Peshitta

From Maronite History

The Peshitta or Peshitto is the official Bible of Maronite Church, from which all biblical translation into other languages is made for Liturgical texts. According to Paul D. Younan,2 an authority on the subject, the Peshitta is the official Bible of the Church of the East, meaning the Assyrian Church, Nestorian Church and Chaldean Syrian Church. The name Peshitta in Aramaic means "Straight", in other words, the original and pure New Testament. The Peshitta is considered by the aforementioned churches as the authentic and pure text of the New Testament written in Aramaic, the language of Christ and his disciples.

In reference to the originality of the Peshitta, the words of His Holiness Mar Eshai Shimun, Catholicos Patriarch of the Church of the East (Assyrian Church, Nestorian Church, Chaldean Syriac Church), are summarized as follows:

"With reference to....the originality of the Peshitta text, as the Patriarch and Head of the Holy Apostolic and Catholic Church of the East, we wish to state, that the Church of the East received the scriptures from the hands of the blessed Apostles themselves in the Aramaic original, the language spoken by our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and that the Peshitta is the text of the Church of the East which has come down from the Biblical times without any change or revision."

Mar Eshai Shimun by Grace, Catholicos Patriarch of the East, April 5, 1957