In The Peshitta and Syro-Hexapla Translations of Amos 1:3-2:16, Petra Verwijs presents the result of a detailed study about the translation techniques used by two Syriac translations of the Biblical passage indicated. The Peshitta is the translation from a Hebrew original and the Syro-Hexapla from a Greek version. The book evaluates the unique characteristics of both through a detailed study of vocabulary and grammar. Previous scholarship has addressed issues of translation technique for the Peshitta of the Dodekapropheton, of which Amos 1:3-2:16 is a part. This is the first detailed study of any part of the Dodekapropheton of the Syro-Hexapla.

Ancient translations of late antique Christian literature serve to spread the body of knowledge to wider audiences in often radically new cultural contexts. For the texts which are translated, their versions are not only sometimes crucial textual witnesses, but also important testimonies of independent strands of reception, cast in the cultural context of the new language. This volume gathers ten contributions that deal with translations into Latin, Syriac, Armenian, Georgian, Coptic, Old Nubian, Old Slavonic, Sogdian, Arabic and Ethiopic, set in dialog in order to highlight the range of problems and approaches involved in dealing with the reception of Christian literature across the various languages in which it was transmitted.

This book presents an analysis of translation technique, defining and measuring areas of literalness and of freedom, and discussing the evident acceptability of a non-literal approach, in both the original translation and later editorial work, to relevant communities. Because the Book of Jeremiah is so long, a quantitative analysis was valuable, showing: preservation of the sense of the Vorlage; freedom in selection of lexical equivalents even for important words such as "sin" and in making numerous additions in pursuit of precision; and a similar approach by later editors. Passages which are not represented in the translation despite their presence in the Hebrew Bible, and sometimes also in the Septuagint, are analysed, showing their value in illumination both the development of the Hebrew Bible itself from a number of earlier texts, and the precise wording of the text from which the Syriac translator worked. The strategies adopted to cope with the translation of particulary difficult Hebrew are analysed: these include taking guidance from the Septuagint, from other parts of the Hebrew Bible, and guesswork. Apart from its value to Peshitta scholars and Syriac specialists, the book is useful to biblical scholars and textual critics in general.

In The Theological Profile of the Peshitta of Isaiah, Attila Bodor explores theological elements in the Peshitta version of Isaiah through a close study of its interpretative renderings.