Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 03.djvu/46

BIBLE. of Leo .Tud;T> (1541-42) : the elefrant version of Seba.stian Chateillon (1546-54) ; the faithful rendering of Immanuel Tremellio and F. du Jon (1571-79); the painstaking version of Johannes Fischer—'Piseator' (1(501-07) ; and those by Coeccius (before 1609), Sebastian Schmidt (1096), Jean le Clerc (1693), Charles Francois Houbigant (1753) for the first time from a critically restored original, J. A. Dathe (1773-94), and Schott and Winzer (1816).

III. Aramaic.—(1) The Peshitto, or Syriac Vulgate, is possibly the earliest of the translations that were made into various Aramaic dialects. It is evidently the work of many men. Concerning the Jewi.sh origin of Proverbs and Chronicles there can be no doubt, and there is no indication of a different origin in the case of the Pentateuch. But in the Psalms and the Prophets the Greek version has clearly been used, either by the original translator or by a later editor, who probably was a Christian. The Hebrew text used shows that no part of the version is likely to be older than the First Century A.D., and it may not have been completed until the beginning of the Third. It became the Bible of the Edessene Church, as the Greek version passed from the synagogue to the Greek churches. The text was printed in the Paris (1645) and London Polvglots "(1657), by Lee (1824), at Urmia (1852), by Ceriani (Codex Ambrosianus, 1876-83), and "at Mosul (1887).

(2) A translation into Syriac from the Greek text of Origen's Hexa]da was made in Alexandria by Paul of Telia for the Monophysite Church in 610, published by Ceriani (1874). It is of great value for the restoration of Origen's text.

(3) Numerous fragments have been foimd of a translation made in Syria, and in vogue among Christians, dating from the Fourth Century.

(4) Of the two Targums written in Judiean Aramaic, thougb edited in Babylonia, that are ascribed to Onkelos and Jonathan, the former is probably the older. The translation accompanying the reading of the Law was at first given orally; written renderings to aid the memory may have been gathered in the age of Onkelos ( =Aquila), but the final edition cannot have been made before c.400 a.d. The Prophets called for, and permitted, greater freedom in interpretation; written translations may have begun to appear in the time of .Jonathan (Theodotion?) but the final edition is likely to have been made after that of Onkelos. The so-called Jerusalem Targums I., II., and III. were not edited before the end of the Seventh Century, as allusions to the wife and daughter of Mohammed show, while some of the material may be very old, as a reference to John Hyrcanus indicates. The Targums to the Hagiographa belong to the Seventh Century; to Esther there are two; to Ezra, Nehemiah, and Daniel there is none. The Targums are printed in the Ptdyglot and Rabbinic Bibles, and by Berliner (Onkelos) and Lagarde (Prophets and Hagiographa). Recently discovered Jemenite MSS. give a more trustworthy supralinear vocalization.

(5) The Samaritan Targuin is based on the Hebrew text adopt<'d by the Shechemite community. It has been published in the Polyglots and by Petermann-Vollers (1872-91). Its age is uncertain. As the 'Samaritan' quoted in hexaplaric scholia seems to be a Greek translation of this Targum, it probably existed before Origen's time.

IV. Egyptian.—(1) The Sahidie version, of which parts have been published by Ciasca, Er- man, Maspero, and Lagarde, is probably the old- est of the Egyptian translations, and may go l)ack to the beginning of the Third Century, as it seems to have been made from a Greek text earlier than that of Origen, at least in the case of Job.

(2) Of the Akhmimic, Fayyumic, and Memphitic recensions of a Jliddle Egvptian version, somewhat later than the Saliidic, fragments have been published by Zoega, Quatrem&re, and Maspero,

(3) The Buhairic version, of which Lagarde has published the Pentateuch and Psalter, and Tattam the Prophets, is no doubt the youngest of the Egyptian versions. It may belong to the end of the Fourth Century.

V. Ethicrpic.—The Ethiopic version was made from the Greek. It is probably the work of different translators in the Fourth and Fifth centuries. In some places it seems to have preserved a purer text than that of Origen. In addition to the books of the Greek Bible, it included also such works as Enoch, Jubilees, and Fourth Esdras. The Octateuch was published by Dillmann (1853-71); Joel, also by him (1879); Jonah, by Wright (1857); Obadiah and Malachi (1892)", Lamentations and Isaiah (1893), by Bachmann; the Psalter, by Riidiger (1815); Dillmann published the Apocrypha (1894) and edited texts of Enoch (1851)," Jubilees (1859), and A.scensio Isaise (1877): Charles edited Jubilees and Ascensio Isaiie (1899); and Fleming published a critical text of Enoch (1902).

VI. Gothic.—A few fragments of Ulfilas's translation of the Old Testament have been found and published by Mai and Castiglione (1817), Gabelentz and Liebe (1843), and Massmann, Ulfilas: Die heiligen Schriften des alten und neuen Bundis in gothischer Sprache (1895-97). The version was made from a Greek text of the Lucianic recension, obtained in Constantinople about the year 350.

VII. Armeninn.—According to Moses of Chorene and Lazar of Pharpi, who lived in the Fifth Century, this version was made between 390 and 430 by Mesrop and Sahak. It, was translated in part from a Greek Hexaplaric text, whose obeli and asterisks have survived in some manuscripts, in part from a text of the Lucianic recension. The oldest manuscript at Etchmiadzin is dated 1151. This version was printed in Venice in 1805 and 1800.

VIII. Georgian.—Moses of Chorene affirms that this version was the work of Mesrop. Whether this is correct or not, it existed in the fifth Century, and was made from a Greek text. A MS. Psalter dates from the Seventh Century, and a MS. of the Bible at Athosis dates from 978. The version has been printed in Saint Petersburg (1810).

IX. Slavonic.—The translation of Cyril and Methodius was probably into the Old Slavonic of the Balkan Peninsula. made before they went to Moravia, in the middle of the Ninth Century. A MS. Psalter in the glagolitic alphabet belongs to the Eleventh Century. Esther seems to have been translated from the Hebrew; Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, .lercmiah 1-25, 40-51, and some