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The New Testament Peshitta and the Nomina Sacra

Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2021 6:06 am
by lclapshaw
As I understand it, the New Testament Peshitta is only known to exist from the 6th century, perhaps with a reference from Eusebius making it possible that it was around in the mid to late 2nd century. In the text is the name ܝܫܘܥ ye$uw( http://dukhrana.com/lexicon/word.php?ad ... ize=125%25 which according to this site http://cal.huc.edu/prova.html sounds out as yodh shin waw ayin which does sound very much like Yeshua. If this is true then it would seem that the nomina sacra was not in use, at least for the name of the Christ.

I have no familiarity with ancient Syriac and so am not able to spot where examples of nomina sacra might be present in the text. Does anyone here know if the nomina sacra was used in the New Testament Peshitta and if so could you give me some examples so that I can search the text myself? Any other information about the NT Peshitta like a link to the earliest copy would be welcome as well as information as to when it was first written.

If indeed the Peshitta NT did not use the NS then this is a big deal as far as understanding early Christianity is concerned IMO.

Thank you for any input that you can give.

Lane

Re: The New Testament Peshitta and the Nomina Sacra

Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2021 12:25 pm
by mlinssen
I've asked around, will let you know

Re: The New Testament Peshitta and the Nomina Sacra

Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2021 2:21 pm
by lclapshaw
mlinssen wrote: Tue Jul 13, 2021 12:25 pm I've asked around, will let you know
Excellent! Thank you. :cheers:

Re: The New Testament Peshitta and the Nomina Sacra

Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2021 10:00 pm
by mlinssen
From "my source": ;)

The Peshitta is late, probably fifth century. It is in Syriac, which didn't catch on as a language, eventually supplanting Galilean Aramaic only beginning around the third century. The Peshitta is preceded by the two Old Syriac texts, the Syriac Sinaiticus and the slightly younger Curetonian Gospels. The texts (if not the manuscripts) of the Galilean Text Type - including the Palestinian Lectionaries, the Sinaiticus Rescriptus, and others at the St. Catherine Monastery library - are the oldest we have.

The Peshitta for the most part is a back-translation of the Greek Textus Receptus, and has the same status as the Vulgate for Roman Catholicism, being the "authorized" "standard" version. But it just echoes the Greek, only occasionally getting interesting. Yet there seems to be a big need to fit the paucity of evidence to the preconceived conclusion that the Peshitta is early, when it is not; people apparently are not aware of the Galilean Text Type.

Some texts back-transliterate the Greek, with for instance ܐܝܣܘܣ Aysws. Others have ܝܫܘܥ, which is simply the Aramaic name of Jesus, how his contemporaries would have spelled it. 


Definitely there are nomina sacra in Syriac texts, though not (except perhaps extremely rarely, but I can't think of a single one) in Galilean texts. The tradition was obviously mimicked in the Syriac on the example of the later Greek and Latin. But it's really late in Syriac, later than the others

Re: The New Testament Peshitta and the Nomina Sacra

Posted: Wed Jul 14, 2021 6:45 am
by StephenGoranson
Perhaps one of the best introductions to Syriac Bible, generally:
The Bible in the Syriac tradition

• Sebastian P. Brock.
• Brock, Sebastian P., author
• Piscataway, NJ : Gorgias Press, 2020.
• Third Edition.
• Book

Summary
This is a basic introduction to the various Syriac translations of the Bible and the ways in which they were used in the Syriac tradition. After an initial discussion of the general problems of biblical translation, the different surviving Syriac translations are outlined, as well as biblical manuscripts, lectionaires, printed editions, and translations. A reception history of the Syriac Bible covers the ways in which it has been interpreted, the commentary tradition, its use in preaching, in liturgy, and in spirituality. An appendix offers some comparative samples (in translation) to illustrate some of the differences between the different Syriac translations.
Content provided by Syndetic Solutions, Inc. Terms of Use
Contents
Partial contents: The Bible in the Syraic Tradition. Chapter I -- Chapter II : The Syriac Bible, a closer look -- Chapter III : How does the Syriac Bible reach us? -- Chapter IV: Biblical interpretation in the Syriac tradition -- Chapter V : Biblical commentaries -- Chapter VI : The Use of the Syriac Bible in Preaching -- Chapter VII : The use of the Syriac Bible in the Liturgy -- Chapter VIII : The Peshitta as the basis for Syriac Spirituality -- The Syriac Bible. The Bible in Syriac -- A bird's eye view of the Syriac translations of the Bible -- Translations of the Syriac Bible into other languages.

