Syriac Sinaiticus

The Syriac Sinaiticus or Codex Sinaiticus Syriacus (syr^s), known also as the Sinaitic Palimpsest and the Old Syriac Gospels is one of the Syriac versions of the Bible. The Syriac Sinaiticus is a late-4th- or early-5th-century manuscript of 179 folios, containing a nearly complete translation of the four canonical Gospels of the New Testament into Syriac, which have been overwritten by a vita (biography) of female saints and martyrs with a date corresponding to AD 697. This palimpsest is the oldest copy of the Gospels in Syriac, one of two surviving manuscripts (the other being the Curetonian Gospels) that are conventionally dated to before the Peshitta, the standard Syriac translation. The Syriac palimpsest [catalogued as Sinai, Syr. 30] was discovered by a Western researcher at Saint Catherine's Monastery on Mount Sinai in 1892.

Text

Both the Syriac Sinaiticus (designated syr^s) [Sinai, Syr 30] and the Curetonian Gospels (designated syr^cur or syr^c) [British Library, Add 14451; Staatsbibliothek, Berlin, Orient Quad 528] known as the Old Syriac version contain similar renderings of the Gospel text; its conformity with the Greek and the Latin has been debated.Additional passages of the Old Syriac version were discovered among the New Finds (1975) of Saint Catherine's Monastery [Sinai, Syr. NF 37, 39].

The Diatessaron, a Harmony of the Four Gospels composed by Tatian in the second century, was being used in the Syrian churches for three centuries, but this was to change. A promulgation by Bishop Rabbula of Edessa between the years A.D. 411 and 435 decreed that the four separate Gospels were to be used in Syriac churches instead. The Old Syriac version of Gospels was the result.

The importance of such early, less-conforming texts is emphasized by the revision of the Peshitta that was made about 508, ordered by bishop Philoxenus of Mabbog. His revision, it is said, skillfully moved the Peshitta nearer to the Greek text; "it is very remarkable that his own frequent Gospel quotations preserved in his writings show that he used an Old Syriac set of the four Gospels".

The Peshitta would evolve and diverge from the Old Syriac Gospels in a number of ways, and became effectively the Syriac "Vulgate." (The Vulgate was originally translated from Greek in the lingua franca of Latin-speaking Christians in Europe and Asia. The Peshitta served a similar purpose for those who spoke the Syriac language.)

History

The palimpsest was identified in the library at Saint Catherine's Monastery in February 1892 by Agnes Smith Lewis, who returned with a team of scholars in 1893 that included J. Rendel Harris, F. C. Burkitt, and R. L. Bensly to photograph and transcribe the work in its entirety.

While there, Lewis also discovered a completely different palimpsest in a different dialect of Syriac unfamiliar to her. This version (and a second copy found by Dr. Harris) was determined to be a lectionary written in Aramaic using Syriac letters. These two lectionaries became known as the Palestinian Syriac version of the Bible, a much later Syriac version of the Bible designated as syr^pal.

The German theologian Adalbert Merx devoted much of his later research to the elucidation of the Syriac Sinaiticus, the results being embodied in (1897–1905).

The Sinaitic Palimpsest immediately became a central document in tracing the history of the New Testament. The palimpsest's importance lies especially in making the Greek New Testament manuscripts understandable to Aramaic speaking communities during that period.

It is still kept by the Monastery.

Notable readings

Bruce Metzger, a textual critic of the New Testament, noted that the Sinaitic and Curetonian versions are both Western texts while supporting "many typically Alexandrian readings." However, a comparison of the two reveals that Curetonian is more often a Western witness than the Syriac Sinaiticus.

The palimpsest lacks the last 12 verses of Mark, Christ's agony (), the Pericope Adulteræ (), and the reconciliation of Pilate with Herod ().

In , it contains "Joseph, to whom was betrothed Mary the Virgin, begat Jesus, who is called the Christ"

In , it contains a singular reading reflecting the Greek ('get you behind' or 'get behind you').

is omitted, as in א* B L Γ Minuscule 1009, ℓ 12, ff¹, k, syr^c, cop^sa.

In , it reflects ('corpse') with א B C D L Θ f¹ f¹³ 33 565 700 892 1241 1424 e k ℓ 844 ℓ 2211 syr^c syr^p cop^bo

In , it reflects ('leaven') with D Θ f¹³ 565 a b ff²

is omitted, as in 𝔓¹⁰⁴ D 33 it^a.b.d.e ff¹ ff² r¹ Irenaeus^lat Origen, Eusebius

In , text reflecting ('Jeremiah') is omitted, as in Φ 33 it^a it^b syr^p cop^bo

In , it reflects ('Jesus the Barabbas') with Θ f¹ 700* arm geo²

In , the phrase when Abiathar was high priest is omitted, as in D, W, 1009, 1546, it^{a.b.d.e.ff².i.r¹.t}

In , the phrase the Pharisees came is omitted, as in D it^a.b.d.k.r¹ (syr^cur)

