Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Jack Kilmon" <jkilmon AT historian.net>]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <Bearpecs AT aol.com>
To: <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Monday, June 21, 2004 7:50 PM
Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] MT for all OT Translations?


>
> My understanding is that the Syriac churches maintain that since the
> apostles (like Jesus) spoke Aramaic, they would naturally have written in
Aramaic
> and then translated into Greek, so they consider the Peshitta NT to be
the
> authentic original writings of the apostles.  Am I correct?
>
> In a message dated 6/21/2004 8:16:13 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
> gfsomsel AT juno.com writes:
>
> Syriac  Church that
> they would translate from the Peshitta rather than use the  Greek of the
> New Testament


The problem with this is that the Peshitta and the Old Syriac texts are in
Syriac..a LATE Eastern dialect that post dates the vox Iesu by 150-200
years.  The Aramaic of Jesus was MIDDLE Western Aramaic (Old Judean).  The
Peshitta text was a translation of the Greek text into Syriac...but also
using the Old Syriac texts which were translated from Greek.  The Gospel
writers used Aramaic source materials or Greek translations of Aramaic
source materials (oral and written) but they were authored in Greek for a
Greek speaking audience.  How could Paul, in 50 CE, be writing to
Thessalonians, Corinthians, Romans, Galatians, etc. in Syriac?

See the Sebastian Bock in Metzger's "The Early Versions of the New
Testament" on "The Limitations of Syriac in Representing Greek".



Jack
-----
______________________________________________

Dakma daEBadton l'chad min hoLEYN AHi zeUOreh ly haw EBadton

Jack Kilmon
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jkilmon AT historian.net

http://www.historian.net

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