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Two verses found in the Syriac Scriptures appear to have some differences with that of the Greek, although there could be additional ones if one conducted a comprehensive comparison of the two. I will reserve comments about the meaning or interpretation of these two verses, only to show there are some differences between Syriac and Greek renderings.

Revelation 2:20

ܐܠܐ ܐܝܬ ܠܝ ܥܠܝܟ ܤܓܝ ܕܫܒܩܬ ܠܐܢܬܬܟ ܐܝܙܒܠ ܗܝ ܕܐܡܪܐ ܥܠ ܢܦܫܗ ܕܢܒܝܬܐ ܗܝ ܘܡܠܦܐ ܘܡܛܥܝܐ ܠܥܒܕܝ ܠܡܙܢܝܘ ܘܡܐܟܠ ܕܒܚܝ ܦܬܟܪܐ

New World Translation renders this verse from the Greek in the following manner:

"Nevertheless, I do hold [this] against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and misleads my slaves to commit fornication and to eat things sacrificed to idols."

The King James Version says:

"Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols."

The popular New American Standard Bible renders this verse:

"But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads My bond-servants astray so that they commit acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols."

Compare the above with translations from the Syriac:

John Wesley Etheridge's translation of the Syriac says:

"But I have against thee that thou permittest thy wife Izabel, who calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat what the sons of idols (eat)."

Our English translation directly from the Syriac reads:

"But I am against you, because you allowed your wife Jezebel, who claims to be a prophetess, to teach and seduce my servants to commit prostitution and eat things sacrificed to idols."

The difference appears to be in the use of the words "woman" and "wife". While this may not seem to be a major problem between the Greek and Syriac, it could very well affect a proper understanding of the intent of the passage as a whole.

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Revelation 6:11

ܘܐܬܝܗܒܬ ܠܟܠܚܕ ܚܕ ܡܢܗܘܢ ܐܤܛܠܐ ܚܘܪܬܐ ܘܐܬܐܡܪ ܕܢܬܬܢܝܚܘܢ ܥܕ ܥܕܢ ܙܒܢ ܙܥܘܪ ܥܕܡܐ ܕܡܫܬܡܠܝܢ ܐܦ ܟܢܘܬܗܘܢ ܘܐܚܝܗܘܢ ܐܝܠܝܢ ܕܥܬܝܕܝܢ ܠܡܬܩܛܠܘ ܐܝܟ ܕܐܦ ܗܢܘܢ

Our English translation directly from the Syriac reads:

"And they were given each one a white robe and were told they should rest a little longer until their fellow servants were also perfected, their brothers, who would, also like them, be killed."

The New World Translation says:

"And a white robe was given to each of them; and they were told to rest a little while longer, until the number was filled also of their fellow slaves and their brothers who were about to be killed as they also had been."

The main difference here is the use of the phrase "until the number was filled." The word "number" (or "until the number was filled") does not appear in this particular verse in the original. It simply says "until their fellow servants were also perfected" - not "until the number was filled." The verse is referring to the perfection of their brothers.

With Christian love,
Stephen

You are right Stephen.

Rev.6:11
The second example is one that I have already underlined in my interlinear. They translated the Greek badly. The word means fulfilled or perfected. "Number was filled" is a flight of fancy.

Rev 2:20
The first example is only a difference between 'the woman' or 'your woman', since there is no word for 'wife' as such.
It is good to keep both in mind, but if the Syriac says your woman, then that would be painting the congregation of Thyatira in the role of spineless Ahab.

vicky

Hi Stephen

I am kind of doing my own amateur translation of Revelation, and have noticed lots of these things.

I haven't really found any translation that is entirely faithful to whatever Greek version is used, and the bias of the New World Translation in favour of their beliefs often comes through - for example, in the one you quoted from Revelation 6 about "the number was filled"... their Interlinear translation uses the word "should be fulfilled".

In other words, the passage really isn't about the FULL NUMBER of them, but about the FULFILLMENT of their death... but this doesn't suit WTS doctrine, which needs 144,000 anointed, no more and no less.

I am not particularly impressed with the King James Version either, but more often because of its archaic language.

The closest one to the Greek seems to be Young's, but that uses fairly archaic language as well... hence part of the reason I'm doing my own amateur translation. (Actually, it's so I can eventually quote all of Revelation in something I'm writing, without running into copyright problems.)

As for the Jezebel reference, I think it's quite likely that Jesus is actually writing to a literal person in the congregation, a "messenger". However, interesting stuff about the "wife" vs "woman" thing.

Is there any way we can view this version online? I'd like to use it for reference.

Hello Interpretum,

I look forward to seeing your translation should you ever wish to share it. Our family has come to favor the Syriac and Aramaic texts after coming to an understanding of certain evidences presented in its case as being the most reliable or authentic over the Greek, although we're not throwing the Greek out as it too has worth in certain ways.

Etheridge's English translation of the Syriac can be found here: http://aramaicnewtestament.org/peshitta/etheridge/ - he uses the phrase "thy wife". Throughout the text he uses "Jeshua" for the name of Christ.

Another good English translation, although archaic but easily readable, is that of James Murdock. Murodock chose to use the phrase "thy woman."

An interlinear of sorts (appears to be in the works) is available here here: http://aramaicnewtestament.net/index.htm

You can download the eastern Aramaic text of the Christian Aramaic Scriptures in interlinear format (Aramaic and English) from http://www.peshitta.org/ Use the left side menu under "Interlinear NT" (these are in PDF and run from Matthew through Acts). The translator is himself Aramaic. This is the best one we have found in terms of accuracy and honesty. Where the translator uses "LORD" in all caps, the Aramaic is "Lord Yah".

We are currently working on a revised edition of Murdock's translation in modern English, compared to both the Syriac and Aramaic texts currently available for Matthew through Revelation. We have thus far only "completed" the Letter of James.

You might find it interesting, if you are not already aware, that the Aramaic text (as opposed to the Syriac) never contained the Book of Revelation and some other books. The Syriac contains the typical Christian "canon" for the "New Testament" (Matthew - Revelation), while the ancient Syriac (a sister language to Aramaic) translation from the Hebrew contains several other books not typically found in modern day Protestant Bible translations.

If you can read Spanish there is a formal translation of Genesis through Revelation available here in printed form (but not an online version) http://www.amazon.com/Biblia-Peshitta-Sp...704100000/ This translation uses the Divine Name throughout both the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures. As far as a translation from the Syriac/Aramaic, it appears to be extremely accurate - the most accurate I have ever encountered in my many years of utilizing various translations of the Bible.

With warm Christian love,
Stephen