On the Syriac Peshitta.

 The Syriac Peshitta—A Window on the World of Early Bible Translations

Wol.JW.org

For nine days in 1892, the twin sisters Agnes Smith Lewis and Margaret Dunlop Gibson journeyed by camel through the desert to St. Catherine’s Monastery at the foot of Mount Sinai. Why would these two women in their late 40’s undertake such a journey at a time when travel in what was called the Orient was so dangerous? The answer may help strengthen your belief in the accuracy of the Bible.

JUST before returning to heaven, Jesus commissioned his disciples to bear witness about him “in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the most distant part of the earth.” (Acts 1:8) This the disciples did with zeal and courage. Their ministry in Jerusalem, however, soon stirred up strong opposition, resulting in the martyrdom of Stephen. Many of Jesus’ disciples found refuge in Antioch, Syria, one of the largest cities in the Roman Empire, some 350 miles (550 km) north of Jerusalem.—Acts 11:19.

In Antioch, the disciples continued to preach “the good news” about Jesus, and many non-Jews became believers. (Acts 11:20, 21) Though Greek was the common language within the walls of Antioch, outside its gates and in the province, the language of the people was Syriac.

THE GOOD NEWS TRANSLATED INTO SYRIAC

As the number of Syriac-speaking Christians increased in the second century, there arose a need for the good news to be translated into their tongue. Thus, it appears that Syriac, not Latin, was the first vernacular into which parts of the Christian Greek Scriptures were translated.

 By about 170 C.E., the Syrian writer Tatian (c. 120-173 C.E.) combined the four canonical Gospels and produced, in Greek or Syriac, the work commonly called the Diatessaron, a Greek word meaning “through [the] four [Gospels].” Later, Ephraem the Syrian (c. 310-373 C.E.) produced a commentary on the Diatessaron, thus confirming that it was in general use among Syrian Christians.

The Diatessaron is of great interest to us today. Why? In the 19th century, some scholars argued that the Gospels were written as late as the second century, between 130 C.E. and 170 C.E., and thus could not be authentic accounts of Jesus’ life. However, ancient manuscripts of the Diatessaron that have come to light since then have proved that the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were already in wide circulation by the middle of the second century. They must therefore have been written earlier. In addition, since Tatian, when compiling the Diatessaron, did not make use of any of the so-called apocryphal gospels in the way he did the four accepted Gospels, it is evident that the apocryphal gospels were not viewed as reliable or canonical.

By the start of the fifth century, a translation of the Bible into Syriac came into general use in northern Mesopotamia. Likely made during the second or third century C.E., this translation included all the books of the Bible except 2 Peter, 2 and 3 John, Jude, and Revelation. It is known as the Peshitta, meaning “Simple” or “Clear.” The Peshitta is one of the oldest and most important witnesses to the early transmission of the Bible text.

Interestingly, one manuscript of the Peshitta has a written date corresponding to 459/460 C.E., making it the oldest Bible manuscript with a definite date. In about 508 C.E., a revision of the Peshitta was made that included the five missing books. It came to be known as the Philoxenian Version.

Syriac Peshitta of the Pentateuch, 464 C.E., the second-oldest dated manuscript of Bible text

Until the 19th century, almost all the known Greek copies of the Christian Greek Scriptures were from the fifth century or much later. For this reason, Bible scholars were especially interested in such early versions as the Latin Vulgate and the Syriac Peshitta. At the time, some believed that the Peshitta was the result of a revision of an older Syriac version. But no such text was known. Since the roots of the Syriac Bible go back to the second century, such a version would provide a window on the Bible text at an early stage, and it would surely be invaluable to Bible scholars! Was there really an old Syriac version? Would it be found?

The palimpsest called the Sinaitic Syriac. Visible in the margin is the underwriting of the Gospels

Yes, indeed! In fact, two such precious Syriac manuscripts were found. The first is a manuscript dating from the fifth century. It was among a large number of Syriac manuscripts acquired by the British Museum in 1842 from a monastery in the Nitrian Desert in Egypt. It was called the Curetonian Syriac because it was discovered and published by William Cureton, the museum’s assistant keeper of manuscripts. This precious document contains the four Gospels in the order of Matthew, Mark, John, and Luke.

