Aramaic treasures

What a week it has been!  The last two days have been such a time of spiritual blessing, as it seems the Lord simply pours and pours more and more of his riches into my lap.

I have been preparing a sermon on Luke 23:26-56 for our Easter retreat.  As I was trying to find some material on verse 34, where Jesus says, "Father, forgive them," I began rummaging through the books left to me by a dear saint named Rosetta Saurs of Richmond, VA. When we moved to Virginia in 2005 and bought her house, she heard the I was a lay preacher, and left me all the books she had in the house, a very nice library of theological books and commentaries.  One set I have never used until now is the "Expositor's Dictionary of the Bible".  I found in it such a wonderful article on Forgiveness, that I went around excited all day today like I had found a treasure in a field.

A few days ago, I decided to buy a Greek-English interlinear Bible, and that came in the mail today.  It was another treasure that has already been helpful to me.

Which brings me to the third and best discovery:  since I've been learning NT Greek, I've not made much progress.  But this evening, while "following bunny trails", I learned of a new English New Testament translation that I also immediately purchased.  Namely, the Aramaic English NT (AENT).  I've been struggling for two years now because I was so dissatisfied with the newly revised NIV, which should be called the NNIV or RNIV or TNIV, but has usurped the name of the actual NIV'87, which is being deep-sixed by Biblica.  This has disgusted me to the point I don't even want to read my NIV87, even though I reference it from time to time.

Anyway, the New King James has delighted me and filled its place nicely.  Thanks to my wonderful mother-in-law who gave me a copy 6 or 7 years back.  This was yet another treasure.

The thing that I discovered today which has me so excited is this:  NONE of the translations I read having really satisfied me, the answer became so clear.  Now I know why: None of them are based on the original New Testament.  The original really wasn't in Greek, but in Aramaic.  BUT OF COURSE!  Why would the Apostles write in Greek, if they and the Lord spoke Aramaic?  It makes no sense, except that somewhere along the way, Westerners forgot.  It explains why Greek manuscripts differ so widely: Each of them was a translation.

For example, the word for debt in Greek is different entirely from the world for trespass, but the word in Aramaic means both debt and trespass.  The Aramaic means both, so one Greek translator chose "debt" while another chose "trespass".

I know this isn't very coherent. I'm too thankful and excited to be clearer.  How fine that I don't have to learn Greek!  Instead, I'm ordering a Hebrew grammar and shifting at once to that, so that I may read both the Old and New Testaments in the same (or almost the same) language.

I suppose, of course, that those who believe the primacy of the Aramaic NT could be wrong.  But most definitely those who think that, simply because the "earliest Greek manuscripts do not have this verse", that such verses should be omitted, could very well be dead wrong.  But even if the  Peshitta (Aramaic NT) isn't the original, it will add greatly to the understanding of the Lord Jesus, since it is written in HIS tongue, a Semitic language closely related to Hebrew.

The AENT is a new English version NOT based on the same conflicting Greek texts at all.  That alone ought to be refreshing.  And it has the Aramaic on facing pages, in Hebrew rather than the old Aramaic script.  This means, once I've learned Hebrew, I can shift into Aramaic pretty easily.

This is no small task.  Being an autodidact, I need a lot of prayer.  Making time for self-study is coming much easier to me these days, but time itself is still short.  Simply subtracting from my sleep is only good up to a point.  Pray for me.  I never imagined I would finally decide to learn Hebrew. But how important this is for me, and for many Jews who need to hear the Gospel of Messiah Yeshua, and for the times we live in.  Lord, speak again, more powerfully than in ages past, as the wickedness of man is much greater now than ever before.  Lord, use me, if you will, and grant me the strength to learn a new tongue, for the sake of your flock. Amen.