Was the New Testament Originally Written in Aramaic?

[StephenGoranson]

Or it could be figurative for celibate.

added:
Why would a supposed translator translate a word meaning believers as eunuchs?

[Ulan]

Also, the Peshitta suggestion disregards the context - yes, looking at the context seems to be a terrible suggestion, I know...

I'm not even sure that was always considered figuratively. Origen took that quite literally, which wasn't received well by the church. Anyway, in context, the word must mean something like "men who won't have sex with a woman", because that's the topic, and the word "believer" doesn't transport that idea.

If you look more closely, you can actually see that the Peshitta text must be a translation from Greek. The Greek word for "eunuch" also had the meaning that is cited as one of the Aramaic meanings under point 1: "trusted official". It's a valid translation of the Greek word, but it doesn't capture the meaning of the verse.

[StephenGoranson]

Perhaps the most famous claim by George Lamsa is that (the phrase) camel going through the eye of a needle should actually be read as a cable or rope going through the eye of a needle.
But what if the original saying was intended to be hyperbole?

In any case, anyone (not Lamsa) who claims that Hebrew is a dialect of Aramaic is not familiar with those two languages.

[Ulan]

You have to only think of Paul's "circumcision of the heart" to see that kind of language at work, yes.

[ebion]

Also, the Peshitta suggestion disregards the context ...

If you look more closely, you can actually see that the Peshitta text must be a translation from Greek.

Not a chance: look at the examples and see the Greek simply doesn't make sense.

We're looking the word up in its context. That's what the analysis with the tool on http://dukhrana.com/ does: Analysis of Peshitta verse / Grammatical analysis / Morphological information / Person Gender Number State Tense Form Enclitic

You have to only think of Paul's "circumcision of the heart" to see that kind of language at work, yes.

It's quite easy to look:

1. Find the verse: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God. (Romans 2:29 [KJV])
2. Look up the book and chapter on : http://dukhrana.com/peshitta/
3. Select "use Khabouris Peshitta text" and "Dr. John W. Etheridge's English Peshitta translation"
4. Click "Load verses"
5. Scroll down to the verse and click "analyze" http://dukhrana.com/peshitta/analyze_ve ... ize=125%25
6. Look at the analysis: you want to match the context: noun/verb singular/plural
7. Look to see if there are comma separated synonyms in the Meaning column

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For this verse, neither words seem to have synonyms so a mistranslation is unlikely.
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Word 	Vocalised 	ID 	Root 	Category 	Meaning 	PS 	JEN 	CAL 	Person 	Gender 	Number 	State 	Tense 	Form 	Enclitic
ܘܓܙܘܪܬܐ 	ܘܰܓ݂ܙܽܘܪܬ݁ܳܐ 	2:3672 	ܓܙܪ 	Noun 	circumcision 	67 	46 	62045-02297 	- 	Feminine 	Singular 	Emphati
ܕܕܠܒܐ 	ܕ݁ܰܕ݂ܠܶܒ݁ܳܐ 	2:10940 	ܠܒ 	Noun 	heart 	233 	108 	62045-02299 	- 	Masculine 	Singular 	Emphatic

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But to investigate, click on the CAL number
http://cal.huc.edu/getlex.php?coord=620450229&word=9

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lb noun sg. emphatic
lb, lbˀ (leḇ, lebbāˀ) n.m. heart; mind
	pl: lebbīn, but in derived contexts the Syr.pl. isܠܒ̈ܘܬܐ‏ (compare the treatment of yd); JLAtg abs. isלַב‏ in the Babylonian pointing. Mandaic and JBAmb plural often lilbia!

  1 (anat.) heart Com.
  2 mind Com. --(a) ˁl lb: kept in mind, known by heart Com. (a.1) ܡܢ ܠܒܐ‏ : from memory Syr. 1 ܡܢ ܠܒܗ‏ : from one's own mind Syr. 2 ܕܠܐ ܡܢ ܠܒܐ‏ : without thought Syr. --(b) blb : secret(ly) BA-Da, JLAtg, Syr. --(c) mindset Syr.
  3 center, core JLAtg, PTA, Syr, JBAg, Man. --(a) pith Syr. --(b) (of humans) JBA. (b.1) ܣܦܪ ܠܒܐ‏ : genitals(?) Syr. --(c) inwards Syr.
  4 pl. : (unleavened, spiced, heart-shaped) cakes . 