The second manuscript that has survived to our day is the Sinaitic Syriac. Its discovery is linked with the adventurous twin sisters mentioned at the start of this article. Although Agnes did not have a university degree, she learned eight foreign languages, one of them Syriac. In 1892, Agnes made a remarkable discovery in the monastery of St. Catherine in Egypt.

 There, in a dark closet, she found a Syriac manuscript. According to her own account, “it had a forbidding look, for it was very dirty, and its leaves were nearly all stuck together through their having remained unturned” for centuries. It was a palimpsest * manuscript of which the original text had been erased and the pages rewritten with a Syriac text about female saints. However, Agnes spotted some of the writing underneath and the words “of Matthew,” “of Mark,” or “of Luke” at the top. What she had in her hands was an almost complete Syriac codex of the four Gospels! Scholars now believe that this codex was written in the late fourth century.

The Sinaitic Syriac is considered one of the most important Biblical manuscripts discovered, right along with such Greek manuscripts as the Codex Sinaiticus and the Codex Vaticanus. It is now generally believed that both the Curetonian and Sinaitic manuscripts are extant copies of the old Syriac Gospels dating from the late second or early third century.

“THE WORD OF OUR GOD ENDURES FOREVER”

Can these manuscripts be useful to Bible students today? Undoubtedly! Take as an example the so-called long conclusion of the Gospel of Mark, which in some Bibles follows Mark 16:8. It appears in the Greek Codex Alexandrinus of the fifth century, the Latin Vulgate, and elsewhere. However, the two authoritative fourth-century Greek manuscripts—Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus—both end with Mark 16:8. The Sinaitic Syriac does not have this long conclusion either, adding further evidence that the long conclusion is a later addition and was not originally part of Mark’s Gospel.

Consider another example. In the 19th century, almost all Bible translations had a spurious Trinitarian addition at 1 John 5:7. However, this addition does not appear in the oldest Greek manuscripts. Neither does it appear in the Peshitta, thus proving that the addition at 1 John 5:7 is indeed a corruption of the Bible text.

Clearly, as promised, Jehovah God has preserved his Holy Word. In it we are given this assurance: “The green grass dries up, the blossom withers, but the word of our God endures forever.” (Isaiah 40:8; 1 Peter 1:25) The version known as the Peshitta plays a humble but important role in the accurate transmission of the Bible’s message to all of humanity.

The big questions remain as big as ever?

 A New Look at Three Deep Questions

Eric Hedin

Ron Coody’s new book, Almost? Persuaded! Why Three Great Questions Resist Certainty, delivers a wide-ranging discussion and analysis of questions, answers, and arguments keenly relevant to the intelligent design community. His background is far from one-dimensional and he has long been engaging people over issues of worldview, evidence, and belief.

With a bachelor’s degree in microbiology and a Master of Divinity followed by a PhD in missiology, Coody is well qualified to address the cutting edges of science, philosophy, and theology. Enhancing his perception of diverse ways of thinking about these questions is his decades-long experience of living and working cross-culturally.

Questions of Consequence

The primary questions addressed here are obviously of deep consequence: Does God exist? Where did life come from? and Is free will real? A refreshing aspect of Almost? Persuaded! is its objective coverage of the broad range of arguments surrounding these questions. 

As I read Almost? Persuaded!, although I have been studying these questions for many years, I found that Coody’s presentation easily held my attention. Moreover, the breadth of his analysis provides new insights and expanded my understanding of developments in history and philosophy.

A Helpful Compendium

On the first question, “Does God Exist?”, Coody’s analytical summary of key philosophers and intellectuals, from Plato to Aquinas to Dawkins, caught my attention. His highlighting of key ideas from over twenty influential thinkers makes for a helpful compendium.

