The Syriac Peshitta Bible with English Translation: John

Abstract

Several volumes in The Syriac Peshitta Bible with English Translation series, in what is called the Antioch Bible, have been published in recent years, including the four Gospels and the book of Acts, as well as a host of volumes on the other books of the Old and New Testaments. We look forward to the completion of this important series in the not-too-distant future.The volume under review in this series is the Gospel of John. The Syriac text of the volume has been edited by George Kiraz, the editor-in-chief of Gorgias Press and director of the Syriac Institute. The English translation is by Jeff W. Childers, professor of NT and Early Christianity at Abilene Christian University, and James R. Prather, also a member of the faculty at Abilene Christian University. Professor Childers has provided introductions and English translations for a number of volumes in the series. In the volume under review, both Childers and Prather have written the introduction to the translation, which includes questions relating to the Syriac, Aramaic, and relationship to the Greek, as well as translation policy and a helpful bibliography. Perusal of the section on translation policy shows how it is necessary to offer a dynamic equivalent, rather than a literal rendering.The volume on John, like the other volumes in the series, presents the Syriac text on the side with the even-numbered pages, which in Semitic books is the right side, not the left, and the English translation on the left (the odd-numbered pages). In Semitic style, the book begins on the right end of the book and works to the left. On the left, or what would be the front of an European-language book, Kiraz provides a foreword to the edition (pp. ix–xi). He explains that the Syriac text is taken from the British and Foreign Bible Society edition of 1905, which was itself based on the critical text produced by P. E. Pusey and G. H. Gwilliam, eds., Tetraeuangelium sanctum juxta simplicem Syrorum versionem ad fidem codicum, Massorae, editionem denuo recognitum (Oxford: Clarendon, 1901).The title of the Gospel of John in Syriac is “The Holy Gospel Proclamation of John.” Kiraz explains that “the text of John is based on 38 manuscripts mainly belonging to the fifth–eighth centuries, with very few variants amongst them” (p. ix). Kiraz also clarifies the steps taken to correct misprints, archaic spelling, and a variety of other solecisms and distracting features. The chapter and verse divisions are based on the Western convention, but the Syriac chapter divisions are provided in the margin. As in the other volumes, an attractive and easy-to-read Serto Syriac script is used.In their introduction to the translation (pp. xv–xli) Childers and Prather discusss John’s place in the history of the Syriac NT, both in the “Gospel of the Separated” (Evangeliōn da-mepharreshē), as well as in the “Gospel of the Mixed” (Evangeliōn da-mehalletē), better known in the West as Tatian’s Diatessaron (“[the one Gospel] through four”). They briefly evaluate the theory that the Syriac text retains the original Aramaic Gospel, which appears in later, translated form in the Greek manuscripts. Childers and Prather find this unconvincing. They rightly observe that many glosses, which explain the meaning of Hebrew or Aramaic, remain in the Syriac text (see, e.g., John 1:42; 5:2; 19:13, 17; 20:16). If the Syriac/Aramaic text was original, why would these glosses appear in it? Their appearance in the Syriac suggests that the Syriac is dependent on the Greek text, whose original readers needed the glosses to understanding the meaning of the Semitic words and phrases.Of course, the Syriac text often does help scholars understand better the Semitic substratum that ultimately lies behind John and the other Gospels. The Gospel of John in particular is at points clarified by the Syriac text, given the former’s “Aramaic cultural and linguistic background” and “Semitic flavor” (p. xix). In a number of instances the Syriac text removes the ambiguity of the Greek text. One immediately thinks of John 5:39, where Jesus speaks either descriptively, “You search the Scriptures,” or imperativally, “Search the Scriptures!” The Syriac reads unambiguously in the imperative. Also at John 14:1, where Jesus’s words can be understood in a declarative sense, “You believe in God; believe also in me,” or in an interrogative sense, “Do you believe in God? Do you believe in me?” The Syriac understands the text in the definitive sense, “Believe in God, and believe in me.”As in the Syriac text of the other Gospels, the Syriac text of the Gospel of John presents a number of interesting readings. At John 4:45, the Galileans welcome Jesus “because they had seen all the signs that he did in Jerusalem at the festival,” but in the Greek it says that they “had seen all the things that he did in Jersualem at the festival.” The Syriac text reflects an understanding of the importance of signs in the Gospel of John. At John 11:5, the Syriac reads, “Jesus loved Martha and Mary and Lazarus,” whereas the Greek says, “Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.” At John 12:3, the Syriac reads, “Mary took an alabaster box of the finest nard perfume,” whereas the Greek says nothing about an alabaster box. The detail has been drawn from Luke 7:37.Other readings in Syriac John agree with the majority (or Byzantine) Greek tradition. In agreement with the Majority Text, John 3:13 reads, “No one has gone up to heaven except him who came down from heaven—the Son of Man, who is in heaven.” Several early and important manuscripts omit the last phrase (e.g., 𝔓66 𝔓75 א B L T Ws 33). Other examples of agreement with the Majority Text will be found in John 3:34; 5:3–4, 16; 6:69; 9:35; 14:4; and 16:16. There are also examples of agreements with these earlier and important manuscripts. For example, Syriac John omits 7:53–8:11 (as do 𝔓66 𝔓75 א Avid B Cvid Lc N T W 33 and many others). At 12:9, Syriac John reads, “Large crowds of the Jews heard that Jesus was there,” in agreement with Codex Bezae and the Old Latin, but not with the rest of the manuscript tradition, which reads, “Large crowds of the Jews knew that Jesus was there.” Other examples where Syriac John agrees with early or distinctive tradition include 14:17 and 21:7.Like the other volumes already reviewed in BBR, Syriac John in the Antioch Bible reads well and is easy to use. This is another splendid volume in a very useful series.