WHY ARAMAIC?

 WHY ARAMAIC?

BIBLE BACKGROUND = SEMITIC BACKGROUND

It is importance for us to know that the bible was written in a Semitic background. And to understand the bible better and most important CORRECTLY, we need to understand the Semitic background better.

(WARNING/DANGER: By understanding the bible writers' narratives CORRECTLY, you may have to change most of your past understanding of the bible that came from the Institutional "church", the Americanized "church" or the Western "church", the religiosity of "Christianity", teachings that you have swallowed in "lock, stock and barrel", wrong translations of the bible, and wholesale consumerism of eschatology, dispensationalism and futurism... Steven Wong).

Q: What is Semitic?

A: The word "Semitic" and "Semite" refers to the behavior and beliefs of the Near Eastern Jews who kept all the customs, practices and manners of the ancient Middle East people. (In addition, it can also refers to other Semitic peoples like the Assyrians, Syrians (or Arameans), Chaldeans, Arabs and other Semitic races.)

(Addition note: Try to do a Google on the timeline of civilisations to understand the period of existence of these people groups). 


Q: Where do you get the word "Semitic"?

A: The original spelling of "Semitic" was "Shemitic" which is derived from the word "Shem", who was one of the sons of Noah (Genesis 5:32).


Q: Which countries are in the Near East?

A: According to the National Geographic Society, the terms Near East and Middle East refers to the same territories and are "generally accepted as the countries of the Arabian Peninsula, Cyprus, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestinian territories, Syria, and Turkey".

Attached is a map of the Near Eastern countries during the times of Jesus:

However, through the millenniums and centuries, the borders of the Semitic countries kept on changing, depending on which country conquers which country, and which civilisation comes after which civilisation. After each conquest, their leaders will redraw their boundaries.


Q: Then why Aramaic?

A: Aramaic was one of the main Semitic languages that was widely used during the periods from the times of Abraham to the times of Jesus.

There are 3 main Semitic languages i.e. Aramaic, Hebrew and Arabic, that were used among the Near Eastern countries, but the most popular was Aramaic. 

The Old Testament (Jews called the OT "Tanakh") was written in an Aramaic Context. The New Testament was written in an Aramaic Context. The prophets of the Old Testament, and Jesus and his disciples, ALL spoke in Aramaic. 

Of course, they also can speak Hebrew domestically, but Aramaic was their official language, as it were. Some can also understand Greek, due to the earlier influence of Greek conquerors.

The bible is a compilation of many books (from 66 to 88 books, depending on which denomination you are from) and it is a Near Eastern book written to Near Eastern people in their Aramaic context. It is NOT written to the Western world of today!. It is primarily written to Semitic people in their Semitic language.


Q: Were the Old Testament books written in Aramaic or Hebrew?

A: The Old Testament was written in Aramaic and Hebrew BUT you need to understand that Hebrew was derived from Aramaic. Aramaic is the root language of Hebrew, and some scholars say that up to 70% of Hebrew words are similar to Aramaic words. They shared many similarities, but yet are distinctly separate languages. We will come across some of these later. 

Some of the Aramaic documents (written on parchment) were lost or destroyed for centuries until recent discoveries during these last 2 centuries showed that many were written in Aramaic.

Some verses in some translations of the English OT refer to "Aramaic" as "Syrian" or "Chaldee", and this is wrong. Recent Hebrew and English translations have corrected these. (Such as 2 Kings 18:26; Ezra 4:7; Isaiah 36:11; Daniel 2:4)

2Ki 18:26  Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebnah, and Joah, said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it. Do not speak to us in the language of Judah within the hearing of the people who are on the wall.” 

Ezr 4:7  In the days of Artaxerxes, Bishlam and Mithredath and Tabeel and the rest of their associates wrote to Artaxerxes king of Persia. The letter was written in Aramaic and translated. 

Dan 2:4  Then the Chaldeans said to the king in Aramaic, “O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.” 


Q: Were the New Testament books written in Aramaic or Greek?

A: Aramaic was the tongue of the Jews at that time. The New Testament was written in Aramaic and Greek. The Near Eastern Jews were in a transition from Aramaic => Hebrew =>  Greek. This is due to the powerful country of Greece, and later the Roman empire, that were interested to conquer over all of the Near East. 

