10. Syriac Versions. (1) The Old Syriac Version of the New Testament. This is repre sented by the Gospels discovered by Mrs. Lewis in the convent of St. Catherine on Mount Sinai in 1892, and by the closely related fragments found by Cureton in a Syrian convent in the Nitrian desert in 1841-43.
(2) The Peshito. Peshito means simple or vulgate. The Old Testament was made directly from the Hebrew, and in the first instance was probably prepared for the use of Jewish prose lytes. It was made as early as the first century. The New Testament is a revision of the old Syr iac in order to bring it into closer agreement with the Greek text and improve its diction and style. The Peshito seems to have been in circu lation in the second century. By reason of its elegance it has often been called the queen of versions.
(3) The Curetonian Syriac Gospels. Among the manuscripts brought from the Nitrian mon asteries in 1842, Dr. Cureton noticed a copy of the Gospels differing greatly from the common text ; and to this the name of Curetonian Syriac has been rightly applied. Every criterion which proves the common Peshito not to exhibit a text of ex treme antiquity equally proves the early origin of this. Dr. Cureton considers that the script of the Gospels is of the fifth century, in which competent judges are agreed. The manu script contains Matt. i-viii :22 ; x :31. xxiii :25 ; Mark, the last four verses only ; Luke ii :48 ; iii :16, vii :33 ; xv :21, xvii :24-xxiv :41 ; John i :1 :37 ; xiv (4) The Jerusalem Syriac Lectionary. The manuscript in the Vatican containing this ver sion was written in A. D. to31 in peculiar Syriac writing; the portions are of course those for the different festivals ; the dialect is not common Syr iac.
(5) The Philoxenian Version of the New Testament. This is so called because it was translated in A. D. 5o8 by Philoxenus, bishop of Hierapolis, in Asia Minor.
(6) Syriac Versions of Portions Wanting in the Peshito. These are the second epistle of Peter, second and third of John, Jude, the Apoc alypse, John viii:1-11. (See BIBLE, IO, Various Versions and Translations.) 11. The Gargums. When the Jews returned from the Babylonian exile, the Hebrew of their forefathers ceased to be their ordinary speech, and Aramaic, misnamed Chaldee, took its place. It soon became necessary at the public reading of the Scriptures for the reader or his assistant to translate the passage orally that the people might understand. The custom of explaining obscure
words and phrases at the public reading was in vogue in Ezra's time (Neh. viii :8). The event referred to has been cited as evidence that the words read were translated; • but this is more than the statement warrants, and depends upon the an swer to the question whether the Hebrews had adopted a foreign language during the Exile. The oral targum—that is, interpretation or translation —which became necessary, was at first a simple paraphrase in Aramaic; but eventually it became elaborate, and in order to fix it as a translation and render it authoritative as an interpretation, it was reduced to writing. These written Targums are a valuable aid in determining the text as read in the early synagogues, and in discovering the meaning which the Jews attached to difficult pas sages. The principal Targums are the Targum of Onkelos on the Pentateuch, and the Targuin of Jonathan ben Uzziel on the prophets. According to the Talmud, Onkelos was the friend of Ga mane] and a fellow pupil of Paul, and therefore lived about A. D. 7o. His Targum would then antedate the beginning of the second century; but it is generally regarded as a later production, per haps as early as the second century. It is quite literal. The Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel, on the other hand, is periphrastic ; and it is of later date. The Targums on the Hagiographa date from the eleventh century. The Targum on the Megilloth or five books of Ecclesiastes, Can ticles, Lamentations of Jeremiah, Ruth and Esther is evidently a compilation by several persons. The barbarism of its style, its numerous digres sions and idle legends all concur to indicate its late date, which is probably not later than the eighth century. The paraphrase on the book of Ruth and the Lamentations of Jeremiah is the best executed portion. Ecclesiastes is more freely paraphrased ; but the text of the Canticles is ab solutely lost amid his dull and fabulous additions.
VERY (ver'51), (Gr. dX.106s, al-ay-thoce', John vii: 26). It denotes in its original sense that which is true, as "My very friend hath got his mortal hurt in my behalf."—Shakespeare.