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I've been wanting to have a thread on this for some time. I've talked a little here and there on it.
I think when it comes artistic depictions of Jesus in movies, TV etc. I don't think we get him.
Typically he has been portrayed as some kind of enigmatic guru figure. I like what I've seen of scenes from "The Chosen", and plan to try to start watching that show at some point. Where it made Jesus more human, in a good way as far as down to earth etc. But I saw a meme today that lots of people liked, where Christ advised Peter or somebody to not "Shut down" from fear. My dislike of that meme is we seem to be trading guru Jesus for pop psych Jesus, not to mention I think if you searched for the idiom "shut down" it probably didn't exist until the invention of electricity, and electric appliances.
Anyway I believe looking at what little I know from Syriac Christian articles, message boards and what have you, that Christ was a bit different than a guru, pop psychologist, etc.
1) I believe that Christ actually used poetic devices in his sermons, and other kinds of teaching
2) I believe he had a sharp wit kind of like an improv comedian, and could come up with little jokes, puns etc. on the spot. Even in the Greek Bible, you see some evidence of that when he renames Peter a rock, since his name sounded that way, and talked about what his future role for the Church would be.
Basically Jesus was "the son of David" in other ways than just lineage and his typological role as a messianic king, Jesus also had that spiritual creative artistic nature as well that set David apart from the other Old Testament heroes.
But anyway here are two references to start with
Long Blog article that covers the Book "Christ the Poet"
Aramaic Herald: Jesus the Poet: Christ’s Words as Hebrew Poetry By Stephen Andrew Missick
Dan Caruso wrote a great article linked below, as a kind of cautionary tale for what is called "Peshitta Primacy" which is folks that love the Aramaic New Testament and think that is the true or original version rather than the Greek. But in passing leaves a great example of Christ being clever in Aramaic.
Problems With Peshitta Primacy
"He Who Lives By The Sword
In Matthew 26:52 we have a scene where Jesus rebukes Peter for being rash:
Then said Jesus to him, Put up again your sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.
In the Greek New Testament, the bolded part above reads thus:
παντες γαρ οι λαβοντες μαχαιραν εν μαχαιρη απολουνται
pantes gar hoi labontes mahairan en mahairê apolountai
For all who did take a sword, by a sword they shall die.
And in the Peshitta it reads thus:
.....
For all of they who take up swords, with swords they shall die.
Note how the Peshitta renders “swords” (in the plural) rather than “sword.” This is very curious, because a plain retro-translation back into Galilean Aramaic reads:
bagin kal d-nsab saiyp, b-saiyp 3 yimuthun
For everyone who took up a sword, by a sword (OR “in the end”) they shall die.
In Western Aramaic dialects the word saiyp can mean either “sword” or “end.” Given the context, this wordplay is undoubtedly intentional, and the use of b-saiyp as “in the end” is well attested in Rabbinic literature. 4
I think when it comes artistic depictions of Jesus in movies, TV etc. I don't think we get him.
Typically he has been portrayed as some kind of enigmatic guru figure. I like what I've seen of scenes from "The Chosen", and plan to try to start watching that show at some point. Where it made Jesus more human, in a good way as far as down to earth etc. But I saw a meme today that lots of people liked, where Christ advised Peter or somebody to not "Shut down" from fear. My dislike of that meme is we seem to be trading guru Jesus for pop psych Jesus, not to mention I think if you searched for the idiom "shut down" it probably didn't exist until the invention of electricity, and electric appliances.
Anyway I believe looking at what little I know from Syriac Christian articles, message boards and what have you, that Christ was a bit different than a guru, pop psychologist, etc.
1) I believe that Christ actually used poetic devices in his sermons, and other kinds of teaching
2) I believe he had a sharp wit kind of like an improv comedian, and could come up with little jokes, puns etc. on the spot. Even in the Greek Bible, you see some evidence of that when he renames Peter a rock, since his name sounded that way, and talked about what his future role for the Church would be.
Basically Jesus was "the son of David" in other ways than just lineage and his typological role as a messianic king, Jesus also had that spiritual creative artistic nature as well that set David apart from the other Old Testament heroes.
But anyway here are two references to start with
Long Blog article that covers the Book "Christ the Poet"
Aramaic Herald: Jesus the Poet: Christ’s Words as Hebrew Poetry By Stephen Andrew Missick
Dan Caruso wrote a great article linked below, as a kind of cautionary tale for what is called "Peshitta Primacy" which is folks that love the Aramaic New Testament and think that is the true or original version rather than the Greek. But in passing leaves a great example of Christ being clever in Aramaic.
Problems With Peshitta Primacy
"He Who Lives By The Sword
In Matthew 26:52 we have a scene where Jesus rebukes Peter for being rash:
Then said Jesus to him, Put up again your sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.
In the Greek New Testament, the bolded part above reads thus:
παντες γαρ οι λαβοντες μαχαιραν εν μαχαιρη απολουνται
pantes gar hoi labontes mahairan en mahairê apolountai
For all who did take a sword, by a sword they shall die.
And in the Peshitta it reads thus:
.....
For all of they who take up swords, with swords they shall die.
Note how the Peshitta renders “swords” (in the plural) rather than “sword.” This is very curious, because a plain retro-translation back into Galilean Aramaic reads:
bagin kal d-nsab saiyp, b-saiyp 3 yimuthun
For everyone who took up a sword, by a sword (OR “in the end”) they shall die.
In Western Aramaic dialects the word saiyp can mean either “sword” or “end.” Given the context, this wordplay is undoubtedly intentional, and the use of b-saiyp as “in the end” is well attested in Rabbinic literature. 4
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