In , the phrase and be joined to his wife is omitted, as in א B Ψ 892* 2427 ℓ 48 goth

In , it reflects ('opened') with A B L W Ξ 33 579 892 1195 1241 ℓ 547 syr^h syr^pal cop^{sa, bo}

In , it reflects ('Elect One') with 𝔓⁴⁵ 𝔓⁷⁵ א B L Ξ 892 1241 it^a.aur.ff².l vg cop^mss

In , the phrase you are worried and being troubled about many things, but only one thing is needed is omitted, as in it^{a.b.d.e.ff².i.l.r¹} Ambrose

In , the phrase And Jesus said: Father forgive them, they know not what they do is omitted, agreeing with 𝔓⁷⁵ א¹]] B D* W Θ 0124 1241 a Bezae^lat cop^sa cop^bo.

is omitted, as in D it^{a.b.d.e.ff².l.r¹}, syr^cur

In , the phrase after worshiping him is omitted, as in D it^{a.b.d.e.ff².geo².l} (syr^cur)

In , it reflects ('blessing') with 𝔓⁷⁵ א B C* L

In , it reflects ('the Elect One') with 𝔓⁵ 𝔓¹⁰⁶^vid א* it^{b.e.ff^2*} syr^cur

In , the phrase the Lord having given thanks is omitted, as in D 091 it^a.e syr^cur

In , the phrase and his mother is omitted, as in א* W it^b syr^cur

In , it contains a singular reading reflecting the Greek ('God the Father').

In , it reflects ('he who is believing in God has life everlasting') in agreement only with syr^cur.

In , it reflects ('my bread') with א it^a.e.r¹

In , the text who they are who are not believing, and is omitted, as in 𝔓^66* it^e syr^cur

In , the phrase the chief priests and the Pharisees is omitted, as in 118 it^b.e

In , text reflecting ('father') is omitted, as in א* D 1655* it^d syr^cur

In , the phrase our father is omitted, as in D W it^{a.b.c.d.e.ff².j.l} cop^pbo

In , the phrase had been blind and had received sight is omitted, as in 𝔓^66* f¹ 565 it^mss cop^bo

In , it reflects ('Son of Man') with 𝔓⁶⁶ 𝔓⁷⁵ א B D W cop^mss

In , the phrase and the life is omitted, as in 𝔓⁴⁵ it^l Diatessaron^syr Cyprian

In , the phrase the sister of the deceased is omitted, as in Θ it^{aur.b.c.e.ff².l} ac²

In , the phrase of that year is omitted, as in 𝔓⁴⁵ it^e

is omitted, as in D it^d

In , the phrase If God has been glorified in him is omitted, as in 𝔓⁶⁶ א* B C* D L W X 579 it vg^mss syr^h ac² mf co^{bo^mss}

In , the phrase And he said to his disciples starts the passage, as in D it^a.aur.c

is omitted, as in X Λ* 0141 f¹ 565 it^b vg^ms arm

is omitted.

In , the phrase I came forth from the Father is omitted, as in D W it^b.d.ff² ac² cop^pbo

In , the phrase just as I am not of the world is omitted, as in 𝔓^66* D f¹³ it^b.c.d.e.r¹

In , the phrase the one betraying him is omitted, as in 𝔓^{66*^vid}

In , the verse order is 13, 24, 14–15, 19–23, 16–18

In , the text reads from the opening of the tomb with א W f¹ 22 565 579 it^d.f.r¹ vg^ms cop^bo cop^pbo

contains an interpolation (in bold): Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you seeking? This reading is supported by A* D 579 1424

contains a singular reading (in bold): And after eight days, on the first day of the Sabbath (week?)

In , the passage concludes with yet, they knew not as with 𝔓⁶⁶ א L Ψ 33 844 lat

In , it reflects ('upon giving thanks, he gave it to them') as with D it^f.r¹ vg^mss

See also

• Aramaic New Testament
• Codex Sinaiticus
• Palestinian Syriac version of the Bible, another Syriac found by Lewis in 1892
• Saint Catherine’s Monastery

References

Further reading

• Margaret Dunlop Gibson (1893), How the Codex was Found. A Narrative of Two Visits to Sinai from Mrs. Lewis’s Journals. 1892–1893 (Cambridge: Macmillan & Bowes).
• Agnes Smith Lewis (1898), In the Shadow of Sinai. A Story travel and Research from 1895 to 1897 (Cambridge: Macmillan & Bowes).
• Sebastian P. Brock (2016), Two Hitherto Unattested Passages of the Old Syriac Gospels in Palimpsests from St Catherine’s Monastery, Sinai, Δελτίο βιβλικῶν Μελετῶν 31A, pp. 7–18.

External links

• Agnes Smith Lewis Catalogue of the Syriac mss. in the Convent of S. Catharine on Mount Sinai (1894)
• Sebastian P. Brock under Sinai Palimpsest Project
• (1894)
• (1896)