Peshitta F=y4p

PeshittaPeshittaF=y4pF=y4p

Comunicación y Gerencia

The Original Aramaic New Testament The Original Aramaic New Testament of the Church of the Eastof the Church of the East

Presented on February 24, 2008. St. Mary’s, Presented on February 24, 2008. St. Mary’s, Detroit MichiganDetroit Michigan

What is What is the the

PeshittaPeshitta??

“…the Church of the East received the scriptures from

the hands of the blessed Apostles themselves in the

Aramaic original, the language spoken by our

Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and…the Peshitta is the text

of the Church of the East which has come down from the Biblical times without any change or revision."

•+Mar Eshai Shimun

The The PeshittaPeshitta

CanonCanon

Contains same books as the Western Canon of scripture,

except for 2 Peter, 2 & 3 John, Jude and Revelation.

Divided into 3 sections:

GospelsActs & Universal Epistles

Epistles of Paul

Similar to Jewish OT canon:

LawProphetsWritings

Why Why AramaicAramaic

??

The words of Moses are preserved to this day in

Hebrew, the language he used.

The words of Muhammad are preserved to this day in

Arabic, the language he used.

The Aramaic words of Jesus are preserved to this

day in……Greek?

Is Christianity the only religion where the written

word is in a language other than that of the founder?

Aramaic Aramaic or or

Greek…Greek…

does it does it really really

matter?matter?

• Something is always lost in translation• Likewise, something is always added in translation• That is why it’s so important to establish the original language of the scripture• It’s important to learn Aramaic, but it’s even more important to THINK in Aramaic• Different languages have different psyches, overtones and resonances …even in synonymous expressions

What What evidencevidence do we e do we have of have of

an an Aramaic Aramaic originaloriginal

??

• Contradictions• Wordplays• Mistranslations• Syntax• Polysemy• Parallelisms

Example of a ContraditionExample of a ContraditionWho named the child?

“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign; Behold, a virgin will conceive, and bear a son, and she will call his name Immanuel.”

Isaiah 7:14

Greek Gospels

Matthew 1:21 – “She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

Luke 1:31 – “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus.”

The Aramaic SolutionThe Aramaic Solution

In the Aramaic original of Matthew 1:21, the verb “call”, “Teqra”, is in a form that can be either 2nd-person masculine, or 3rd-person feminine.

It is Mary who named the child. The Peshitta solves the contradiction in the Greek version.



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Examples of WordplaysExamples of WordplaysLuke 7:41-42

“Two men owed money to a certain debtor. One owed him five hundred silver pieces, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?” (Debt = Khoba, Love = Khuba)

John 8:34

“Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. ” (commits = abed, slave = abada)



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Examples of MistranslationsExamples of MistranslationsMark 9:49

“And everything will be salted with fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt.” (Greek version)

Salted with fire?

Solution: Aramaic word “melakh” can mean “salt” or “destroy.”

In Aramaic, this also becomes a word-play on the dual meaning of “melakh.”

Examples of MistranslationsExamples of MistranslationsActs 2:24

“Whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of Sheol, because it was not possible that He should be held by it .” (Greek version)

Loosed the “pains” of death?

Solution: Aramaic word “khawle” can mean “cords” or “pains.”

Evidence from the Old Testament (same word in Hebrew):

2 Samuel 22:6 - Where the verse reads - "The cords of Sheol surrounded me; the snares of death confronted me.”

Psalms 1163 - "The cords of death encompassed me, And the terrors of Sheol came upon me; I found distress and sorrow.”

Examples of MistranslationsExamples of MistranslationsActs 8:23

“For I perceive that you are in a gall of bitterness, and in the bonds of iniquity.” (Greek version)

Gall of bitterness?

Solution: Aramaic word “Kabda” can mean “anger” or “liver.” The “gall of bitterness” is properly translated “bile”, a fluid secreted by the liver.

In Aramaic psyche, the liver is the organ responsible for bitterness/anger. The verse should be translated “in a bitter anger.”

Examples of MistranslationsExamples of MistranslationsMatthew 7:6

“Give not a holy thing to dogs: and cast not your pearls before swine; lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.” (Greek version)

Holy Thing?

Solution: Aramaic word “Qudsha” can mean “holy” or “ring.” Instead of “give”, the Aramaic word “Tala” should be translated “hang.” The entire verse should be translated:

“Do not hang rings on dogs: and cast not your pearls before swine; lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.” (Aramaic version)



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Examples of Semitic SyntaxExamples of Semitic SyntaxPreposition Repetition

A characteristic feature of Semitic grammar is the repetition of a preposition before every noun of a series which it governs. Such a construction is intolerable in literary Greek (as it is in English.)

Example from the Old Testament

“Then Joshua came at that time and cut off the Anakim from the hill country, from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab and from all the hill country of Judah and from all the hill country of Israel. Joshua utterly destroyed them with their cities.” (Joshua 11:21)


Example from the Greek New Testament

“Jesus withdrew to the sea with His disciples; and a great multitude from Galilee followed; and also from Judea, and from Jerusalem, and from Idumea, and from beyond the Jordan, and from Tyre, and from Sidon, a great number of people heard of all that He was doing and came to Him.” (Mark 3:7-8)

Proper Greek (and English) Grammar would be:“Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the lake, and a large crowd from Galilee followed. 8When they heard all he was doing, many people came to him from Judea, Jerusalem,

Idumea, and the regions across the Jordan and around Tyre and Sidon.” (NIV English)


Examples of different translation styles

To illustrate this concept a little further, I'd like to demonstrate how two different translators approached this problem.

If different books were translated from the Aramaic originals into Greek, we would expect that each translator would have different styles and preferences.

For instance, one Greek translator may decide that the rules of Greek grammar are more important, while the other translator may decide that he will follow it word-for-word, translating the redundant preposition, even at the expense of proper Greek grammar.



