Faith

Villages in the Holy Land Seek to Revive Jesus’ Aramaic Language

Aramaic May Be on the Rise Again in the Holy Land | Israel

In a Wednesday, May 2, 2012 photo, schoolgirls study Aramaic in the Arab village of Jish, northern Israel. Jish is one of two villages in the Holy Land's tiny Christian community that are teaching Aramaic to their children in an ambitious effort to preserve the language that Jesus spoke, centuries after it all but disappeared from the modern Middle East. (AP Photo/Diaa Hadid)

JISH, Israel (AP) — Two villages in the Holy Land’s tiny Christian community are teaching Aramaic in an ambitious effort to revive the language that Jesus spoke, centuries after it all but disappeared from the Middle East.

The new focus on the region’s dominant language 2,000 years ago comes with a little help from modern technology: an Aramaic-speaking television channel from Sweden, of all places, where a vibrant immigrant community has kept the ancient tongue alive.

In the Palestinian village of Beit Jala, an older generation of Aramaic speakers is trying to share the language with their grandchildren. Beit Jala lies next to Bethlehem, where the New Testament says Jesus was born.

And in the Arab-Israeli village of Jish, nestled in the Galilean hills where Jesus lived and preached, elementary school children are now being instructed in Aramaic. The children belong mostly to the Maronite Christian community. Maronites still chant their liturgy in Aramaic but few understand the prayers.

Aramaic May Be on the Rise Again in the Holy Land | Israel

“We want to speak the language that Jesus spoke,” said Carla Hadad, a 10-year-old Jish girl who frequently waved her arms to answer questions in Aramaic from school teacher Mona Issa during a recent lesson.

“We used to speak it a long time ago,” she added, referring to her ancestors.

During the lesson, a dozen children lisped out a Christian prayer in Aramaic. They learned the words for “elephant,“ ”how are you?“ and ”mountain.” Some children carefully drew sharp-angled Aramaic letters. Others fiddled with their pencil cases, which sported images of popular soccer teams.

The dialect taught in Jish and Beit Jala is “Syriac,” which was spoken by their Christian forefathers and resembles the Galilean dialect that Jesus would have used, according to Steven Fassberg, an Aramaic expert at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

“They probably would have understood each other,” Fassberg said.

In Jish, about 80 children in grades one through five study Aramaic as a voluntary subject for two hours a week. Israel’s education ministry provided funds to add classes until the eighth grade, said principal Reem Khatieb-Zuabi.

Several Jish residents lobbied for Aramaic studies several years ago, said Khatieb-Zuabi, but the idea faced resistance: Jish’s Muslims worried it was a covert attempt to entice their children to Christianity. Some Christians objected, saying the emphasis on their ancestral language was being used to strip them of their Arab identity. The issue is sensitive to many Arab Muslims and Christians in Israel, who prefer to be identified by their ethnicity, not their faith.

Ultimately, Khatieb-Zuabi, a secular Muslim from an outside village, overruled them.

“This is our collective heritage and culture. We should celebrate and study it,” the principal said. And so the Jish Elementary School become the only Israeli public school teaching Aramaic, according to the education ministry.

Their efforts are mirrored in Beit Jala’s Mar Afram school run by the Syrian Orthodox church and located just a few miles (kilometers) from Bethlehem’s Manger Square.

There, priests have taught the language to their 320 students for the past five years.

Aramaic May Be on the Rise Again in the Holy Land | Israel

Some 360 families in the area descend from Aramaic-speaking refugees who in the 1920s fled the Tur Abdin region of what is now Turkey.

Priest Butros Nimeh said elders still speak the language but that it vanished among younger generations. Nimeh said they hoped teaching the language would help the children appreciate their roots.

Although both the Syrian Orthodox and Maronite church worship in Aramaic, they are distinctly different sects.

The Maronites are the dominant Christian church in neighboring Lebanon but make up only a few thousand of the Holy Land’s 210,000 Christians. Likewise, Syrian Orthodox Christians number no more than 2,000 in the Holy Land, said Nimeh. Overall, some 150,000 Christians live in Israel and another 60,000 live in the West Bank.

