This volume is part of a series of English translations of the Syriac Peshitta along with the Syriac text carried out by an international team of scholars. Childers has translated the Peshitta of Mark, while Kiraz has prepared the Syriac text in the west Syriac script, fully vocalized and pointed. The translation and the Syriac text are presented on facing pages so that both can be studied together. All readers are catered for: those wanting to read the text in English, those wanting to improve their grasp of Syriac by reading the original language along with a translation, and those wanting to focus on a fully vocalized Syriac text.

Although the Gospel of Mark was not the most widely read Gospel in the ancient Church, its remarkable text attracts keen attention today. Most scholars believe that it was the first of the canonical Gospels to be written, and contemporary readers are drawn to the brisk and direct style of its dramatic presentation of Jesus. The Peshitta Mark is not an independent translation from the Greek, but represents a process of revision of earlier Syriac versions (the Diatessaron and the Old Syriac), culminating in the early fifth century, after which the Peshitta became the standard form of the Gospel text for all the Syriac Churches. To produce the Peshitta, the ancient editor/s revised the text to bring it more in line with the Greek text, though traces of the earlier versions remain. Childers furnishes an Introduction giving background information about the Syriac text, and explains his translation technique. Examples of noteworthy and difficult readings are discussed.