Very interesting translation from the Peshitta, the standard version of the Bible from the Syriac tradition. In Lamsa, 1 Chronicles 7:22 reads, "And her daughter escaped in upper and lower Beth-horon." The NASB reads, "Their father Ephraim mourned many days, and his relatives came to comfort him."

In Lamsa, 1 Peter 3:7 in part reads, "live with your wives with understanding, and hold them with tenderness like delicate vessels, because they also will inherit with you the gift of everlasting life." NASB, "live with your wives in an understanding way, as with someone weaker, since she is a woman; and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life."

Jeremiah 4:10 in Lamsa reads in part, "Ah, Lord God! I have greatly deceived this people." NASB, "Ah, Lord God! Surely you have utterly deceived this people."

This comparison is not meant to criticize the Lamsa Bible but only to show the differences in these two passages, some very stark differences. There are more differences, not that they change the overall meaning of the passage compared to the NASB, but they are interesting and some provoke a deeper understanding of the text. ( )

There are those who claim that this is the first complete Bible, and that it dates from the 1st or 2nd Century AD.

This translation is so close to the KJV, that I must believe that the translator used the KJV for most of the translated text, modifying it to explain the Aramaic sentences. When Tyndale did his English translation (used in the KJV and Rheims-Douay) he stated that he kept the word order and sentence structure of the Aramaic, even though he did not know the language. I suppose that he hoped that one day someone would be able to explain all those strange sayings - And Lamsa has done it. ( )

Lamsa's translation of the Aramaic Peshitta should be a must have for any biblical library. Sure, the provenance of the Peshitta is a bit sketchy, and Lamsa's belief that the New Testament existed first in Aramaic is iffy (though a plausibly nice theory), but it is a different tack that is useful to consult. Sure, some of the differences between the Peshitta and the Textus Receptus might lean to the Aramaic (e.g. "A Rope through the eye of a needle..." vs. "Camel through the eye of a needle..."), but others lean toward the received text ("Eloi, eloi..." vs. "Eli, Eli..." and so forth). ( )