Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
It is generally agreed that Jesus and his disciples primarily understand the elements of the Greek lan-
spoke Aramaic, the common language of Judea in the rst guage, although I have so long accustomed
century AD, most likely a Galilean dialect distinguish- myself to speak our own tongue, that I cannot
able from that of Jerusalem.[1] The towns of Nazareth pronounce Greek with sucient exactness;
and Capernaum in Galilee, where Jesus spent most of his for our nation does not encourage those that
time, were Aramaic-speaking communities.[2] learn the languages of many nations, and so
adorn their discourses with the smoothness
of their periods; because they look upon this
1 Cultural and linguistic back- sort of accomplishment as common, not only
to all sorts of free-men, but to as many of the
ground servants as please to learn them. But they give
him the testimony of being a wise man who
See also: Cultural and historical background of Jesus is fully acquainted with our laws, and is able
to interpret their meaning; on which account,
as there have been many who have done their
Aramaic was the common language of the Eastern
endeavors with great patience to obtain this
Mediterranean during and after the Neo-Assyrian, Neo-
learning, there have yet hardly been so many
Babylonian, and Achaemenid Empires (722330 BC)
as two or three that have succeeded therein,
and remained a common language of the region in the
who were immediately well rewarded for their
rst century AD. In spite of the increasing importance
pains.
of Greek, the use of Aramaic was also expanding, and
Antiquities of Jews XX, XI
it would eventually be dominant among Jews both in the
Holy Land and elsewhere in the Middle East around 200
AD[3] and would remain so until the Islamic conquests in His testimony agrees with Yadin, who points out that Ara-
the seventh century.[4][5] maic was the lingua franca at the time.[9]
According to Dead Sea Scrolls archaeologist Yigael In the rst century AD, the Aramaic language was
Yadin, Aramaic was the language of Hebrews until Simon widespread throughout the Middle East, as is supported
Bar Kokhbas revolt (132 AD to 135 AD). Yadin noticed by the testimony of Josephuss The Jewish War.[10]
the shift from Aramaic to Hebrew in the documents he
studied, which had been written during the time of the Josephus points out how people from what are now Iran,
Bar Kokhba revolt. In his book, Bar Kokhba: The re- Iraq and remote parts of the Arabian Peninsula knew all
discovery of the legendary hero of the last Jewish Revolt about the war of the Jews against the Romans because
Against Imperial Rome, Yigael Yadin notes, It is inter- of the books he wrote in the language of our country,
esting that the earlier documents are written in Aramaic books he then translated into Greek for the benet of the
while the later ones are in Hebrew. Possibly the change Greeks and Romans:
was made by a special decree of Bar Kokhba who wanted
to restore Hebrew as the ocial language of the state.[6] I have proposed to myself, for the sake
of such as live under the government of the
In another book by Sigalit Ben-Zion, Yadin said: it Romans, to translate those books into the
seems that this change came as a result of the order that Greek tongue, which I formerly composed
was given by Bar Kokhba, who wanted to revive the He- in the language of our country, and sent to
brew language and make it the ocial language of the the Upper Barbarians; Joseph, the son of
state.[7] Matthias, by birth a Hebrew, a priest also, and
According to Hebrew historian Josephus, Greek was not one who at rst fought against the Romans
spoken in rst century Palestine. Josephus also points out myself, and was forced to be present at what
the extreme rarity of a Jew knowing Greek. [8] was done afterwards, [am the author of this
work].
Josephus wrote:
Jewish Wars (Book 1, Preface, Paragraph 1)
1
2 2 ARAMAIC PHRASES IN THE GREEK NEW TESTAMENT
see the truth falsied in aairs of such great is called in the Hebrew Golgotha. The last word is, in
consequence, and to take no notice of it; but fact, Aramaic. The word Golgotha is a transliteration
to suer those Greeks and Romans that were of an Aramaic word, because -tha in Golgotha is the Ara-
not in the wars to be ignorant of these things, maic denite article on a feminine noun in an emphatic
and to read either atteries or ctions, while state.[15]
the Parthians, and the Babylonians, and the
remotest Arabians, and those of our nation
beyond Euphrates, with the Adiabeni, by my 2 Aramaic phrases in the Greek
means, knew accurately both whence the war
begun, what miseries it brought upon us, and New Testament
after what manner it ended.
