Lamsa's Translation of the Peshitta
From Textus Receptus
Formally titled The Holy Bible from Ancient Eastern Manuscripts, the Lamsa Bible (which it is commonly called, after its editor, George M. Lamsa) first appeared in 1933. It was derived, both Old and New Testaments, from the Syriac Peshitta, the Bible used by the Assyrian Church of the East and other Syriac Christian traditions.
Lamsa claimed Aramaic primacy, against the academic mainstream opinion of the origin of New Testament texts, and thus claimed his translation was superior to texts based on older Greek manuscripts. Lamsa's translation technique was highly criticised by academics when the book was first published. Translating difficult passages in the Peshitta, Lamsa appears to fall back on the English King James Version of the Bible.
The Peshitta, like the various English language Bibles, was translated from earlier Greek and Hebrew manuscripts. The New Testament translators of the King James Version, for example, used an edition of Erasmus' Greek Textus Receptus. However, a minority argue for Aramaic primacy of the New Testament text.
Discrepancies
Some places in the Lamsa Bible differ greatly from other English-language Bibles. The most controversial of the Bible's rendering is in Matthew.
Template:Bibleref is rendered in the KJV:
And about the ninth hour
Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying,
Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?
that is to say,
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
In contrast, Template:Bibleref is rendered in the Lamsa Bible:
And about the ninth hour,
Jesus cried out with a loud voice and said,
Eli, Eli lemana shabakthan!
My God, my God, for this I was spared!
The text of this verse in the Peshitta in Syriac reads:
ܘܠܐܦ̈ܝ ܬܫܥ ܫܥ̈ܝܢ
ܩܥܐ ܝܫܘܥ ܒܩܠܐ ܪܡܐ ܘܐܡܪ
ܐܝܠ ܐܝܠ ܠܡܢܐ ܫܒܩܬܢܝ{{#if:| |[[Category:Articles containing {{#switch:syr |ar = Arabic |es = Spanish |de = German |fr = French |ja = Japanese |zh = Chinese |bg = Bulgarian |cs = Czech |da = Danish |nl = Dutch |et = Estonian |fi = Finnish |el = Greek |hu = Hungarian |ga = Irish |grc = Ancient Greek |la|lat = Latin |cy = Welsh |en|eng = explicitly cited English |#default = {{#ifexist:Category:Articles containing Template:ISO 639 name syr language text |Template:ISO 639 name syr |non-English }} }} language text]] }}
As can be seen, the Peshitta conflates the words spoken by Jesus and their translation, as given in the earlier Greek manuscripts, into a single line. The Greek word σαβαχθανι{{#if:|
|[[Category:Articles containing {{#switch:el
|ar = Arabic
|es = Spanish
|de = German
|fr = French
|ja = Japanese
|zh = Chinese
|bg = Bulgarian
|cs = Czech
|da = Danish
|nl = Dutch
|et = Estonian
|fi = Finnish
|el = Greek
|hu = Hungarian
|ga = Irish
|grc = Ancient Greek
|la|lat = Latin
|cy = Welsh
|en|eng = explicitly cited English
|#default = {{#ifexist:Category:Articles containing Template:ISO 639 name el language text
|Template:ISO 639 name el
|non-English
}}
}} language text]]
}} (sabachthani) is a reasonable transliteration of the Aramaic שבקתני{{#if:|
|[[Category:Articles containing {{#switch:arc
|ar = Arabic
|es = Spanish
|de = German
|fr = French
|ja = Japanese
|zh = Chinese
|bg = Bulgarian
|cs = Czech
|da = Danish
|nl = Dutch
|et = Estonian
|fi = Finnish
|el = Greek
|hu = Hungarian
|ga = Irish
|grc = Ancient Greek
|la|lat = Latin
|cy = Welsh
|en|eng = explicitly cited English
|#default = {{#ifexist:Category:Articles containing Template:ISO 639 name arc language text
|Template:ISO 639 name arc
|non-English
}}
}} language text]]
}} (šḇaqtan(î), where the final î was not pronounced in all varieties). This word appears exactly the same, ܫܒܩܬܢܝ{{#if:|
|[[Category:Articles containing {{#switch:syr
|ar = Arabic
|es = Spanish
|de = German
|fr = French
|ja = Japanese
|zh = Chinese
|bg = Bulgarian
|cs = Czech
|da = Danish
|nl = Dutch
|et = Estonian
|fi = Finnish
|el = Greek
|hu = Hungarian
|ga = Irish
|grc = Ancient Greek
|la|lat = Latin
|cy = Welsh
|en|eng = explicitly cited English
|#default = {{#ifexist:Category:Articles containing Template:ISO 639 name syr language text
|Template:ISO 639 name syr
|non-English
}}
}} language text]]
}} (šḇaqtan(î)), in the Peshitta. The root ܫܒܩ{{#if:|
|[[Category:Articles containing {{#switch:syr
|ar = Arabic
|es = Spanish
|de = German
|fr = French
|ja = Japanese
|zh = Chinese
|bg = Bulgarian
|cs = Czech
|da = Danish
|nl = Dutch
|et = Estonian
|fi = Finnish
|el = Greek
|hu = Hungarian
|ga = Irish
|grc = Ancient Greek
|la|lat = Latin
|cy = Welsh
|en|eng = explicitly cited English
|#default = {{#ifexist:Category:Articles containing Template:ISO 639 name syr language text
|Template:ISO 639 name syr
|non-English
}}
}} language text]]
}} has the basic meaning of 'to leave, go away, leave behind, allow, send away, forgive, desert, forsake'.
See the discussions in George Lamsa and Words of Jesus on the cross, section "Eli Eli lema sabachthani".
