Dr. George Lamsa
(1892 – 1975) By virtue of his birth place, linguistic ability, and his scholarly achievements, George M. Lamsa was ideally suited to accomplish his outstanding contribution to the field of Biblical research. As all serious students of the Bible know, no one particular version of the Bible may accurately be called THE Word of God as originally given by God. In order to arrive at an accurate understanding of certain scriptural passages, one must at times examine various translations of the Bible, as well as the underlying original, ancient Biblical languages. Lamsa’s pioneering work, including the notable Holy Bible from Ancient Eastern Manuscripts , provided invaluable resources for Biblical scholars and kindled a widespread interest in the long neglected, yet crucial, primary Aramaic texts. Aramaic History The history of the Aramaic language extends all the way back to the time of the patriarchs and the region of Mesopotamia, commonly referred to as “the cradle of civilization.” It is the ancestor to all Semitic languages, and the language and its alphabet continue in use to the present day. Being a Galilean, Jesus Christ spoke Aramaic. The Gospels and Church epistles were originally written in Aramaic, and then immediately translated into Greek as they were sent out to the Greek speaking regions of early Christianity, such as Macedonia and Achaia. As Christianity continued to grow and spread simultaneously in the Aramaic speaking regions of the Eastern Church, and the Greek speaking regions of the western church, the Scriptures were carefully copied and preserved in both of these primary languages. Written in the Syriac dialect of Aramaic, the Peshitta version is the oldest complete Aramaic manuscript in existence. The word Peshitta means “straight, simple, sincere, o
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church in the Western world over doctrinal issues. This occasioned the development of two new scripts — the Jacobite and the Nestorian. Aramaic remained the lingua franca of the Middle East up until the time of the ninth century. At that time, Arabic became the most commonly used language in the region; yet, Aramaic continued to be spoken in an isolated area known as Kurdistan throughout the centuries and up to present day time. Although little known to most Christians in the Western world, the church in the East thrived for centuries; reaching out as far as India, China, Indonesia, and Japan; and even outnumbered European Christians at times, according to some scholars. World-changing, geopolitical events and the resulting severe persecution of Eastern Christians drove the Assyrians to seek refuge in the Zagros and Taurus mountain ranges, cutting them off from the rest of the world for