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MATTHEW 28:17

Matt 28:17 – And when they saw Him, they worshipped Him: but some doubted.  [correct: indeed, some were stunned]

Significance – The Greek text makes a statement which is the exact opposite of what would be expected and ruins the final scene of the Gospel of Matthew.  The Aramaic correction provides the appropriate ending.

Explanation – The Greek text says but some doubted.  At the end of the Gospel of Matthew (Matt 28:16-20), Jesus reappears to His disciples on a mountain-top in Galilee and gives them the Great Commission to preach and evangelize to the whole world.  However, this climactic scene is ruined by the statement but some doubted.  The root Aramaic word was likely plag (to divide), whose ethpeʻel form (’etpalag) means to be doubtful.  But plag has another stem meaning to be paralyzed or to be immobilized from shock (i.e., stunned), which the Greek translator must not have known.  Finally, the word but (δε) was a misunderstanding of beram (ברם), which means not only but, but also indeed.

Source – Frank Zimmermann, The Aramaic Origin of the Four Gospels (1979), p. 67.  Dr. Zimmermann was head of the Biblical Studies Department at Dropsie University and was one of the world’s foremost experts on Aramaic verbs.

 

LUKE 1:78

Luke 1:78 – …through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the sun from on high hath visited us...  [correct: Messiah]

Significance – This verse, which is a prophecy of the Messiah, makes a serious mistake by attributing the Messiah’s universal message to the sun (!) and needs to be corrected.  

Explanation – The Greek text (here derived from the Yaḥas) says rising (i.e., sunrise).  This is a case where a literal translation doesn’t give the true meaning.  The Greek word anatole (ἀνατολή) means a rising (as of the sun or stars), dawn, the East, and the shining one.  The Aramaic equivalent is ẓemaḥ (צמח), meaning shining or a sprout (because it rises).  But in this case anatole (the shining one) is a mis-translation of ẓemaḥ (by the Yaḥas’s Greek translator) because ẓemaḥ was also a term for the Messiah (based on “the branch of David” in Isa 11:1, Jer 23:5, Zech 3:8, 6:12, et al.).  The targum (Aramaic translation) of Isaiah even uses the word meshiḥa (משיחא, messiah) in v. 4:2, where the Hebrew says ẓemaḥ (branch).  The Hebrew ẓemaḥ is also rendered as meshiḥa in targ. Jer 33:15.  The word anatole in the Greek version of the Yaḥas is a mis-translation, and thus the words dawn or rising sun found in modern English translations also miss the meaning and significance of this verse.

Source – Frank Zimmermann, The Aramaic Origin of the Four Gospels (1979), p. 102.  (See the first example regarding Dr. Zimmermann.)

 

JOHN 1:14

John 1:14 – And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.  And we beheld His Glory…

Significance – This verse contains one of the strongest declarations of Jesus’ divinity in the New Testament.  Any Aramaic-speaking Jew in the first century would have understood the significance of this statement, but its full meaning is lost in translation into Greek (and English) because the Aramaic religious/cultural associations are lacking in our language and culture.  This isn’t a mis-translation per se, but something that needs to be addressed in a footnote.

Explanation – (1) Word: The Greek word used here is Logos (Λόγος), meaning word or idea.  Many Biblical scholars connect it with the Logos of Greek philosophy, especially Stoicism, which held that Logos permeates the universe and gives order and reason to all things.  However, Logos in the Gospel of John represents the Aramaic word memra (מימרא), which also means word.  The Aramaic targums (translations of Old Testament books into Aramaic) frequently re-word Old Testament verses in which God appears to have a physical presence on earth, by changing the word God to a phrase such as the Dwelling of God (Shekhinta – similar to Hebrew word Shekhina), the Glory of God (Yeḳara), or the Word of God (Memra).  Memra, Shekinta, and Yeara were alternative terms for God.  For example, Gen 3:10, “I heard Thy voice,” is given in the targums as “I heard the voice of Thy Memra.”  All three of the targums’ alternative terms for God are present in v. 14, where they are used to proclaim Christ’s divinity.  Verse 14 was the crowning statement of Aramaic John’s opening passage, giving clear proof that Jesus is God.

(2) dwelt: The Greek word dwelt (ἐσκήνωσεν) uses as a verb the Aramaic word Shekinta (שכינתא, dwellingShekina in Hebrew), the second of the three alternative terms for God used in the targums.  Relevant examples of this use of Shekinta include Lev 26:12, “And I will walk among you” re-written in the targums as “And I will cause my Shekinta to dwell among you”;  and Ex 29:45, “And I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel” re-written in the targums as “And I will cause My Shekinta to dwell in the midst of the children of Israel”.

(3) Glory: The Greek word doxa (δόξα, glory) translates the Aramaic word Yeḳara (יקרא, glory), the third of the three alternative terms for God used in the targums.  Relevant examples of this use of Yeḳara include Ex 3:1, “And he came to the mountain of God, even unto Horeb” re-written in the targums as “And he came to the mountain on which the Yeḳara of the Lord was revealed, even to Horeb”;  Ex 3:6, “For he was afraid to look upon God” re-written in the targums as “For he was afraid to look upon the manifestation of the Yeḳara of the Lord”;  and Ex 24:10, “And they saw the God of Israel,” is re-worded in the targums as “And they saw the Yeḳara of the God of Israel.”

Sources – Charles Fox Burney, The Aramaic Origin of the Fourth Gospel (1922), pp. 35-38;  Gustaf Dalman, The Words of Jesus (English transl., 1902), pp. 229-231;  and James Alan Montgomery, The Origin of the Gospel According to St. John (1923), pp. 24-25.  At the turn of the century Pastor Dalman was the world’s foremost expert on Biblical and Palestinian Aramaic.  He is considered to be the father of modern Aramaic studies.  Dr. Burney taught Hebrew at Oxford University.  His book was very controversial.  Dr. Montgomery taught Hebrew and Aramaic at the University of Pennsylvania and was then the world’s foremost expert on the ancient Near East.

 

MATTHEW 5:13

Matt 5:13 – but if the salt has become foolish, wherewith shall it be salted?  [correct: has become spoiled]

Significance – The Greek text speaks of “salt becoming foolish,” which makes no sense.  The Aramaic correction provides a good solution for the intended meaning.

Explanation – The Greek text says has become foolish.  Some modern translations say has lost its taste based on context and reason, and the parallels in Mk 9:50 and Lk 14:34, but the Greek verb μωρανθῇ (moranthe, related to our word moron) literally means has become foolish.  Where did foolish come from?  Let us note that if salt is used to preserve fish, a very common practice in the ancient world, it acquires a rancid, fishy taste and afterwards cannot be used with another food.  It is likely that the Aramaic word was ṣrei (סרי) or its by-form ṣaraḥ (סרח) which can mean to be foolish, but also means to stink, to be smelly.  The Greek translator had insufficient knowledge of Aramaic.

Source – Frank Zimmermann, The Aramaic Origin of the Four Gospels (1979), p. 70.  (See the first example regarding Dr. Zimmermann.)