Language Studies

Aramaic Thoughts

Aramaic Epistles - Part 5 - Concluding Thoughts

We have seen in the last few weeks that the extant Aramaic epistles have a number of fairly consistent features. These features remain even though the epistles are of varying types. They also come from a fairly broad area (from the edge of the Mediterranean to Mesopotamia and extending down to Egypt). They also come from a fairly broad span of time, from the late sixth century to the second century BC. This reflects the fact that for much of this area and for much of that time span, Aramaic was the lingua franca. It was only later replaced by koine Greek, and then in the West by Latin.

These general characteristics include the praescriptio, the initial greeting, secondary greetings, the body of the letter, and concluding remarks. To a certain extent, the general form of the letter has remained constant through the succeeding centuries, even though the details may vary according the place and age. Thus it is not surprising that the New Testament epistles share many of the characteristics of these Aramaic epistles. It foes not, of course, mean that the New Testament letters were written originally in Aramaic, since the Greek letters of the first centuries AD share these same characteristics. In one element, the New Testament epistles consistently differ with the Aramaic epistles. The latter generally have secondary greetings either at the beginning of the letter, or somewhere in the course of the body of the letter. The former, when they have secondary greetings, consistently place them at the end of the letter, just before the concluding remarks.

In a previous age, koine Greek was considered by some to be a special "Holy Spirit" Greek, because of its differences in both grammar and syntax from classical Greek. With the discovery of many Greek materials from the period 100 BC to AD 100, this idea was rightfully put to rest. The Greek of the New Testament is the lingua franca Greek that was common in the Roman empire of that period. In like manner, some in the past have considered the epistles of the New Testament to be a special kind of correspondence. While that is true, it is not due to the form of the letters, but rather to their content, and to the fact that they were preserved not just as letters, but as canonical Scriptures for the Christian church. What sets them apart from similar writings of the New Testament era is not their form, but their content. They were written by apostles as official inspired pronouncements to the church at large. While the specifics of the letters clearly connect them to specific churches, the message of them extends far beyond those churches to the church of today. While the seven churches of Asia Minor addressed by John in Revelation no longer exist, the message of them echoes through the centuries to the church of today . Likewise, while scholars still debate the location of the churches in Galatia (whether southern or northern Galatia), and while the dating of some of the letters is uncertain, nonetheless a sure and certain message remains.

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