The Peshitta is the standard version of the Bible used in the Syriac churches. Syriac is a dialect of Aramaic, the language spoken by Jesus and his disciples. Aramaic was the main language of Jews and early Christians in the Holy Land and Mesopotamia during the 1st century AD. The Peshitta contains the 39 books of the Old Testament and the 27 books of the New Testament.
The name ‘Peshitta’ comes from the Syriac mappaqtâ pšîṭtâ which means ‘simple version’. This distinguishes it from the Septuagint or Greek translation of the Old Testament. The Peshitta was translated directly from the original Hebrew and Greek manuscripts. It is written in the Estrangela variant of the Syriac alphabet.
The origins of the Peshitta are obscure. According to tradition, the Peshitta was translated from Hebrew into Syriac during the time of Solomon and Abgar, the king of Edessa. Modern scholars believe the Old Testament books were translated from Hebrew betwen the 2nd and 4th centuries AD. The New Testament books were likely translated from Greek in the early 5th century. The existing manuscripts of the Peshitta date from the 5th century and later.
The Peshitta Old Testament omits or relegates to the end of the OT several deuterocanonical books that are found in the Septuagint: 2 Esdras, Tobit, Judith, Wisdom of Solomon, Ecclesiasticus, Baruch, the Letter of Jeremiah, 1 Maccabees, and 2 Maccabees. The standard 39 book OT Peshitta canon matches the traditional Jewish Tanakh.
The Peshitta is the Bible traditionally used in the liturgy of the Syriac Orthodox Church, the Maronite Church, the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, the Chaldean Catholic Church, the Syrian Catholic Church, the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, the Assyrian Church of the East and affiliated communities, and the Assyrian Pentecostal Church.
Here are some key facts about the Peshitta:
- Written in Syriac, a dialect of Aramaic
- Old Testament translated from Hebrew, New Testament from Greek
- Name means ‘simple, common version’
- Earliest manuscripts date from 5th century AD
- Still used as the official Bible of several Eastern churches
- Follows the standard Jewish Tanakh canon for Old Testament
Translation of the Peshitta
The Peshitta was translated directly from Hebrew manuscripts for the Old Testament books and Greek manuscripts for the New Testament. This sets it apart from the Greek Septuagint and Latin Vulgate translations which were translated from Greek sources. The translators likely referred to earlier Aramaic translations such as the Targums.
There is debate about when the initial translation of the Peshitta took place. According to an ancient tradition, the Syrian King Abgar V commissioned a translation of the Hebrew scriptures into Syriac during the 1st century AD. Modern scholars believe the Old Testament was translated from the 2nd to 4th centuries AD, while the New Testament was translated in the early 5th century.
The existing Syriac manuscripts of the Peshitta date from the 5th century onward. The oldest extant manuscripts are from the 5th and 6th centuries, including Syriac Sinaiticus and a manuscript discovered near Aleppo. Biblical scholar Sebastian Brock notes: “The fact that the Peshitta was from the very beginning transmitted in a standardized written form gives it an importance denied to any other version of the Old Testament” (The Bible in the Syriac Tradition).
Differences from the Septuagint
The Septuagint is the ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures produced in Alexandria, Egypt in the 3rd to 1st centuries BC. This includes several deuterocanonical books not found in the standard Jewish canon. The Peshitta Old Testament was translated directly from Hebrew and has a different canon of Old Testament books than the Septuagint.
The Peshitta excludes 2 Esdras, Tobit, Judith, Wisdom of Solomon, Ecclesiasticus, Baruch, the Letter of Jeremiah, 1 Maccabees, and 2 Maccabees. These deuterocanonical books or ‘Apocrypha’ were relegated to an appendix after the Old Testament books or omitted entirely. The 39 books of the Peshitta Old Testament match the traditional Jewish Tanakh canon.
The text of the Peshitta Old Testament books is generally close to the Masoretic Text, with some influence from Septuagint readings. There are a few noticeable differences in the translations of certain passages. The Peshitta version of Job is much shorter than both Hebrew and Greek texts, likely due to a desire for concision. The Peshitta translation of Psalms, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes also show some differences.
