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Explore the fascinating history of the Georgian Bible translation, from the discovery of ancient Georgian text to the flourishing of Georgian literature and the challenges of Bible printing. Learn how the Bible has influenced Georgian culture and moral ideals for centuries.
Syriac translations of the New Testament were among the first and date from the 2nd century. The whole Bible was translated by the 5th century.
The Syriac Version of the New Testament is one of the earliest and most important versions. Over 350 Syriac manuscripts of the New Testament have survived into the present. What kind of information might you find? A description or history of the manuscript. You might also find textual information like; it lacks the Pericope Adulterae (John 7:53-8:11). You might discover if it has any lacunae, how it was dated, and the different hands of the copyists. And many other pieces of information. Some have more information than others.
The Old Testament.—There are two Syriac translations of this part of the Bible, one made directly from the original language Hebrew, and the other from an ancient Greek version. The Syriac New-Testament Versions.—These we may conveniently enumerate under five heads, including several recensions under some of them, but treating separately the notable “Curetonian text.”
The Peshitta of Syriac-speaking people confessing Christianity was in widespread use from the fifth century C.E. onward. The word “Peshitta” means “simple.” The Hebrew Old Testament Scripture part was essentially a translation from the Hebrew, likely made during the second or third century C.E. However, a later revision involved comparing with the Septuagint.
There have been many Coptic versions of the Bible, including some of the earliest translations into any language. Several different versions were made in the ancient world, with different editions of the Old and New Testament in five of the dialects of Coptic.
Bible Translations into Aramaic covers both Jewish translations into Aramaic (Targum) and Christian translations into Aramaic, also called Syriac (Peshitta). Some prominent Aramaic manuscripts would be The Yonan Codex, The Khabouris Codex, The 1199 Houghton Codex, and The Mingana 148 Codex.
The Latin Vulgate (Vulgata Latina) is a version of the entire Bible by one of the foremost Biblical scholars of all time, Jerome ([c.346–420 C.E.] Latin: Eusebius Hieronymus). Jerome was a Roman Christian priest, confessor, theologian, and historian, who became a Doctor of the Church.
There are currently over 2000 classified manuscripts of the Septuagint. The Grek Septuagint is the oldest Greek version of the Old Testament; said to have been translated from the Hebrew by Jewish scholars at the request of Ptolemy II, but more likely at the request of Alexandrian Jews. The full translation was from 280 B.C.E. to 150 B.C.E.
The Armenian Version of the Bible designated by (arm) dates from the early fifth century C.E., which includes all of the New Testament and was likely, prepared from both Greek and Syriac texts. It is often called the “queen of the versions” and many regards it as both beautiful and accurate. The New Testament is a very literal translation, which, of course, is quite helpful to textual criticism.