Date of Award

1999

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

College

Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary

Program

Religion, Old Testament Studies PhD

First Advisor

Leona G. Running

Second Advisor

Richard M. Davidson

Third Advisor

W. Larry Richards

Abstract

Problem . The dilemma of the Syriac version is its mysterious provenance and the direct relationship it may have to the other versions (particularly G [Septuagint] and CJ [Targum Jonathan]). Thus some scholars have automatically discarded or ignored the Peshitta version as a useful tool (as a textual witness) for the study of the Hebrew text. The knowledge of textual problems, in this case the relationship of S [Peshitta Version] to the ancient versions, is of extreme importance in the analysis and study of the Hebrew Bible. The awareness of G [Septuagint], CJ [Targum Jonathan], and M [Masoretic Text] employed in the textual composition of S [Peshitta Version] will help in exegetic, semantic, and linguistic studies of the Old Testament.

Method . Critical editions of the OT with their apparatus constitute the basic database for this study. This work consists of a comparative, analytic, and evaluative study of the Peshitta version of Ezekiel in relationship to the ancient versions (G [Septuagint] and CJ [Targum Jonathan] and to M [Masoretic Text]. The study covers the first twelve chapters of Ezekiel, but only those readings in the S [Peshitta Version] that indicate a probable relationship to an external source are taken into consideration.

Conclusion . S [Peshitta Version] (Ezek 1-12) was based on a Hebrew text similar to that of M [Masoretic Text], and any relationship to another ancient version can be explained as a mere coincidence or by the use of a common translation technique. In this case S [Peshitta Version] is useful as a tool in textual criticism of the Hebrew Bible, for it is a valuable witness to a Hebrew consonantal text very similar to M [Masoretic Text].

Subject Area

Bible. Ezekiel 1-12. Syriac -- Criticism, Textual

DOI

https://dx.doi.org/10.32597/dissertations/11/

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