Leiden Peshitta: Additional Manuscripts
Digital Verbum Edition
Overview
The Syriac Peshitta of the Old and New Testament originated during the first centuries of the Christian era, and has been used ever since in the non-western churches of Syrian signature. Much like the Greek translations of the Old Testament, this ancient version is an important source for our knowledge of the textual traditions behind the biblical text. In contrast to the manuscripts of most Hebrew traditions, which date from the beginning of the Middle Ages, the extant Syriac manuscripts date from the fifth century. Some New Testament scholars argue for Aramaic as the original language of portions of the New Testament, and similarities between Aramaic and the Syriac of the Peshitta lead these scholars to encourage the study of the Peshitta. This edition of the Old and New Testament was prepared at the Peshitta Institute in Leiden, and has become the standard Syriac edition. A. Ceriani’s photolithographic edition of 1876 serves as the basis for the Leiden Peshitta. This resource contains the texts of the additional manuscripts from the Leiden Peshitta.
Reviews
1 rating
Patrick J. Madden
7/16/2025
I give this product a so-so rating because, as far as I can tell, the critical apparatus is not complete in the electronic edition. I am currently working on a translation project that involves the Apocalypse of Baruch. I find the English translations by Charles (Pseudepigrpha of the OT) and Charlesworth (The OT Pseudepigrapha) -- available through Logos -- to be helpful. The (unvocalized) text of the Leiden Peshitta is also a great asset, and Logos makes it easy to synchronize all three documents. Another convenient feature is the ability to use the "Compendious Syriac Dictionary based on the Thesaurus Syriacus of R. Payne Smith" to look up unknown words. This is not as convenient as it is to work with the NT Peshitta in Logos. The NT is "morphologically tagged," so clicking on a word in the NT will find it in the dictionary "automatically." The text of the OT is not morphologically tagged, so it is necessary to type the word in Syriac to find it in the dictionary. For this the Logos Syriac fonts -- available for FREE -- are indispensable. ALAS! the Logos volume "Leiden Peshitta: Critical Apparatus," does not contain any information about the textual variants in the Apocalypse of Baruch -- or about several other books found in the tradition of Syrian Christianity. These include Tobit, 1 Maccabees, Prayer of Manasseh, Apocryphal Psalms -- for all of which the Logos Leiden Peshitta DOES provide the Syriac text. Charles (Pseudepigrapha of the OT) often comments on textual variants, so I know that variants exist. BOTTOM LINE: this electronic edition of the Leiden Peshitta has many convenient features. However, it would be much more useful if the critical apparatus were available for every book.
