Spyridon Wrote:Besides the Lamsa Bible, what is the best translation of the Aramaic Peshitta? I firmly believe that the Peshitta is the most authoritative version of the New Testament, being written in the same language which Jesus spoke. However, I firmly disagree with Lamsa's divergences from the text itself.
Shlama Spyriodon,
I would like to try and answer all your concerns...
Spyridon Wrote:Would you say that Lamsa's is the absolute best?
I wouldn't, for the same reason you stated above: it diverges from the text in a number of places. While Lamsa's version can be considered accurate from a linguistic position, it is not accurate from a Christian position. Lamsa's version is not suitable for Church & Liturgical use, that's for sure.
Spyridon Wrote:What about Joseph Pashka's The Aramaic Gospels and Acts? That seems to be the most scholarly version of recent times.
Personally I didn't find it anything special, it doesn't compare with Paul Younan's Interlinear, because...
Spyridon Wrote:No, but it doesn't seem he has the doctrinal bias of other Peshitta translators.
That may be the case, but it reads too similar to the Greek texts, and the Peshitta is not identical to the Greek texts, it has different readings in many verses as akhay Paul, Andrew, Dave & others have pointed out on many threads of this forum. Plus Pashka only translated the Gospels & Acts not the entire Peshitta NT. If I'm looking for a translation of the Peshitta, I want one where the translator has translated exactly what the Peshitta says, not "played it safe" by conforming the Peshitta's readings to the Greek texts in order to please popular western scholarship. Greek primacy is the position of mainstream NT scholarship today, if a translation of the Peshitta is "highly regarded" in the mainstream NT scholarship community, then it's probably not an accurate translation.
Spyridon Wrote:I am an Indian Orthodox Christian. Our traditional Bible is the Peshitta. I've owned The Orthodox Study Bible, and I don't like how it refers to us as "Monophysites," which isn't true. It is really just a NKJV with some Orthodox commentary. There is a sense of holiness in the Peshitta which I'm not able to explain.
Have you heard of the upcoming
Eastern Orthodox Bible? Check it out here: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.orthodox-church.info/eob/download.asp">http://www.orthodox-church.info/eob/download.asp</a><!-- m -->. However it's translated from the LXX & Byzantine Greek NT.
Spyridon Wrote:When it comes to translation, it's best to be as unbiased as possible.
In that case I recommend Janet M. Mageira's
Aramaic Peshitta New Testament Translation, for the least biased, though it's not the most accurate, both Dave Bauscher & Paul Younan's Interlinear are way better, but I'm yet to see bias in akhi Paul's Interlinear though Dave's does contain some bias. Andrew Gabriel Roth will release Mari/PEACE soon, and this one is gonna set a new standard in Peshitta translation from what I can tell from what he's told us so far. However you are an Indian Orthodox Christian and Mari/PEACE is targeted towards the Messianic/Nazarene movement but I'm sure if you purchase and copy you won't regret it, you'll still find it worthwhile.
I have to say though what is missing among English translations of the Peshitta Bible, is an "ecclesiastical" version, a version that can be used in the Aramaic Churches - translated by Aramaic Christians for Aramaic Christians from the official Peshitta Bible. Something like the
Eastern Orthodox Bible mentioned above - it's translated by Eastern Orthodox Christians, for Eastern Orthodox Christians, from the official Patriarchal text.
Who knows what the future holds, but I think we can expect to see more projects, and more English translations of the Peshitta in the near future.