Early Syriac Translation Technique and the Textual Criticism of the Greek Gospels

By Peter J. Williams (Texts and Studies; Gorgias Press, 2004).

There has been a longstanding assumption by scholars that the Vorlage or text behind a translation can be reconstructed easily and in the case of the Syriac gospels scholars have been very quick to conclude that a particular form of Greek wording has stood behind the Syriac text even though they have not investigated systematically precisely how the translation deals with its Vorlage. This practice has led to a number of incorrect notes concerning the Vorlage of the Syriac being present in the Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graece. Here, for the first time, many phenomena are investigated in a systmatic way. Investigations are made of various phenomena, including the use of personal proper nouns, pronominal objects, particles, and formulae introducing speech. It is shown that a better appreciation of the way a translation was made can lead to significantly different conclusions as regards the textual support for specific readings.