The verses in question are synoptic cognates in Matthew 16:21 and Mark 8:31. In Aramaic, Matthew 16:21 reads:

“And He would suffer much by the Elders and by the High Priests.”

The Greek translator responsible for translating Matthew decided to polish the Greek and avoid the use of the redundant preposition, in accordance with proper Greek grammar. He omits the repetitive second “by.”



The verses in question are synoptic cognates in Matthew 16:21 and Mark 8:31. In Aramaic, Mark 8:31 reads:

“And He would suffer much and be rejected by the Elders and by the High Priests.”

The Greek translator responsible for translating Mark decided to translate more conservatively and follow the original Aramaic grammar word-for-word. He preserves the repetitive second “by.”



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What is What is PolysemPolysem

y?y?

Polysemy is a Greek word that means “multiple

meanings.”

A word is judged to be polysemous if it has two

senses or meanings that are unrelated.

English example:“Mole” is a small, furry

burrowing animal. It can also mean a blemish on the

surface of the skin.

Context is very important: what does “Getting rid of a

mole” mean?

Why is Polysemy Important?Why is Polysemy Important?Different translators will choose different meanings when translating a word that is polysemous. If a translator in one region uses the first meaning for a polysemous word in his translation, and another uses the second meaning, we can ascertain the original language of a document.

The “Mole” Example:

Suppose two men in China are translating a book, and in their translations we find the following:

“Mary paid a lot of money to get rid of that annoying blemish on her skin”“Mary paid a lot of money to get rid of that annoying furry, small burrowing animal.”

We can easily ascertain that the original language was English.

Examples of PolysemyExamples of PolysemyMatthew 11:19

“But wisdom is justified of her children (teknon).” (Byzantine Greek texts, KJV)

“But wisdom is justified of her works (ergon).” (Alexandrian Greek texts, NASB)

The Aramaic root, “b-n-a”, can mean to “build” and also “offspring”:

The Greek translators mistook “Bnayah” to mean “her children” instead of the proper translation of “her works.”

Examples of PolysemyExamples of Polysemy1Corinthians 13:3

“And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.” (Byzantine Greek texts)

“And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body that I may boast, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing .” (Alexandrian Greek texts)

The Aramaic root, “y-q-d”, can mean “burn” and also “boast”.

Examples of PolysemyExamples of PolysemyRomans 8:24

“For if we see it, do we hope (elpis) for it? ” (Byzantine Greek texts)

“For if we see it, do we wait (dechomai) for it? ” (Alexandrian Greek texts)

The Aramaic root, “s-k-y”, can mean “hope” and also “wait”.

The two Greek words are listed below. Notice how different they are.

Examples of PolysemyExamples of PolysemyPhilippians 1:8

“I long for all of you in the bowels of Jesus Christ.” (Byzantine Greek texts)

“I long for all of you in the love of Jesus Christ.” (Alexandrian Greek texts)

The Aramaic root, “r-kh-m”, can mean “bowels” and also “love”.

In Semitic thought, the bowels are viewed as the seat of compassion (as the heart is the organ viewed as the seat of intellect and wisdom.)



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What is a What is a ParalleliParalleli

sm?sm?

A parallelism is a literary device where a passage

exploits both meanings of a word simultaneously.

The parallelism hinges on the use of a single word

with two entirely different meanings: one meaning

paralleling what precedes, and the other meaning,

what follows.

The technique is commonly used in Semitic literature.

Examples of ParallelismsExamples of ParallelismsSong of Songs 2:12

"The blossoms are seen in the land- the time of Zemar has arrived -and the voice of the turtledove

is heard in our land."The Hebrew word, “Zemar”, can mean “prune” or “sing.” Thus, paralleled with what precedes, it takes the meaning 'to prune'. Paralleled with the 'voice' and 'heard' which follow, it takes the meaning 'to sing'.

Examples of ParallelismsExamples of ParallelismsJames 3:18

“And the fruit (peera) of righteousness is sown in Shayna of them that make peace (shlama)” (Aramaic Peshitta NT)

The Aramaic word, “Shayna”, can mean “cultivated land” or “tranquility.” Thus, paralleled with what precedes, it takes the meaning ‘land‘ and exploits the meaning of the seed of the fruit being sown.

Paralleled with the ‘peace‘ (shlama) which follows, it exploits the alternate meaning of ‘tranquility'.

This does not work in the Greek, which has the same word, “eyrene”, for both Shayna and Shlama.

Examples of ParallelismsExamples of ParallelismsMatthew 13:31-32

“The Kingdom of Heaven is likened to a grain of mustard seed,which a man took and sowed in his field. When it has grown, it is greater than all the herbs. And it becomes a tree, so that the Parakhta of heaven will come and nest in its branches” (Aramaic Peshitta NT)

The Aramaic word, “Parakhta”, can mean “blossom” or “bird.” Thus, paralleled with what precedes, it takes the meaning ‘blossom‘ and exploits the meaning of the seed of the fruit being sown.

Paralleled with the ‘heaven‘, ‘nest’ and ‘branches’ which follow, it exploits the alternate meaning of ‘bird'.

This is, of course, totally lost in the Greek.

Final Final ThoughtThought

ss

“…Many of our Assyrian people in America

unfortunately are unaware of the key which we hold to

the Scriptures, and especially to the New

Testament, through the Aramaic language, the

language which our Lord Jesus Christ spoke and

preached during His mission on Earth."

+Mar Eshai Shimun

For more For more information:information:

Comunicación y Gerencia

www.peshitta.orwww.peshitta.orgg

Presented on February 24, 2008. St. Mary’s, Presented on February 24, 2008. St. Mary’s, Detroit MichiganDetroit Michigan

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