The Syrian Versions

THE SYRIAN VERSIONS
Syriac or Aramaic is very close to the Hebrew language. Scholars have distinguished five different Syriac versions of all or part of the New Testament.

Old Syriac Version|Preserved in two manuscripts, both which have large gaps. They date back to the 4th and 5th centuries. They resemble the Western Textual Family of Greek manuscripts.|
Peshitta (Syriac Vulgate)|Originally did not include 2 Peter 2:1-22 & 3 John, Jude or Revelation. It attained some degree of status prior to the split of the Syrian Church in A.D. 431.

More than 350 manuscripts of the Peshitta New Testament are known today, several of which date back to the 5th and 6th centuries.

There are few variants among the witnesses. The Gospels seem to follow the Byzantine Family while Acts follows the Western Texts.|
Philoxenian|Include the smaller General Epistles and the book of Revelation. These two families are said to have come about from 500-600 A.D.; the actual existing manuscripts are more recent.|
Harclean||
Palestine Syriac|Preserved by three manuscripts dating from the 11th and 12th centuries. It seems to follow the Caesarean Family.|