Jewish Wars (Book 1 Preface, Paragraph Main article: Language of the New Testament
2)
The Greek New Testament transliterates a few Semitic
words.[16] When the text itself refers to the lan-
H. St. J. Thackeray (who translated Josephus Jewish guage of such Semitic glosses, it uses words meaning
Wars from Greek into English) also points out, We learn Hebrew"/"Jewish,[17] but this term is often applied to
from the proem that the Greek text was not the rst draft unmistakably Aramaic words and phrases;[18][19] for this
of the work. It had been preceded by a narrative writ- reason, it is often interpreted as meaning the (Aramaic)
ten in Aramaic and addressed to the barbarians in the vernacular of the Jews in recent translations.[20] The
interior, who are more precisely dened lower down as Semitisms are mainly words attributed to Jesus by the
the natives of Parthia, Babylonia, and Arabia, the Jewish Gospel of Mark, and perhaps had a special signicance
dispersion in Mesopotamia, and the inhabitants of Adia- because of this.
bene, a principality of which the reigning house, as was A very small minority believe that most or all of the New
proudly remembered, were converts to Judaism (B. i, 3, Testament was originally written in Aramaic.[21][22] How-
6). Of this Aramaic work the Greek is described as a ever, such theories are rejected by mainstream Biblical
version made for the benet of the subjects of the Ro- scholarship. Traditionally, parts of the Church of the East
man Empire, i.e. the Graeco-Roman world at large.[11] (Nestorian church) have also claimed originality for the
In Acts 1:19, the Field of Blood was known to all Aramaic New Testament, but it is considered by scholars
the inhabitants of Jerusalem in their own language as to be a translation from Greek. Instead, the consensus
Akeldama, which is the transliteration of the Aramaic among mainstream academia is that although it is possible
words Haqal Dama.[12] that there may be Aramaic source materials that under-
pin some portions of the New Testament, the New Testa-
Josephus dierentiated Hebrew from his language and
ment was compiled and redacted in the Greek language.
that of rst-century Israel. Josephus refers to Hebrew
Scholars are also in agreement that there was at one time
words as belonging to the Hebrew tongue but refers to
an early Aramaic/Hebrew version of a Jewish-Christian
Aramaic words as belonging to our tongue or our lan-
gospel, but its relation to the Greek gospels is not com-
guage or the language of our country.
pletely clear because of a lack of sources.
Josephus refers to a Hebrew word with the phrase the
Hebrew tongue": But the aairs of the Canaanites were
at this time in a ourishing condition, and they expected 2.1 Talitha kum ( [])
the Israelites with a great army at the city Bezek, having
put the government into the hands of Adonibezek, which See also: Daughter of Jairus
name denotes the Lord of Bezek, for Adoni in the Hebrew
tongue signies Lord.[13] Mark 5:41
In this example, Josephus refers to an Aramaic word as
belonging to our language": This new-built part of the And taking the hand of the child, he said to her,
city was called 'Bezetha,' in our language, which, if inter- Talitha kum, which translates as, Little girl, I
preted in the Grecian language, may be called 'the New say to you, get up.
