LUX VERITAS

LUX VERITAS

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Manuscripts

Peshitta

Syriac

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Reading note

The Bible of the Syriac tradition, in late Aramaic, still in use by the churches of the East. It preserves readings missing from the Greek manuscripts. Selection read in the King James Version text of Matthew (1611, public domain); Portuguese and Spanish are Lux Veritas translations from it. It is not a transcription of the manuscript.

Source: King James Version (London: Robert Barker, 1611), excerpts from Matthew, King James Version translators (1611) · public domain

About this book: context, authorship and themes ↓

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Authorship, Date, and Context

The Syriac designation Peshitta ('the simple' or 'common' version, from pshīṭtā) identifies the standard Bible of Syriac-speaking Christianity. In the specific context of five-part apocryphal groupings indexed in pseudepigraphical and biblical collections ('Peshitta, 5 cap.'), scholars denote the famous corpus of the 'Five Syriac Psalms of David' (Psalms 151 to 155), preserved uniquely alongside the biblical Psalter in ancient Syriac Peshitta manuscripts such as the tenth-century Codex Ambrosianus 12t1 in Milan and Mingana Syr. 31, as documented by James H. Charlesworth and J. A. Sanders in Early Jewish Writings and Emil G. Hirsch in the Jewish Encyclopedia.

The literary origins of these compositions date back to Second Temple Judaism between the third century BCE and the first century CE, when poetic Hebrew psalms circulated prior to the fall of Jerusalem. Simultaneously, the five foundational books of the Peshitta Old Testament (the Pentateuch) were translated directly from Hebrew into Syriac during the first century CE in northern Mesopotamia, associated in early records with King Izates of Adiabene.

Structure

The collection of the Five Apocryphal Syriac Psalms preserved within the Peshitta tradition is organized into five numbered poetic units, conventionally designated as Psalms 151 through 155 (or Syriac Psalms 1 to 5).

Psalm 1 (Psalm 151) recounts David's divine election from rural shepherd to anointed king and his slaying of Goliath; Psalm 2 (Psalm 154) is a communal wisdom hymn urging the faithful to proclaim God's glory in the congregation; Psalm 3 (Psalm 155) is an individual plea for redemption from sin and the pit of death; Psalm 4 (Psalm 152) records David's prayer of deliverance while facing the predatory lion and wolf attacking his flock; and Psalm 5 (Psalm 153) concludes the sequence with thanksgiving for deliverance from savage beasts.

Themes and Key Passages

Central motifs celebrate Davidic piety, the divine lifting up of the humble over the mighty, communal adoration of heavenly wisdom, and heartfelt confidence in God's protective arm against wild predators and spiritual demise. The collection preserves precious Semitic devotional poetry transmitted intact through the Syriac liturgical heritage.

Attesting to the foundational academic recovery and translation of this Syriac manuscript corpus in modern scholarship, biblical historian James Charlesworth notes: "The Five Syriac Psalms were translated by W. Wright".

Summary by Parts

Shepherd's Anointing and Victory over Goliath (Psalm 151): David recalls his childhood tending fatherly sheep and fashioning musical pipes; the Lord dispatched his angel to anoint him above his tall brothers, granting him strength to sever the Philistine's head with his own sword.

Communal Praise and the Wisdom of the Most High (Psalm 154): The holy congregation is exhorted to glorify God's majesty, acknowledging that divine wisdom is granted to the simple and that prayerful thanksgiving honors the Creator above rich offerings.

Supplication for Deliverance from Guilt and Sheol (Psalm 155): An earnest penitent pleads for forgiveness of transgressions, beseeching the Lord not to deliver him into the hands of tormentors nor allow his soul to sink into the desolate abyss.

Peril before the Wild Beasts and Joyous Thanksgiving (Psalms 152 and 153): David cries out to God when attacked by a lion and a wolf preying upon his father's sheep, concluding with a triumphant psalm of gratitude after divine intervention rescues his life from mortal peril.

Reception

The historic authenticity and ancient Hebrew provenance of these Syriac psalms received dramatic validation in 1956 through the recovery of the Great Psalms Scroll in Cave 11 at Qumran (11QPsa), which contained the original Hebrew Vorlage of Psalms 151, 154, and 155 dating to the first half of the first century CE.

The Peshitta has served continuously for nearly two millennia as the authorized liturgical version for the Church of the East, the Syrian Orthodox Church, and the Maronite Church. In modern textual scholarship, the five apocryphal psalms were edited by William Wright in 1887, Alphonse Mingana in 1927, and Martin Noth in 1930, forming a distinguished component of the Leiden Peshitta Institute critical editions.

Sources

Dossier

The Bible of the churches of the Syriac tradition, in the Aramaic of Edessa: an ancient translation of the Hebrew and the Greek that is still read in the liturgy.

Where this text comes from

The Old Testament translation, made largely from Hebrew, is attributed to Jews or Jewish Christians and placed by the second century. The New Testament, made from Greek, dates from the early fifth century. The name comes from Syriac pshitta, «simple».

Place in the biblical tradition

It is not a separate book but a version of the whole Bible. In its first form it left out 2 Peter, 2 and 3 John, Jude and Revelation, which entered only in the revision of 616.

Dating, manuscripts and reception

The Peshitta is the standard Bible of the churches of the Syriac tradition. The name comes from Syriac pshitta, «simple», though it is also translated «common» or «straight». The Old Testament was translated largely from Hebrew, with support from the Septuagint and the Targums, by Jews or Jewish Christians, by the second century. The New Testament was translated from Greek, probably in the early fifth century.

That first New Testament version left out five disputed books: 2 Peter, 2 and 3 John, Jude and Revelation. They entered only in the Harklean version, by Thomas of Harqel, of 616. The Peshitta circulated widely in Asia and influenced the Armenian, Georgian, Arabic and Persian versions. The Nestorian stele of Chang'an, from the eighth century, is a sign that Syriac Scriptures reached China.

What you will find

  • It preserves readings that help compare the Hebrew text, the Septuagint and the Greek manuscripts.
  • Its readers spoke a variety of Aramaic, the language Jesus and the apostles used every day.
  • It served as the base for the Armenian, Georgian, Arabic and Persian versions.
  • An eighth-century stele at Chang'an (China) attests the presence of Syriac Scriptures in the far East.

Frequently asked questions

What does Peshitta mean?
It comes from Syriac pshitta, «simple». It is also translated «common», in the sense of made for everyone, or «straight».
Is the Peshitta older than the Greek manuscripts?
Not in the New Testament, which was translated from Greek in the early fifth century. In the Old Testament the translation is much older, which is why it interests scholars of the Hebrew text.

Sources

  • S. P. Brock, The Bible in the Syriac Tradition, 2nd ed. (Piscataway: Gorgias Press, 2006).
  • M. P. Weitzman, The Syriac Version of the Old Testament: An Introduction (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999).
  • F. Cross & E. Livingstone (eds.), The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005), s.v. «Peshitta».

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Septuagint
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