Aramaic phrases in the Greek New
Testament
Within
the text of the Greek New Testament a few words and phrases in Aramaic are
included untranslated. These are mainly words of
Jesus, and perhaps had a special significance because of this.
A small minority believe that the majority, or the whole, of the New Testament
was originally written in Aramaic. This position, called Aramaic primacy
Aramaic Primacists believe that the Christian New
Testament and/or its sources were originally written in the Aramaic language,
not Koine Greek as is generally claimed. The
is popular, but most scholars see the Old Syriac
and Peshitta
The Peshitta is the standard version of the
Bible in the Syriac language.
The name 'Peshitta'
The name 'Peshitta' is
derived from the Syriac mappaqtâ
pšît.tâ, literally meaning 'Simple Version'.
However, it is also possible to translate pšît.tâ
as 'common' (that is, for all people), or 'straight', as well as the usual
translation as 'simple'.
versions of the New Testament as clearly based on the Greek.
However, the fact remains that there does exist a layer of Aramaic-speaking
culture beneath the Greek text, and that agreed point is what is discussed
here.
Talitha koum
Mark
Gospel of Mark is traditionally the second of the New Testament Gospels.
It narrates the life of Jesus from his baptism by John the Baptist to his
resurrection, but it concentrates particularly on the last week of his life.
Usually dated around AD 65-80, it is regarded by most modern scholars as the
earliest of the canonical gospels, contrary to the traditional view of the
Augustinian hypothesis.
And taking
the hand of the child, he said to her, "Talitha koum", which is translated, "Little girl, I say
to you, get up".
This verse gives an Aramaic phrase, supposedly used by Jesus in the healing of
a girl, with a translation into Greek. The Greek transliteration of the phrase
is ταλιθα κουμ.
The most dependable Greek manuscripts (Codex Sinaiticus Codex Sinaiticus
(
, Codex Vaticanus)
of Mark's Gospel have this text, but a few (Codex Alexandrinus,
the Majority Text and the Vulgate) write κουμι (koumi) instead. The latter became
the Textus Receptus,
and is the version that appears in the Authorised
Version.
The Aramaic is ţlîthâ qûm.
The word 'ţlîthâ' is the feminine form of the
word 'ţlê', meaning 'young'. 'Qûm' is the Aramaic verb 'to rise, get up'. In the feminine
singular imperative, it was originally 'qûmî'.
However, there is evidence that in speech the final 'î'
was dropped so that the imperative did not distinguish between masculine and
feminine genders. The older manuscripts, therefore, used a Greek spelling that
reflected pronunciation, whereas the addition of an
'ι' was perhaps due to a bookish copyist.
In the Aramaic alphabet, it would be (טלי?? ???י) or (טל?? ???י).
Ephphatha
Mark
And
looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, "Ephphatha",
which is 'be opened'.
Once again, the Aramaic word is given with a translation. In Greek, the Aramaic
is written εφφαθα. This
is from the Aramaic 'ethpthaħ', the passive
imperative of the verb 'pthaħ', 'to open'.
In the Aramaic alphabet, it would be (א????).
Abba
Mark
And he
said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from
me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.
Abba, an Aramaic word (written Αββα
in Greek, and 'abbā in Aramaic), is immediately
followed by the Greek equivalent (Πατηρ)
with no explicit mention of it being a translation. The phrase Abba,
Father
is repeated in Romans
In the Aramaic alphabet, it would be (א?א).
Raca
Matthew 5:22
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 say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever
shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.
Raca, or Raka, in the
Aramaic of the Talmud means
empty one, fool, empty head.
In the Aramaic alphabet, it would be (רי??) or (רי??).
Mammon
Matthew 6:24
No man can
serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else
he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
Luke 16:9-13
And I say
unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that,
when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations. He that is
faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust
in the least is unjust also in much. If therefore ye have not
been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true
riches? And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's,
who shall give you that which is your own? No servant can serve two masters:
for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to
the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
2 Clement 6
Now the
Lord declares, "No servant can serve two masters." If we desire,
then, to serve both God and mammon, it will be unprofitable for us. "For
what will it profit if a man gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"
This world and the next are two enemies. The one urges to adultery and
corruption, avarice and deceit; the other bids farewell to these things. We
cannot, therefore, be the friends of both; and it behoves
us, by renouncing the one, to make sure of the other. Let us reckon that it is
better to hate the things present, since they are trifling, and transient, and
corruptible; and to love those [which are to come,] as being good and
incorruptible. For if we do the will of Christ, we shall find rest; otherwise,
nothing shall deliver us from eternal punishment, if we disobey His
commandments. (Roberts-Donaldson)
In the Aramaic alphabet it would be (ממ??).
