Mark Chapter Four

And he began to teach them by the shore of the sea and great crowds were gathered to him, so that arising, he sat in a boat on the sea and the whole multitude stood on the land. And he instructed them by many parables, and said in his teaching, “Listen. Behold a farmer went to scatter seed and as he sowed some fell by the way-side, and the birds flew down and ate it up. And some fell upon the rock so that it did not have depth of earth and it soon came up because it had not much earth. But when the sun arose and it became hot and in that it had no root, it dried up. And other fell in the place of thorns and the thorns sprang up and chocked it and it gave no fruit. But other fell of good ground and it came up and grew and gave fruits some thirty, some sixty and some a hundred.” And Yeshu said, “Whoever has ears to hear let him hear.”
And when he was alone those who were with him along with the Twelve inquired of him about this parable. And Yeshu said unto them, “Unto you is given the right to know the mystery of the Kingdom of God; but to those who are on the outside everything is in parables[1].

That while seeing they may see and not perceive.
And while listening they may hear, but not understand,
Lest they be converted and their sins be forgiven them.[2]

And he said unto them, “You don’t know the meaning of this parable? If you can’t understand this parable how are you going to understand others? The farmer who scattered the seed was planting the Word. Those which fell on the wayside are those in whom the word is planted but when they have heard immediately Satan come and takes away the Word that was sown in their heart. And those who were sown among the rocks are those who, once they hear the Word receive it with joy but they have no root in themselves but are shallow and when there is affliction or persecution or account of the Word they quickly fall away. The seed scattered among the thorns represents those who hear the Word but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth, and other lusts enter in and choke the Word and it doesn’t produce any fruit. And those who are sowed in good ground and those who hear the Word of God and receive it and produce fruits, thirty, sixty and a hundred times over.”[3]

And he said unto them, “A lamp is never put under a bowl or under a bed. Is it not put on a lamp stand? Nothing is hid which shall not be revealed neither is there any secret that shall not be manifested. If any man has ears to hear let him hear.”[4]

And he said to them, “Consider what you hear[5]. With the measure you measure out to others it shall be measures back to you. And there shall be more added to you that hear. For whoever has unto him shall be given and whoever has nothing, whatever he does have will be taken from him.”

And he said, “The Kingdom of God is like a farmer scattering his seeds across his pasture. He sleeps and rises up by day and night. The seed increases and grows up log without his even thinking about it. For the earth yields to him the grain. First there is the stalk, then the head and finally the full grain in the head. But when the crop is mature, immediately comes the sickle because harvest time has come!”[6]

And he said, “To what may we compare the Kingdom of God? And with what comparison can we compare it? It is like a mustard seed. When it is planted in the earth it is smaller than all other seeds in the world. But when it is sown is becomes greater than all herbs and puts out large branches and birds hide beneath its shadow.” In parables such as these Yeshu spoke with them, in parables such as they could hear. He didn’t speak to them without using parables, but while alone with his disciples he explained all the meanings.

And he said to them that day, in the evening, “Let us pass to the opposite shore.” And he sent away the crowds and got into the boat. There were also other boats with him. And there was a great commotion and wind and the waves splashed over the boat and it was almost filled with water. But Yeshu was sleeping with his head on a pillow in the stern of the vessel. And they came and woke him up, saying, “Rabbi, don’t you care that we are going to die!” And he arose and restrained the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be silent!” And the wind ceased and there was a great stillness. And he said to them, “Why were you afraid? How is it that you don’t have any faith?” And they were filled with a great fear and said one to another, “Who is this, to whom the wind and seas obey?”



[1] The Mystery or Secret of the Kingdom of God, God’s cosmic purpose revealed to these select few.
[2] In this passage Jesus is not quoting from the traditional Hebrew text of the scriptures but rather the scriptures as they were known in an oral Aramaic form. These Aramaic Versions of the Bible are known as the Targum or the Targumim. Bruce Chilton and Father Martin McNamara have written extensively on Jesus and the Targums. Targumic renderings of scripture are quoted by Jesus, Paul and John the Revelator.
[3] In this parable Jesus warns his hearers of the danger of apostasy which is a falling away from the faith.
[4] “Let he who has ears…” this means “let him who catches my meaning do so. Since his hour had not yet come Jesus often had to speak with symbolic language. “Bar Nsaha” the Aramaic for “Son of Man” literally means a man, a person or a human being. In Daniel and the Book of Enoch, the Son of Man is a pre-existent divine cosmic judge who will come in the last days to judge evil and to redeem the righteousness. “Son of Man” is thus a Messianic title. To those not seeking the lord it may have seemed ambiguous. Those who knew the scriptures knew that the Son of Man meant the Messiah but how could Jesus be tried for treason for claiming to be a human being? The term “He who has ears let him hear” is also found in the Book of Revelation (Rev. 2:7, 11, 29; 3:6, 13 and 22).
[5] Literally “Look what you hear” or “Listen, Look!”
[6] This is Judgment Day, the Day of the Lord, the Day of the Son of Man. According to the teachings of Jesus every soul will give an account of his or her life and be judged according to their works. Jesus’ teachings at times had an apocalyptic theme.

