Section III: On the Syriac Version of the New Testament
Section III: On the Syriac Version of the New Testament
§ 509. In our treatise De method. studii theolog., part 2, sect. 1, c. 3, we explained under what circumstances the Syriac translation of the New Testament reached Europe. Johannes Balthasar Baumbach explains this in greater detail in his treatise De linguis oriental., c. 13. Because this book is in the hands of but few people, we shall quote certain things from it here:
When Leo X was the Roman pope, who held the council called by Julius II at the Lateran, there were sent from Syria the legates Acurius Josephus, a priest; Moses Monachus, a deacon; and Helias, a subdeacon. These were learned and scholarly men who at that time taught Syriac literature to Theseus Ambrosius Albonesius, a royal lawyer. Many years later, within his monastic cells (for he was bound by his vow to the canonical institution of St. Augustine), he profited so much from his meditating that the Syrians were amazed at his keen and quick spirit in this labor.
Furthermore, in 1529 Johannes Albertus Widmanstadius, a lawyer and chancellor of the eastern provinces of Austria, was in the retinue of Emperor Charles V, who was going to Bologna for the sake of the sacred crown. He and his fellow travelers were by chance assigned lodging by the quartermasters of Reggio Emilia [Regium Lepidi] near the monastery where Theseus, now an old man, was living. On the following day, Widmanstadius entered the church, met the venerable old man by accident, and greeted him. When Theseus learned that Widmanstadius was interested in finding out about the library of the monastery and the rare books in it, he immediately took him into his room, picked up the Holy Gospels written in Syriac from the bookshelf, and said tearfully: “My guest, I have given myself to these foreign language studies for about fifteen years and have loved them without a rival until today. How I wished that some day there would come to me a man with a quick and ready talent who would want to take from me these words of Jesus Christ, consecrated with His most holy lips, to pass them down to posterity as by hand, for age has nearly taken its final toll of me!” Widmanstadius replied: “Father, if you are willing to spare the effort of a few hours, you will have me as a ready listener to this enterprise.”
When Theseus heard this, he brought out all the treasures in that language that he had prepared for himself with great effort and wrote down in his own handwriting as much from his commentaries as the shortness of the time would allow. Theseus did this for Widmanstadius with this earnest entreaty that, with the same kindness with which Theseus was embracing him, Widmanstadius would place that in the hands of the Church of Jesus Christ.
Four years later, in the library of Lactantius Ptolemaeus, he discovered the four books of the evangelists along with some short works of the Syrians Ephraem and Jacob. He soon transcribed these and kept them along with the splendid gift of Theseus. Then, while he was at the monastery of Simeon of the Syrians who inhabited the ridge of Lebanon, a learned bishop, he made such progress that the earnest wish of Theseus, which he caught from introducing the language of Christ into the Latin Church, could now be somewhat satisfied.
After several years, during which Widmanstadius was busy with this concern, he was returning from an assembly of princes that was held at Heilbronn [Heliobrunae]. Along the way, at Raetia Ripensis, he met Moses Meredinaeus, a priest from Mesopotamia. Moses had been sent by Ignatius, patriarch of Antioch, to Rome as an orator, both for other reasons and in order to bring back to Syria especially a volume of the Testament duplicated by a printing press. Although he was relying on the gracious favor of important people, he had discovered neither at Rome nor at Venice anyone who wanted to attempt this great and difficult task. He nevertheless followed the advice of some people who knew that Widmanstadius was burdened with almost the same concern. In the company of the Pole Rainoldus, who at that time was going to Britain as a legate, Moses hurried to Widmanstadius and met him along the way. Widmanstadius received him like a divinely offered gift and took him with himself to Emperor Ferdinand. He explained the entire situation to Ferdinand, who promised that in proportion to his piety he would kindly and generously subsidize the expense for this wonderful work. That this work might be published without error and with distinction, the emperor commanded that Widmanstadius be allowed to perform this immortal task for the Christians of Asia who use the ancient language of the Syrians partly as a popular language and partly in sacred matters and who retain scarcely any traces of their religion except Baptism because of their lack of the sacred books.
While everything was being gathered together to carry out these commands, Widmanstadius and Moses began to lose hope. On their behalf William Postellus intervened, a man learned beyond the capability of many people. He had traveled once or twice through the greater part of Asia and had endeavored to pick up the great resources of both the Syriac and Arabic languages. He offered them his uncommon assistance. Thus by the kindness of the devout Emperor Ferdinand, the four holy monuments of the evangelists were first brought out into the light, printed in Venice in the Syriac language and characters. A short while later, the Epistles of the apostles followed.
