Question about John 20:16

[Tappanga]

I may have this in the wrong section, and if I do, please forgive me and move it.


On with the question...

In NIV, John 20:16 says:

Jesus said to her, “Mary.”

She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher).

In NASB, John 20:16 says:

Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, "Rabboni!" (which means, Teacher).

Which is it? Aramaic or Hebrew? Anyone know?

 

[talitha]

They are both right. Aramaic is a dialect of Hebrew, the one spoken by Jesus, so in this case the NIV is more precise than the NASB.

bless you
tal

 

[St. Worm2]

Hi Tappanga, "Rabboni" is Aramaic. Why the NASB calls it "Hebrew" I'm going to have to look into. You might notice that the NASB does specify in notes that what they actually meant was "Jewish Aramaic", which would be a specific type or dialect of Aramaic, and perhaps they felt it best to make that distinction by employing the word "Hebrew"? Or perhaps the "Jewish Aramaic" dialect carries with it a special, deeper, and/or richer meaning of the word "Rabboni" than other Aramaic dialects do ..

When I find out more, I'll let you know.

Yours and His,
David
p.s. - BTW, this is the perfect forum for this question!

 

[St. Worm2]

They are both right. Aramaic is a dialect of Hebrew, the one spoken by Jesus, so in this case the NIV is more precise than the NASB.

bless you
tal

Hey Tal, isn't it the other way around, that Hebrew is a dialect of Aramaic?

Thanks for your help!

--David

 

[ischus]

the word in the Greek is hebraisti, which could be either Hebrew or Aramaic. As you can see from the word, the transliteration (which the NASB provides) would be Hebrew, although the word Rabboni is Aramaic. The NIV, as a dynamic Equivalent translation, translates it as Aramaic.

 

[Tappanga]

Well if I'm less confused, it's marginal. haha. Thanks everyone!

 

[ischus]

Well, let's try and fix it. What are you still confused about?

In the Ancient world, several languages were spoken.

NE Languages: Babylonian, Assyrian/Akkadian (the mother language of Hebrew)

NW Languages: Aramaic, Hebrew

S Languages: Arabic, Ethiopic

Babylonian and Akkadian were the older, and Aramaic/Hebrew were kind of the daughters of the two older languages. At first, Israel spoke Hebrew. As time went on, Hebrew was less popular in the nations and Aramiac became the more popular and diplomatic language.

By the time Israel came back from Babylon (5th Century BC), they were pretty much speaking Aramaic exclusively (they even needed people to interpret the Hebrew scrolls for the people). This was the common language of the Jews all the way into the first century. Jesus probably spoke Aramaic most of the time. So did his friends and family. That is why the word Rabboni is in the text. It is Aramaic. BUT, John was writing about it in the Greek language, so he was having to write an Aramaic word in the Greek language. Then he told his readers that the word Rabboni was hebrais. That Greek word (hebrais) literally means "Hebrew" (NASB) but can either refer to the Hebrew Language or the Aramiac Language. In this case, the word Rabonni is in fact Aramaic (so NIV).

 

[Tappanga]

ischus, your answer didn't confuse me. Actually it helped. What confused me was this:

They are both right. Aramaic is a dialect of Hebrew, the one spoken by Jesus, so in this case the NIV is more precise than the NASB.

bless you
tal

Hey Tal, isn't it the other way around, that Hebrew is a dialect of Aramaic?

Thanks for your help!

--David

And your second answer cleared it up even more. Thanks for all your help!

 

[ischus]

ok, I gotcha I am glad you understand it a little better now. Have a great day, Tappanga!

 

[Tappanga]

You too!