03-25-2014, 04:58 PM
Well, I am a believer in the Pentecostal experience as well. It's good to find common ground. I believe that God lead me to the Peshitta. I fought the idea that it was the original or most reliable New Testament text for as long as I could. The Peshitta is at least about as old as the Greek. In the 19th century, some scholars viewed it as equal to the Greek text!
The Peshitta is the basis for the 2nd century Diatessaron, quoted by Aphrahat in the 2nd century, has wordplays and poetry lost in the Greek, it also explains difficult New Testament passages. The Greek New Testament's grammar is also a lot like the Septuagint, showing that it is a literal translation of a Semitic language original. I find polysemy and wordplay to be the strongest evidence for Aramaic primacy. The Greek surely has some wordplay, but nowhere near as much as the Aramaic. You don't hear about a lot of people citing wordplay in the Greek version.
The Peshitta is the basis for the 2nd century Diatessaron, quoted by Aphrahat in the 2nd century, has wordplays and poetry lost in the Greek, it also explains difficult New Testament passages. The Greek New Testament's grammar is also a lot like the Septuagint, showing that it is a literal translation of a Semitic language original. I find polysemy and wordplay to be the strongest evidence for Aramaic primacy. The Greek surely has some wordplay, but nowhere near as much as the Aramaic. You don't hear about a lot of people citing wordplay in the Greek version.