Debunking another Trimmism

[Paul Younan]

Shlama Akhi Dave,

Ephraim's commentary on Tatian's Diatesseron does not contain quotes from either the Peshitta or Old Scratch. He is quoting from Tatian's Diatesseron - after all, that's the version he is commenting on! <!-- s --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/smile.gif" alt="" title="Smile" /><!-- s -->

As for Church fathers exclusively quoting western-style texts over the Peshitta - that is simply not true. We have scores of quotes in the forum from Mar Aphrahat quoting the Peshitta. And he lived before Ephraim.

More importantly, Ephraim was a western Aramaic monk = he used the Diatesseron before Rabbula was able to detroy all copies in those areas and replaced them with his own Old Scratch version.

Aphrahat was on the other side of the border, in the eastern empire - and again, he predates Ephraim.

What you're looking at is the Peshitta's slow rise to dominance in the Western Aramaic tradition. They went from Diatesseron to Old Scratch to Peshitta and then finally to Peshitto (additional books and verses added to the original Peshitta.)

The Peshitta, in the east, was there all along.....