City.'"[14]
Unlike Josephus and other Hebrew priests at Jerusalem, This verse gives an Aramaic phrase, attributed to Jesus
the people of rst-century Israel had no knowledge of He- bringing the girl back to life, with a transliteration into
brew, as is conrmed throughout the New Testament. On Greek, as .
several occasions in the New Testament, Aramaic words A few Greek manuscripts (Codex Sinaiticus, Vaticanus)
are called Hebrew. For example, in John 19:17 (KJV), of Marks Gospel have this form of the text, but oth-
the gospel-writer narrates that Jesus, bearing his cross[,] ers (Codex Alexandrinus, the text-type known as the
went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which Majority Text, and the Latin Vulgate) write
2.4 Raca () 3
(koumi)/cumi instead. The latter is in the Textus Recep- The phrase Abba, Father is repeated in Romans 8:15 and
tus and is the version that appears in the KJV. Galatians 4:6. In Aramaic, it would be .
The Aramaic is lth qm. The word lth is the femi- Note, the name Barabbas is a Hellenization of the Ara-
nine form of the word l, meaning young. Qm is the maic Bar Abba () , literally Son of the Father.
Aramaic verb 'to rise, stand, get up'. In the feminine sin-
gular imperative, it was originally qm. However, there
is evidence that in speech, the nal - was dropped so 2.4 Raca ()
the imperative did not distinguish between masculine and
feminine genders. The older manuscripts, therefore, used See also: Matthew 5:22
a Greek spelling that reected pronunciation whereas the
addition of an '' was perhaps due to a bookish copyist. Matthew 5:22
In square script Aramaic, it could be or
. But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry
with his brother [without a cause] shall be in
danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall
2.2 Ephphatha () say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of
the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool,
See also: Healing the deaf mute of Decapolis shall be in danger of hell re.
Mark 7:34 (The bracketed text does not appear in all recensions and
is absent in the Latin Vulgate.)
And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to Raca, or Raka, in the Aramaic and Hebrew of the
him, Ephphatha, which is 'be opened'. Talmud, means empty one, fool, empty head.
In Aramaic, it could be or .
Once again, the Aramaic word is given with the transliter-
ation, only this time, the word to be transliterated is more
complicated. In Greek, the Aramaic is written . 2.5 Mammon ()
This could be from the Aramaic ethptha, the passive im-
perative of the verb ptha, 'to open', since the th could Main article: Mammon
assimilate in western Aramaic. The guttural was of- See also: Matthew 6:24
ten omitted in Greek transcriptions in the Septuagint
(Greek Old Testament) and was also softened in Galilean
speech.[23] Gospel of Matthew 6:24
2 Clement 6 Let grace come, and let this world pass away.
Hosanna to the God (Son) of David! If any
one is holy, let him come; if any one is not so,
Now the Lord declares, No servant can serve
let him repent. Maranatha. Amen. (Roberts-
two masters. If we desire, then, to serve both
Donaldson)
God and mammon, it will be unprotable for
us. For what will it prot if a man gain the
whole world, and lose his own soul?" This world 1 Corinthians 16:22
and the next are two enemies. The one urges to
adultery and corruption, avarice and deceit; the If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let
other bids farewell to these things. We cannot, him be Anathema Maranatha.
therefore, be the friends of both; and it behoves
us, by renouncing the one, to make sure of the Depending on how one selects to split the single Greek
other. Let us reckon that it is better to hate the expression of the early manuscripts into Aramaic, it could
things present, since they are triing, and tran- be either ( marana tha, Lord, come!") or
sient, and corruptible; and to love those [who ( maran atha, Our Lord has come).
are to come,] as being good and incorruptible.
For if we do the will of Christ, we shall nd rest;
otherwise, nothing shall deliver us from eternal 2.8 Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani (, ,
punishment, if we disobey His commandments. )
(Roberts-Donaldson)
Main article: Sayings of Jesus on the cross
In Aramaic, it could be ( or, in the typical Aramaic
emphatic state suggested by the Greek ending, ). Matthew 27:46
This is usually considered to be an originally Aramaic
word borrowed into Rabbinic Hebrew,[25] but its occur- Around the ninth hour, Jesus shouted in a
rence in late Biblical Hebrew and, reportedly, in 4th cen- loud voice, saying Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?"
tury Punic may indicate that it had a more general com- which is, My God, my God, why have you for-
mon Semitic background.[26] saken me?"