Re: The New Testament Peshitta and the Nomina Sacra

Posted: Wed Jul 14, 2021 9:15 am
by lclapshaw
mlinssen wrote: Tue Jul 13, 2021 10:00 pm From "my source": ;)

The Peshitta is late, probably fifth century. It is in Syriac, which didn't catch on as a language, eventually supplanting Galilean Aramaic only beginning around the third century. The Peshitta is preceded by the two Old Syriac texts, the Syriac Sinaiticus and the slightly younger Curetonian Gospels. The texts (if not the manuscripts) of the Galilean Text Type - including the Palestinian Lectionaries, the Sinaiticus Rescriptus, and others at the St. Catherine Monastery library - are the oldest we have.

The Peshitta for the most part is a back-translation of the Greek Textus Receptus, and has the same status as the Vulgate for Roman Catholicism, being the "authorized" "standard" version. But it just echoes the Greek, only occasionally getting interesting. Yet there seems to be a big need to fit the paucity of evidence to the preconceived conclusion that the Peshitta is early, when it is not; people apparently are not aware of the Galilean Text Type.

Some texts back-transliterate the Greek, with for instance ܐܝܣܘܣ Aysws. Others have ܝܫܘܥ, which is simply the Aramaic name of Jesus, how his contemporaries would have spelled it. 


Definitely there are nomina sacra in Syriac texts, though not (except perhaps extremely rarely, but I can't think of a single one) in Galilean texts. The tradition was obviously mimicked in the Syriac on the example of the later Greek and Latin. But it's really late in Syriac, later than the others
Very nice! Thank you! Looks like I have some reading to do. :thumbup:

Re: The New Testament Peshitta and the Nomina Sacra

Posted: Wed Jul 14, 2021 9:19 am
by lclapshaw
StephenGoranson wrote: Wed Jul 14, 2021 6:45 am Perhaps one of the best introductions to Syriac Bible, generally:
The Bible in the Syriac tradition

• Sebastian P. Brock.
• Brock, Sebastian P., author
• Piscataway, NJ : Gorgias Press, 2020.
• Third Edition.
• Book

Summary
This is a basic introduction to the various Syriac translations of the Bible and the ways in which they were used in the Syriac tradition. After an initial discussion of the general problems of biblical translation, the different surviving Syriac translations are outlined, as well as biblical manuscripts, lectionaires, printed editions, and translations. A reception history of the Syriac Bible covers the ways in which it has been interpreted, the commentary tradition, its use in preaching, in liturgy, and in spirituality. An appendix offers some comparative samples (in translation) to illustrate some of the differences between the different Syriac translations.
Content provided by Syndetic Solutions, Inc. Terms of Use
Contents
Partial contents: The Bible in the Syraic Tradition. Chapter I -- Chapter II : The Syriac Bible, a closer look -- Chapter III : How does the Syriac Bible reach us? -- Chapter IV: Biblical interpretation in the Syriac tradition -- Chapter V : Biblical commentaries -- Chapter VI : The Use of the Syriac Bible in Preaching -- Chapter VII : The use of the Syriac Bible in the Liturgy -- Chapter VIII : The Peshitta as the basis for Syriac Spirituality -- The Syriac Bible. The Bible in Syriac -- A bird's eye view of the Syriac translations of the Bible -- Translations of the Syriac Bible into other languages.
Thank you Stephen! :cheers:

Do you know off hand if this book addresses the use of the nomina sacra?

Lane

The New Testament Peshitta

Posted: Wed Jul 14, 2021 9:20 am
by Steven Avery
Until the late 1800s the Peshitta NT was considered a 2nd century text. That did not fit well with the Westcott-Hort theory so an attempt was made to change that to be as late as the 5th century. Note that Hort also had absurd theories of a Syriac recension, to go along with his Greek (Syrian) recension theories.

