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Full Version: Letter of Aristeas: Syriac in Israel
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Shlama,


i recently was tromping around in Thackeray's 1917 The Letter of Aristeas, and read on page 23:

Quote:Translation is also required. For in the Jews' land they use a peculiar script (just as Egyptians have their system of letters) and speak a peculiar language. It is commonly thought that they use the Syrian language, but this is an error; it is another dialect.

the topic is the making of a Greek copy of the Torah -- the Septuagint. we're told that the Jews are supposedly speakers of Syriac, but are actually speaking a different dialect of it.

obviously, the people of Israel weren't speaking Greek, as Greek is not a dialect of Syriac! they used an obvious dialect of Aramaic! <!-- sConfusedatisfied: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/satisfied.gif" alt="Confusedatisfied:" title="Satisfied" /><!-- sConfusedatisfied: -->

thoughts?


Chayim b'Moshiach,
Jeremy