Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Couple of questions
#2
Shlama,

welcome to the forum. i'll answer a few of the questions and leave the others for someone else.
<!-- s:biggrin: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/biggrin.gif" alt=":biggrin:" title="Big Grin" /><!-- s:biggrin: -->

Andrej Wrote:1) i do know that Jesus spoke Aramaic, as well as the apostles, but i am kind of confused on the Syriac alphabet being used in the Peshitta, as i thought that in Jesus' times they exclusively used the Hebrew alphabet. i've also never seen any archaeological excavations from Jesus' time with Syriac writings. But, since i'm no linguist nor an archaeologist, what's the consensus on this, do you believe the Peshitta was written in Syriac alphabet, or was it transferred into Syriac letters later? Around what time? When were the vowel points added to the Syriac text?

Syriac was in use. as for whether the Peshitta was first written in Estrangela or Ashuri script, it may not be a question able to be answered. interestingly, when you start studying the examples of Greek variants that are explained by the Aramaic, you will run across instances where they are explained as a misreading of an Aramaic word, and sometimes this explanation comes from confusion of a word in Estrangela, and sometimes from confusion of a word in Ashuri script, so BOTH lend strong credence to showing that the Greek texts originated from a Semitic tongue. it is deciding which script was used first that may be unanswerable.

Andrej Wrote:3) From what time are the earliest Syriac manuscripts? From what time is the earliest complete Syriac NT (without Western five)? How many manuscripts are there? How many families?

from what i am aware of, there are around 350 Peshitta manuscripts. as for "families," this may not be the best term to use as it is understood in the Greek textual criticism realm. there is the Eastern and the Western Peshitta, with the Western being referred to usually as the Peshitto instead of the Peshitta, but even then some less-specific may still call the Peshitto the Peshitta. but there is a difference between them. the Western Peshitto contains the Western 5, plus a very minor set of variation elsewhere in the text.

Andrej Wrote:4) Is there any information on how diverse the varieties between the manuscripts are? Is there much more unity between the texts as with the Greek (supposedly 99.5%)?

the consonance between the Peshitta texts is a whopping 99.995%, if i recall correctly. the consonance between the Greek is actually much less than you've suggested: the 7 best Greek manuscripts only contain a 62.9% agreement, as tallied by Kurt Aland, in The Text of the New Testament, and this was ignoring verses with only one variant reading, at that.

Andrej Wrote:5) It is quite easily to comprehend that Matthew was written in Aramaic, with all the Church Fathers evidence. You could also persuade me on Hebrews, considering the unique style in the Greek, which may indicate translation, as well as the majority of the NT books.

But then, it seems hard to believe that this is true for any of John's writings (Making extensive use of fine intricacies of Greek grammar, especially in Revelation), or Luke's writings (written to a Greek man) were originally written in Aramaic; and then there are the "Western five" (including Revelation again) that (as i understand) are a translation from the Greek, which means the originals are either lost (anyone here believing in any form of divine preservation?), or written in Greek (which would still make the Greek superior?). And then there is Romans, written by Paul, apostle to the Gentiles, to the Church in Rome, consisting of Gentiles (Rom. 1:13-17). Why would he write Aramaic? Similar arguments can be made for some other books.

Paul would write in Aramaic for the same reason that Josephus composed his works first in Aramaic for the Jews who lived in the Diaspora. even though in the Greek empire, the Greek language was not the most prevalent, and this was especially the case for those of differing ethnic backgrounds who lived within the Empire. i've spent the last year doing verse-by-verse comparison of Paul's letters in the Aramaic and the Greek, because in my opinion, THAT is where the Peshitta-Primacy position would stand or fall most strongly. i've got a book and a half left to finish, but so far my findings are that the Peshitta position of Aramaic originality far outweighs the Greek from a textual standpoint. this can be seen in variant explanations, wordplays, poetic structures, etcetera. if you're interested, i can share more of the evidences of this with you. just send me a pm and we can work out the email info.

Andrej Wrote:It does seem quite logical that the first NT books were written in Aramaic, but i do wonder, does anyone on this board believe (or did anyone seriously consider) that maybe a part of the New Testament was written in Aramaic, whereas a part was written in Greek?

6) Does anyone here believe that the NT should not contain the "Western five"? Does anyone here believe that the Aramaic "Western Five" are superior to the Greek text?

7) Does anyone here believe the Syriac OT is superior to the Hebrew?

you will find opinions of varying degrees on this site to the above questions. don't assume any one single position is held by all. best to ask individually if you need to know.

Andrej Wrote:9) Although i read that this Forum is "Theologically neutral", do most of the Aramaic Primacy believers come from the "Church of the East"? Are there any famous adherents outside of the HACACotE?

you will find individuals from many different "denominations" represented here who hold to it. more and more, it seems, the Messianic community is coming to see the validity of Peshitta-Primacy.

hope those perspectives help!


Chayim b'Moshiach,
Jeremy
Reply


Messages In This Thread
Couple of questions - by Andrej - 08-19-2010, 07:33 PM
Re: Couple of questions - by Burning one - 08-20-2010, 12:51 AM
Re: Couple of questions - by konway87 - 08-20-2010, 02:37 PM
Re: Couple of questions - by Jerry - 08-20-2010, 05:19 PM
Re: Couple of questions - by Andrej - 08-23-2010, 08:53 PM
Re: Couple of questions - by Aaron S - 08-23-2010, 09:15 PM
Re: Couple of questions - by judge - 08-24-2010, 02:02 AM
Re: Couple of questions - by distazo - 08-24-2010, 07:03 AM
Re: Couple of questions - by Burning one - 08-25-2010, 12:06 AM
Re: Couple of questions - by ograabe - 08-25-2010, 11:08 PM
Re: Couple of questions - by ograabe - 08-25-2010, 11:16 PM
Re: Couple of questions - by ograabe - 08-25-2010, 11:49 PM
Re: Couple of questions - by Andrej - 08-27-2010, 10:46 PM
Re: Couple of questions - by ograabe - 08-28-2010, 10:06 PM
Re: Couple of questions - by Burning one - 08-31-2010, 05:58 AM
Re: Couple of questions - by Andrej - 09-07-2010, 10:13 AM
Re: Couple of questions - by Burning one - 09-08-2010, 06:30 AM
Re: Couple of questions - by Andrej - 09-08-2010, 06:46 PM
Re: Couple of questions - by Andrej - 09-12-2010, 08:08 PM
Re: Couple of questions - by IPOstapyuk - 12-18-2011, 04:16 AM

Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)