In the realm of historical and religious studies, every discovery holds the potential to rewrite our understanding of the past. Recently, a remarkable find has emerged from the depths of ancient texts, shedding new light on the evolution of one of the world’s most influential books – the Bible. This discovery, as reported in an article by Kenneth Niemeyer on Business Insider, has unveiled a hidden chapter of the Bible that had remained unseen for over 1,500 years.
Grigory Kessel, a historian at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, made this extraordinary discovery using ultraviolet photography to reveal text hidden beneath multiple layers of edits on a palimpsest. A palimpsest, for those unfamiliar, is an ancient manuscript that was repeatedly written over due to the scarcity of parchment in ancient times. This process often left traces of the original writing behind, hidden beneath the layers of newer text.
The hidden text, according to Kessel, is an extended version of Chapter 12 in the Book of Matthew, originally part of the Old Syriac translations of the Bible some 1,500 years ago. This discovery was made in a manuscript held at the Vatican Library and offers a “unique gateway” for researchers to understand the earliest phases of the Bible’s textual evolution.
Interestingly, the newly discovered Syriac translation shows some differences from modern translations of the text. For instance, the original Greek version of Matthew 12:1, which is the one most commonly used today, said, “At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and his disciples became hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat.” The newly discovered Syriac translation, however, is slightly different. It said, “began to pick the heads of grain, rub them in their hands, and eat them.”
This discovery underscores the dynamic nature of ancient texts and their translations. It reminds us that our understanding of the past is continually evolving, just like the texts themselves. As we continue to delve into the depths of these ancient manuscripts, who knows what other hidden treasures we might uncover?
This blog post is based on the article “Scientists say they have found a chapter of the Bible hidden under a section of text for more than a thousand years” by Kenneth Niemeyer on Business Insider.
Ruins and Relics 