Damascus

At the time of Jesus Damascus was an Aramaic speaking city. Since Palestine was part of Roman Syria, Christianity arose from Syria. Jerusalem, Damascus and Antioch were all important Christian centers and all were part of Roman Syria. Pontius Pilate was subserviant to the Govenor of Syria.
Of course Damascus is famous for the conversion of Paul. Obviously, the church in Damascus predated Paul since he went there to persecute Christians before he had his "Damascus Road" experience. Damascus was a place of refuge for people persecuted by the Jews in Jerusalem as is known from the Dead Sea Scroll called "the Damascus Document".
Syria still has a vibrant Christian population. Places visited by St. Paul have been preserved such as "the Street called Straight" (Acts 9:11) and Bab Kishan, where Paul escaped from the city in a basket. As Paul says, "In Damascus the governor, under Aretas the king, was guarding the city of the Damascenes with a garrison, desiring to arrest me; but I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall and escaped from his hands" (2 Corinthians11:32-33). Luke mentions in Acts that certain Jews in Damascus were plotting to murder Paul (Acts 9:23).
While the place in the picture here is undoutably the place visited by Paul, this basket is only a re-creation of the one used by Paul. The woman in the picture is my dear friend, Lina.
Aramaic is spoken in certain villages outside of Damascus. Certain Syrian Christians in Damascus worship in Aramaic but don't speak the language.

Gospel of Mark: Chapter Three

And Yeshu again entered the synagogue.[1] A certain man was there with a withered hand. And they watched him whether he would work a cure upon him on the Sabbath so that they might bring an accusation against him. And he said to him, the man with the withered hand, “Stand up here in the midst!”. He also said unto them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good, or that which is Evil? To save life or to destroy it?” But they were silent. And he looked upon them with indignation, while it grieved him because of the hardness of their hearts. And he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand!” And he stretched it and his hand straightened. And the Pharisees went out immediately and took counsel against him that they may destroy him[2].

And Yeshu went with his disciples towards the sea. And many people joined him from Galilee, and from Judea and from Jerusalem and from Edom and from beyond the Jordan, and from Tyre and Sidon. Great multitudes came unto him having heard all that he had done[3]. And he told his disciples to bring a boat for him that the crowds might not crush him for he had healed multitudes until they were rushing upon him to touch him. And they were those troubled with unclean spirits. When they saw him they fell down and cried out, saying, “You are the Son of God!” But he strongly prohibited them from making himself known.[4]

And he ascended a mountain and called those whom he had chosen and they came unto him. And he chose twelve to be with him and sent them out to preach and to have authority to heal diseases and to cast out devils. And he gave to Simeon the name Cephas[5] and upon Jacob Bar Zabdai and Jochannan the brother of Jacob he gave them the name of “Benai Regesh” which means Sons of Thunder[6]. And Andreas and Philipos[7] and Bar-Thulmai[8] and Mathai and Thoma[9] and Jacob bar Chalphai and Tadai[10] and Simeon the Canannean[11] and Judah Ish-Kerioth[12], who turned traitor.

And they came into a house and the crowd gathered again and it was so many that they could not eat bread. And his relatives heard and they went out to restrain him for they said, “He is out of his mind.”[13]

And the scribes who had come from Jerusalem said, “Beelzebub is in him and by the Prince of Devils does he cast out devils.” And Yeshu called them and by parables said unto them, “How can Satan cast out Satan? For if a kingdom against itself be divided, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan rises against Satan, he is divided and cannot stand for he is at an end. No one can enter into the house of the strong and spoil his possessions unless he first binds the Strong Man, and then his house he may destroy. Amen, I say unto you that all sin and blasphemy which the sons of men blaspheme may be forgiven but whosoever shall blaspheme the Spirit of Holiness[14] has no forgiveness forever, but is condemned to the eternal judgment.[15]” He said this because they had said that an evil spirit was in him.

And there came unto him his mother and his brothers standing outside.[16] And they sent and called for him. But the congregation sat around him. And they said, “Look, your mother and your brothers are asking for you.” And he answered and said unto them, “Who is my mother and who are my brothers?” And looking to those who sat with him he said, “Behold, my mother and behold my brothers! For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and my sister and my mother.”