Both schools found inspiration and assistance in an unlikely place: Sweden. There, Aramaic-speaking communities who descended from the Middle East have sought to keep their language alive.

They publish a newspaper, “Bahro Suryoyo,” pamphlets and children’s books, including “The Little Prince,” and maintain a satellite television station, “Soryoyosat,” said Arzu Alan, chairwoman of the Syriac Aramaic Federation of Sweden.

There’s also an Aramaic soccer team, “Syrianska FC” in the Swedish top division from the town of Sodertalje. Officials estimate the Aramaic-speaking population at anywhere from 30,000 to 80,000 people.

For many Maronites and Syrian Orthodox Christians in the Holy Land, the television station, in particular, was the first time they heard the language outside church in decades. Hearing it in a modern context inspired them to try revive the language among their communities.

“When you hear (the language), you can speak it,” said Issa, the teacher.

Aramaic dialects were the region’s vernacular from 2,500 years ago until the sixth century, when Arabic, the language of conquering Muslims from the Arabian Peninsula, became dominant, according to Fassberg.

Linguistic islands survived: Maronites clung to Aramaic liturgy and so did the Syrian Orthodox church. Kurdish Jews on the river island of Zakho spoke an Aramaic dialect called “Targum” until fleeing to Israel in the 1950s. Three Christian villages in Syria still speak an Aramaic dialect, Fassberg said.

With few opportunities to practice the ancient tongue, teachers in Jish have tempered expectations. They hope they can at least revive an understanding of the language.

The steep challenges are seen in the Jish school, where the fourth-grade Aramaic class has just a dozen students. The number used to be twice that until they introduced an art class during the same time slot – and lost half their students.

Comments (59)

  • rickc34
    Posted on May 29, 2012 at 4:53pm

    Many comments regarding language from both sides but speaking like Christ and living like Christ which is more important? Saying things that people want to hear the politicians do that but what Christ did in the Bible speaks volumes. Just thinking. Saying I love you and showing you how much I love you. Christ did that on the cross. Help me to live the life Lord .

    Report Post »  
  • Passerby
    Posted on May 29, 2012 at 12:49am

    The Samaritan High Priest doesn’t look that much different than the image of Jesus at the top of this thread. In fact, eerily similar…
    http://joanne-israel.blogspot.com/2010/05/good-samaritan.html

    Granted, more likely he looked darker and could have been African black.

    Report Post » Passerby  
  • Passerby
    Posted on May 29, 2012 at 12:20am

    The different Hebrew tribes weren’t necessarily related, and far from clear all originally came from Israel. Even “The Jewish Encyclopedia” says the Samaritans are genetically the closest to the original Hebrews, none of them left Israel for 3000 years, been there all along (and almost all were killed because of it), never ever accept converts, (other than Jews), and about 12% of them have blonde hair and blue eyes. (And amazingly, virtually 100% of the men have the Cohen gene, and it splits from the Jewish version 2,700 years ago just like the Bible says.)

    Report Post » Passerby  
    • ephraimtheox
      Posted on May 29, 2012 at 1:41am

      I’m a blue eyed Canadian of British origin and I too have the Cohen gene. Just sayin’

      Report Post » ephraimtheox  
  • ConservativeCanucklehead
    Posted on May 28, 2012 at 8:45pm

    These ‘pictures’ of Jebus are wonderful. I think I can see the Easter Bunny in one of them.

    Report Post »  
  • epicwinofgod
    Posted on May 28, 2012 at 6:54pm

    I’m kind of against portraying Jesus as a white man, or any destined race, as True Christianity invites peoples of all nations, tongues and multitudes to join Him in His 2nd Coming. Truthfully, this has been warned about in the Bible as to “not create idols”. Surely when racism is an ongoing problem in society, it’ll only fall down on the white race because we idolized Christ as a white man. Perhaps historically we should ignore his color and not paint imagery for as far as we know, Christ could resurrect as a black female for all we know. It’s heartening to see a little girl value the language of Jesus however, it makes me smile either way. =)

    Report Post » epicwinofgod  
  • ConservativeCanucklehead
    Posted on May 28, 2012 at 4:18pm

    Who cares?

    Seriously, what are you folks going on about?

