
Ktaba qadisha
HEBREW LETTER THIRD EDITION

Ktaba qadisha
ARAMAIC LETTER FIRST AND SECOND EDITIONS
On the front cover of the
Aramaic English New Testament is the Aramaic
Estrangela transcription of the phrase
Ktaba qadisha, or “Set-Apart
Scriptures”. This title appears on manuscripts
for both the Peshitta Tanakh and Renewed
Covenant collections.
From an historical point
of view, as the centuries passed, rival
assemblies like the Church of the East and
Syrian Orthodox Church both altered their
scripts so that their manuscripts could
never be confused for one another. However,
as a heading both organizations kept the
Estrangela heading intact as shown here, and
both acknowledge as a consequence, that the
Eastern traditions in terms of calligraphic
style and content are indeed the most
ancient.
From ancient times until today the
sopherim1
(scribes) who copied from the originals have
laboured (and suffered) to preserve the
accuracy of each manuscript. If the
saying is true in any other context, it is
most certainly true here that we "stand on
the shoulders of giants". Through the
ages the scribes have lovingly and carefully
preserved these "Set-Apart Scriptures" so
that all who seek Mashiyach today may learn
of and enter into the Kingdom of Elohim.
It has been said by some that long after the
digital age is over the ancient texts will
still live on, indeed there are possibly
hundreds of ancient texts that have not yet
been discovered and perhaps some are held by
those who don't recognize them or regard
their importance to mankind.
Nevertheless, we do in fact have access to
"the words of life" in this generation like
never before, and within the Aramaic English
New Testament you will find the closest to
the original New Testament text and
translation that has appeared since the
First Century when it was written.
With a few clicks we can surf the net and
view a proliferation of ancient Aramaic,
Hebrew and Greek texts online, but let's
also be mindful of the vast differences in
the presentation of each manuscript.
Within the proliferation of translators and
scribes over the millennia there are very
distinct differences.
The Hebrew and Aramaic scribes who viewed
their work as Ktaba
qadisha, or “Set-Apart Scriptures”
took great effort to craft each
letter and beautify each page. As we
compare various texts let's also bear it in
mind the relationship the scribe had with
his work! Ancient Eastern Aramaic
texts are extremely consistent because
Aramaic scribes modeled their writing styles
after the scribes who wrote Torah scrolls.
Word by word and line by line Eastern
scribes crafted each letter and gauged how
each page would look when completed, the
scribe wanted each page to look exactly the
same as the original. By copying each
line exactly the scribe knew there would be
far less margin of error. Within the
Aramaic English New Testament you will find
footnotes that indicate extremely minor
variations between 360 ancient Aramaic
manuscripts, you will notice an amazing
degree of accuracy that spans nearly 1900
years of the manuscript record.
Let it never be forgotten that the ancient
Hebrew and Aramaic scribes believed that
their work was "Set Apart unto YHWH" even
more important to them than life itself.
Over the ages these words of Shimon Keefa
(Peter) have echoed from the desks of the
scribes themselves when he stated:
"My Master, to whom should we go?
You have the words of life that is eternal."
Yochanan (John) 6:68 AENT
Sopherim (scribes) in this context simply
refers to those who have the profession of
writing and copying texts. Y'shua
however spoke of "scribes and Pharisees" who
were both political and religious entities
of his day. The scribes that Y'shua
references (as a sect) and the Pharisees
both rejected Y'shua as Mashiyach in favor
of their own man-made religious systems. |