02-15-2009, 07:00 AM
Quote:This is all possibly true, but we are still left with the fact that all (or most) of the NT authors don't quote the massoretic text. So the massoretic text may have existed, but it doesn't seem to have been popular.
The peshitta NT quotes seem to tell us that a version existed, that was popular, that was closer to the LXX(s) we have today.
It is hard to be certain about how this came about. Maybe the LXX was edited to resemble the GNT which was translated from the Peshitta NT. <!-- s:biggrin: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/biggrin.gif" alt=":biggrin:" title="Big Grin" /><!-- s:biggrin: --> There are many possibilties.
Shlama:
I have compared some of the quotes in the Peshitta New Testament and they are almost verbatim with the Ambrosiano Codex. I'm not sure just when the Peshitta A"NK was first translated from the Hebrew T"NK. It makes sense to me that the Peshitta New Testament quoted from an Aramaic "translation" of the Hebrew T"NK. After all, the Aramaic Targums were pre-Christian, but they are somewhat paraphrased. The Ambrosiano Peshitta A"NK is more literally translated from the Hebrew T"NK, in my opinion. Once again it makes sense to me that it was necessary to have an accurate literal translation into Aramaic of the Jewish Bible, some time after Ezra the Scribe. The Ambrosiano Codex is quite useful when it is used in conjunction with the Peshitta New Testament.
Having said this, I just don't see how the Greek LXX and the Greek New Testament can be relied upon for accuracy, since the Greek Old Testament is somewhat paraphrased and the Greek New Testament, with all of its manuscript variances is a translation of the Peshitta New Testament, again in my opinion.
When it comes to the Hebrew T"NK, it's the best we have as representative of the best Jewish scribal tradition. The Dead Sea Scrolls are a testimony of the ancientness of the Jewish Bible but they are not part of the Jewish Scribal tradition that we now understand as Massoretic.
Shlama,
Stephen
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