Rabboni
John 20:16
Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is
to say, Master.
Also in Mark
In the Aramaic alphabet it would be (ר????).
Maranatha
Didache 10
(Prayer after Communion)
.. 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, let him repent. Maranatha.
Amen.
(Roberts-Donaldson)
1 Corinthians 16:22
If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha.
In Aramaic it means Lord, come!
In the Aramaic alphabet it would be (מ??? ??).
Eli Eli lema sabachthani
Matthew 27:46
Around the
ninth hour, Jesus shouted in a loud voice, saying "Eli Eli
lema sabachthani?"
which is, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
Mark
And at the
ninth hour, Jesus shouted in a loud voice, "Eloi
Eloi lema sabachthani?" which is translated, "My God, my
God, for what have you forsaken me?"
This phrase, shouted by Jesus from the cross, is given to us in these two
versions. The Matthean version of the phrase is
transliterated in Greek as ηλι ηλι λεμα
σαβαχθανι.
The Markan version is similar, but begins ελωι ελωι.
Jesus seems to be quoting the first line of Psalm 22. However, he is not
quoting the canonical Hebrew version (êlî êlî lâmâ `azabtânî),
but is using an Aramaic translation of it (see targum).
In the following verse, in both accounts, some who hear Jesus' cry imagine that
he is calling for help from Elijah (Eliyyâ).
This is perhaps to underline the incomprehension of the bystanders about what
is happening. Matthew's use of ηλι may
indicate a more 'official' rendition of the psalm verse, more in line with the
Hebrew. Mark's version probably represents the Aramaic colloquial better. The
Aramaic behind Matthew is êlî êlî
lmâ švaqtanî. Whereas Mark has elohî elohî.
A few ancient Greek manuscripts show signs of trying to normalise
this text. For instance, the peculiar Codex Bezae renders
both versions with ηλι ηλι λαμα
ζαφθανι (êli êli lama zaphthani).
As the phrase is clearly translated into Greek in both instances there can be
little doubt as to its meaning. However, a minority have speculated on
different meanings, among them is George Lamsa,
but his methodology has been shown to be seriously flawed. The Aramaic word švaqtanî is based on the verb švaq,
'to leave, forget', with the perfect tense ending -t (2nd person singular:
'you'), and the object suffix -anî (1st person
singular: 'me').
This phrase is treated in more depth at Last sayings of Jesus.
In the Aramaic alphabet it would be (אל??
אל?? ל?א
??????).
Jot and Tittle
Matthew 5:18
For
assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is
fulfilled.
The quotation uses them as an example of extremely minor details. In the Greek original
translated as English jot and tittle is
found "iota" and "keraia". Iota is the smallest letter of the
Greek alphabet (ι), but since only capitals were
used at the time the Greek New Testament was written (Ι), it probably
represents the Aramaic yodh (י) which is the smallest letter of the Aramaic alphabet. "Keraia" is a hook or serif, possibly accents in Greek but more
likely hooks on Aramaic letters, (ב) versus (כ),
or additional marks such as crowns (as Vulgate apex)
found in Jewish Bibles. The standard reference for NT Greek is A Greek-English
Lexicon of the New Testament and other Early Christian Literature, Bauer,
Gingrich, Danker, et al. Liddell and Scott
Greek-English Lexicon for keraia is here: [1]
Aramaic personal names in the New
Testament
Personal
names in the New Testament come from a number of languages,
Hebrew and Greek are most common. However, there are a good few Aramaic names
as well. The most prominent feature in Aramaic names is 'bar' (Greek
transliteration βαρ, Aramaic bar),
meaning 'son of', a common patronym prefix. Its
Hebrew equivalent, 'ben', is conspicuous by its
absence. Some examples are:
· Matthew
10:3 — Bartholomew (Βαρθολομαιος
from bar-Tôlmay, perhaps 'son of furrows' or
'ploughman').
· Matthew
· John
· Matthew
27:16 — Barabbas (Βαραββας from bar-Abbâ, 'son of the father').
· Mark
· Acts
· Acts
· Acts 13:6 —
Bar-Jesus (Βαριησους
from bar-Yêšû`, 'son of Jesus/Joshua').