** The Syriac New Testament was published both by others and by Immanuel Tremellius, who added a Latin translation, and by Guido Fabricius with an interlinear translation. These latter two, however, changed the Syriac characters into Hebrew letters, as did also Raphelengius. Arias Montanus published it in his great Antwerp Bible, using the characters of both languages. **
§ 510. The Christians in Syria assign much weight to this Syriac translation and relate its origin to the evangelist Mark.
** Albertus Widmanstadius says that the Syrians consistently claim that St. Mark translated his Gospel into his mother tongue—and not only his Gospel but also the other books of the New Testament. He says that William Postellus indicated this to him by letter but that this idea itself comes from an ancestral tradition. (In Antid. Matt. 26, Stapleton says that the Syrians still hold it as authentic.) **
Tremellius, preface to the Syriac. paraph.: “It is in complete harmony with the truth that this was accomplished around the beginning of Christ’s Church, either by the apostles themselves or by their disciples, unless we perhaps prefer to suspect that in writing they wanted to have regard only for foreigners, but no regard—or at least very little—for their own peoples.”
** In the same place he says that for the most part it is a faithful expression of its Greek archetype. **
Franciscus Lucas Brugensis, preface to his commentaries on the New Testament, no. 6: “Without doubt, I hold that we must keep and respect the Syriac text of the New Testament on a level with and, in fact, ahead of the oldest Greek text.” Alstedt, Praecog., bk. 2, c. 113, thinks that “it is to be ascribed to the church at Antioch and the Christians first called into it.”
** Bonaventure Cornelius Bertramus, a man skilled in these languages, dares to ascribe the Syriac version to the developing church at Antioch and to the Christians first called into it (preface to his Comparatio grammaticae Syriacae et Arabicae). **
We, however, cannot consider this translation as authentic or equivalent to the Greek text because: (1) It is a translation; hence it is not authentic.
(2) In some places it departs from the Greek text, which alone is authentic in the New Testament. Entire books—namely, 2 Peter, 2 and 3 John, Jude, and Revelation—are lacking in it. It also lacks the account of the adulterous woman at the beginning of John 8. ** (The diligence of several people has now filled these deficiencies.) **
(3) One can make no certain declaration about either its author or its antiquity near apostolic times. Tremellius, loc. cit.: “The Syriac translation, if not entirely, then certainly for its greater part, is a faithful expression of its Greek archetype. Because we have not found this information despite our inquiries, we cannot for the time being define to what author or authors or to what time it is to be ascribed, any more than we can define to what authors the Greek Old Testament and old Latin translations are to be ascribed.” Vergerius, Dial. 3. contra Hosium, mentions that he asked Moses Meredinaeus who he thought wrote the New Testament in Syriac and that he answered: “I do not know the author, but the manuscript is old and does not disagree with the Greek and Latin codices.”
** Cornelius a Lapide, preface to his commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews: “The Syriac version differs from the Syriac language that the Jews spoke at the time of Christ, Paul, and Mark. In Matt. 27:8 instead of Haceldama, as the Jews would say at Christ’s time, the Syriac version of today has aguresa daddema, a Hellenizing, for it formed aguresa from the Greek word 
, “field.” In Matt. 27:46, instead of “Eli, Eli,” as Christ said, the Syriac version of today has “il, il.” Instead of Jerusalem, it has Ourishelem; for Kephas, it has Kipho; for Pascha, it has Pezcho; for Golgotha, it has Golgoulto; for Joseph, it has Jauseph; for Jacob, it has Jaacoub; for Messiah, it has Meshicho. **
(4) There is no mention of it in Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Eusebius, Athanasius, Theophilus, Epiphanius, Jerome, Cyril, Theodoret, and others who taught either in Syria or in Egypt or who discussed the various editions of the Scriptures. Augustine mentions the Syriac translation of the Old Testament and says, “In three Greek manuscripts, a Latin one, and a Syriac one, all agreeing with each other, Methuselah is found to have died six years before the flood” (De civ. D., bk. 15, c. 13). He, however, perhaps means the Chaldaic paraphrase when he speaks of a Syriac manuscript.
(5) In the titles and headings of the chapters there are mentioned: “‘Veneration of the Cross,’ ‘Prayers for the Dead,’ ‘Vigils,’ ‘The Memory of Saints,’ and other things of this sort that had not yet been foisted upon the Church at the time of the apostles.”