The Peshitta to Nehemiah, A Textual-Critical Analysis

It is agreed by those who have worked on the subject, that the study of the old Syriac translation of the Bible known as the Peshitta has not by any means been exhausted. Numbers of studies of great value have naturally appeared, especially in the years from 1890 to 1910, but two large gaps in Peshitta studies remain to be filled. The first lacuna felt by all who deal with this version is the lack of a critical text. Indeed a text of any kind can not easily be secured.1 Some steps have been taken by different scholars toward filling this long-felt need.2 The first effort at collation of various texts was by Herbert Thorndike in Vol. VI of the London Polyglot of 1657. He cites only three authorities for Nehemiah, and his collations, though helpful, are in no sence an answer to the need. Many more manuscripts are available to us than Thorndike had at hand and the principles for their use are far better understood