Aramaic Words vrs Greek in the Bible
Examples of Aramaic Terms that Clarify Long-standing Biblical Misinterpretations
In chapter 3 of the book we detail several examples where the Aramaic terms of the Peshitta version of the New Testament clear up long-standing textual puzzles and misinterpretations. The examples there involved the passages “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God” and “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother . . . he cannot be my disciple.” Both passages were found to be garbled versions of the original intent—and in each case it was a single Aramaic term that provided the solution to the riddle. This same process occurs over and over in the New Testament. In this blog we will deal each day with various differences from the Greek manuscripts to the Aramaic.
Here are further examples of passages where Aramaic, the “secret language of the Bible,” provides valuable clarification and sorts out long held misunderstandings.
Is the Lord’s Prayer wrong?
Of all the apparent contradictions in the text of the Bible, none is more intriguing than instances where Jesus’s own words appear to contain contradictory teachings. One such example occurs in the wording of the famous Lord’s Prayer, the prayer Jesus taught his followers in Matthew 6:9–13. The problematic passage is the prayer’s concluding words: “And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one (Matt. 6:13 nkjv).”
Here is the issue: In James 1:14 the New Testament says, “Let no man say, when he is tempted, I am tempted by God, for God cannot be tempted with evil; neither does he tempt any man.” But if it’s true that God never tempts us, why would Jesus instruct us to pray that God not lead us into temptation?
The Aramaic Peshitta text corrects this substantial inconsistency: “And do not let us enter into temptation, but deliver us from evil” (emphasis added).