The Truth about the Brothers & Sisters

[Axion]

This is from: http://www.catholic.com/library/Bad_Aramaic_Made_Easy.asp

To my knowledge, I'm the only full-time Catholic apologist who makes a study of Aramaic. I've paid particular attention to the cousin issue because of its apologetic implications. Still, I am not an expert, so I consulted several people who know more than I.

The first that I was able to reach was Mitchel Pacwa, S.J., and he swiftly confirmed that he also was unaware of any Aramaic term (in any dialect) that means "cousin."

Next, I drove across town to pay a visit to my Aramaic teacher, Fr. Michael Bazzi, who is a Chaldean Catholic priest from Mosul, Iraq. He is a native-speaker of Aramaic (the ethnic language of Chaldeans) and the author of several textbooks on both modern and classical Aramaic. Fr. Bazzi confirmed that there is no term for "cousin," and whenever one wishes to pick out the cousin relationship one uses one of the various possible circumlocutions. Neither did the dictionaries that I and Fr. Bazzi checked produce terms for "cousin."

Finally, I corresponded with Joseph Fitzmyer, S.J. Though scholarly reserve would prevent him from saying so, he is regarded as an 800-pound gorilla among American scholars of Aramaic. In The Brother of Jesus, Shanks notes: "no one wants to get into the ring with Joe Fitzmyer when it comes to Aramaic".

Fitzmyer was quite helpful. Regarding the idea that there was a word for cousin, he was direct: "In first-century Palestinian Aramaic there was no word for 'cousin,' but one used the circumlocution, 'son of the uncle.'" Further, he adds, "I do not know of any word for 'cousin' (apart from the circumlocution) in any other Aramaic dialects."

Concerning the word "brother," Fitzmyer notes: "The word did not simply mean 'blood brother,' and you will find in the Book of Tobit a variety of broader meanings: 'compatriot,' 'kinsman, relative,' and even a generic usage when a speaker employs it, not really knowing (yet) the relationship proper. The young Tobiah even calls the Angel Raphael (in disguise), 'Brother Azariah' (6:7, extant in Aramaic). By that he certainly did not mean 'blood brother.'"

The conclusion thus seems inescapable: Witherington is wrong. There is no Aramaic word for cousin, and there certainly is no evidence that there was one in first-century Aramaic.

 

[The Thadman]

Well Thadman, your whole argument to this point has been a literal interpretation of the word for "brothers". Abraham and lot were not brothers. Abraham was Lot's uncle.

Edward

You're telling me that a cognate in Hebrew seperated by THOUSANDS of years before the word "'akkyono'" ever existed is the same sense that Jesus used his Aramaic in?

Next you'll tell me that we must interpret the phrase "a rule of thumb" as gaging what stick width one would use to beat their wife with (which IS the original sense, and this was only less than 200 years ago).

Shlomo,
-Steve-o

 

[Ham]

Also, Scripture says that Joseph took Mary into his home but did NOT consummate the marriage upon doing so, even though this was his lawful right and obligation.

Where is your bible verse to back this up i cant find it anywhere at all????