In the New Testament, the word Mammon, is
declined like a Greek word whereas many of the other Mark 15:34
Aramaic and Hebrew words are treated as indeclinable
foreign words. And at the ninth hour, Jesus shouted in a loud
voice, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" which is
translated, My God, my God, for what have
2.6 Rabbuni () you forsaken me?"
See also: Noli me tangere This phrase, among the Sayings of Jesus on the cross,
is given in these two versions. The Matthean version
John 20:16 of the phrase is transliterated in Greek as , ,
. The Markan version is , ,
(eli rather than li and supposedly lama
Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself,
rather than lema).
and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say,
Master. (KJV) Overall, both versions appear to be Aramaic rather than
Hebrew because of the verb ( bq) abandon, which
is originally Aramaic.[24][27] The pure Biblical Hebrew
Also in Mark 10:51. Hebrew form rabbi used as title of
counterpart to this word, ( zb) is seen in the rst line
Jesus in Matthew 26:25,49; Mark 9:5, 11:21, 14:45; John
of Psalm 22, which the saying appears to quote. Thus,
1:38, 1:49, 4:31, 6:25, 9:2, 11:8.
Jesus is not quoting the canonical Hebrew version (l
In Aramaic, it would have been . l lm azabtn ) attributed in some Jewish interpreta-
tions to King David cited as Jesus ancestor in Matthews
Genealogy of Jesus if the Eli, Eli version of Jesus outcry
2.7 Maranatha () is taken; he may be quoting the version given in an Ara-
maic Targum (surviving Aramaic Targums do use bq in
Main article: Maranatha their translations of the Psalm 22 [28] ).
The Markan word for my god, , denitely corre-
Didache 10 (Prayer after Communion) sponds to the Aramaic form , elh. The Matthean
2.11 Sikera () 5
one, , ts in better with the of the original Hebrew found in Mark 7:11 and the Septuagint (in Greek translit-
Psalm, as has been pointed out in the literature; however, eration), meaning religious gift or oering.
it may also be Aramaic because this form is attested abun- The Greek is declined as a Greek noun, much
dantly in Aramaic as well.[27][29] like other examples.
In the next verse, in both accounts, some who hear Jesus
cry imagine that he is calling for help from Elijah (ly
in Aramaic). 2.11 Sikera ()
Almost all ancient Greek manuscripts show signs of try-
See also: Zechariah (priest)
ing to normalize this text. For instance, the peculiar
Codex Bezae renders both versions with
(li li lama zaphthani). The Alexandrian, Luke 1:15
Western and Caesarean textual families all reect harmo-
nization of the texts between Matthew and Mark. Only for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He
the Byzantine textual tradition preserves a distinction. must never drink wine or strong drink; even
The Aramaic word form aqtan is based on the verb before his birth he will be lled with the Holy
aq/aq, 'to allow, to permit, to forgive, and to for- Spirit.
sake', with the perfect tense ending -t (2nd person singu-
lar: 'you'), and the object sux -an (1st person singular:
'me').
2.12 Hosanna ()
In Aramaic, it could be . See also: Triumphal entry into Jerusalem
See also: Matthew 5:18 Then those who went ahead and those who fol-
lowed were shouting, Hosanna! Blessed is the
one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Matthew 5:18
In Aramaic ( )it refers to the treasury in the Temple John 1:42 Simon bar-Jochanan (Simon son of
in Jerusalem, derived from the Hebrew Korban (), John).