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In this case the synonyms are heart or mind, so the verse could translate as "circumcision is that of the mind" which is a subtle change, but not the big ones Lasater has been pulling up.

As I said in the OP, I'll ignore posts that show they haven't read the book; I'll try putting upt some of the word plays in Aramaic which gets lost in Zorba's translation too. They make the Peshitta more lyrical; it comes through into the English.

[Ulan]

My remark regarding the "circumcision of the heart" was my agreement with Stephen's assessment that we are looking at colorful language, which, by the way, you just confirmed. No issue there. Now apply this to the "eunuchs", and you are getting somewhere. "Believers" makes zero sense in those verses.

[ebion]

Another of my favourite verses for those afflicted with KingJamesOnlyism:

This mistranslation from the Aramaic (§ 1.6) shows up in two places in the KJV.

1. And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, (Acts 8:27 [KJV])

From: https://archive.org/details/WastheNewTe ... inGreek1e/

The word in the Peshitta 0nmyhm , translated as "eunuch" by Zorba, also means "believer", as well as other similar words.

The word in question is (eunoukkos) which is where our word "eunuch" comes from. The fact of the matter is that (eunoukkos) shouldn't be here at all. Also note that the Ethiopian eunuch had come to Jerusalem to worship. This makes things even stranger when we take a quick look at Deuteronomy 23:1

He that is wounded in the stones, or hath his privy member cut off, shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD. (Deuteronomy 23:1 [KJV])

How could this be then? What is a eunuch doing in Jerusalem? He can't worship in the temple, because such behavior was forbidden.

The translation of in the PeshittA of Acts 8:27 gives "eunuch, faithful" for singular masculine noun:

Word 	Vocalised 	ID 	Root 	Category 	Meaning 	PS 	JEN 	CAL 	Person 	Gender 	Number 	State 	Tense 	Form 	Enclitic
ܡܗܝܡܢܐ 	ܡܗܰܝܡܢܳܐ 	2:1221 	ܗܝܡܢ 	Noun 	eunuch, faithful 	255 	116 	62044-08273 	- 	Masculine 	Singular 	Emphatic 	-

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The CAL lexicon for 62040-19122 gives:

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mhymn A05
mhymn (mhay/ēman) adj. trustworthy, faithful
	Q p.p (or active? see note)

  1 trustworthy, faithful, reliable Com. --(a) + ܐ̄ܢܵܐ‏ : I am permitted Syr. --(b) trustee, trusted official Syr. (b.1) a title: translating Hebrew סריס‏ which, as in Hebrew and Akkadian, is not always literally a eunuch Hat, Syr. (b.2) literal eunuch Syr. --(c) reliable servant Syr.
  2 believer CPA, Syr, JBA.
  3 as an interjection: by faith! Sam.
  4 deposit Sam. 

The eunuch of great authority should be "a believer of great authority" - he can't be a eunuch come to Jerusalem to worship. Eunuchs are seen as trusted servants.

Again, Tyndale soft-pedals it, and still gets it wrong:

And He arose and went on, and behold a man of Ethiopia which was gelded, and of great authority with Candace queen of the Ethiophians, which had the rule of all her treasure, came to Jerusalem for to pray. (Acts 8:27 [TyNT])

I doubt "was gelded" is in the TR - it's not in the PeshittA. It is not possible for this to be mistranslation from Greek into English: eunoukkos has only one English translation, as it is a loanword in English. So this is another example of the malady of TextusReceptusOnlyism.

The obvious correction to GNT Acts 8:27: 'eunuch' should be 'believer'

[ebion]

Another of my favourite verses for those afflicted with KingJamesOnlyism:

This mistranslation from the Aramaic (§ 7.7) shows up in two places in the KJV.

