Page:The New Testament in the original Greek - 1881.djvu/45

 TO THK AMKKir.v.V EDITION',

��be elegant or wretched, so long as they reflect with accu- racy the original text One service of great importance they can be manifestly depended upon to render to tell where insertions or omissions occur in the original text be- fore the translator. It is therefore satisfactory evidence against the genuineness of any particular passage that it is not found in the most ancient versions.

The most important of these versions arc the Syriac, the Old Latin, the Vulgate, the yEthiopic, the Egyptian, the Gothic, and the Armenian.

A. Syriac Versions.

(a.) The FESHITO, the "Simple" so called because of its fidelity to the Greek dates in its oldest form (see below, CURETOSIAN) from the middle of the second century. It supplied the wants of the Syrian Christians before the unhap- py schism in that Church (fifth century), and by its use in common has been always a bond of union between the dif- ferent sects, who still read it as a sacred classic, although its language is no longer the vernacular. The Peshito is the most faithful and accurate of the older versions, and has been called " the queen of versions." It is almost lit- eral, yet idiomatic, and rarely loose and paraphrastic. It is very important to the critic. The text connects it in many places with D and the Latin versions. Notwith- standing its age and value, it was not known to Europe until 1552; and in 1555, at Vienna, the first edition ap- peared, at the expense of the Emperor Ferdinand I., edited by Albert Widmanstadt, the imperial chancellor. This edi- tion is yet highly esteemed. The best modern editions, although none are superior, arc those of Prof. Lee, printed by the British and Foreign Bible Society, and of William

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