    Report Post »  
  • Mr_Meaner
    Posted on May 28, 2012 at 4:01pm

    Aramaic would have been only one of the languages spoken by Jesus.
    As a trained Rabbi, he would have been fluent in Greek, which was the language spoken by the Hellenist Jews of the era. It is believed that Jesus spoke to Pilate in Greek.
    Hebrew was also still spoken during ritual observances.

    Report Post »  
    • socialism.rocks
      Posted on May 28, 2012 at 6:51pm

      jesus spoke phoenician.. not aramaic
      jesus did use common language a bit-yes greek for trade
      hebrew was like latin- during jesus time only the really educated-the priesthood used it
      he probably knew more hebrew then people think he did like to argue with the rabbi

      i will not get more into it-because my lefty friends dont want to hear it

      Report Post » socialism.rocks  
    • Blackman Standing Tall71
      Posted on May 28, 2012 at 7:37pm

      It’s is believed.Where is the proof that goes with your statement!

      Report Post » Blackman Standing Tall71  
    • Passerby
      Posted on May 28, 2012 at 7:56pm

      They didn’t have rabbis in the first century.

      Report Post » Passerby  
    • Passerby
      Posted on May 28, 2012 at 7:58pm

      Phonecian was a dead language by the time of Jesus, but early Hebrew and early Phonecian are the same thing.

      Report Post » Passerby  
  • Passerby
    Posted on May 28, 2012 at 3:41pm

    “Rabbi” was not a title used much in pre-Mishnaic Judea as it is now.
    Ῥαββουνι hRABbouni of John 20:16 is a Greek transliteration of the
    Aramaic
    רבולי which means “MY master/Lord” which is what a wife would call a
    husband, by the way. A respected teacher would be called “Mara” hence…

    MAra yeSHOOa‘ bar yaHOsef d’min NATSret.

    Now the ayin at the end of Yeshua is a glottal stop in the throat which is not easy for westerners. It’s a kind of pharyngeal “gulp.”
    …Jack Kilmon

    Report Post » Passerby  
  • nighttrainno9
    Posted on May 28, 2012 at 11:38am

    Don‘t worry about Jesus’s language, we will all hear
    what he needs us to hear. He is the truth, the way and the light.

    Report Post »  
    • Gonzo
      Posted on May 28, 2012 at 11:59am

      Well said.

      Report Post » Gonzo  
    • Passerby
      Posted on May 28, 2012 at 1:19pm

      Different people seem to hear it differently. Even with all his condemning of the rich and supporting of the poor and never ever the opposite, some here, claiming to be Christians have hatred of the poor in their hearts.

      Report Post » Passerby  
  • lukerw
    Posted on May 28, 2012 at 11:37am

    Aramaic was a Dialect of Hebrew… spoken by the Tribe of Ephraim (cited in the Bible)… and, upon division of the Promised land, spoken in the North, Israel… as in the area of Nazareth, where Christ was raised!

    Report Post » lukerw  
    • OldVet
      Posted on May 28, 2012 at 12:25pm

      Aramaic is the language the returning Jews spoke after 400 years in captivity in Babylon. There are similarities, but Aramaic is not a dialect of Hebrew. The Torah has always been in Hebrew and was always understood by the Priests and teachers. Of course, between the return from Babylon and the Diaspora some blending did occur. The two alphabets both have the same number of characters and the letters sound basically the same but look completely different. The Torah stayed in Israel. When the Jews returned, the Torah was read aloud to them for the first time in their lives.

      Report Post » OldVet  
    • Passerby
      Posted on May 28, 2012 at 1:21pm

      All alphabetic languages, Greek, Latin, English, etc. are dialects of Hebrew. It is the original alphabetic language all others are derived from.

      Report Post » Passerby  
    • lukerw
      Posted on May 28, 2012 at 1:46pm

      @OLDVET
      Israel was destroyed by the Assyrians, in 722 bc, with the help of the Southern Kingdom of Judah… where the people were transported to other areas of the Empire… and where they attempted to stamp out any recognition of the House of Joseph, of Egypt, and the Imperial Tribe of Ephraim. In Egyptian, E-b-ru, meant Walking Servant or Slave, from which comes the Name of Hebrew, where the Hebrews of Egypt spoke a Dialect of Egyptian. This speaking is distinct from Writing… and the differnece between Egyptian & Hebrew became great, as Moses could not communicate to people, but had people speak for him.
      I accept you view views as Judeo-centric, where you believe Judaism is the root of Christianity… whereas Christ opposed everything Judeo, from Law to Temple!

