Biblical languages....

Hoonbaba · Jul 12, 2002

Hi guys,

Anyone know which specific books were written in what language? I was told that the Old Testament was written primarily in Hebrew, and some parts were written in Aramaic.

Also, many agree that the New Testament was in Greek. However, supposedly during Jesus's day, many people spoke Aramaic. So does anyone know what books were written in Greek/Hebrew/Aramaic? And does anyone know if the gospels and the epistles are Greek translations of colloqial Aramaic? I'm confused...hehe

Any info or links on this would be greatly appreciated =)

God bless!!

-Jason

chagal was here · Jul 12, 2002

Old Testament - largely Hebrew except for some chapters in Daniel which are Aramaic. There are also a number of words that were borrowed from other languges (greek, persian, akkadian) that worked themselves into Hebew use

The New Testament was written in Greek, though some parts (particularly in the Gospels) show evidence of having been composed in Hebrew or Aramaic before being written down in Greek. Many belive that the Gospel stories were circulated indepently in an oral tradition and that Mark (or Q or whoever wrote the first Gospel) translated them from Hebrew or Aramaic into Greek.

Does that help or only confuse further?

Hoonbaba · Jul 12, 2002

LOL! Thanks for sharing chagal

I just did some research and almost every website I came across said something different. LOL!

The thing is, there's this one translation of the Bible done by Dr. George Lamsa and he's a very controversial character.  He believes in 'universalist' doctrine and all sorts of other non-evangelical things like the story of Adam and Eve wasn't real, he also explicitly denies the trinity, etc.  Anyway, he made a translation from the Aramaic and the translation is _supposedly_ superior to all the other translations of the Bible.  The thing is, I really don't know what to say about him.  Because I picked up a small book by him on Biblical Idioms and many of the idioms he pointed out are correct (or at least I noticed other Christians mentioned them).  For example:

Matt 8:31 says "'let me first bury my father" which idiomatically means, "let me first take care of my father until he dies"

Or another example is Mary and Joseph where Matt 1:19, "he knew her not" which in means "he did not have intercourse with her"

So anyway, after finding out about the idioms, I wanted to look for his Bible he translated, but apparently his Bible has many comments that aren't very evangelical/fundamentalist, which makes me wonder the validity of his translation, or more importantly whether the NT was written originally in Aramaic or not.

Of all the reading I've done, I've come to conclude that I honestly still have no idea.. LOL

Anyway, thanks for sharing =)

-Jason

Caedmon · Jul 14, 2002

Originally posted by Hoonbaba
The thing is, there's this one translation of the Bible done by Dr. George Lamsa and he's a very controversial character.

I would steer WAY clear of Lamsa. His beliefs are very indoctrinal. The Iglesia Ni Cristo uses his "bible" exclusively.

isshinwhat · Jul 14, 2002

Okey Dokey. This link never works, so you'll have to do a little cutting and pasting, then some deleting, but I promise the link will be worth it

www.p-e-s-h-i-t-t-a.org Cut and paste that, then delete all of the hyphens before you click go. The profanity editor catches the middle of the address and edits it, so that's the best I can do at the moment.

It is from the Assyrian Church of the East, who uses the Peshi*tta (Aramaic) Bible, exclusively in their Liturgy. They have a lot of good evidence that most of the New Testament was translated form the Aramaic into Greek. Their Q&A discussion forum is also excellent, and they have an Aramaic grammar lesson there as well, so dive in!

God Bless,

Neal

Mr.Cheese · Jul 15, 2002

As much as people have looked, there is no evidence of the New testament having been written in Aramaic. The old testament references also match the septuagint and not the pe[wash my mouth][wash my mouth][wash my mouth][wash my mouth]ta.
As far as I know no New testament Document exists in aramaic.

You've got to be kidding me.
p.e.s.h.i.t.t.a is that that's supposed to say.

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Biblical languages....

Hoonbaba

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chagal was here

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Hoonbaba

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Caedmon

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isshinwhat

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Mr.Cheese

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