As has been shown in other articles of this series, the Greek New Testament is full of errors, contradictions, variants and bad grammar, while lacking the numerous wordplays, true meanings of idioms and poetry of the Peshitta. The Greek NT dilutes the original message, just as the Septuagint did, and is a main reason why the Judeans mourned it. In fact, the Greek NT reads much like the Septuagint, what with its bad grammar and “Koine Greek”. The Septuagint was a Greek translation of a Semitic original. Put two and two together…

Can one prove that the Greek is the original? Nobody actually can. It’s just taken for granted. Since all the Greek versions have corruptions, contradictions etc, it is clear that they are not the originals. Many will shout “Manuscript evidence” at the top of their lungs, as supporting evidence of Greek primacy. “Manuscript evidence” – the favourite term of the Greek primacist and it means nothing. There are 5000 Greek mss and fragments of mss. So what? There are millions of English Bibles worldwide, was the Bible then written in English? There is plenty of “publishing evidence” that the New Testament was written in English!

What about age? Obviously, the original must also be the oldest. Well, this we cannot determine either. It is acknowledged on both camps that the originals are long gone and that we are left with copies of copies. So, dating the various mss does not help anyone much. It is interesting to note however, that as of the year 2003 CE, the oldest dated Biblical manuscript is the Peshitta Old Testament Ms. 14,425 held in the British museum. It is believed to have been written in 464 CE. It is also notable that many Semites revered their Scripture so much that they would not let it disintegrate. Rather they would copy them precisely, and do away with the originals or older copies.

It is also interesting to note that the vast majority of Greek mss and fragments postdate the 9th century – they were written nearly 1000 years after the originals were written, or later. Here are some of the primary Greek mss and the approximate ages that have been assigned to them:

• Codex Sinaiticus (Codex a) (350 CE) Contains almost all of the NT and over half of the LXX.
• Codex Alexandrinus (Codex A) (c. 400 CE) Almost the entire Bible (LXX and NT).
• Codex Vaticanus (Codex B) (325-350 CE) Contains most of the Bible (LXX and NT).
• Codex Ephraemi (Codex C) (400’s CE) Represents most of the NT except 2Thes. and 2John.
• Codex Bezae (Codex D) (450 CE) Contains the Four Gospels and Acts in Greek and Latin.
• Codex Washingtonensis (Codex W) (450 CE) sometimes called Codex Freerianus. Contains the Four Gospels.
• Codex Claromontanus (Codex D(p)) (500’s) Contains the Pauline Epistles.

These ages are hardly impressive, when Aramaic (that “Hebrew dialect”) originals are quoted and being talked about as early as the second century, by ancient Eastern scholars!

These dates are especially unimpressive when looking over these quotes from modern scholars:

«The SYRIAC. The oldest is the Syriac in it various forms: the “Peshitto” [Peshitta, the names are often confused – Raphael] (cent. 2) and the “Curetonian Syriac” (cent. 3). Both are older than any Greek Manuscript in existence, and both contain these twelve verses [the last 12 verses of Mark’s Gospel – Raphael]. So with the “Philoxenian” (cent.5) and the “Jerusalem” (cent. 5)… Of these, the Aramaic (or Syriac), that is to say, the Peshitto, is the most important, ranking as superior in authority to the oldest Greek manuscripts, and dating from as early as A.D. 170. Though the Syrian Church was divided by the Third and Fourth General Councils in the fifth century, into three, and eventually into yet more, hostile communions, which have lasted for 1,400 years with all their bitter controversies, yet the same version is ready to-day in the rival churches. Their manuscripts have flowed into the libraries of the West. "yet they all exhibit a text in every important respect the same." Peshitto means a version simple and plain, without the addition of allegorical or mystical glosses. Hence we have given this authority, where needed throughout our notes, as being of more value than the modern critical Greek texts; and have noted (for the most part) only those “various readings” with which the Syriac agrees.»
Dr. E. W. Bullinger, “The Companion Bible”

Dr. Scrivener on the Peshitta:

«…the oldest and one of the most excellent of the versions whereby God’s providence has blessed and edified the Church.»

Dr. Frederick HA Scrivener, “Introduction”

Even Dr. Westcott (of Alexandrian-text fame) saw…:

«no reason to desert the opinion which has obtained the sanction of the most competent scholars, that the formation of the Peshitto Syriac was to be fixed within the first half of the second century. The very obscurity which hangs over its origin is proof of its venerable age, because it shows that it grew up spontaneously among Christian congregations...Had it been a work of later date, of the 3rd or 4th century it is scarcely possible that its history should be so uncertain as it is.»
Dr. Brooke Foss Westcott, “The New Testament Canon”, 1855

Note: Westcott later changed his mind about the Peshitta, seeing how it often agreed with the Byzantine texts, against his beloved Alexandrian texts. He then concluded that the Peshitta must have been a revision of the Old Syriac (“Introduction to the NT Greek”, 1882).