PESHITTA INSTITUTE COMMUNICATION XVI

TOWARDS AN EDITION OF THE SYRIAC VERSION OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 1) Introduction Who is interested in an edition of the Syriac version of the Old Testament? 1. Those who study the philology and linguistics of the Syriac language, because of the importance of the version as part of the literature from early times. 2. Those who study manuscripts, the script, the dates, the origin and the connection of one with another. 3. Those who study the history of the Syriac-speaking churches, their liturgy and the function of the Bible in patristic literature. 4. Those who study textual and exegetical subjects of the Old Testament. It would be ideal to entrust the preparation of an edition to people competent in all the various aspects of the subject. It is a matter of fact, however, that the Peshitta Committee of the International Organization for the Study of the Old Testament failed to realize such a reasonable demand. Most of the collaborators in the project are students of the Old Testament looking for a trustworthy tool for the study of the Hebrew Bible, for which we need the help of the ancient versions because the transmission of the Hebrew text is poor and known almost entirely from late manuscripts. First, I shall examine attempts to obtain a more balanced and objective view of the problems involved, and I shall sketch the main lines of research in the past century. Secondly, I shall report, in connection with the outline of the progress of research, on the edition that is in the course of publication. I. Main lines of research in the past century In 1869 A. M. Ceriani wrote of his plan to publish a critical edition of the Syriac version of the Old Testament after finishing a photolithographic edition of Codex Syro-Hexaplaris 2). The latter came out in 1874, but not an edition of the Peshitta. Instead, a facsimile edition of Codex Ambrosianus B 21 Inf. began to appear in 1876 and was completed in 1881, and by this Ceriani did textual studies yeoman service 3).

1) This article is based on a public lecture delivered in the University of Cam- bridge on 22 October 1980. 2) In Le edizionie i manoscrittidelle versionisiriache del VecchioTestamento (Milan, 1869). 3) It suffices to refer to the instructive reviews by Th. Nöldeke in Literarisches Centralblatt (a weekly) in 1876, 1878, 1880, and 1883. Ceriani's notes on the famous manuscript, which were made during the preparation of the facsimile edition, are at the disposal of students of the codex in the Ambrosian Library in Milan. 347

In his review of Le edizioni in 1 869 4), Th. Nöldeke rejoiced in Ceriani's plan to prepare a critical edition, but he continued with the words: "Other- wise we must admit candidly that we do not cherish high hopes for such an edition, even for one based upon the most ancient and best manuscripts. If we observe the corruptions already to be found in Aphrahat's and St. Ephrem's Peshitta, we cannot escape the conclusion that the Syriac version of the Old Testament has been handled very carelessly and arbitrarily, particularly in the earliest period of its existence, from which we have no manuscript, so that the deterioration of the text from about the 5th century up to our editions may have been less than it was before that date" 5). A century has passed since the facsimile edition of Codex Ambrosianus appeared. It seems a suitable time to ask whether progress has been made in the field of Peshitta research, and whether Noldeke was right in thinking that an edition is doomed to fall short of the requirements that guarantee a reliable result. There are several surveys of Peshitta studies, of which I shall mention some: in the first place, the contributions of F. C. Burkitt and Th. Noldeke to the Encyclopaedia Biblica (London, 1899-1903). Burkitt considers the "Syriac Vulgate" a translation made directly from the Hebrew text by Jewish scholars. Elsewhere, he notes a tendency to correct readings with the help of the Septuagint 6). In his contribution to the Encyclopaedia Biblica N61deke, who in 1876 7) had supposed the version to be of Christian origin, emphasizes the character of the Edessene dialect as the language of the Church, of literature, and of cultivated intercourse. It has a very definite, fixed form, and is considerably different from popular speech. This subject, "literary language", has been accentuated in recent studies of the origin of the translation by K. Beyer 8), J. C. Greenfield 9) and others 4) In Literarf.rcbe.rCentralblatt 41, 2 October 1869. b) "Uebrigens mussen wir aufrichtig gestehen, dasz wir von einer solchen Ausgabe auch nach den altesten Handschriften keine ibertriebenen Erwartungen hegen. Beobachten wir die Corruptionen, welche schon Aphraates und St. Ephraim in ihrer Peschitta hatten, so wird sich der Schluss nicht abweisen lassen, dasz gerade in der allerfriihesten Zeiten, bis in welche keine Handschrift reicht, das syrische Alte Testament am nachlassigsten und Willkirlichsten behandelt ist, so dasz die Verschlechterung, welche diese Text etwa seit dem 5. Jahrhundert bis zu unseren Ausgaben erlitten hat, kaum so gross sein dfrfte wie die, welche ihn bis dahin betroffen hatte." 6) Burkitt's main interest was the New Testament. The name "Syriac Vulgate" was given by B. F. Westcott and F. J. A. Hort. Compare too Burkitt's St Margaret's Lectures, Early Eastern Christianity (London 1904), in particular lecture II, "The Bible in Syriac", pp. 39-78. The name "Peshitta" is a neo-Syriac word meaning "stripped of", "dismantled", a straight translation without midrashic digression. Its meaning is thus similar to that of "Vulgate". 7) In TheologischeLiteraturzeitung 11 (1876), col. 281: a Christian origin, but with Jewish influence. 8) "Der reichsaramaische Einschlag in der altesten syrischen Literatur", ZDMG 116 (1966), pp. 242-54. e) "Standard literary Aramaic", in Actes du premier congrèsinternational de lin- gui.rtiquesémitique et chamito-sémitique,Paris 16-19juillet 1969 (The Hague, 1974), pp. 280-9.