete Peshitta New Testament *
Codex Phillipps 1388 Codex Phillipps 1388, Syriac manuscript of the New Testament, on parchment. It contains the text of the four Gospels. Palaeographically it had been assigned to the 5th/6th centuries. It is one of the oldest manuscripts of Peshitta with some Old ...
 – a Syriac manuscript on parchment containing text of the four Gospels dated Palaeographically to the 5th/6th centuries *
British Library, Add. 12140 British Library, Add MS 12140 is a Syriac language, Syriac manuscript of the New Testament, on parchment. Palaeography, Palaeographically it had been assigned to the 6th century. It is a manuscript of Peshitta. The manuscript is a lacunose. Descri ...
 – a 6th-century manuscript on parchment containing text from the four Gospels *
British Library, Add. 14479 British Library, Add MS 14479, is a Syriac language, Syriac manuscript of the New Testament, on parchment. It is dated by a Colophon (publishing), colophon to the year 534. It is one of the oldest manuscripts of Peshitta and the earliest dated Pesh ...
 – a 534 CE manuscript containing the 14 Pauline Epistles with some lacunae, dated by a colophon *
British Library, Add. 14455 British Library, Add MS 14455 is a Syriac manuscript of the New Testament, on parchment. Palaeographically it has been assigned to the 6th century. It is a manuscript of the Peshitta. The manuscript is very lacunose. Description It contains th ...
 – a 6th-century heavily damaged manuscript containing parts of the four Gospels * British Library, Add. 14466 – a 10th/11th-century manuscript containing fragments of the gospels of
Mark Mark may refer to: In the Bible * Mark the Evangelist (5–68), traditionally ascribed author of the Gospel of Mark * Gospel of Mark, one of the four canonical gospels and one of the three synoptic gospels Currencies * Mark (currency), a currenc ...
and
Luke Luke may refer to: People and fictional characters * Luke (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Luke (surname), including a list of people with the name * Luke the Evangelist, author of the Gospel of Luk ...
* British Library, Add. 14467 – a 10th-century manuscript containing fragments of Matthew and
John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...
in Syriac and
Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
* British Library, Add. 14669 – a 6th-century manuscript containing fragments of Luke and Mark.


See also

*
Bible translations into Aramaic Bible translations into Aramaic covers both Jewish translations into Aramaic language, Aramaic (Targum) and Christian translations into Aramaic, also called Syriac language, Syriac (Peshitta). Jewish translations Aramaic translations of the Tana ...
*
Targum A targum (, ''interpretation'', ''translation'', ''version''; plural: targumim) was an originally spoken translation of the Hebrew Bible (also called the ) that a professional translator ( ''mǝṯurgǝmān'') would give in the common language o ...


References


Citations


Sources

* * * * * * * * Attribution *


External links


Peshitta New Testament
(Dukhrana Biblical Research)
OT Peshitta
(''
Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon (CAL) is an online database containing a searchable dictionary and text corpora of Aramaic dialects. CAL includes more than 3 million lexically parsed words. The project was started in the 1980s and is currently ...
''))
Syriac Peshitta
New Testament at archive.org
Interlinear Aramaic/English New Testament
also trilinear Old Testament (Hebrew/Aramaic/English)
The Complete Peshitta on GitHub
(Eep Talstra Centre for Bible and Computer)
The Complete Peshitta and many other resources on Syriac language and literature
(Department of Syriac Studies)
Peshitta Online
(Brill) ;Downloadable cleartext of English translations (Scripture.sf.net)
Murdock_NT_PeshittaNorton_NT_PeshittaEtheridge_NT_Peshitta
{{Authority control Syriac Christianity 2nd-century Christian texts Catholic bibles Syriac literature