      Report Post » lukerw  
    • Bearfoot
      Posted on May 28, 2012 at 2:03pm

      OldVet,

      The nation of Israel was in Egypt for 400 years before God delivered them from Egypt bondage.

      Judah (Israel) was captive in Babylon for 70 years before being restored to to Jerusalem, again by God.

      Just a little correction :-)

      Report Post » Bearfoot  
    • Passerby
      Posted on May 28, 2012 at 3:23pm

      Israel is usually taken to mean the much larger kingdom of Israel destroyed by the Assyrians, and Judah, which includes Jerusalem and the Jews, was a much smaller kingdom destroyed by the Babylonians a couple centuries later. The Jews say the split happened after Solomon, and the Samaritans (the only surviving other Hebrews) say it happened before David at the time of Sampson.

      Both say it was because the other worshipped Moloch and there’s been bad blood for 3000 years.

      Jesus was clearly associated with Samaritans, John has Jesus staying with them following his message, after the Samaritan woman at the well. The only leper that thanks Jesus is a Samaritan. The Good Samaritan story…etc. even including Jesus being accused of being a Samaritan.

      Report Post » Passerby  
    • OldVet
      Posted on May 28, 2012 at 4:36pm

      Bearfoot
      I stand corrected. Israel was supposed to return after 70 years yet only a remnant did so. In that 70 years the people grew up speaking Aramaic which was the language of Assyria. It was Daniel who foretold the covenant of seven weeks and sixty two weeks which was the result of Israel not returning as they were told to do. This was over 400 years. Thanks

      Lukerw
      I am not sure what you mean by Judeo-centric, but you are probably right. Jesus, Yeshua, had a Jewish mother and a Jewish Step-father both of royal blood of the line of David. Yeshua is known as the Lion of Judah. We do tend to refer to Israel as Jews do to the fact that we know pretty much who they are and the 10 northern tribes are basically in the wind. Now as to when the people started speaking Hebrew, I don’t know. The version we are familiar with is the language they came out of Egypt with. The idea that Moses couldn’t speak the language of his people is ridicules. Moses is the person who pinned the Torah. Also to think that Moses could lead the people out of Egypt an around in the desert for 40 years without learning their language is beyond ridicules.
      As to Christ oppsing everything Jewish, you are wrong there. Christ said that he came not to do away with the law but to fulfill the law. Romans 3:31 “Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.”

      Report Post » OldVet  
    • OldVet
      Posted on May 28, 2012 at 4:37pm

      Passerby
      Hebrew and Aramaic are Semitic languages. While we have adopted many hebrew and Aramaic terms, they are not the root language of Latin or Greek. If you had ever tried to learn the Hebrew alphabet you would realize that english is not even close. Scripts used to write Semitic languages are abjads — a type of alphabetic script that omits some or all of the vowels, which is feasible for these languages because the consonants in the Semitic languages are the primary carriers of meaning. Among them are the Ugaritic, Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew, Syriac, Arabic, and South Arabian alphabets.

      The English language has its roots in several languages, including Greek, Latin, and older forms of English, German, and French

      By-the-way Samaritains were considered half-breeds. The babylonian Empire sent some non-hebrews to Judea to colonize the land. They mixed with some of the remnant of the Hebrews who had stayed behind. Jews would have nothing to do with them. His association with them was to set an example for His disciples that they should preach to all peoples. But he was certainly not a Samaritain. He was of the line of David as was foretold.

      Report Post » OldVet  
    • Passerby
      Posted on May 28, 2012 at 7:55pm

      No man, ALL alphabetic languages are derived from Hebrew. If it has an A and B, it comes from Hebrew. The first Hebrew, the first alphabetic writing is on the walls of mines in Egypt around 3500 years ago.

      The next place Hebrew shows up is on a pottery shard in Israel around 3000 years ago at the time of David.

