Syria

"(Heb. Aram), the name in the Old Testament given to the whole" "country which lay to the north-east of Phoenicia, extending to" beyond the Euphrates and the Tigris. Mesopotamia is called (Gen. "24:10; Deut. 23:4) Aram-naharain (=Syria of the two rivers)," also Padan-aram (Gen. 25:20). Other portions of Syria were also "known by separate names, as Aram-maahah (1 Chr. 19:6)," "Aram-beth-rehob (2 Sam. 10:6), Aram-zobah (2 Sam. 10:6, 8). All" these separate little kingdoms afterwards became subject to "Damascus. In the time of the Romans, Syria included also a part" of Palestine and Asia Minor. "From the historic annals now accessible to us, the history of "Syria may be divided into three periods: The first, the period" when the power of the Pharaohs was dominant over the fertile fields or plains of Syria and the merchant cities of Tyre and "Sidon, and when such mighty conquerors as Thothmes III. and" Rameses II. could claim dominion and levy tribute from the nations from the banks of the Euphrates to the borders of the "Libyan desert. Second, this was followed by a short period of" "independence, when the Jewish nation in the south was growing in" "power, until it reached its early zenith in the golden days of" "Solomon; and when Tyre and Sidon were rich cities, sending their" "traders far and wide, over land and sea, as missionaries of" "civilization, while in the north the confederate tribes of the" Hittites held back the armies of the kings of Assyria. The "third, and to us most interesting, period is that during which" the kings of Assyria were dominant over the plains of Syria; "when Tyre, Sidon, Ashdod, and Jerusalem bowed beneath the" "conquering armies of Shalmaneser, Sargon, and Sennacherib; and" when at last Memphis and Thebes yielded to the power of the "rulers of Nineveh and Babylon, and the kings of Assyria" completed with terrible fulness the bruising of the reed of "Egypt so clearly foretold by the Hebrew prophets.", Boscawen."

"(2 Kings 18:26; Ezra 4:7; Dan. 2:4), more correctly rendered" "Aramaic, including both the Syriac and the Chaldee languages." "In the New Testament there are several Syriac words, such as" "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? (Mark 15:34; Matt. 27:46 gives" "the Heb. form, "Eli, Eli"), "Raca" (Matt. 5:22), "Ephphatha" "(Mark 7:34), "Maran-atha" (1 Cor. 16:22)." "A Syriac version of the Old Testament, containing all the "canonical books, along with some apocryphal books (called the" "Peshitto, i.e., simple translation, and not a paraphrase), was" "made early in the second century, and is therefore the first" Christian translation of the Old Testament. It was made directly "from the original, and not from the LXX. Version. The New" Testament was also translated from Greek into Syriac about the same time. It is noticeable that this version does not contain "the Second and Third Epistles of John, 2 Peter, Jude, and the" "Apocalypse. These were, however, translated subsequently and" placed in the version. (See [614]VERSION.)