Tovey: Prolegomena ܦܫܝܛܬܐ or Peshitta. Ancient texts and translations/interpretations

Submitted by dhimmi no more (United States), Aug 6, 2020 at 07:09

You wrote,

>A comparison in the Peshitta is sought for:

>فَقَالَ لَهُ يَسُوعُ:«تُحِبُّ الرَّبَّ إِلهَكَ مِنْ كُلِّ قَلْبِكَ، وَمِنْ كُلِّ نَفْسِكَ، وَمِنْ كُلِّ فِكْرِكَ

This can be rendered as: Then Jesus said to him: Love your Lord, your God, with all of your heart and with all of your soul and with all of your thinking/mind.

Here is the text in Syriac/Aramaic

ܝܫܘܥ ܕܚܢ ܐܡܪ ܠܗ ܕܬܪܚܡ ܠܡܪܝܐ ܐܠܗܟ ܡܢ ܟܠܗ ܠܒܟ ܘܡܢ ܟܠܗ ܢܦܫܟ ܘܡܢ ܟܠܗ ܚܝܠܟ ܘܡܢ ܟܠܗ ܕܥܚܟ

And here is George Lamsa's translation:

"Jesus said to him love the Lord, your God, with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your power and with all your mind

George Lamsa's translation is the best (there are many that don't like it for various reasons). His mother tongue was Aramaic

Last, keep in mind that in the ancient world, translations of texts or ܬܪܓܡܬܐ (Targamata, compare with Arabic ترجمة or Tarjama, Hebrew Targum) really meant the meaning of a word in a different language as well as interpretation of what the text is saying. This was a major problem for the Muslim mufasereen, because how could you translate the word of Allah after all one's opinion is not translation but exegesis. This is why if you check let us say a Persian translation of the Qur'an, the Arabic text will be the dominant part of the translation text and you will be reminded that the Persian text is only a guide.

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".