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Janet Magiera's Peshitta New Testament
#1
Janet Magiera's 'Peshitta New Testament':

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="ttp://www.amazon.com/Aramaic-Peshitta-New-Testament-Translation/dp/0967961351/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1197762032&sr=8-1">ttp://www.amazon.com/Aramaic-Peshitta-N ... 032&sr=8-1</a><!-- m -->


Here's a review that I wrote for Barnes and Noble:

Janet Magiera's 'Peshitta' Translation
Albion Guppy, a Peshitta New Testament enthusiast, 06/29/2007

I've been reading Janet Magiera's Peshitta translation. I'm in Yohannon's (John's) Gospel right now. If the truth be told, I think that Ms. Magiera translated from the Peshitto, and NOT the Peshitta though. But I think that it's better than Murdock's Peshitto translation. Magiera did NOT use Aramaic (Syriac) names for Yeshua, or His disciples, or anyone else in the N.T. I personally found that to be a bummer. There are a few sentences that are redundant in her N.T. (which she calls 'The Peshitta'). I would have personally removed those, but since I don't speak Syriac, there MIGHT have been a logical reason to retain them in this translation. Magiera did a pretty good job of translating, and considering her tight connection to George Lamsa, her translation is remarkably free of 'Lamaism's'. That surprises me. Her N.T. is also bound well, and it's easy to read, overall. Sometimes I find myself reading a passage twice, or three times, and then checking it against another translation of the P'shitta. Usually that's Pashka's Peshitta N.T., which I don't like near as much as Magiera's translation. The best of all (in my opinion) is Paul Younan's Peshitta translation, but it's only the four Gospels. I wish that Janet Magiera's Peshitta/Peshitto translation had also been published in a leather edition, but alas, it's only published in hard back. I personally think that when Andrew Gabriel Roth publishes his Mari/P.E.A.C.E. Peshitta translation, that there will probably be no longer a reason to study from Magiera's translation, but I guess that we'll find that out in due time. I would probably give this 'Peshitta' translation 4 out five stars. It's quite readable, but I think that Janet Magiera flaked out, by not using Aramaic (or Syriac) names for N.T. character's.

P.S. I took out ONE SENTENCE from the original review, that I now feel is unmerited.

ALSO Joseph Pashka's translation has GREEK insertations in places.

I now avoid it TOO.

Let the buyer beware!
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#2
Thanks albion, this is helpful. I was contemplating purchasing both Magiera's and Pashka's editions. Your review makes me think twice about spending the money, especially this time of the year.
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#3
I recently acquired Bibleworks version 7 and was delighted to learn that it comes with a copy of Janet Magiera's Peshitta New Testament. Then I read here that it is supected to be the Peshitto rather than Peshitta. Can anyone elaborate on how we can be certain that it is really the Peshitto (and not the Peshitta)?
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#4
Shlama Jhguynn,

While I don't have Janet Magiera's Software package, I DO have her "Peshitta" N.T.

If you look at the bottom of some pages she will give the Eastern text of the P'shitta variant readings.

I forget exactly, but I think that she says something to this effect:

"The Eastern textual variant says such and such......."

I think that maybe in her short introduction that she also says that she is translating from the Peshitto, but I'm not sure.

Also, in her "Peshitta N.T." Acts 20:28, and Hebrews 2:9, are BOTH from the Western Peshitto.

I really thought that her "Peshitta" was "Western Peshitto Lite" (not near as filling, nor does it taste the same as the Eastern P'shitta N.T.! lol).

I hope that this helps.

Shlama, Albion


jhguynn Wrote:I recently acquired Bibleworks version 7 and was delighted to learn that it comes with a copy of Janet Magiera's Peshitta New Testament. Then I read here that it is supected to be the Peshitto rather than Peshitta. Can anyone elaborate on how we can be certain that it is really the Peshitto (and not the Peshitta)?
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#5
I also have Magiera's BibleWorks "peshitta" module + the morphology. Her English translation of the Peshitto is good, probably the best one to date IMO. But the real reason I got this module was for the morphology which she ties to Strong's Hebrew Concordance, this has been very helpful in my Peshitta studies so I highly recommend it.

Of course the king of the Aramaic versions is Younan's interlinear, and it's one of the few that are based on the actual/authentic Peshitta (the Eastern/Nestorian text). Akhi Paul, I really hope that you will finish your translation someday, I don't wanna be pushy, but we really need this valuable resource!
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#6
Christina Wrote:Akhi Paul, I really hope that you will finish your translation someday, I don't wanna be pushy, but we really need this valuable resource!

I will....feeling guilty. <!-- sHuh --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/huh.gif" alt="Huh" title="Huh" /><!-- sHuh -->
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#7
Here's what Janet Magiera wrote in her 'Introduction' to her "Peshitta":

"The text used in this translation as the base text is taken from The Syriac New Testament and Psalms, published by the United Bible Societies. In 1905, the British and Foreign Bible Society published an edition of the Peshitta, reprinted by permission from a critical edition prepared by Rev. G. H. Gwilliam in 1901. This is a critical text of the Peshitta, meaning that ***it is a composite of readings from different manuscripts that were located in the British Museum***. ***It is known as a western text of the Peshitta and varies to a small degree from other eastern versions of the Peshitta***. In the footnotes, these differences from the eastern version are noted as variant readings. In this translation, the text is called THE PESHITTA. However, some would distinguish that the Peshitta is the name for ***only the eastern version*** and that the western text should be called Peshito. In order to simplify the reference in this translation, BOTH VERSIONS are called the Peshitta."

There it is, right in her own words.

And, I might add, that like Victor Alexander's 'Disciples New Testament', some of the BEST of Janet Magiera's stuff is IN THE FOOTNOTES.

I hope that this helps clarify that she used the Western Peshitto as her base text.

Shlama, Albion




jhguynn Wrote:I recently acquired Bibleworks version 7 and was delighted to learn that it comes with a copy of Janet Magiera's Peshitta New Testament. Then I read here that it is supected to be the Peshitto rather than Peshitta. Can anyone elaborate on how we can be certain that it is really the Peshitto (and not the Peshitta)?
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