      The Greeks added vowels.

      And false, the Samaritans are shockingly Hebrew. Of the three main groups, approaching 100% of the men have the Cohen gene, compared to 12% of Jews in general and 60% of Jews named Cohen. That means virtually all Samaritan women in a direct line for 3,400 years didn’t cheat on their husbands, (at least with non-Samaritans).
      http://evolutsioon.ut.ee/publications/Shen2004.pdf

      Report Post » Passerby  
    • HoneyBager7x7
      Posted on May 28, 2012 at 10:15pm

      @lukerw

      He opposed the Talmud and anything associated with it. He didn’t do away with the Torah, since the Torah spoke of him.

      Report Post » HoneyBager7x7  
    • Passerby
      Posted on May 29, 2012 at 12:13am

      False, Jesus never mentions the Talmud (since everyone agrees, including the Jews, that it didn’t exist).

      He renounced some of the Torah, such as stoning to death for adultry. A lot of the same thing goes on in the Talmud…

      2 At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4 and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” 6 They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

      But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

      9 At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

      11 “No one, sir,” she said.

      “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

      You gotta love Jesus.

      Report Post » Passerby  
  • searching for the Truth
    Posted on May 28, 2012 at 11:26am

    A still small voice tells me, ” Jesus can speak any language.”

    Report Post »  
  • WhiteFang
    Posted on May 28, 2012 at 10:54am

    The prominent language spoken in the first century of our common era was Greek. The Christian Scriptures from Matthew through Revelation is from Greek language manuscripts. Hebrew was spoken by the Jews, and Jesus and his followers naturally spoke Hebrew and/or Greek when communicating with each other. Since Jesus was sent to primarily preach to the nation of the Jews he would have used Hebrew and/or Greek in his ministry. Aramaic was also spoken in certain quarters but in that day Greek was the main language spoken by the majority under Roman rule.

    Report Post » WhiteFang  
    • OldVet
      Posted on May 28, 2012 at 11:22am

      Whitefang
      Respectfully, I realize that the Greek origin myth is commonly taught in most mainline churches. This is because the Jews had been dispersed and Aramaic had fallen out of common use do to their having to adopt the languages of their new homes. As more research is being done, we find that the Jews of Israel in the time of Christ absolutely did not favor Greek. The Romans had to garrison their Latin and Greek speaking soldiers about 10 miles from Jerusalem because of the language barrier. The soldiers who were more commonly in the city were Aramaic speaking troops from the Eastern regions of the Roman Empire. The myth about the Greek language was promulgated by those church leaders hundreds of years later who wanted to erase the Jewish Roots of Christianity from the history books. The Jewish people are and were a stubborn lot and were not about to give up their language to conquerors whom they considered and temporary since they were looking for the messiah. IF you will notice that when Paul was being charged before the Roman Governor, he surprised everyone when he did speak to the officer in Greek. Because of this they were required to ship him to Rome for trial. I don’t expect you to take my word. Just do some research on your own.

      Report Post » OldVet  
    • WhiteFang
      Posted on May 28, 2012 at 11:56am

      OldVet,

      Thanks.
      I have learned that knowledge comes over time, and through diligence, adjusting viewpoints as facts become established .
      Someday, if we live long enough, all will become clear.

      Report Post » WhiteFang  
    • Passerby
      Posted on May 28, 2012 at 1:18pm

      False, the Jews spoke Aramaic and usually wrote in Greek.

      ALL of the New Testament was originally in Greek. No scraps of ancient Aramaic exist, just Greek. A small minority claim some were originally written in Aramaic, but not many.

      And they definitely spoke Aramaic, although slick city boys like Jesus/Joshua from Sepphoris probably spoke both and perhaps Latin too.

      Hebrew was only religious stuff, although some dogmatic Jews claim it was common to spieak it at the time of Jesus/Joshua.

      Report Post » Passerby  
  • scherzophrenic
    Posted on May 28, 2012 at 10:31am

    acovenantinblood

    Maybe we should learn Arabic. Maybe we should read the Koran too. Then we will be prepared to witness to the Muslims who take over and haul us before clerics to condemn us for polytheism. Wouldn’t it be amazing if Christians here were actually prepared to defend their faith!