The lack of the five books in the original Peshitta would tend to fit better with an earlier date. Also the fact that there was a Peshitta OT would be a spur to the NT edition.

The Peshitta Primacists try to argue for the Peshitta being the original NT. While that is a failure, their arguments can help the earlier dating scenario.

The Peshitta is far closer to the Greek Byzantine text than to the Vaticanus/Alexandrian reader's digest abbreviated text. However, there are many important spots where it does not match the Greek. Starting with the lack of the Pericope Adultera and not having "God was manifest in the flesh.." in 1 Timothy 3:16, the word God is instead a pronoun, and God instead of Son in John 1:18.

Overall my studies have shown the Peshitta to match about 75% to the Greek Byzantine and 25% to the Alexandrian, in a 3-way study.

Johann David Michaelis wrote an interesting section on the antiquity of the Syriac NT.

Introduction to the New Testament (1793 in German, 1823 in English)
Antiquity of the Syriac Version
https://books.google.com/books?id=9WAUAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA29
p. 29-32 and more around p. 71-74

The question of the dating of the Peshitta was a major element in the Oxford Debate of 1897.

The Oxford debate on the textual criticism of the New Testament ... 1897
edited by Edward Miller
https://books.google.com/books?id=9fAOAAAAQAAJ

Background on the debate, with spin.

Studies in the Early Text of the Gospels and Acts (1999)
The Oxford Debate on the Textual Criticism of the New Testament, held at New College on May 6, 1897
James L. North
https://books.google.com/books?id=XxJJGf1eBhgC&pg=PA1

The later Philoxenian and Harklean editions (c. 500 to 650 AD) are closer to the Byzantine Greek.

Re: The New Testament Peshitta

Posted: Wed Jul 14, 2021 11:03 am
by lclapshaw
Steven Avery wrote: Wed Jul 14, 2021 9:20 am Until the late 1800s the Peshitta NT was considered a 2nd century text. That did not fit well with the Westcott-Hort theory so an attempt was made to change that to be as late as the 5th century. Note that Hort also had absurd theories of a Syriac recension, to go along with his Greek (Syrian) recension theories.

The lack of the five books in the original Peshitta would tend to fit better with an earlier date. Also the fact that there was a Peshitta OT would be a spur to the NT edition.

The Peshitta Primacists try to argue for the Peshitta being the original NT. While that is a failure, their arguments can help the earlier dating scenario.

The Peshitta is far closer to the Greek Byzantine text than to the Vaticanus/Alexandrian reader's digest abbreviated text. However, there are many important spots where it does not match the Greek. Starting with the lack of the Pericope Adultera and not having "God was manifest in the flesh.." in 1 Timothy 3:16, the word God is instead a pronoun, and God instead of Son in John 1:18.

Overall my studies have shown the Peshitta to match about 75% to the Greek Byzantine and 25% to the Alexandrian, in a 3-way study.

Johann David Michaelis wrote an interesting section on the antiquity of the Syriac NT.

Introduction to the New Testament (1793 in German, 1823 in English)
Antiquity of the Syriac Version
https://books.google.com/books?id=9WAUAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA29
p. 29-32 and more around p. 71-74

The question of the dating of the Peshitta was a major element in the Oxford Debate of 1897.

The Oxford debate on the textual criticism of the New Testament ... 1897
edited by Edward Miller
https://books.google.com/books?id=9fAOAAAAQAAJ

Background on the debate, with spin.

Studies in the Early Text of the Gospels and Acts (1999)
The Oxford Debate on the Textual Criticism of the New Testament, held at New College on May 6, 1897
James L. North
https://books.google.com/books?id=XxJJGf1eBhgC&pg=PA1

The later Philoxenian and Harklean editions (c. 500 to 650 AD) are closer to the Byzantine Greek.
The lack of the Catholic Epistles in the Peshitta is interesting.

Re: The New Testament Peshitta and the Nomina Sacra

Posted: Wed Jul 14, 2021 1:26 pm
by lclapshaw
Ok. Have The Bible in the Syriac Tradition ordered through my library. :thumbup: