Language Studies

Following the Prayer of Manasseh in the AV Apocrypha are 1 and 2 Maccabees. 1 Maccabees is an essentially historical account of the Maccabean revolt against Antiochus Epiphanes and the events subsequent to the success of that revolt. For the reader lacking knowledge of this period, any of the Bible encyclopedias, or a good…

After the Wisdom of Solomon come the Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach, or Ecclesiasticus. This book is known by several names, derived from this full title. It is perhaps best known as Ecclesiasticus. It is also known as Ben (that is, son of) Sirach, Ben Sira, the Wisdom of Ben Sira/Sirach, or the Book of Sirach. The book…

The literature generally identified as apocrypha is not, for the most part, Aramaic literature. It is, however, part of that collection of early Jewish literature that originated in the period between the Old and the New Testaments. A brief survey of that material will therefore be helpful in understanding the Aramaic literature…

Most books of the Old Testament have Targums. The only exceptions are Daniel, Ezra, and Nehemiah. The reasons for these omissions are not clear. Perhaps it is due to the fact that these books already contain some Aramaic, especially since Daniel is about half Aramaic. It does seem to be clear that the third section of the…

The other most important Targum on the Pentateuch is that of Neofiti. It was discovered only recently (1956). It had remained hidden in the Vatican library, probably for centuries, before it was re-discovered. Lest the reader think that there is some sort of Da Vinci code conspiracy at work here, the Targum was placed along…

After Onkelos, the second primary Targum is that of Pseudo-Jonathan. The curious name comes from the fact that this Targum was (wrongly) ascribed to the same Jonathan who was responsible for the Targum Jonathan on the Prophets. This misidentification was perhaps due to wrongly reading the abbreviation TY as an abbreviation…

The most important of the current targums if Targum Onkelos. It consists of a translation of the Pentateuch. The name is probably derived from Aquila. While the differences between Aquila and Onkelos are obvious in English, those differences are more apparent than real. The rendering of Greek into Aramaic, or of Aramaic…

The most extensive, and most significant, collections of Aramaic literature (apart from the Aramaic in the Bible) exist in the various texts produced by Jewish scholars in the early centuries of the Christian era. I have given a quick survey of these materials in an earlier column in this series. It is my intention over…

In John 3, Jesus makes the statement, "You must be born again." Lamsa saw this as an idiom that meant one needed to "become like a child; to start all over." In doing so, Lamsa has misunderstood the statement almost as badly as Nicodemus did. Nicodemus took Jesus literally and asked, "Can he enter a second time into his…

There are places in Lamsa’s Idioms in the Bible where the reader wishes for more explanation instead of the simple, terse statement of Lamsa’s view of the figure. This is the case, for example, in regard to John 1:48. In that place, Jesus said to Nathanael, "When you were under the fig tree, I saw you." This…

Luke 23:31 says, "For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?" Lamsa identifies these figures as follows. The green tree stands for an innocent man. The dry tree stands for an evil man. It is not clear to me how he came to this conclusion. The context is that of Jesus being led away…

Burgon’s defense of the last twelve verses of Mark was largely ignored in his day, as most New Testament scholars accepted the conclusions of Westcott and Hort. In the last half century, however, there has been more and more discussion about the basic principles of New Testament textual criticism.[1]…

Mark 16:17 says, “And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast our demons; they will speak in new tongues.” Lamsa identifies the concluding clause as an idiom meaning, “You will learn foreign languages wherever you go.” In our day, Lamsa’s claim sounds questionable, due to the widespread…

I may have written on this one before, but there is so much misinformation out there about it that it’s worth addressing again. Matt 19:24 reads, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle." Lamsa, on the basis of the Peshitta, translates it "for a rope to go through the eye of a needle." The Greek text…