Peshitta Forum

Does anyone know if there is a complete digital online version of the Peshitta Tanakh in the original script and/or English translation of it that I can download?

Blessings,
Mikhael

This might help you
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Hello coramdeo,
If you want Peshitta Tanakh (39 books of OT), then its available here to download for free. You can right click and click save target as. Files are in Estrangela script.

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New - Stands for Modern Aramaic version for Modern Aramaic Speakers.

Files without "new" are the original Peshitta Tanakh completed in first century AD. The only difference is these Peshitta Tanakh have vowel markings. While reading Peshitta Tanakh, you can disregard vowel markings since there were no vowel markings during first century AD.

The only available complete translation of Peshitta Tanakh is Lamsa translation of Peshitta Tanakh. I would say that Lamsa translation is alright. Its not great.

Konway,

You are amazing... I should have just PMed you again.. You have been very helpful....

IPOstapyuk, Thank you also.. I am downloading the Ceriani text... which is huge... wow.. What is the date of the Ceriani text?

Blessings,
Mikhael

I think they are around 6-7th century.

At
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as much as I remeber they misuse letter meem that has to be at the end.
The rest is very good text.

Coramdeo, Ceriani text preserves Codex Ambrosianus. Codex Ambrosiano (5th-7th century) includes the following books within it, and are noted as being canonical by Aran Younan: Wisdom, Epistle of Jeremiah, Epistle of Baruch, Baruch, Bel, The Dragon, Susanna, Judith, Ben Sirach, Apocalypse of Baruch, 4 Ezra, 1 - 4 Maccabees, Josephus' Wars of the Jews Book Six.

More information is available here.

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Josephus's Jewish Wars Book Six in Peshitta Tanakh is the original Aramaic version written by Josephus.

Its also believed that book of Daniel (including Susanna, Bel and Dragon, etc.), Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Haggai, Zachariah, Malachi, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Sirach, 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, 3 Maccabees, 4 Maccabees, Judith, and 4 Ezra in Peshitta Tanakh might be the original ones.

It is also possible that book of Jonah and Nahum are also written in Aramaic since these books are concerned about the city of Nineveh.

I believe Madenkha website uses Western Estrangela alphabet while Peshitta used by Church of the East uses Eastern Estrangela Alphabet. So there are "slight" differences.

Konway,

You said "Its also believed that book of Daniel (including Susanna, Bel and Dragon, etc.), Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Haggai, Zachariah, Malachi, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Sirach, 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, 3 Maccabees, 4 Maccabees, Judith, and 4 Ezra in Peshitta Tanakh might be the original ones.

It is also possible that book of Jonah and Nahum are also written in Aramaic since these books are concerned about the city of Nineveh."


I understand the original autographs of all the Old Testament books minus the ones you listed were written in Hebrew but by the time of Ezra the Franco Lingua was written and spoken Aramaic. So wouldn't the rest of the books also have been translated into Aramaic and now the originals that were in Hebrew lost? So wouldn't the oldest manuscripts we have of the entire Old Testament be in Aramaic? Masoretic codex was almost 1000 years after the Messiah.. So wouldn't the Aramaic be the closest thing we have to the originals in terms of the whole Tanakh?

Hello Coramdeo,
Yes, I agree with you that Aramaic be the closest thing we have to the originals in terms of the whole Tanakh. So with the exception of Septuagint, the oldest manuscripts we have of the entire Old Testament is in Aramaic.

That is what I thought.... very interesting and very enlightening..

Through the testimony of Josephus and New Testament Bible, we know that Aramaic was the language spoken by Jews in first century AD. Not Hebrew or Greek.

Upto 130 AD, Aramaic was the only language spoken by Jews. From 131 AD, Bar Kokhba was declared by Jews as their leader. Bar Kokhba means Son of A Star in Aramaic. It was Bar Kokhba (also known as False Messiah) who tried to eliminate Aramaic and replace it with Hebrew. While trying to bring back Hebrew, huge amount of Aramaic vocabulary were loaned into Hebrew since Aramaic was the spoken language of Jews upto that period. For Example, Abba, Corban, Mammon are Aramaic words. These Aramaic words were loaned into Hebrew.

So Hebrew that began from 131 AD is different from Old Hebrew spoken by David, Solomon, and others who lived during Old Hebrew period.

Which would have been Old Paleo Hebrew right?

I believe you are right.

I am just curious.. Besides the Samaritan bible is there any remaining manuscripts of the Tanakh that has the Old Paleo Hebrew Script or have they been lost to time completely?