HOW DID PAUL USE ARAMAIC IDIOMS IN THE BIBLE?
Question: Why am I interested to know about Paul's writings?
Answer: Most of the bible scriptures in the New Testament was written by Paul, so unless you want to throw away the bible scriptures, it is worthwhile to understand what Paul wrote.
There are many many idioms that are used by Paul in his writings.
I want to look at just a passage in 2 Corinthians 6:11-12 (KJV)
2 Corinthians 6:11 (KJV) - O ye Corinthians, our mouth is open unto you, our heart is enlarged.
2 Corinthians 6:12 (KJV) - Ye are not straitened in us, but ye are straitened in your own bowels.
Let us compare with the original Aramaic Text with interlinear English:
MOUTH
Qn: What is the meaning of "our mouth is open unto you".?
Ans: This is an Aramaic idiom meaning: "We have told you everything".
During the times of Paul, in the Near East, when someone speaks in an honest and straightforward way, just being frankly and clearly, they used the Aramaic idiom "he has a big or large mouth".
Today in our modern English, whether we are using American English or UK English, it would be an insult. A person with a "big mouth" will mean that he cannot keep any secret or someone who talks too much. This is just the opposite of the meaning in the bible.
BOWELS
Qn: What is the meaning of "ye are not straitened in us, but ye are straitened in your own bowels".? Why "bowels".?
Ans: Here the original word for "bowels" is the Aramaic word "rahma". Literally translated, the word "rahma" has several meanings. It means "friends", "bowels", "womb", "bladder", "testicles", and the "female sexual organs".
However in this verse, the word "bowels" or "rahma" is used metaphorically to mean "love", "mercy", "kindness", "affection", "compassion", "benevolence", "friendliness", and "tenderheartedness".
Paul used the same word "bowel" or "rahma" in another scripture in Philippians 1:8
Philippians 1: 8 (KJV) - "For God is my record, how greatly I long after you all in the bowels (or rahma) of Jesus Christ".
In the Interlinear English of this in Aramaic, it says "Surely God is my witness as to what manner I fiercely love you all through the tender love of Jesus the Messiah".
Isaiah said the same word as Paul in Isaiah 63:15
Isaiah 63:15 (KJV) Look down from heaven ... Where is thy zeal and thy strength, the sounding of thy bowels (rahma) and thy mercies toward me? Are they restrained?
The idiom "the sounding of thy bowels" means "tender affection and love".
What Isaiah is saying is, "turn your affections and love upon me".
Isaiah used the same word "bowel" or "rahma" in Isaiah 16:11
Isaiah 16:11 (KJV) Wherefore my bowels (rahma) shall sound like a harp for Moab.
The idiom "my bowels shall sound like a harp for Moab" means "my heart shall sorrow over Moab".
It is similarly used in love expression in the Song of Solomon in Song 5:4
Song 5:4 (KJV) - My beloved put his hand by the hole in the door, and my bowels (rahma) were moved for him.
The idiom "and my bowels were moved for him" means "and my passions stirred because of him".
This is just a small example of how Paul and others used idioms in their writings, that are meant to be interpreted metaphorically and within their cultural expression.