    It isn’t necessary. The Muslim’s language is lies. Deception. One of the many ruses they use when debating Christians is saying that, “Well, you don’t read Arabic, so you can’t understand the Koran.”
    What they never seem to getting around to explaining, is why so many men, nurtured and fed upon a daily and nightly diet of Koran in Arabic, seem to ‘misunderstand’ their religion whenever someone goes “BOOM!”

    There are many Arabic speaking Christians and Jews who have been shut out of service with the FBI and CIA because of Muslim Arab and Turkish moles within these agencies. This has been a problem especially since 2001.

    A good link for the linguistic relevance of Yasu’ vs. Isa in Arabic for Jesus can be found here:
    http://www.answering-islam.org/Responses/Abualrub/true-name-isa.htm

    We should stand up for our faith and do so boldly when confronted by falsehoods. It’s the tyranny of nice that is going to destroy us. The evil in this world isn’t the cult of Mohammed as much as it has become the Cult of Tolerance. That is the hideous strength against which we wrestle, and it is not flesh and blood.

    Report Post » scherzophrenic  
    • acovenantinblood
      Posted on May 28, 2012 at 1:16pm

      Yes, never mind that missionaries to Muslim countries in the 1800′s could quote the Koran just as good as the Muslims. Never mind that Missionires throughout the 16, 17, and 1800′s were better informed in history and religions than the people pouring out of major universities today.

      If they use the argument about not knowing Arabic then wouldn’t a good prepared Christian say “yes and I’ve read the Koran in Arabic” to shut the up? Or maybe we should just run around saying “Just believe in Jesus!” when that obviously hasn’t worked in 100 years. Jesus without Authoritative Bible doctrine is nothing but a false religion. The “tyranny of nice” has not destroyed us. Christians not acting like Christians have destroyed us. God does not abondaon a nation because of some sovereign mystery of His. He abondons it when they quit being His People. And if anyone reads the first chapter of Romans, we are producing the fruits of an abondon nation.

      Let us search and try our ways and turn agin to the LORD. Lam. 3:40

      Our ways are not His anymore. If they were then our naiton would not look like this. So why don’t you go back to your armchair Christianity and sip drinks out of glasses with little umbrellas in them and worry about your big screen T.V. and your SUV and continue worshipping at he altar of the Republican Party just looking for that candidate who will save us.

      Report Post » acovenantinblood  
    • acovenantinblood
      Posted on May 28, 2012 at 1:28pm

      And incidentally, if you’d been studying, you would know that Islam is our future. If you know who the “Isa” of Islam is then you should be prepared to stand before a cleric. Isa or the “Prophet Jesus” is an important figure in Muslim eschatology. He will return with the Mahdi and perform miracles to show that he is the “real” Jesus, the son of Mary, and all the Jews and Christians had it wrong. Funny how the False Prophet from Revelations is said to have 2 horns like a Lamb. Lamb being capitalized meaning that they are referring to Jesus. So the False Prophet will be acting like Jesus, the Lamb. Funny how that all works with the Mahdi being just like the Antichrist and “Isa” being just like the False Prophet.

      Or maybe, when the rapture isn‘t pretribulation and the Antichrist doesn’t come from Rome, they will bring us before clerics and say “Look Islams propheceis came true and the Christians didn’t” and Christians will say…well nothing cause they didn’t read the Koran. Then the clerics will say “Where is the promise of His coming? You corrupted your scripture to hide the prophecies of Mohammed.” and the Christians will say nothing cause they didn’t study the Hadiths and had no idea that all this would happen cause the Antichrist was supposed to come out of Rome. Then that day will come cause their will be a great falling away.

      I owe Christ my whole entire being…I owe Islam my head.

      Report Post » acovenantinblood  
  • WhiteFang
    Posted on May 28, 2012 at 10:30am

    The first comment here by 4truth2all is excellent.

    Report Post » WhiteFang  
  • JamieWalker725
    Posted on May 28, 2012 at 9:47am

    There needs to an app for that.

