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FAITH LIFT | It's all Aramaic to me

faith-lift

Do you realize that Jesus never spoke a word of English?

English wasn’t even a language in the first century. So, what did Jesus speak? A Hebrew dialect called “Aramaic”. He probably knew some Greek (the language of culture) and some Latin (the language of Roman power) of his day as well. When Jesus was crucified, Pilate put a mocking sign on the cross reading “Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the Jews”. It was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek so everyone could understand it (John 19:20).

Even though the Bible’s original languages are Hebrew for the Old Testament and Greek for the New, there are eight expressions of Aramaic sprinkled throughout the latter. What are they and what do they mean?

Matthew
The first Gospel uses Aramaic twice. When Jesus is raising the moral standard of the Ten Commandments, he reminds his listeners that the Law of Moses taught them not to murder.

However, Jesus says that whoever gets angry and calls a fellow believer “Raca” will be judged as well. The word “Raca” is Aramaic for “fool” (Matthew 5:22).

At the end of Matthew’s Gospel when Jesus is languishing on the cross, we read these words — “About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, ‘Eli Eli lema sabachthani?,’”(which means ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46) These poignant words are in Aramaic as well.

Mark
The second Gospel uses Aramaic four times. Early in Jesus’ public ministry, he performs an incredible miracle by raising a young girl back to life. “He took her by the hand and said to her, ‘Talitha cum,’” meaning, “Little girl, get up!” (Mark 5:41). A couple chapters later, Jesus heals a man who was deaf and dumb. “He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, ‘Ephphatha!,’” meaning “Be opened!” (Mark 7:34).

On the first Palm Sunday as Jesus enters Jerusalem on a donkey, people shouted “Hosanna!” which was an Aramaic expression of praise meaning “O Lord, save us!” (Mark 11:9). And then a few days later, when Jesus is agonizing in prayer in the garden of Gethsemane, he says, “Abba, Father, everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” (Mark 14:36) “Abba” is an intimate word for Father similar to our word “Dad”.

John
Interestingly, Luke (the only Gentile or non-Jewish Gospel writer) doesn’t include any Aramaic in his biography of Jesus. The last Gospel uses Aramaic once. After Jesus is raised from the dead on the first Easter Sunday, he reveals his identity to Mary. “She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, ‘Rabboni,’” which means “Teacher.” (John 20:16)

Paul
There is only one more Aramaic expression in the rest of the New Testament. The apostle Paul concludes his letter to believers in the Greek city of Corinth with “Maranatha” meaning “Lord, come!” (1 Corinthians 16:22).
A final word in English
So, what does all this mean? A brief analysis shows that five were spoken by Jesus and three by his followers. One was connected to Jesus’ teaching, two relate to his healings, and four relate to events happening just before, during or after Jesus died on the cross for our sins. The last one is a prayer for Jesus’ return.

You may have noticed that after most of the Aramaic expressions above, there was an exclamation mark. This tells us that these words were spoken with emphasis and emotion. The two most relevant words for me are “Maranatha!” and “Hosanna!” Together, they form a very short prayer which can change your life — “Come, Lord Jesus, and save me!”

Rob Weatherby is a retired pastor.