A familiar-sounding argument for design is Coody’s summary of number five of Thomas Aquinas’ Five Ways argument from the 13th century:

Working backwards from human experience of designing and building, Aquinas reasoned that the ordered universe and the creatures inhabiting it exhibit properties of design. Design requires a designer….Aquinas thought that the universe needed an intelligent mind to bring it into order. He believed that physical laws lacked the power to organize complex, functioning systems. 

P. 34

Another unique and somewhat amusing contribution is the author’s contrasting of Richard Dawkins with the Apostle Paul on the evidential weight of nature.

As Coody reviews the standard evidence for the fine-tuning of the physical parameters of the universe to allow life to exist, his presentation is accurate and compelling. The Big Bang, Lawrence Krauss’s attempts to redefine the “nothingness” out which the universe arose, Stephen Hawking’s blithe dismissal of the significance of the beginning with an invocation of gravity, and the counterpoint from Borde, Guth, and Vilenkin’s singularity theorem, are knit together in readable prose.

Encouragement for Curiosity

When it comes to the possibility of life forming itself naturally, again Coody gives an informative and insightful overview. Although, like the rest of us, he has his own convictions, he is willing to acknowledge the tension surrounding differing conclusions among those seeking to evaluate the evidence. He encourages the reader to persist in seeking answers: “Honest people of any faith or no faith should be interested in the truth. ” (p. 164)

The final section provides an enlightening discussion of free will. Coody captures the major issues: “Is free will an illusion created by the brain? In reality do we have any more free will than our computer?….Is the mind the same as the brain or is the mind something spiritual?” (p. 180)

Delving into the implications of materialistic determinism, and even quantum uncertainty, Coody provides a fresh look at the subject. In an illustration that is beguilingly simple, he borrows from the classic fairy tale of Pinocchio. His summary cuts deeply into one of the major shortcomings of materialist thinking: “On their view of the world, there was never any difference between the wooden Pinocchio and the human Pinocchio. Both were simply animated, soulless, material objects.” (p. 191)

Readers of almost any background will find much here that informs, provokes deeper reflection, and provides refreshing and novel illustrations relevant to the discussion of some of life’s most enduring questions

There is nothing simple about this beginning?

 Getting It Together: Tethers, Handshakes, and Multitaskers in the Cell

David Coppedge

Running a cell requires coordination. How do molecules moving in the dark interior of a cell know how and when to connect? Protein tethers offer new clues, according to research at Philipps University in Marburg, Germany.

The ways that organelles and proteins connect at the right place and time are coming to light. One method is to encapsulate interacting molecules within compartments called condensates, droplets, and speckles. Like offices or cubicles where employees can talk without excess noise, these temporary spaces allow molecules to interact in peace (see “Caltech Finds Amazing Role for Noncoding DNA”). 

Another method for coordination of moving parts involves tethers. Certain molecular machines use “two hands” to bring other molecules or organelles together. Visualize a person taking a stranger’s hand and using her other hand to grasp a doorknob, leading the stranger to the place he needs to be. Many protein machines have a critical binding site for their targets, but these “dual affinity” tethering machines contain two different recognition sites on different domains that recognize separate targets needing to come together. Such multitasking machines are marvelously designed to promote fellowship for effective interactions in the cellular city.

A similar phenomenon has long been known in DNA translation. A set of molecules called aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases brings dissimilar molecules together. One synthetase feels the anticodon on its matching transfer RNA (tRNA) and then puts the corresponding amino acid on the opposite end. Like a language translator, each synthetase needs to know two languages — the DNA code and the protein code — to equip the tRNA with the correct amino acid. As the activated tRNA enters the ribosome, its anticodon base pairs with the complementary codon on the messenger RNA at one end, and its amino acid fits onto the growing polypeptide chain on the other end. This is a spectacular example of double duty, multitasking know-how. But is it the only one?