    Report Post »  
  • willbedone
    Posted on May 28, 2012 at 9:36am

    Ever wonder why it is difficult to convert someone from the Jewish faith to Christianity?
    For one thing Jesus is NOT a Hebrew name.
    For another, take a look at the lead in picture of this article. That image has a man all decked out in symbols of pagan sun god worship. Sun god worship is an abomination to the Creator God, all Jews that are faithful to their teachings know this. Just as Christians don’t believe the Islamic Allah is the same God of Abraham, Issac, and Israel Contrary to popular belief, the “re”newed Covenant was written mostly in Hebrew, not Greek, While the Greek language was used mostly when Paul wrote to the gentile churches who’s natural tongue was Greek, his book to the Messianic Hebrews was in Hebrew.

    Now, back to the subject of this article. I think that it is great that they have began to resurrect t and preserve Aramaic language. History, and culture need to be preserved in its authenticity.

    Report Post » willbedone  
    • schlepnier
      Posted on May 28, 2012 at 9:58am

      Jesus is a transliteration into english of a jewish name. remebering that acient hebrew didn’t record vowels since the speakers added them automatically it makes it a bit difficult.

      The closest pronounciation of the name jesus IIRC is yesujah (yes-you-wah) which incidently also has a spefic meaning as typical of the times where an abriviated homage to gods name was added into the persons name(jah or yah based on the tetragramaton YHWH/yahwey/english jehovah).

      Also converting somebody from the jewish faith to christianity is somewhat of an oxymoron since jesus was a jewish rabbi who taught a new sect that was considered an expansion or fullfilment of judaism. so ironically christianity is jewish 2.0

      Report Post » schlepnier  
    • OldVet
      Posted on May 28, 2012 at 10:36am

      A close study of the New Testament in reference to the idioms used and many Aramaic terms which could not be translated as well as the fact that the Jews of Christ’s time did not favor Greek actually indicates that the New Testament was pinned in Aramaic. When The New Testament was written the Apostles and Paul were teaching to the Jewish communities in the Gentile lands. Eventually enough Gentiles were converted so that they were attempting to push the Jews out of dominance in the Church. By the time the books of the New Testament had been compiled into one volume they were available in Greek, but pure Aramaic volumes did and still do exist. The Aramaic versions do not contain many of the misunderstanding of the Idioms contained in the texts. For instance the Aramaic word for Camel and Rope are basically the same word in different context. So we ended up with the Greek saying that a camel could pass through the eye of a needle instead of the true translation of attempting to pass a rope through the eye of a needle.

      Report Post » OldVet  
    • WhiteFang
      Posted on May 28, 2012 at 11:15am

      OldVet,

      Wouldn’t it be great if the whole world spoke just one language.
      Imagine the unity that could result.

      Report Post » WhiteFang  
    • OldVet
      Posted on May 28, 2012 at 11:28am

      Whitefang
      A wonderful time is coming when I suspect that all mankind will speck one language. But even that is not stated since in the millennium their is reference to the nations who will pilgrimage to Jerusalem. I wonder if the language we will speak is even known to us at this time or will it be a new creation.

      Report Post » OldVet  
    • WhiteFang
      Posted on May 28, 2012 at 11:43am

      OldVet,

      Good, reminds me of Zephaniah 3:9;
      “For then I shall give to peoples the change to a pure language, in order for them all to call upon the name of Jehovah, in order to serve him shoulder to shoulder.’”

      Report Post » WhiteFang  
    • TheVoice1
      Posted on May 28, 2012 at 12:09pm

      OldVet

      Refreshing comment. Certainly “rope” was the proper translation. For me the most incredible was what our Beloved Christ said on the cross, not why have you forsaken me, but rather, “For this I have been kept -spared!”

      I continue to find the Aramaic astoundingly refreshing. Thank you for your comment.

      Stand Strong America

      Report Post » TheVoice1  
  • Rational Man
    Posted on May 28, 2012 at 8:56am

    The language that Jesus spoke was love…………Speak that!

    Report Post » Rational Man  
    • OldVet
      Posted on May 28, 2012 at 11:32am

      What does it mean when the scripture says that He will write the Law in your hearts?