(Remember Alexander the Great, the Greek conqueror. When he died young, his territories were weakened and split, and the Roman emperors took advantage to conquer over them).

Much of the recent Greek and English translations of the NT are beginning to correct their texts to Aramaic by retaining their original quotation and meaning. This I presume is to not lose the essence of the intent, message and meaning of the original writer. (Such as John 5:2; 19:13, 17, 20; 20:16; Acts 21:40; 22:2; 26:14 and others).

Joh 5:2  Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades.

Joh 19:13  So when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Stone Pavement, and in Aramaic Gabbatha.

Joh 19:17  and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. 

Joh 20:16  Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). 



FOR GENERAL READING: (From Dr. Steven Anderson)

[  Aramaic was originally the language of the Arameans, who were comprised of tribes that lived along the Euphrates River. Two of the most prominent of these tribes were the Syrians to the northwest, and the Chaldeans to the southeast. The word Aramaic is derived from Aram, a son of Shem who was the progenitor of the Arameans. 

In the earliest stages of the history of Aramaic, the language was only spoken in Aramean locales, including the area where Laban lived (cf. Gen 31:47; Deut 26:5). However, as the Syrians and Chaldeans gained prominence in the ancient Near East, their tongue became established as an international language of commerce and diplomacy, gradually displacing Akkadian. Akkadian was still the official language of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, although 2 Kings 18:26 indicates that Aramaic was already becoming established as a lingua franca of the ancient Near East by 700 BC. 

When the Chaldeans subsequently conquered Assyria, it was natural for them to use their own language of Aramaic as the administrative language of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, rather than adopting Akkadian.

This is why Daniel 2:4 says the wise men of Babylon addressed the king in Aramaic, and why the following section of the book of Daniel is written in Aramaic. After the conquest of Babylon by Persia, the Persians also established Aramaic as the official language of their vast empire. This is why the portions of Ezra which record official correspondence are written in Aramaic.

At the time when the books of Daniel and Ezra were written, most Jews could speak and understand both Hebrew and Aramaic. They understood Hebrew as the language spoken at home, among themselves, and in the reading of the Scriptures, while Aramaic was the language spoken in broader society. 

Over time, Aramaic replaced Hebrew as the primary language spoken by the Jews who lived in Palestine and regions to the east. The Jews had not learned Aramaic in Palestine (cf. 2 Kgs 18:26), but they had to learn it in exile, since it was the language of their captors. Thus, the parts of the Old Testament which were composed in Aramaic were written in that language as a result of the Babylonian captivity.

Because of this, Aramaic was the native tongue of our Lord; Hebrew was rarely used as a spoken language by Jews of the first century AD. 

There are several places where the Gospel writers preserve quotations from Jesus in the original Aramaic, including His cry from the cross, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabacthani? (Mark 15:34). These words expressed Christ’s deepest feelings at a time of great personal anguish and emotion. That He spoke these words from Psalm 22:1 in Aramaic, rather than from the Hebrew original or the Greek Septuagint translation, shows that Aramaic was the language that He knew most intimately.

Thus, the New Testament preserves Aramaic words because Aramaic was the mother tongue of Palestinian Jews in the first century AD.

While Hebrew was used sparingly outside of the Bible, Aramaic was used very broadly. There is a huge corpus of Aramaic literature. From about 600 BC until AD 700, Aramaic was the primary trade language of the ancient Near East. It was also the primary spoken language of Palestine, Syria, and Mesopotamia at the time of Christ. 

Aramaic was only displaced by Arabic when the Muslims conquered the Middle East—though the language never died out completely, and is still spoken in pockets of Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Turkey. Aramaic is possibly the language with the longest continuous written record in the world.

Because of the broad use of Aramaic outside of the Bible, there is rarely any doubt about the meaning of words or constructions in biblical Aramaic, as there are many opportunities to research their usage in extra-biblical literature.

Although there is only a limited amount of biblical material composed in Aramaic, the influence of the Aramaic language is felt throughout the Old and New Testaments, as it was present in the background from Genesis until Revelation. Aramaic also had a prominent place in the early church and in post-biblical Judaism. But insofar as it is directly used in the Bible, Aramaic is the language of the captivity and of the Redeemer. ]