6 3 ARAMAIC PERSONAL NAMES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
Acts 13:6 Bar-Jesus ( from bar-Io, Then after three years I did go up to Jerusalem
son of Jesus/Joshua). to visit Cephas and stayed with him for fteen
days;
is only in Johns Gospel that more information is given. In press though; and shemanei is the Hebrew word she-
three places (John 11:16, 20:24 and 21:2), he is given the manim meaning oils, the plural form of the word
name Didymus (), the Greek word for a twin. In shemen , the primary Hebrew word for oil, just in an
fact, the Twin is not just a surname, it is a translation of Aramaic plural form (-ei instead of the Hebrew plural
Thomas. The Greek Thmscomes from sux -im). The word in Aramaic for oil is more prop-
the Aramaic tm, twin. Therefore, rather than two erly mia (), as also attested in Jewish writings in
personal names, Thomas Didymus, there is a single nick- Aramaic from the Galilee (see Caspar Levias, A Gram-
name, the Twin. Christian tradition gives him the per- mar of Galilean Aramaic, Jewish Theological Seminary
sonal name Judas, and he was perhaps named Thomas to of America, 1986).
distinguish him from others of the same name.
In Aramaic, it could be .
4.2 Golgotha ()
Then Jesus went with them to a place called When Pilate heard these words, he brought Je-
Gethsemane. sus outside and sat on the judges bench at a
place called The Stone Pavement, or in Hebrew,
Mark 14:32 Gabbatha.
And they went to a place that has the name The place name appears to be Aramaic. According to
Gethsemane. Josephus, War, V.ii.1, #51, the word Gabath means high
place, or elevated place, so perhaps a raised at area near
The place where Jesus takes his disciples to pray before the temple. The nal " "could then represent the em-
his arrest is given the Greek transliteration phatic state of the noun.
(Gethsman). It represents the Aramaic Gath-mn, In Aramaic, it could be .
meaning 'the oil press or 'oil vat' (referring to olive oil).
In Aramaic, it could be . This place name is
more properly an Aramaized version of an original He- 4.4 Akeldama ()
brew place name. Gath is a normal word for press
in Hebrew, generally used for a wine press not an olive Acts 1:19
8 6 NOTES
And this became known to all the inhabitants of [2] Aramaic language - Encyclopedia Britannica
Jerusalem, so that eld was called, in their own
[3] Senz-Badillos, ngel; Elwolde, John (1996), A history of
dialect, Akeldama, that is Field of Blood. the Hebrew language, pp. 17071, There is general agree-
ment that two main periods of RH (Rabbinical Hebrew)
The place of Judas Iscariot's death is clearly named Field can be distinguished. The rst, which lasted until the close
of Blood in Greek. However, the manuscript tradition of the Tannaitic era (around 200 CE), is characterized
gives a number of dierent spellings of the Aramaic. by RH as a spoken language gradually developing into a
The Majority Text reads (Akeldama); other literary medium in which the Mishnah, Tosefta, baraitot
manuscript versions give (Acheldamach), and Tannaitic midrashim would be composed. The sec-
(Hakeldama), (Hacheldama) and ond stage begins with the Amoraim, and sees RH being
(Hakeldamach). Despite these variant replaced by Aramaic as the spoken vernacular, surviving
spellings the Aramaic is most probably ql dm, 'eld only as a literary language. Then it continued to be used
in later rabbinic writings until the tenth century in, for ex-
of blood'. While the seemingly gratuitous Greek sound
ample, the Hebrew portions of the two Talmuds and in
of kh [x] at the end of the word is dicult to explain, midrashic and haggadic literature
the Septuagint similarly adds this sound to the end of the
Semitic name Ben Sira to form the Greek name for the [4] Frederick E. Greenspahn. An Introduction to Aramaic -
Book of Sirakh (Latin: Sirach). The sound may be a di- Second Edition, 2003. ISBN 1-58983-059-8.
alectic feature of either the Greek speakers or the original [5] Aramaic Language: The Language of Christ. Mountle-
Semitic language speakers. banon.org. Retrieved on 2014-05-28.
In Aramaic, it could be . [6] Yadin, Yigael (1971). Bar-Kokhba; the rediscovery of the
legendary hero of the second Jewish revolt against Rome.
