Greek or Peshitta? Why the Apostles Wrote the New Testament in Greek

Greek or Peshitta? Why the Apostles Wrote the New Testament in Greek

Some modern movements—especially Sacred Name groups—claim that the New Testament was not written in Greek, but in Aramaic (specifically the Peshitta). They argue that the Greek text is a corruption, and only the Peshitta preserves the “true” words of Jesus and the Apostles.

It sounds spiritual and scholarly—but it collapses under the weight of history and Scripture itself.

1. What Is the Peshitta?

The Peshitta is the Syriac (a dialect of Aramaic) translation of the Bible used by Syriac-speaking churches. The Old Testament portion was translated from the Hebrew, and the New Testament portion from the Greek.

• Date: The Peshitta NT was standardized by the early 5th century AD. Some portions may have been translated earlier (2nd–3rd century), but all evidence shows it is dependent on Greek originals.

• Content: The earliest Peshitta NT lacked 2 Peter, 2 John, 3 John, Jude, and Revelation—books that were part of the Greek canon from the beginning.

• Name: Peshitta means “simple” or “straightforward,” reflecting its purpose as a readable translation.

In other words, the Peshitta is important—but it’s a translation, not an original.

2. Why the New Testament Was Written in Greek

The New Testament writers were Jewish, but they lived in a Hellenistic world.

• Greek was the lingua franca of the Roman Empire, used in trade, law, and literature.

• The Septuagint (Greek OT) was already in wide use among Jews across the empire—and the Apostles quoted it frequently (e.g., Hebrews 10:5 cites Psalm 40 in its Greek form, not the Hebrew).

• Writing in Greek ensured the Gospel reached both Jews and Gentiles, exactly as Jesus commanded:

  
  

  “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations…” (Matthew 28:19, NASB).

If the Apostles had written only in Hebrew or Aramaic, the message would have remained locked inside Judea. God chose Greek to make the Gospel immediately universal.

3. Evidence Against a “Peshitta Original”

(a) Manuscript Evidence

• We have over 5,000 Greek manuscripts of the NT, some dating to the 2nd century.

• The earliest Peshitta manuscripts are much later.

• If Aramaic originals existed, they would have left some trace in the manuscript tradition. They did not.

(b) Translation Features

The Peshitta clearly shows signs of being translated from Greek:

• Greek loanwords appear in the Syriac text (e.g., for “baptism” and “church”).

• Greek idioms are carried over awkwardly into Syriac.

• When the Greek uses Septuagint quotations, the Peshitta follows them—even when they differ from the Hebrew.

This proves the Greek was the source, not the other way around.

(c) Omissions

As mentioned, the Peshitta originally lacked five NT books. If it were the “original,” why would large chunks of the New Testament be missing? This only makes sense if the Peshitta was a later, regional translation.

Why Did the Early Church Fathers Quote the Greek?

If the Peshitta were truly the original New Testament, we would expect to see early Christian writers citing it. But when you read the Church Fathers—from Clement of Rome (c. AD 95) to Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Origen, Athanasius, and Augustine—you find them quoting the Greek New Testament, not an Aramaic text. Their sermons, letters, and defenses of the faith are saturated with Greek wording and phrasing.

This is decisive: the very leaders discipled by the Apostles’ generation treated the Greek manuscripts as Scripture. The supposed “original Aramaic” is absent from the Church’s earliest witness, because the Peshitta is a translation, not the fountainhead.

4. The “Yeshua” Question

 Sacred Name teachers often lean on the Peshitta because it renders Jesus’ name as Yeshuʿ (ܝܫܘܥ)—the Syriac/Aramaic form of Yeshua. They claim this “proves” the original NT used Yeshua, not Greek Iēsous.

But here’s the problem:

• When the Apostles wrote in Greek, they consistently used Ἰησοῦς (Iēsous).

• The Holy Spirit inspired this Greek form—and the Church preached it as such from the very beginning.

• Even in Hebrews 4:8, Joshua is called Iēsous in Greek, showing that this was the standard transliteration.

The sacred name isn’t a syllable—it’s the person of Christ.

5. Why the Peshitta Matters—But Isn’t Original

The Peshitta is still valuable:

• It preserves an early Syriac Christian tradition.

• It gives insight into how Eastern Christians read the NT.

• It proves the Gospel was translated into many languages early on (just as Revelation 7:9 envisions “every tribe and tongue”).

But its existence shows the opposite of what Sacred Name teachers argue: the Gospel was already spreading in Greek, and Syriac believers had to translate it for their communities.

6. The Danger of the “Peshitta-Only” View

Claiming the Peshitta is original and Greek is corrupt is:

• Historically false – no evidence supports it.

• Theologically dangerous – it undermines confidence in Scripture, (originally) eliminated five books of the New Testament, creates theological errors, and isolates believers in a pseudo-elitist camp.

• Contrary to the Apostles’ mission – which was to preach Christ in every language, not bind salvation to one.

Paul warned against this kind of word-legalism:

“If anyone advocates a different doctrine and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ… he is conceited and understands nothing.” (1 Timothy 6:3–4, NASB)

Conclusion

The Apostles wrote the New Testament in Greek—the language of the empire, commerce, and philosophy—so that the Gospel could immediately go global. The Peshitta is a later translation, precious in its own right, but secondary to the Greek originals.

The true “sacred name” is not a linguistic secret. It is the person of Jesus Christ—Ἰησοῦς, Iēsous, Yeshuʿ—Lord of all nations.

“So that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:10–11, NASB)