      Matthew 22:35 And one of them who knew The Written Law asked him while testing him: 36 “Teacher, which commandment in The Written Law is the greatest?” 37 Yeshua said to him, “You shall love THE LORD JEHOVAH your God from all your heart and from all your soul and from all your power and from all your mind.” 38“This is the great and the first commandment.” 39“And the second which is like it is, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commands depend all The Written Law and The Prophets.”

      God tried to tell the Israelites this before the 10 commandments were even written. But they demanded a set of laws to live by.

      It is not enough to know and to simply believe that God exists and that Christ died for your sins. You must believe with all your heart and be “born again”. When you have fully submitted to Christ, the law will be imprinted upon your heart and soul by none other than God’s own Holy Spirit. You will never truly be able to “hate” another human being. This is the standard by which we are judged and by which our salvation is revealed.

      Report Post » OldVet  
  • Passerby
    Posted on May 28, 2012 at 8:49am

    This is how you pronounce his name in Aramaic…

    MAra yeSHOOa‘ bar yaHOsef d’min NATSret

    Teacher Joshua sone of Joseph from Nazareth.

    Yeah, it’s Joshua, not Jesus, yeSHOOa‘ sounds like Joshua because that’s what it is.

    Report Post » Passerby  
  • RamonPreston
    Posted on May 28, 2012 at 8:15am

    I thought Jesus said “thee” and “thou.“ How many people have said ”If it’s good enough for Jesus, it’s good enough for me?”
    Just kidding. Jesus spoke Aramaic but the KJV Bible is translated into “high English” of it’s day. Our language has changed a lot since it was written.
    If I wasn’t old and deaf-as-a-stone I might like it myself. Also, Greek, the language the New Testament was written in. Too much has been lost in the translations. For example, nephesh when referring to a person was translated as “soul.” When it referred to an animal, it was translated “creature.” You don’t have a soul, you are a soul. “And man became a living soul.” Genesis 2:7

    Report Post » RamonPreston  
    • Passerby
      Posted on May 28, 2012 at 8:44am

      The Greek and Hebrew words for “spirit/soul/life force“ are the same as their words for ”breath”. Things that lived, breathed. Everywhere you see “spirit” or “soul” in the New or Old Testament, you can substitue “breath”.

      Not something separate from you, it is you. To the historical Jesus, much more important than the “corpse” you find yourself in. (One pretty much gets the same thing from Many Worlds Quantum Theory.)

      So, Holy Spirit, is Breath of God, or Life Force of God. The “breath” implies wind, the ability to affect things. One could say it’s what gives the Universe life.

      Report Post » Passerby  
  • EP46
    Posted on May 28, 2012 at 7:12am

    Here is the important thing:
    about 80 children in grades one through five study Aramaic as a VOLUNTARY subject for two hours a week.
    vs
    In New York City, public elementary school principal Nicky Kram Rosen is REQUIRING all students at PS 368 to learn Arabic

    Report Post »  
    • Swfarnsworth
      Posted on May 28, 2012 at 7:39am

      I remember that article. This paragraph from it is key:

      “The Arabic requirement becomes mandatory in September. But PS 368 is a so-called “choice’’ school and no kids, even those living nearby, are forced to attend it. If the school ever enrolls a student who objects to learning Arabic, administrators will deal with that on a case-by-case basis, Jackson said.” (http://www.theblaze.com/stories/nyc-public-school-mandates-arabic-language-studies-for-all-2nd-through-5th-graders/)

      So they’re not necessarily requiring all students who attend to take Arabic, nor are they requiring students to attend to begin with.

      Report Post » Swfarnsworth  
    • cassandra
      Posted on May 28, 2012 at 8:11am

      EP46 I agree, if I was one of those parents in NY I would be protesting BIG TIME

      Report Post »  
    • acovenantinblood
      Posted on May 28, 2012 at 9:24am

      Maybe we should learn Arabic. Maybe we should read the Koran too. Then we will be prepared to witness to the Muslims who take over and haul us before clerics to condemn us for polytheism. Wouldn’t it be amazing if Christians here were actually prepared to defend their faith!

      Report Post » acovenantinblood  
  • 4truth2all
    Posted on May 28, 2012 at 7:11am

    The “language” of Jesus is spoken in ALL tongues to ALL nations …

    Report Post »  

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