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.

Matthew 27:46 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, Matthew 27:46 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

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 (sabachthani) is a reasonable transliteration of the Aramaic שבקתני (šḇaqtan(î), where the final î was not pronounced in all varieties). This word appears exactly the same, ܫܒܩܬܢܝ (šḇaqtan(î)), in the Peshitta. The root ܫܒܩ 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".

External links

Lamsa Old Testament / Lamsa New Testament

The King James Version 2023 Edition New Testament is now complete and in print format here.

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