New York: Random House. p. 181. ISBN 978-0-297-
4.5 Pool of Bethesda () 00345-8.
John 5:2 [7] Zion, Sigalit (2009). A roadmap to the heavens an an-
thropological study of hegemony among priests, sages, and
laymen. Boston: Academic Studies Press. p. 155. ISBN
Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate 978-1-934843-14-7.
a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda
and which is surrounded by ve covered colon- [8] The Antiquities of the Jews, by Flavius Josephus. Guten-
nades. berg.org. Retrieved on 2014-05-28.
[9] Book Bar Kokhba: The rediscovery of the legendary
Bethesda was originally the name of a pool in Jerusalem, hero of the last Jewish Revolt Against Imperial Rome p.
on the path of the Beth Zeta Valley, and is also known 234
as the Sheep Pool. Its name in Aramaic means House of
[10] Josephus: Jewish War, Book 1 (a) - translation. At-
Grace. It is associated with healing. In John 5, Jesus was
talus.org. Retrieved on 2014-05-28.
reported healing a man at the pool.
[11] Josephus with an English Translation by H. St. J. Thack-
(For other Aramaic place names in the New Testa- eray, M.A., in Nine Volumes, II the Jewish War, Books
ment beginning with beth (house of), see: Bethabara, I-III, Introduction, page ix
Bethany, Bethphage, Bethsaida)
[12] Book What do Jewish People think about Jesus?" by Dr.
In Aramaic, it could be . Michael Brown, Page 39
[13] Josephus Antiquities Book 5. Chapter 2. Paragraph 2
5 See also [14] Wars Book 5, Chapter 4, Paragraph 2
[15] Book Introduction to Syriac by Wheeler Thackston,
Semitic languages Page 44
Aramaic primacy [16] For a complete list of all transliterated words in the
Synoptic Gospels, see Joshua N. Tilton and David N.
Bivin, Greek Transliterations of Hebrew, Aramaic and
6 Notes Hebrew/Aramaic Words in the Synoptic Gospels at
jerusalemperspective.com
[1] Allen C. Myers, ed. (1987). Aramaic. The Eerdmans [17] E.g.Acts 21:40; 22:2; 26:14: ti hebradi dialkti, lit.'in
Bible Dictionary. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerd- the Hebrew dialect/language.' On the meaning of this
mans. p. 72. ISBN 0-8028-2402-1. It is generally agreed phrase, see Randall Buth and Chad Pierce, "Hebraisti in
that Aramaic was the common language of Palestine in the Ancient texts: Does Ever Mean 'Aramaic'?" in
rst century AD. Jesus and his disciples spoke the Galilean Randall Buth and R. Steven Notley (eds.) The Language
dialect, which was distinguished from that of Jerusalem Environment of First Century Judaea, Brill, Leiden, 2014,
(Matt. 26:73) p. 64-109.
9
[18] Fitzmyer, Joseph A. A Wandering Armenian: Collected [35] Eusebius, Church History, Book 1, Chapter 12, Paragraph
Aramaic Essays. P.43: The adverb (and its re- 2
lated expressions) seems to mean 'in Hebrew', and it has
often been argued that it means this and nothing more. [36] The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Entry for "by"
As is well known, it is used at times with words and ex-
pressions that are clearly Aramaic. Thus in John 19:13,
is given as an explanation of the
Lithostrotos, and is a Grecized form of the Ara-
maic word gabbt, 'raised place.'"
7.2 Images
File:Allah-green.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/Allah-green.svg License: Public domain Contribu-
tors: Converted to SVG from Image:Islam.png, originally from en:Image:Ift32.gif, uploaded to the English Wikipedia by Mr100percent on
4 February 2003. Originally described as Copied from Public Domain artwork. Original artist: ?
File:P_christianity.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/79/P_christianity.svg License: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Con-
tributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Symbol_book_class2.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/89/Symbol_book_class2.svg License: CC
BY-SA 2.5 Contributors: Mad by Lokal_Prol by combining: Original artist: Lokal_Prol