I probably have never seen a thesis that gives a first concrete example which seems to completely refute that thesis. Lataster wrote:ebion wrote: ↑Tue Oct 24, 2023 3:07 pm Raphael Lataster/Christopher Lancaster wrote a book called Was the New Testament Really Written in Greek1e
where he gives a long list of examples where he demonstrates PeshittA primacy - I find it convincing. The theological differences to the GNT are not huge, but are significant.
Take a look and see what you think. It's not a big book - you can read it in an evening.
Now let us look at the evidence!
1. Burn or boast? – 1Corinthians 13:3
The KJV says: “And though I bestow all my goods to feed [the poor], and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.”
The ISV says: “Even if I give away all that I have and surrender my body so that I may boast but have no love, I get nothing out of it.”
Versions that say burned or a variation thereof: ALT, AMP, ASV, BBE, CEV*, DARBY, Douay-
Rheims, ESV*, Geneva, GodsWord, Holman, KJ21, KJV, LITV, MKJV, MSG, NASB*, NIV*, NIV-UK, NKJV*, RSV, TEV, WE (Worldwide English), Webster, Weymouth, WYC (Wycliffe), YLT (Young’s Literal Translation).
The versions marked by an asterisk, *, have footnotes that mention that early mss (manuscripts) have boast or a variation thereof, rather than burn. It is noteworthy that the Alexandrian NU Text says boast also.
Versions that say boast or a variation thereof: ISV, NLT (New Living Translation), Rotherham.
Now, it just so happens that the Aramaic root dqy can mean “to burn”, but can also mean “to boast”. It is clear that the disagreement in the Greek texts points to the Aramaic original.
Here is the verse from the Peshitta, translated by Paul Younan:
“And if I give all my possessions to feed {the poor,} and if I surrender my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.”
The reading καυχςσωμαι (kauchswmai, “I might boast”) is in Greek manuscripts like Ì46 Í A B 048 33 1739*.
The competing reading, καυθςσομαι (kauqhsomai, “I will burn”), is found in Greek manuscripts such as C D F G L 81 1175 1881* and a host of patristic writers. A few other Byzantine Greek readings include: καυθςσωμαι (kauqhswmai) (“I might burn”) and καυθη∋ (“it might be burned”) read by 1505.
Dr. Bruce Metzger (famous Greek primacist) notes that the latter reading is a “grammatical monstrosity that cannot be attributed to Paul” (B. M. Metzger, Textual Commentary, page 498).
This is clear evidence of the Aramaic roots of the various Greek texts.
There are the following text variants in 1 Corinthians 13:3
καυθήσομαι | - C D F G L 6 81 88vid 104 263 436 459 630 1175 1881* 1912 1985 Lectpt lAD Macarius/Symeon1/2 Flavian-Antioch Cyril Euthalius Maximus-Confessor |
καυθήσωμαι | - K Ψ 181 256 326 (330* καθήσωμαι) 330c 365 424 451 614 629 1319 1573 1739c 1852 1881c 1962 1984 2200 2464 Byz Lectpt itar itb itd itdem ite itf itg itm ito itt itx vg syrh(mg) gothtext arm (eth) slav Tertullian Methodius Origenlat Rebaptism Cyprian Jacob-Nisibis Ambrosiaster Zeno Aphraates Ephraem Basil Pacian Gregory-Nyssa Macarius/Symeon1/2 Petilianus Chrysostom2/3 Pelagius Jerome1/3 Augustine35/37 Speculum Theodoret John-Damascus Greek and Latin mssaccording to Jerome ς NR CEI ND Riv Dio TILC Nv |
καυθήσεται | - 1877 2492 syrp syrh |
καυθῇ | - 2127 l1443 (vgmss) Chrysostom1/3 (Augustine2/35) |
καυχήσωμαι | - p46 א A B (048 καυχήσομαι) 0150 33 69 1739* copsa copbo gothmg Clement Origen Didymus Jerome2/3 mssaccording to Jerome WH NA NM |
Isn't it obvious that these text variants could only have been created by copyists due to the very close similarity of the two Greek words?
καυθήσωμαι - burn
καυχήσωμαι - boast