Smith's Bible Dictionary.pdf - Online Christian Library

Smith's Bible Dictionary
in 548; through him it is said that the Goths in general adopted Arianism. The great work of
Ulphilas was his version of the Scriptures. As an ancient monument of the Gothic language the
version of Ulphilas possesses great interest; as a version the use of which was once extended
widely through Europe, it is a monument of the Christianization of the Goths; and as a version
known to have been made in the fourth century, and transmitted to us in ancient MSS., It has its
value in textual criticism. GREEK VERSIONS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT.—
•Septuagint .—[See Septuagint]
•Aquila .—It is a remarkable fact that in the second century there were three versions executed of
the Old Testament Scriptures into Greek. The first of these was made by Aquila, a native of Sinope
in Pontus, who had become a proselyte to Judaism. It was made during the reign of Hadrian, A.D.
117-138.
•Theodotion .—The second version of which we have information as executed in the second century
is that of Theodotion. He is stated to have been an Ephesian, and he seems to be most generally
described as an Ebionite.
•Symmachus is stated by Eusebius and Jerome to have been an Ebionite; Epiphanius and others,
however, style him a Samaritan. It may be that as a Samaritan he made this version for some of
that people who employed Greek, and who had learned to receive more than the Pentateuch. Latin
Versions VERSIONS.—[Vulgate, The] Samaritan Pentateuch VERSIONS.—[Samaritan Pentateuch
Pentateuch, The] SLAVONIC VERSION,—In A.D. 862 there was a desire expressed or an inquiry
made for Christian teachers in Moravia, and in the following year the labors of missionaries began
among the Moravians. These missionaries were Cyrillus and Methodius, two brothers from
Thessalonica. To Cyrillus is ascribed the invention of the Slavonian alphabet and the commencement
of the translation of the Scriptures. He appears to have died at Rome in 868, while Methodius
continued for many years to be the bishop of the Slavonians. He is stated to have continued his
brother’s translation. SYRIAC VERSIONS.—
•Of the Old Testament. (a) From the Hebrew. In the early times of Syrian Christianity there was
executed a version of the Old Testament from the original Hebrew, the use of which must have
been as widely extended as was the Christian profession among that people. It is highly improbable
that any part of the Syriac version is older than the advent of our Lord. The Old Syriac has the
peculiar value of being the first version from the Hebrew original made for Christian use. The
first printed edition of this version was that which appeared in the Paris Polyglot of Le Jay in 1645.
(b) The Syriac version from the Hexaplar Greek text. The only Syriac version of the Old Testament
up to the sixth century was apparently the Peshito. The version by Paul of Tela, a Monophysite,
was made in the beginning of the seventh century; for its basis he used the Hexaplar Greek
text—that is, the LXX., with the corrections of Origen, the asterisks, obeli, etc., and with the
references to the other Greek versions. In fact, it is from this Syriac version that we obtain our
moat accurate acquaintance with the results of the critical labors of Origen. It is from a MS. in the
Ambrosian Library at Milan that we possess accurate means of knowing this Syriac version.
•The Syriac New Testament Versions . (a) The Peshito Syriac New Testament. It may stand as an
admitted fact that a version of the New Testament in Syriac existed in the second century. (b) The
Curetonian Syriac Gospels. Among the MSS. brought from the Nitrian monasteries in 1842, Dr.
Cureton noticed a copy of the Gospels, differing greatly from the common text; and this is the
form of text to which the name of Curetonian Syriac has been rightly applied. Every criterion
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William Smith