1. The KJV says: "Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper," Matthew 26:6

I have yet to meet a KingJamesOnlyist who wants to stay at the house of a leper.

From: WastheNewTestamentReallyWritteninGreek1e

The problem here lies with a certain command in the Old Testament, for these Judean people:

KJV: "And the leper in whom the plague is, his clothes shall be rent, and his head bare, and he shall put a covering upon his upper lip, and shall cry, Unclean, unclean. All the days wherein the plague shall be in him he shall be defiled; he is unclean: he shall dwell alone; without the camp shall his habitation be." Leviticus 13:45-46

Yet somehow this man was able to not only live in town, but also with his wife. Another oddity here (while not really being a contradiction) is that there is no record of Jesus healing him. Why not?

The translation of from the Aramaic of Matthew+26:6 gives "leper" or "bottle/bottle maker" as the word:

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Word 	Vocalised 	ID 	Root 	Category 	Meaning 	PS 	JEN 	CAL 	Person 	Gender 	Number 	State 	Tense 	Form 	Enclitic

ܓܪܒܐ 	ܓ݁ܰܪܒ݁ܳܐ 	2:3992 	ܓܪܒ 	Noun 	leper 	77 	50 	62040-26067 	- 	Masculine 	Singular 	Emphatic 	- 	- 	No 	- 	- 	-
ܓ݁ܰܪܒ݁ܶܐ 	2:3993 	ܓܪܒ 	Noun 	leper 	77 	50 	62040-26067 	- 	Masculine 	Plural 	Emphatic 	- 	- 	No 	- 	- 	-
ܓ݁ܰܪܒ݂ܳܐ 	2:3995 	ܓܪܒ 	Noun 	leprosy 	77 	50 	62040-26067 	- 	Masculine 	Singular 	Emphatic 	- 	- 	No 	- 	- 	-
ܓ݁ܪܳܒ݂ܳܐ 	2:3997 	ܓܪܒܐ 	Noun 	bottle, jar, pitcher, skin 	77 	50 	62040-26067 	- 	Masculine 	Singular 	Emphatic 	- 	- 	No 	- 	- 	-

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Bottle maker in those days could be a jar maker, or a pottery potter.
The CAL lexicon doesn't have this word, but the PayneSmith lexicon does.

The Younan PeshittA translates (Matthew 26:6) as:

"and when was Yeshua in Beth-Anya in the house of Shimon the potter"

As you can see, the PeshittA lacks the Greek contradiction, as Simon was a potter, not a leper.

This happened very easily as the Aramaic 0brg is without vowel markers, and can mean "garibo'" (potter, jar merchant) and "garobo'" (leper).

This example is also a semi-split word as it involves a mistranslated word.

Lepers were shunned and basically left to starve to death; potters were a values profession that lived in towns.

The PeshittA has:

And when Yeshua was in Bethany, in the house of Simeon, the Jar-maker, (Matthew 26:6 [HAS])

[ebion]

Another of my favourite verses for those afflicted with KingJamesOnlyism:

This mistranslation from the Aramaic (§ 7.7) shows up in two places in the KJV.

1. The KJV says (Mark 14:3): "And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head."

I have yet to meet a KingJamesOnlyist who wants to stay overnight in the house of a leper for his faith.

From; WastheNewTestamentReallyWritteninGreek1e/

The problem here lies with a certain command in the Old Testament, for these Judean people:

KJV: "And the leper in whom the plague is, his clothes shall be rent, and his head bare, and he shall put a covering upon his upper lip, and shall cry, Unclean, unclean. All the days wherein the plague shall be in him he shall be defiled; he is unclean: he shall dwell alone; without the camp shall his habitation be." Leviticus 13:45-46

Yet somehow this man was able to not only live in town, but also with his wife. Another oddity here (while not really being a contradiction) is that there is no record of Jesus healing him. Why not?