Boanerges
Mark
And James,
the son of Zebedee, and John, the brother of James, and he gave them the name Boanerges, which is Sons of Thunder.
Jesus surnames the brothers James and John to reflect their impetuosity. The
Greek rendition of their name is Βοανηργες
(Boanêrges).
There has been much speculation about this name. Given the Greek translation
that comes with it ('Sons of Thunder'), it seems that the first element of the
name is 'bnê', 'sons of' (the plural of 'bar'),
Aramaic (בני).
This is represented by βοανη
(boanê), giving two vowels in the first syllable
where one would be sufficient. It could be inferred from this that the Greek
transliteration may not be a good one. The second part of the name is often
reckoned to be 'rğaš' ('tumult') Aramaic (רניש), or 'rğaz' ('anger') Aramaic (רנז). Maurice Casey, however, argues that it is a simple misreading
of the word for thunder, 'r`am'
(due to the similarity of s to the final m). This is supported by
one Syriac translation
of the name as 'bnay ra`mâ'.
However, the Peshitta reads
'bnay rğešy'.
Cephas
John 1:42
He brought
him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, "You are Simon son of John,
you shall be called Cephas", which is translated
'Peter'.
1 Corinthians 1:12
But I say
that each of you says "I am of Paul", or "I am of Apollos", or "I am of Cephas",
or "I am of Christ".
In these two passages, 'Cephas' is given as the
nickname of the apostle better known as Simon Peter. The Greek word is
transliterated Κηφας (Kêphas).
The apostle's given name appears to be Simon, and he is given the Aramaic
nickname, kêfâ or kîfâ,
meaning 'rock'. The final sigma (s) is added in Greek to
make the name masculine rather than feminine. That the meaning of the name was
more important than the name itself is evidenced by the universal acceptance of
the Greek translation, Πετρος
(Petros). It is not known why Paul uses the Aramaic
name rather than the Greek name for Simon Peter when he writes to the church in
Corinth. Perhaps,
he is writing at a time before Cephas came to be
popularly known as Peter.
In the Aramaic alphabet it would be (כ???).
Thomas
John 11:16
Then
Thomas, who was called Didymus, said to his
co-disciples, "Now let us go that we might die with him!"
Thomas (Θωμας) is listed among the
disciples of Jesus in all four gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. However,
it is only in John's Gospel that more information is given. In three places
(John
In the Aramaic alphabet it would be (ת????).
Tabitha
Acts
In Joppa,
there was a disciple named Tabitha, which is translated Dorcas.
The disciple's name is given both in Aramaic (Ταβιθα)
and Greek (Δορκας). The
Aramaic name is a transliteration of Ţvîthâ.
Both names mean 'gazelle'.
It may be just coincidence that Peter's words to
her in verse 40, "Tabitha, get up!" (Ταβιθα
αναστηθι),
are similar to the 'talitha koum'
phrase used by Jesus.
In the Aramaic alphabet it would be (ט????).
Aramaic place names in the New
Testament
Matthew 26:36
Then Jesus
went with them to a place called Gethsemane.
Mark
And they
went to a place that has the name Gethsemane.
The place where Jesus takes his disciples to pray before his arrest is given
the Greek transliteration Γεθσημανι
(Gethsêmani). It represents the Aramaic 'Gath-Šmânê', meaning 'the oil press' or 'oil vat'
(referring to olive oil).
In the Aramaic alphabet it would be (גת ????) or (ג??
?).
Mark
And they
took him up to the place
John 19:17
And
carrying his cross by himself, he went out to the so-called Place of the Skull,
which is called in 'Hebrew'
This is clearly Aramaic rather than Hebrew. 'Gûlgaltâ'
is the Aramaic for 'skull'. The name appears in all of the gospels except Luke,
which calls the place simply 'the Skull', with no Aramaic. The name 'Calvary' is taken
from the Latin Vulgate translation,
Calvaria.
In the Aramaic alphabet it would be (ג?ג???).
Akeldama
Acts
And this
became known to all the inhabitants of
The place of Judas Iscariot's
suicide is clearly named Field of Blood in Greek. However, the manuscript
tradition gives a number of different spellings of the Aramaic. The Majority
Text reads Ακελδαμα
([H]akeldama); other manuscript versions give Αχελδαμα ([H]acheldama), Ακελδαιμα
([H]akeldaima), Ακελδαμακ
([H]akeldamak) and Ακελδαμαχ
([H]akeldamach). Despite these variant spellings the
Aramaic is most probably 'ħqêl dmâ', 'field of blood'.