Memro

Jan Joosten's argument toward an ancient Syriac Diatesseron involves west-Aramaic features. Joosten has proposed a west-Aramaic fifth-gospel behind them. Joosten also sees the Old Syriac Gospels especially but sometimes Peshitta too (Matt 11:10) pulling its OT quotes from OT-Peshitta and not retranslating Greek (more-formally "Tatian's Diatessaron and the Old Testament Peshitta", 2001). He overstates his case.

"Abba" (a) could be taken from the Greek, which relates occasional Palaestinian Aramaic on account... Christ used it. I extend this to the salîba Cross (e). The New Testament cross is specifically Roman and every pilgrim heard the word, even Arabs.

Joosten knows Old Syriac wasn't so great at Greek as was Peshitta, so - one could say - cheated. In 2017 Zhen Chen over the Old Testament found little daylight between Peshitta and the Old Greek in - particularly - the Second Isaiah, a treasure-trove of proof-texting in the New Testament. And at least one Christian involved in the OT couldn't help but inject some NT Epistolary text into the first Isaiah.

I think Joosten and those citing him should revisit Old Testament quotations, which might not always be from "the Peshitta" as we have it, but from newly-translated New-Testament quotes and parallels as Paul, 1 John, 1 Peter may have made from the Bible direct.

How to account for the shared OT/NT parallels, and the West Aramaic? I scent the memro tradition. Absent a full Bible, Christians will hear the Gospel in sermons (memrë). These were recited (as qeryanë) to West Syrians by Aramaic missionaries - from Palaestina. Shared OT/NT parallels would be common core, influencing the translations of OT/NT simultaneously.