The Peshitta is the ancient, foundational Bible of the Syriac-speaking Christian world.
In short: Known as the Queen of the versions, the Peshitta is the standard Syriac edition of the Bible. Written in a dialect of Aramaic, this influential text shaped traditions across Asia for centuries. From its mysterious origins to its arrival in Europe, it remains a pillar of Eastern Christian scholarship.
The term Peshitta, derived from the Syriac mappaqtâ pšîṭtâ, is commonly translated as the simple version, though it may also imply a common or straight text. Scholars generally agree that the Old Testament was translated into Syriac by Jews and Jewish-Christians by or before the 2nd century CE. The New Testament, translated from Koine Greek, became a standard by the early 5th century, though it initially excluded books like Revelation and 2 Peter, which were only added later in the 616 CE Harklean Version.
The Peshitta exerted immense missionary influence, reaching as far as China, where the 8th-century Nestorian tablet of Chang'an confirms its presence. Its journey to Europe began in 1555 when Moses of Mardin secured a patron, Albert Widmanstadt, to print the New Testament in Vienna. By 1657, the complete text was included in Walton's London Polyglot. Today, the 1905 United Bible Societies edition remains a standard, based on a collation of over seventy Aramaic manuscripts.
Textual analysis reveals the Peshitta's unique character. In a study of Matthew 1–14, George Gwilliam found that the text differs from both the Textus Receptus and the Codex Vaticanus in 137 instances, often aligning instead with Old Syriac and Old Latin traditions. While some scholars like George Lamsa have championed the Peshitta as an original Aramaic text, the consensus remains that it is a translation. Regardless, its careful and faithful rendering has earned it deep admiration among Syriac scholars for nearly two millennia.
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- Summary by Intellect · source: Peshitta
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