Was the New Testament Really Written in Greek? - The Preterist ...

Note: This example also stresses a great limitation in my work. Many of the semi split words may
actually be full split words, many of these split words may actually be triple split words, many of the
triple split words may actually be quadruple split words, and so on. I am obviously limited in resources
and do not have access to every single Greek manuscript available. And often, it are the rarer
manuscripts that can have variants (for example, the Codex D, while a major manuscript, is usually not
used as often as Byzantine and Alexandrian manuscripts, and provides many variants). At first I found
this peculiarity in the Greek to be a regular mistranslation, a semi split word – “prisoner of Jesus” just
sounded so wrong to me. Only with some help, I was able to show the full potential of this example, by
utilizing a 4-way Greek variant, to showcase a massive proof for Peshitta primacy – a quadruple split
word.
33. Beloved or sister? – Philemon 1:2
The KJV says: “And to our beloved Apphia, and Archippus our fellowsoldier, and to the church in thy
house:”
The NIV says: “To Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker, to Apphia our sister, to Archippus our
fellow soldier and to the church that meets in your home:”
Versions that say beloved or a variation thereof: KJ21, KJV, LITV, MKJV, NKJV, YLT.
Versions that say sister or a variation thereof: AMP, ASV, Darby, ESV, ISV, MSG, NASB, NIRV, NIV,
NIV-UK, NLT, NLV, RSV, TEV, WE, WYC.
The “beloved” reading, αγαπητη, tends to be found among the Byzantine versions like the Textus
Receptus, while “sister”, αδελφη, tends to be found among the Alexandrian versions like W-H,
producing yet another “split right down the middle of the Greek families” split words.
The two words in the Greek look and sound quite differently.
It just so happens that the Peshitta’s corresponding word is Jtbybx, the feminine form of “beloved”,
in contrast with the masculine form (0bybx – “khabiba”) employed in verse 1.
That the feminine form was employed in stark contrast to the masculine usage in verse 1 would be
sufficient to explain this Greek variant. However, it also just so happens to be that “beloved”
Jtbybx, is “sister” (Jtx ) with a “bib” (byb) in the middle.
Zorba’s eyes may have skipped over the middle part (as in other examples), leading to the wrong
reading of “sister”. Furthermore, “beloved” and “sister” in the Aramaic sound similar. They are
“khaton” and “khabibton” respectively.
With all these “bib’s”, “kha’s” and “ton’s” throughout the first two verses of Philemon, with the possible
ingraining of “sister” in Zorba’s mind after seeing “brother” in verse 1, it is very easy to see how
Alexandrian Zorba came up with “sister”.
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