The translation of from the Aramaic of Matthew+26:6 gives "leper" or "bottle/bottle maker" as the word:

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Word 	Vocalised 	ID 	Root 	Category 	Meaning 	PS 	JEN 	CAL 	Person 	Gender 	Number 	State 	Tense 	Form 	Enclitic
ܓܪܒܐ 	ܓ݁ܰܪܒ݁ܳܐ 	2:3992 	ܓܪܒ 	Noun 	leper 	77 	50 	62041-14038 	- 	Masculine 	Singular 	Emphatic 	- 	- 	No 	- 	- 	-
ܓ݁ܰܪܒ݁ܶܐ 	2:3993 	ܓܪܒ 	Noun 	leper 	77 	50 	62041-14038 	- 	Masculine 	Plural 	Emphatic 	- 	- 	No 	- 	- 	-
ܓ݁ܰܪܒ݂ܳܐ 	2:3995 	ܓܪܒ 	Noun 	leprosy 	77 	50 	62041-14038 	- 	Masculine 	Singular 	Emphatic 	- 	- 	No 	- 	- 	-
ܓ݁ܪܳܒ݂ܳܐ 	2:3997 	ܓܪܒܐ 	Noun 	bottle, jar, pitcher, skin 	77 	50 	62041-14038 	- 	Masculine 	Singular 	Emphatic 	- 	- 	No 	- 	- 	-

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Bottle maker in those days could be a jar maker, or a pottery potter.
The the PayneSmith lexicon has it.

The Younan PeshittA translates (Mark 14:3) as:

"and when was Yeshua in Beth-Anya in the house of Shimon the potter"

As you can see, the PeshittA lacks the Greek contradiction, as Simon was a potter, not a leper.

This happened very easily as the Aramaic 0brg is without vowel markers, and can mean "garibo'" (potter, jar merchant) and "garobo'" (leper). It is also a handy coincidence (or maybe not) that this jar maker (or jar merchant) had a wife who used a jar to pour perfume on Jesus.

This example is also a semi-split word as it involves a mistranslated word.

[ebion]

This mistranslation from the Aramaic (§ 1.3) shows up in 3 places in the KJV.

1. KJV (Matthew 19:24): "And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God."
2. KJV (Mark 10:25): "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God."
3. KJV (Luke 18:25): "For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God."

I have yet to meet a KingJamesOnlyist who didn't know these.

From; https://archive.org/details/WastheNewTe ... inGreek1e/

The Greek, reads "µ" (kamélon) which is the accusative form of "µ" (kamélos). This word, in Greek, only means "camel" and sometimes can mean "pack animal" however, if we take a look at it's Aramaic equivalent, we find the word gamlo' ( 0lmg ) is the only word in Aramaic to describe a generic camel (without getting specific, ie we have the words "colt," "foal," "mare," and "stallion," to describe types of horses, but one general word for the species, "horse").

However, gamlo', has a double meaning. As Aramaic evolved separately from Hebrew, it picked up new idioms and meanings to it's vocabulary. gamlo' is a perfect example, for Aramaic speaking peoples fashioned a rough, thick rope from camel's hair that had a very decent tensile strength, and after a while, it became to be known as, you guessed it, gamlo'. For example, modern-day society has the same phenomena where a product or item is referred to by the first name introduced, regardless of what brand it is. Millions of Americans still ask for a "Kleenex" instead of a tissue...

We appear to have come across an idiom long lost in the Greek translation of an Aramaic original. Although it doesn't really change the meaning of the parable, it grants us insight into how in tune with his audience the Messiah actually was.

A 10th-century Aramaic lexicographer, Bar-Bahlul, says of "Gamla" (same word as gamlo') in his Aramaic dictionary:

"Gamla is a thick rope which is used to bind ships"

Considering that Jesus was speaking to fishermen, this meaning of Gamla seems more appropriate, and I think is a fantastic proof that the Greek was translated from an Aramaic original.

The KJV is the same as the Tyndale translations.

The HAS have rope/gamla:

Now furthermore, I say unto you, that it is easier for a rope to enter into the hole of a needle, than a rich man that he might enter into The Kingdom of God." (Matthew 19:24 [HAS])

Lamsa has rope:

Again I say to you, It is easier for a rope to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. (Matthew 19:24 [Lamsa])