THE GOOD NEWS TRANSLATED INTO SYRIAC

As the number of Syriac-speaking Christians increased in the second century, there arose a need for the good news to be translated  into their tongue.  Thus, it appears that Syriac, not Latin, was the first vernacular into which parts  of the Christian Greek Scriptures were translated.  By about 170 C.E., the Syrian writer Tatian (c. 120-17 C.E.) combined the four canonical Gospels and produced, in Greek or Syriac, the work commonly called the Diatessaron, a Greek word meaning "through [the] four [Gospels]."  Later Epraem the Syrian (c. 310-373 C.E.) produced a commentary on the Diatessaron, thus confirming that it was in general use among Syrian Christians. 

The Diatessaron of great interest to us today.  Why? In the 19th century, some scholars argued that the Gospels were written as late as the second century between 130 C.E. and 170 C.E., and thus could be authentic accounts of Jesus' life. However, ancient manuscripts of the Diatessaron that have come to light since then have proved  that the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were already in wide circulation by the middle of the second century.  They must therefore have been written earlier. In addition , since Tatian, when compiling the Diatessaron, did not make  use of any of the so-called apocryphal gospels int he way he did the four accepted Gospels, it is evident that the apocryphal gospels were not viewed  as reliable or canonical.  

By the start of the fifth-century, a translation of the Bible into Syriac came into general use in northern Mesopotatmia. Likely made during the second or third century C.E., this translation included all the books of the Bible except 2 Peter, 2 and 3 John, Jude, and Revelation.  It is known as the Peshitta meaning "Simple" or "Clear." The Peshitta is one of the oldest and most important witnesses to the early transmission of the Bible text. 

Interestingly, one manuscript of the Peshitta has a written date corresponding to 459/460 C.E., making it the oldest Bible manuscript with a definite date. In about 508 C.E., a revision of the Peshitta was made that included the five missing books.  It came to be known  as the Philoxenian Version.

Next time: MORE SYRIAC MANUSCRIPTS DISCOVERED 

From the Watchtower magazine, 2014