Language Studies

Aramaic Thoughts

The Oldest Aramaic? - Part 1

Genesis 31 tells the story of Jacob, his escape from Laban, and their covenant of détente that allowed Jacob to return to Palestine with his wives and children. As witness to that covenant, they erect a pile of stones. This appears to reflect an early form of covenantal agreement between hostile parties (the separation of Jacob and Laban was anything but friendly, as a careful reading of the chapter shows), with the erection of a memorial that would remind the parties of their obligations to one another. At the conclusion of the ritual, each party names the structure, and affirms the meaning of the structure. Jacob names the structure Galeed, which in Hebrew mean “heap of witness.” It is made up of two parts gal—meaning “heap” or “pile” and ‘ed which is the common Hebrew term for “witness” or “testimony.” Laban, on his part, names it Jegar-Sahadutha, which is an Aramaic expression. This, like Galeed, also is a two-part term, made up of yegar—meaning “stone-heap” or “mound,” and sahadutha’—meaning “witness.”

One observation that the reader should draw from this is the fact that, though Hebrew and Aramaic are closely related languages, words with the same meaning may not be etymologically related. In other words, the reader of Genesis who knows that Aramaic is closely related to Hebrew might expect that the Aramaic for “heap of witness” might be something very close to Galeed, which is clearly not the case. This fact should also warn the reader against relying too heavily on arguments based on the etymology of words in related languages. As another example, the Hebrew word shalom has the primary sense of wholeness, or wellness, very close to the original meaning of the English words weal and wealth. The Arabic word salaam is etymologically related to shalom. But Unlike shalom, salaam does not have as either a primary, or a significant secondary meaning of wholeness or wellness. Rather, the primary, if not exclusive, meaning of salaam is submission. Analyses that attempt to draw some relationship between the two words have committed the fallacy of assuming that since the words are etymologically related, that the meanings are closely related as well.

But another question that arises from this passage is that of how old Aramaic is. The oldest datable Aramaic material that has been recovered dates back to the tenth century BC, that is sometime around the time of David. This Aramaic material was preserved in “inscriptions on stone and other materials, written in the borrowed Phoenician alphabet.”F1 [Joseph Fitzmyer, A Wandering Aramean, p.60.] Now the date of Jacob would have been some five to eight centuries earlier. The other portions of the Old Testament that are in Aramaic (Jeremiah, Ezra, and Daniel) all date from the period of the exile or later. This fact has raised the question for some scholars as to whether this portion of Genesis might have been a later insertion, made around the time of the exile. Also playing into this view is the recognition that in Genesis 31:48-49, Laban himself calls the structure Galeed and Mizpah.

While it is possible that the Aramaic was a later insertion, there is no really good explanation for why it would have been inserted, as the meaning of the text is perfectly clear without it. Since that is the case, we will revisit the question next week with an explanation of the significance of Laban’s use of Galeed and Mizpah in Genesis 31:48-49, as well as a discussion about the relationship between written and spoken forms of languages.

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