Subject: tc-list Peshitta data

From: "Robert B. Waltz" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 23 Oct 1997 16:00:19 -0500 (CDT)

I know I said I would stay out of this discussion -- but if we're
offering actual data about the Peshitta, I thought I should argue
mine. The following is the raw data I have about the Peshitta,
straight out of the Pascal program. I haven't even calculated
percentages on it....

*****************************************************************************

Statistics for MS pesh

Total readings:              812
Byzantine readings:          558
Total Agreements:          19988
Near Singular Readings:       58

***Level of support for readings ***
Readings with:         0 Supporters:   0
 1 Supporters:   6     2 Supporters:   3
 3 Supporters:   7     4 Supporters:  12
 5 Supporters:  15     6 Supporters:  15
 7-10 Supporters:  56
11-20 Supporters: 141
21-30 Supporters: 278
31-50 Supporters: 279

******************** Agreements with Various Manuscripts ********************

          Total          No Byz Rdg        Non-Byz      Near-Singular  Weighted
        Agreements       Agreements      Agreements       Agreements   Agreements
   p45   38 of   97       4 of    7       5 of   13       0 of    1    1.61
   p66   78 of  169       4 of    6      21 of   30       2 of    8    1.95
   p75   93 of  262       3 of   10      23 of   42       1 of   15    1.40
 Aleph  327 of  811      15 of   36      99 of  155      13 of   58    1.99
     A  407 of  596      14 of   30      20 of   29       1 of   42    2.53
     B  294 of  811      16 of   36      94 of  156       8 of   58    1.80
     C  302 of  517      11 of   21      32 of   58       3 of   37    2.22
     D  320 of  762      16 of   35      81 of  144       9 of   54    2.04
     E  562 of  802      15 of   36       3 of    4       0 of   56    2.47
     G  498 of  720      17 of   35       2 of   10       1 of   51    2.42
     K  567 of  810      17 of   35      19 of   29       2 of   58    2.55
     L  405 of  798      19 of   36      80 of  120       4 of   55    2.11
     N  265 of  382       6 of    9      14 of   24       2 of   35    2.51
     W  450 of  799      19 of   34      62 of   99       9 of   57    2.33
 Gamma  522 of  764      13 of   33       6 of    9       1 of   54    2.42
 Delta  531 of  809      22 of   36      17 of   37       1 of   58    2.33
 Theta  461 of  803      18 of   36      57 of   93       5 of   57    2.27
   Psi  305 of  494       6 of   16      36 of   47       3 of   38    2.32
 Omega  558 of  805      13 of   36       7 of    7       0 of   58    2.47
    f1  454 of  808      15 of   36      60 of   88       2 of   58    2.18
   f13  506 of  811      20 of   36      39 of   73       2 of   57    2.31
    28  475 of  732      14 of   34      11 of   23       1 of   48    2.28
    33  424 of  711      16 of   34      62 of   90       1 of   46    2.29
   565  494 of  798      17 of   36      34 of   59       1 of   57    2.22
   579  486 of  802      15 of   35      54 of   83       1 of   56    2.27
   700  506 of  812      17 of   36      29 of   49       2 of   58    2.29
   892  501 of  811      26 of   36      58 of   89       3 of   58    2.40
  1006  575 of  811      18 of   36      14 of   18       0 of   58    2.53
  1010  551 of  809      16 of   36      15 of   24       0 of   58    2.42
  1071  549 of  804      19 of   35      43 of   64       4 of   57    2.59
  1241  481 of  767      19 of   35      44 of   67       4 of   54    2.38
  1342  515 of  794      18 of   36      21 of   32       0 of   56    2.30
  1424  553 of  811      22 of   36      23 of   40       1 of   58    2.49
  1506  516 of  734      18 of   34       7 of   14       0 of   49    2.45
     a  390 of  750      19 of   34     100 of  150       7 of   50    2.47
     b  378 of  732      18 of   34      89 of  132       6 of   47    2.38
     e  245 of  516      12 of   23      76 of  113       4 of   36    2.32
     f  514 of  752      24 of   32      70 of   95       7 of   50    2.81
   ff2  373 of  691      18 of   32      83 of  124       7 of   48    2.45
     k   97 of  238       2 of    7      19 of   34       5 of   16    1.97
vg(ww)  505 of  784      22 of   34      78 of  108       3 of   52    2.57
   sin  383 of  691      12 of   30     122 of  153      22 of   45    3.13
   cur  227 of  372       9 of   12      60 of   76      15 of   26    3.35
    sa  341 of  711      11 of   27      86 of  124       5 of   45    2.13
    bo  371 of  698      14 of   27      90 of  127       4 of   44    2.28
  arm   405 of  723      12 of   29      78 of  112       9 of   48    2.34
 geo1   378 of  680       9 of   26      73 of  115       7 of   48    2.34

To analyse very briefly, there are five sets of numbers here. The first
column is overall agreements. Here is appears that the Peshitta goes
with the Byzantine text; its highest rates of agreement are with heavily
Byzantine manuscripts such as K and Omega. The next column represents
agreements where the Byzantine text divies. There is nothing conclusive
here.

The third column represents the readings of Pesh *which do not agree with
the Byzantine text.* There aren't all that many of these. But the agreement
with the OS here is extraordinarily high. Thus where Pesh is non-Byzantine,
it clearly agrees with the Old Syriac.

The next column, near-singular readings (readings with no more than
six supporters) bolsters this conclusion. Clearly Pesh is closest to
the OS here.

The final column, weighted agreements, also support this point.

Thus I would say that both sides in the argument are right: The underlying
element in Pesh is the Old Syriac. But it seems to me quite clear that
it has been influenced by the Byzantine text.

For those who want to know (if there are any) -- yes, I am getting
both data and software into publishable shape, and will do my best
to make them available (along with a much fuller analysis of what
each part means :-).

If anyone wishes a list of the readings tested, I will answer off-list
(as time permits). But I will not burden the list with this, so don't
ask unless you want a private reply.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

                        Robert B. Waltz
                     [email-masked]

Want more loudmouthed opinions about textual criticism?
Try my web page: http://www.skypoint.com/~waltzmn
(A site inspired by the Encyclopedia of NT Textual Criticism)

---

From: Jean VALENTIN <[email-masked]>
Date: Ven, 24 Oct 97 00:04:09 +0200

>ask unless you want a private reply.
Yes Bob, I would like to now more about your sample readings. As you see 
from my post on Mt 23, I have quite a different idea of the peshitto. So, 
not only do I ask for the readings, but also: what were the criteria for 
selecting them ???

Thanks,

Jean V.

_________________________________________________
Jean Valentin - Bruxelles - Belgique
e-mail: [email-masked]
_________________________________________________
"Ce qui est trop simple est faux, ce qui est trop complexe est 
inutilisable"
"What's too simple is wrong, what's too complex is unusable"
"Wat te eenvoudig is, is verkeerd; wat te ingewikkeld is, is onbruikbaar"
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