A fragment of the primitive Syriac text of Luke 1 vv 26 – 29 in English translation

English translation

'And in the sixth month came Gabray’el, a Watcher. And the Watcher proclaimed, "Peace [be] with you mother of the LORD. You [are] blessed oh maiden! And blessed is the fruit who is in your womb." Maryam said, "Who are you my lord? What is the matter that you have spoken? What you have said is strange to me, and to understand it’s power is impossible." '

Notes on the translation

I have translated the Aramaic text with the names in the original forms; 'LORD' is the name of God as written in the Syriac Old Testament. 'Maryam' is the original Aramaic form of the name 'Mary'. 'Watcher' is an old Aramaic term for an angel also found in the Old Testament book of Daniel, see Daniel 4 vv 13, 17, 23. The book of Daniel was written partly in Hebrew and partly in Aramaic.

Commentary

Unlike the Greek version of our text, several important connections with the Old Testament have already been pointed out. Connections between the ancient Syriac gospel texts and the Old Testament are far more numerous than are found in the Greek gospel texts. This is a characteristic of the Syriac gospel tradition; It sits much closer to the actual historical context of the ministry of Christ.

Textually, our passage is very differently worded compared to the Greek. For example, the statement 'blessed is the fruit who is in your womb' is spoken by the Watcher Gabriel and so carries the divine authority in that way. In the Greek version, this statement can be found relocated fourteen verses later in verse 42 where it is spoken by Elizabeth whilst she was inspired by the Holy Spirit. Thus, in the Greek version, this statement is given in a different place by a different person in another way.

Theologically speaking, the christology of our text is ancient; There is an unequivocal declaration that the Child conceived in Maryam's womb was the God of the Old Covenant who had come in the flesh. There is also an admission that such a thing cannot be explained in human terms. This high christology is typically found in the most ancient Syriac gospel texts and it can be seen in other fragments I have recovered and edited here, (see under Luke 1v11). The oldest Aramaic gospel text announces that the Creator has come as Yeshu`a Meshiha (Jesus the Jewish Messiah). This is in marked contrast to the christology of the secondary Greek texts of the gospels which distinguish between the Creator and the Messiah. Many thousands of early Syriac speaking Christians were martyred in the sixth century AD, [2] because they refused to accept these Greek based modifications to their traditional beliefs. Taking up a the prophetic command of Jeremiah, perhaps it is time to seek the more ancient paths and to walk in them? (Jeremiah 6 vv 16 – 19)

[1] The following two ancient Syriac readings are particularly striking examples: Lk2v11 where Yeshu`a (Jesus) is referred to by the angels as 'the Lifegiver, LORD, Messiah' identifying Him as the Creator from Gen2v7, the God of the Syriac Old Testament from Ex3v15 and the Jewish Messiah rather as Isaiah had proclaimed him long before in Is9v6; Secondly the ancient reading of Jn1v14 where John wrote, 'The Word of the Father that she put on a body’ not implying that Yeshu`a (Jesus) was feminine, but it was written thus in Syriac because in that language the word 'Meltha' = 'the word' is a feminine noun. That this reading existed before AD 130 can be demonstrated historically, because it was criticized by Marcion in his writings, he wrote, “Yesu did not put on a body.” (See an English translation published by McCarthy C. in 'Saint Ephrem's commentary on Tatian's Diatessaron.' OUP 1993 page 193.) Marcion was at first a Roman Catholic who subsequently became an opponent of that faith.

[2] See further details given in my historical pages for this period.