The Kitchen Sink
An occasional piece of paper
June 22, 2008
Vol. 11 no. 24

Everything But...
           Read any $188 books lately? Thankfully, I did not pay for mine. Occasionally I write a review for a journal on a new book. I slightly regret volunteering for this one since it is time-consuming, and in this cybernetic age, this review will appear online. That means I have received emails informing me digitally that I have 10 days, now 5 days, to submit before their deadline. Funny, each time the email’s calendar was a day off – there were actually 11 and 5 days to go, respectively. I’ve got mail from Big Brother Computer who can’t count the days on a calendar.
           The title of the book is The Peshitta: Its Use in Literature and Liturgy. Yep, it sounds just like it looks, accent on the middle syllable. The Peshitta is the name given to the Syriac language Bible, meaning “the Simple (version).” ‘Tis a gift to be simple, both for Shakers and Syrians.
           Four hundred twelve pages of articles on how the Peshitta was used in the writings and liturgy of the Syrian churches have not been that easy to wade through. Dynamic stuff, and some of it has even been interesting. The best is by my friend Kristian Heal who writes about the retellings of the Joseph story in Genesis, usually in a dramatic dialogue poem. My favourite part is the anonymous author’s imagination about the reaction of Potiphar and his wife to the news that Joseph had been promoted to be the prime minister of Egypt. Potiphar’s wife confesses that it was she who had tried to seduce Joseph a few years earlier, so now both she and her husband are terrified. Joseph, however, full of grace, forgives both of them.
           Joseph had simplicity in buckets, and so should you. The Syriac Bible is simple, the Peshitta, and for $188 you can read all about it.