Victor Alexander is a native Aramaic speaker who has mastered the more ancient form of the Syriac Aramaic dialect. His translation is fitly named, as unlike most translations, it is not translated from Greek but Aramaic: the language of Jesus (or as Alexander transliterates: Eashoa). His translation is unique among the other translations of the Aramaic Peshitta, as it is not a literal translation, but a more dynamic one.
Alexander transliterates the Syriac name for Jesus (Yod-Sheen-Waw-Ayin) as "Eashoa" (which is the pronunciation modern Aramaic speakers use). He translates the Aramaic "Meshikha" as "Messiah" (closer to the original Aramaic title than the Greek "Christ"). While his translation is accurate for the most part, it has some flaws:
1. Translates the Aramaic word "qnomah" (substance) as "Trinity". Victor Alexander believes the word in the Aramaic to be "qnomeh" (plural), but based on the context in which he translates this word thus so, it makes no since in the context. Here is how he translates John 5:26, "Because as for the Father there is life through his trinity, so also He has given the Son life through his trinity." I am not personally Trinitarian, but even if I was, I would find this to be an incorrect translation, as the word "qnomah" is preceded by singular pronouns. Also, does this mean that both the Father and the Son have Their own Trinities? The word "trinity" in this verse should be substituted as "substance". There are a few other verses that read the Trinitarian doctrine into the text (John 6:53; Ephesians 4:3)+.
2. Some other questionable renderings, but not that many. They could be easily corrected. For an example, here is his rendering of II Corinthians 12:2, "I knew a man through the Messiah for fourteen years, (whether through the flesh, however, or not, I do not know, Allaha only knows,) that he would struggle until heaven's revenge." George M. Lamsa (another native Aramaic-speaking Bible translator) translates the final part as thus, "...this very one was caught up to the third heaven..." His rendering of Hebrews 1:6 wrongly exchanges the phrase "Only-begotten Son" for "the Bread of Life" (which is nowhere in the text).
Despite these flaws, the good outweighs the bad. Alexander's translation is very easy to read, and the footnotes show Aramaic idioms in their more literal form at the end of each chapter, and frequently explain his translation choices. Like Lamsa, Alexander sometimes translates the Aramaic idiom into more English style. He and Lamsa both translate the Aramaic idiom "poor in spirit" in Matthew 5:3 as "humble". He also translates the word "Miltha" as "manifestation" for the most part. While the primary meaning is "word", "manifestation" is another meaning (according to another Aramaic-speaking translator named Paul Younan). An example is Mark 9:10 (which takes place right after Christ's transfiguration and his telling the disciples that He will rise from the dead), Alexander translates it as, "And they held the manifestation in their souls, and they prayed as to what the manifestation was regarding, when he would rise from the dead." I like this translation, as it seems to show the words of Christ to His disciples as revelation. In John 1, Alexander transliterates "Miltha" into English lettering.
I think this would mainly be interesting to compare with Dr. George Lamsa's translation (The Holy Bible From the Ancient Eastern Text) and Paul Younan's Interlinear Peshitta (on [...] as all of these were done by native speakers. I suspect that sometime in the next few years that Victor Alexander will be releasing his translation of the Peshitta Old Testament, which has only been fully translated into English by Lamsa. Several bits of his Old Testament have been released (including Genesis, Jonah, Zechariah, Daniel, and others). I recommend buying Mr. Alexander's translation!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S90VUomo2tM - A video review I did about the translation.
http://www.v-a.com/ - Translator Vic Alexander's website. You can read his translation online here.
http://www.bible-geeks.com/
Studying Victor Alexander's website at http://www.v-a.com (presently down)for a while,and communicating with him via email,asking many questions of him,and also giving him links to other Aramaic scripture based videos and claims,I can verify he did translate the entire Old Testament,and completed it using the Syriac,but was later asked why when it was originally in Assyrian-Aramaic!So he stated he'd have to start all over again,and being about 60ish and not so well,he'd probably never complete it,but felt someone else would probably pick up from where he'd left off,and complete it.I found him to be a very nice mannered man in his email replies,even though I personally can ask too many questions,or present him with many strange things Aramaic-based,I have found online.I have also read,but never purchased Gabriel Roth's AENT online, and it appears he also got hold of the same ancient manuscripts from the ancient church of the East,but in Syriac.Yes sometimes V Alexander uses tri-une ,then the word trinity,and I have found some spelling mistakes.
ReplyDeleteHe as stated he doesn't care what others say about his and translating of the Aramaic,as he's a native born Mesopotamian speaker/translator and he's about translating the texts in English as best as he can,without bias,or adding his own spin on it. Dylan Downs on You tube has made the same comments,and through his own admission,he doesn't speak Aramaic.Yet it sounds like he knows the language better than Victor.I like Victor's translation,as well as Roth's.
He also translates the word "Milta" as "manifestation",because as he states there is NO English equivalent!
ReplyDeleteI would like to know what happened to Mr. Alexander. He now has no website, so that anyone may contact him .I know his account was hacked on Facebook. I have His OT and NT, but his OT doesn't include the Psalms and I was wondering if he is now working on translating them ? Does anyone have any updated info .on him in 2021? I heard he possibly is not in good health . Thank you .
ReplyDeletei emailed with him a couple of years ago and he was having a hard time and had not fully recovered from his stroke. anyways, what really happened to him was pretty horrible, i do not know if he is alive or not, but he tweeted that some man sexually forced himself on his old wife, and because that man was connected, he had his website shut down smh
Deletethere were things on his website that i needed to collect for my own personal Aramaic records, but now nobody knows what has become of him.
although i differ from him due to some of his opinionated views, i hope he is okay and that his website is up and running at some point in the future. be good...
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DeleteAs of January, 2024, I often communicate with Victor Alexander via vicalexander37@gmail.com. He had heavy-duty chemo some time ago and was, I think, made delirious by it. He is much better now, but at 80 years of age is decidedly retired. Please continue to pray for him and his wife, Liv Alexander. I have asked him to teach more on his perspective of the Milta. Have you ever heard of the Milta in church? Why not? IT'S THE GOD WE WORSHIP AND SERVE, OUR SAVIOR! Why is the Milta virtually absent from all church preaching?
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