Liturgical Use
The Peshitta is the official Bible for the liturgy of the Syriac Orthodox Church, the Maronite Church, the Chaldean Catholic Church, the Syriac Catholic Church, the Assyrian Church of the East, and other Syriac Christian groups. It is traditionally read from right to left in Serṭâ (West Syriac) script. There are three common printed editions used by the Syrian churches:
- The Urhoy edition – used by the Syrian Orthodox Church and first printed in Urhoy, Turkey in 1846
- The Mosul edition – used by the Chaldean Catholic Church and first printed in Mosul in 1887
- The Ktav Yad manuscript edition – used by the Assyrian Church of the East
The liturgical use of the Peshitta emphasizes its importance and influence. As Sebastian Brock notes, “No other version of the Old Testament has continued to be transmitted in a similarly standardized form over such a long period” (Bible in the Syriac Tradition). Liturgical reading and memorization helped preserve the text.
Importance of the Peshitta
As the Bible of the Syriac churches, the Peshitta provides a critical witness to the text of the Old and New Testaments. It represents the continuation of a translation tradition dating back to the 1st century AD using manuscripts even older than existing Hebrew and Greek copies. The value of the Peshitta for textual criticism was emphasized by Bible scholar F.F. Bruce:
The Peshitta’s value for the textual criticism of the New Testament is very great. It is the chief witness for the Old Syriac or ‘Western’ type of text… The Peshitta contains very early forms of the separate Gospels.
Given its age and direct translation from Hebrew and Greek manuscripts closer to the autographs, the Peshitta is an important source for determining the original text of the Bible. Variants between the Peshitta and Greek manuscripts also illuminate the textual history of certain passages. Even though the Peshitta is a translation, it also represents an independent textual tradition.
Some key reasons for the importance of the Peshitta:
- Translated from Hebrew and Greek manuscripts much older than existing copies
- Preserves early forms of the Syriac Old Testament and New Testament texts
- Provides critical evidence for determining the original text of the Bible
- Elucidates textual history – agreements and disagreements with other manuscript traditions
- Continuous use in liturgy helped preserve and transmit standardized text
Peshitta Manuscripts
The precise date and provenance of the earliest Peshitta manuscripts is uncertain due to few remaining examples from before the 5th century. However, scholars believe that manuscripts from the 1st and 2nd centuries once existed based on quotations and references in ancient Christian literature.
The oldest surviving Peshitta manuscripts date from the 5th and 6th centuries. Important early witnesses include:
- Codex Ambrosianus (5th-6th century) – Syriac Gospels
- Codex Phillipps 1388 (507 AD) – Gospels
- Syriac Sinaiticus (4th-5th century) – Gospels
- British Library, Add. 17134 (5th century) – Gospels
- British Library, Add. 14479 (466 AD) – Acts and Epistles
- British Library, Add. 14448 (5th century) – Pauline Epistles
- British Library, Add. 17230 (411-435 AD) – Isaiah
- Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, Syr. 341 (5th century) – Minor Prophets
Later Peshitta manuscripts from the 6th to 9th centuries also provide important witnesses to the text. These include biblical manuscripts held at Saint Mark’s Monastery in Jerusalem, the Vatican Library, the British Library, and various libraries in Europe and the Middle East. The wide geographic distribution testifies to the widespread use of the Peshitta text.
English Translations
The Peshitta Institute in Leiden, Netherlands was founded in 1959 to study and document the Peshitta text tradition. The Institute has published critical editions of the Peshitta based on manuscripts dating back to the 5th century and early quotations in Syriac literature.
There are a few English translations of the Syriac Peshitta available:
- Lamsa Bible (1933) – translation by George Lamsa
- The Syriac New Testament (2010) – translation by James Murdock
- The Pentateuch: A Literal Translation from the Syriac Peshito Version (1897) – translation by James Workman
- Holy Bible from Ancient Eastern Manuscripts (1957) – translation by George Lamsa
The Lamsa Bible aimed to provide an accurate English translation, restoring meanings from Aramaic idioms and culture often lost in Greek and Latin versions. However, some critics argue Lamsa overemphasized theological interpretation at the expense of precise rendering.
The Murdock and Workman translations attempted to provide literal translations of the Peshitta text rather than paraphrasing the meaning. They provide useful insight into the Syriac phrasing and word choices behind familiar Biblical passages.
Peshitta Reading Edition (PRE)
In 2020, the Peshitta Institute published the Peshitta Reading Edition (PRE), including the 39 books of the Peshitta Old Testament and 27 books of the New Testament. This provides a reference text for the Peshitta in standard Syriac fonts fully vocalized and pointed to aid reading. Footnotes detail textual variants from other ancient sources such as Greek, Latin, and Hebrew versions.
The PRE gives English readers access to the authoritative Peshitta text in its original language. This allows deeper study of Semitic idioms and syntax behind the familiar Biblical passages. The vocalization and footnotes make the Syriac more accessible for those without extensive training.