Another Example of Double Duty

A team of 15 researchers publishing in PLOS Biology under lead author Elena Bittner, also from Philipps University, and colleagues at Berkeley and Howard Hughes, has just reported a case of a multitasking machine that bridges dissimilar targets — in this case, peroxisomes with mitochondria or the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). It may not be the only case of “Proteins that carry dual targeting signals [that] can act as tethers between” organelles, they say:

Peroxisomes are organelles with crucial functions in oxidative metabolism. To correctly target to peroxisomes, proteins require specialized targeting signals. A mystery in the field is the sorting of proteins that carry a targeting signal for peroxisomes and as well as for other organelles, such as mitochondria or the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Exploring several of these proteins in fungal model systems, we observed that they can act as tethers bridging organelles together to create contact sites. 

Take note that they found this in yeast, the simplest of eukaryotes.

We show that in Saccharomyces cerevisiae this mode of tethering involves the peroxisome import machinery, the ER–mitochondria encounter structure (ERMES) at mitochondria and the guided entry of tail-anchored proteins (GET) pathway at the ER. 

Why is this significant? 

Our findings introduce a previously unexplored concept of how dual affinity proteins can regulate organelle attachment and communication.

Previously unexplored: this sounds like a game changer. How does this “tethering” system work? After all the biochemistry work by the team is shown, demonstrating the dual-targeting capability, they illustrated it with a simplified diagram in Figure 10 in their open-access paper. As usual, even in simplified form, the system involves numerous other factors. The upshot is described as follows:

We have found that distinct proteins with targeting signals for 2 organelles can affect proximity of these organelles. This conclusion is supported by the notion that different types of dual affinity proteins can act as contact-inducing proteins (Fig 10) … Although dual affinity proteins are a challenge for maintaining organelle identity, they are ideally suited to support organelle interactions by binding to targeting factors and membrane-bound translocation machinery of different organelles. Dually targeted proteins appear to concentrate in regions of organelle contact, which may coincide with regions of reduced identity.

Within the mitochondria, we already met TIM and TOM, the channel guards who check the credentials of proteins entering the organelle’s outer and inner membranes. (The authors note that these translocase proteins are “evolutionarily conserved.”) But outside the mitochondrion, proteins needing to enter or exit have to find their way to the guards. That’s where the “dual affinity proteins” operate. 

What Do the Tethers Look Like?

Ptc5 is one of these tethering proteins, one of many that “contain targeting signals for mitochondria and peroxisomes at opposite termini.” Its Peroxisome Targeting Signal (PTS) recognizes the peroxisome at one end, and its Mitochondrial Targeting Signal (MTS) recognizes TOM at the mitochondrial channel. Experimenting with mutant strains of this and associated proteins and chaperones, the researchers confirmed that Ptc5 does tether peroxisomes to mitochondria. Moreover, its activity is dependent on need. “In aggregate,” they write, these data show that tethering via dual affinity proteins is a regulated process and depends on the metabolic state of the cell.” This implies the additional capability of sensing the fluctuating metabolic need.

The authors didn’t have much to say about evolution. As usual, it involved copious amounts of speculation.

While many peroxisomal membrane proteins can target peroxisomes without transitioning through the ER, several peroxisomal membrane proteins have evolved to be synthesized in vicinity to the ER and may translocate from it.

Other than TOM and TIM being “evolutionarily conserved,” that was all they had to offer Darwin.

A New Class of Activity Coordinators

What Bittner et al. have identified is probably the trigger for a paradigm shift concerning methods that cells use to get components together.

We conclude that dually targeted cargo includes a diverse and unexpected group of tethers, which are likely to maintain contact as long as they remain accessible for targeting factors at partner organelles. Coupling of protein and membrane trafficking is a common principle in the secretory pathway and it might also occur for peroxisomes at different contact sites.

And so, what lies ahead? Design proponents in biochemistry and molecular biology, play tetherball! Here is a potentially fruitful area for new discoveries.

How dually targeted proteins and their rerouting affect the flux of molecules other than proteins, e.g., membrane lipids remains a topic for future research.