Get as Close to the Original Language and Ideas of the Scriptures as You Can
An e-mail I received:
I spent quite a bit of time reading your blog. You mentioned a Bible translation I’ve not heard of. I looked it up. Very expensive. And Aramaic? I’ve not heard of that. Beyond textus receptis?
My response:
The language of Jesus Christ and his disciples was Aramaic. Aramaic was the language the Jews spoke during their captivity in Babylon. Aramaic was the language they all spoke when they returned to Israel/Judea. Both Hebrew and Aramaic evolved from the same proto language, Hebrew more west and south of Assyria, and Aramaic more to the east. Abraham was from this area. The so-called fertile crescent (from Euphrates and Tigris rivers to the Nile) was a busy trade route. For business sake, nearly everyone had a rudimentary understanding of necessary languages: Greek, Latin, Aramaic, and possibly Egyptian or Mesopotamian tongues in addition to their mother-tongue. Jesus' mother-tongue was Aramaic; his direct quotations in the New Testament are all Aramaic. The ancient Hebrew Biblical texts were his world-view. That is why I say when you look at your Bible, think of its title as being An Introduction To God. That's what it is from beginning to end.
Anyway, several years ago I learned that the original lived-language of the Bible was Aramaic, so I sought translations from the Aramaic. It turns out that several are actually English translations of Aramaic translations of Western Bibles. They carry the same Western perspectives and presumptions as our existing English versions. Then I found Victor Alexander. Victor is a native speaker of modern Aramaic and a devoted student of the ancient Aramaic language. I do not know what text of the Peshitta Victor used (he has retired from translating), but he translated from a Church of the East perspective, and there are very many differences between his translations and the Western Church's. Victor had a website, v-a.com, but couldn't cover the costs to maintain it. Then he had treatment for leukemia and was delirious for some time--as Satanic an attack as one can imagine. I managed to download most of Vic's translations while they were available on his website. Yes, he gave them away. I bought softcovers of his New Testament, Genesis, Exodus (these three I can't get past!), Isaiah, Jeremiah, the book with Daniel in it, Proverbs (only up to chapter 24), and Story of Jesus (which I highly recommend). I also got the hardcover copy of his New Testament (Amazon says it is available in hardcover, but I can't find it) and a copy of Old Testament Scriptures (which doesn't include Hosea, but I've already got that downloaded). Expensive? Yes, and they contain many little, insignificant typos (Vic is a one man effort), but I'd gladly pay many times over the total cost of all of them for any one of the insights I've gotten from them (today's: John 19:30, "It is adhered to"; i.e., the recapitulation [anacephalaeosis] is completed!!). AND BUYING THEM HELPS SUPPORT VICTOR AND LIV ALEXANDER. You can't have too many New Testaments, can you?
I also highly recommend Ethelbert Bullinger's Companion Bible (KJV), which is available online as free pdf's and economical in many used bookstores. It is by far the best study Bible I've ever found (apart from Victor's softcover of Genesis as taught by the Holy Ghost).
The Law is simply being like the Milta (Miltha), i.e., being like Jesus. That's what is going on in heaven.
Dan Steele