Importance for Textual Criticism
Due to its great age as a translation from early Hebrew and Greek manuscripts, the Peshitta provides important evidence for determining the original text of the Old and New Testaments. It antedates most Hebrew and Greek manuscripts in existence today. The Peshitta also often preserves early textual forms that were later lost from Greek manuscripts. A few examples of the importance of Peshitta readings:
- Isaiah 7:14 – the Peshitta reads ‘young woman’ rather than ‘virgin’, avoiding a Christological reading
- Matthew 1:16 and Luke 3:23 – the Peshitta does not include the extra generational link ‘the son of Heli’ found in Greek manuscripts
- John 1:18 – the Peshitta reads ‘God the One and Only’ rather than ‘Son’
- Romans 5:1 – the Peshitta reads ‘let us have peace’ rather than ‘we have peace’
As one of the earliest and most enduring Bible translations, the Peshitta provides essential evidence for establishing the wording of the autographic text. It shows agreement and disagreement with other textual traditions. Even where it departs from the Hebrew or Greek, the Peshitta often reflects an early interpretive tradition.
Influence on Other Languages
As the preeminent version of the Bible for Syriac Christians, the Peshitta influenced daughter translations in several other languages. The Philoxenian (6th century) and Harclean (7th century) Syriac revisions show dependence on the Peshitta text. Early Christian Aramaic translations and Arabic translations like the Chorepiscopus Bible (600s AD) were also based on the Peshitta.
The Arabic Diatessaron (harmony of the Gospels) relied heavily on the Syriac Peshitta. Early Armenian, Georgian, Sogdian, and Persian translations of the Bible borrowed from the Peshitta tradition. Even as the Syriac language declined, the Peshitta continued to have linguistic and textual influence on Near Eastern Christianity and beyond.
Discovery by Western Scholars
The rich Syriac biblical tradition represented by the Peshitta was unknown to European scholars until the sixteenth century. The first notice of Peshitta manuscripts came in 1554 when Moses of Mardin sent a Syriac New Testament manuscript to Pope Julius III. A Syriac Pentateuch was brought from the Middle East and given to the French king in 1561 by John Baptist Eliano.
The Christian humanist Thomas Erpenius studied a Peshitta Pentateuch manuscript brought back from the Middle East by his father. In 1616, Erpenius founded a printing press that produced the first printed Peshitta Old Testament in 1622. In 1645, Edward Pococke published the first critical edition of the Peshitta New Testament based on several manuscripts.
The discovery of the Peshitta opened up the world of Syriac biblical scholarship to European academics. Subsequent study of Peshitta manuscripts and critical editions contributed greatly to knowledge about textual history and the development of textual criticism principles.
The Crawford Manuscript
In 1842, manuscripts acquired from the Nitrian Desert in Egypt were given to the Bodleian Library in Oxford by Robert Curzon and Henry Tattam. Among these texts was a late 9th or early 10th century Peshitta manuscript containing the Gospels. This manuscript is known as the ‘Crawford Manuscript’ after one of its early owners, Claudius James Rich.
The Syriac text of the Crawford Manuscript exhibits the Western type of Syrian text. It contains the Pericope Adulterae (John 7:53-8:11) and the longer ending of Mark (Mark 16:9-20). There are illuminations of the four evangelists before each Gospel. Scholars debate whether it was produced in Palestine or Egypt based on similarities to other manuscripts.
Even as one of the latest Peshitta Gospel manuscripts, the Crawford text is important because the copyist reproduced the work carefully. The manuscript thus represents an excellent exemplar of the Peshitta Gospels tradition, untainted by major scribal embellishment. It provides insight into the continuous Peshitta text used widely in the early church.
Continued Use in the 21st Century
Today the Peshitta remains the official Bible for the liturgy and worship of several Syriac churches. It is the basis for modern expositions and patrimonial commentary within these church traditions. The text continues to play an important role in maintaining the identity and cohesiveness of Aramaic-speaking Christian groups.
Within academia, the Peshitta is the focus of ongoing study as scholars examine new manuscripts and critical editions. Analysis of Peshitta readings continues to contribute to establishing the original New Testament text. The connections between Syriac, Hebrew, and Greek biblical traditions are fruitful avenues of investigation.
After falling into obscurity in the Western world for many centuries, the Peshitta has regained recognition as an essential ancient translation of the Bible. Critical study of the Peshitta has expanded as more scholars are trained in Aramaic. Continued research initiatives promise to reveal much more about the history and influence of this important biblical text.