[1] In Aramaic, “the Congregation”. The Jewish synagogue may have had its origins during the period that the Jews were in exile in Babylonia. In the Temple of Jerusalem the Jews worshiped with ritualistic animal sacrifices. The synagogue was centered around the reading and expositions of scriptures. At the time of Jesus synagogue worship began with Hebrew prayer and Bible readings in Hebrew. It was then followed by an oral translation of the Bible into Aramaic, called the Targum. This was given by a person called a meterguman. Afterwards, a rabbinic leader preached in Aramaic and the service was closed in an Aramaic prayer called the Kaddish.
[2] Here Jesus defies the traditional Jewish observance of the Sabbath. Jesus shows that is permissible to end human suffering on the Sabbath day.
[3] At the time of Christ the Holy Land was part of the Roman province of Syria. According to the Gospel of Matthew the fame of Jesus spread across all of Syria (Matthew 4:24). Aramaic means the language of Aram. Aram is the old way of saying ‘Syria’. Aramaic is still spoken in certain villages in Syria and was the language of Syria until the time of the Arabic conquest. During the public ministry of Jesus the Gospel spread into Lebanon, Jordan and Syria. According to Aramaic tradition found in the ‘Doctrine of Addai’, the Assyrian king, Abgar Ukamma heard of the fame of Jesus and sent a herald unto him.
[4] The devils recognized Jesus as the Son of God but Jesus refused to have them make him known mostly because his time had not yet come.
[5] In the Greek text the Aramaic word for stone, Kaipha, is used in John 1:42. Usually the Greek word, petros, or Peter, is used. However, Paul in his epistles uses the Aramaic form Cephas rather than the Greek form Peter (1 Corinthians 1:12, 3:22, Galatians 1:18, 2:9, 14). Paul wrote in Greek but occasionally used Aramaic in his epistles (Galatians 4:6, 1 Corinthians 16: 22, Romans 8:5). Paul uses the Aramaic ‘Maranatha’ prayer in his epistles. Maranatha is Aramaic for ‘Our Lord, Come’. Maran means ‘Our Lord’ and Atha in Aramaic means ‘come’.
[6] Here Galilean Aramaic is used “Benai Regesh” probably means more literally, “Sons of the Storm Wind” or “Tempestuous Ones”. Benai Ramo is “Sons of Thunder” in Eastern Aramaic. As with the word “Cephas” here we have Jesus giving his friends Aramaic, and not Greek, nick-names.
[7] These are the only two disciples with Greek names. All of the other apostles have Hebrew or Aramaic names. Andrew means manly and Phillip means fond of horses. Although they have Greek names Andrew’s brother, Simon Cephas, has a Hebrew and an Aramaic name and the friend of Phillip is Nathaniel, which is a Hebrew name (John 1:45).
[8] Bartholomew is an Aramaic name meaning Son of Ptolemy. Bar in Aramaic means ‘son of”. It is found often in the Greek New Testament. ‘Ben’ is the Hebrew word for ‘Son of’.
[9] Thomas is the Aramaic word for ‘twin’ (see John 21:2). According to ancient Aramaic texts Thomas was the nick name given to a carpenter from Galilee named Judah. He was called the Twin because he looked as if he was the identical twin of Jesus. Judah Thomas went and preached the Gospel in Persia and India, where he died a martyr’s death. Archeologists have discovered a Gospel of Thomas, but it seems to be authentic but the version that has been discovered has been altered by some sort of heretical sect. There is also the Aramaic ‘Acts of Thomas’ which chronicles his missionary exploits in India.
[10] Thaddeus is called ‘Addai’ in Aramaic. He was also named Judah and had two Aramaic nicknames, Thaddeus in Aramaic means ‘breast’ or ‘nipple’ and his other Aramaic name is Lebbeaus from the Aramaic word, Leba, which means ‘heart’. Thaddeus was commissioned by Thomas to preach the Gospel to the Assyrians, the Chaldeans and the Babylonians. Thaddeus converted Abgar the King of Edessa to Christianity. Important works bearing Thaddeus’s name includes “The Doctrine of Addai” and “the Hallowing of Mar Mari and Mar Addai” which is the most ancient liturgy still in use and is the official order of service of the Ancient Assyrian Church of the East.
[11] The “Canaanean” here is an ancient Aramaic word for “Zealot”. Simon was a Zealot for the Law of Moses but was also a terrorist or insurgent before coming to faith in Jesus as the Messiah.
[12] This is a Hebrew term meaning “Man from Kerioth”. Kerioth was a town in Judea. All of Jesus’ disciples were from Galilee with the exception of Judas who was a Judean.
[13] Like Peter and all of the apostles, the family of Jesus also experienced a lapse of faith. Another lapse of faith is mentioned in John 7:6. But it must be born in mind that despite these periods of doubt the mother of Jesus and his brothers, James the Just, Joseph, Simon and Jude were followers of Jesus. James and Jude wrote epistles. The Bible declares that the family of Jesus were with him, following him at the beginning of the ministry (John 2:12), during his passion (John 19:25) and immediately thereafter (Acts 1: 14). James the Just, not Peter, became the leader of the church (Acts 15: 16-21). The brothers of Jesus also led the church and evangelized (1 Corinthians 9:5).
[14] Jesus was anointed with Power by the Holy Spirit.
[15] Here we have the Biblical teaching that some sins are worse than others and certain sins carry heavier penalties than others. See John 5:16-17 and Luke 12:47-48.
[16] Other ancient texts also mention sisters as well. It is believed that the names of Jesus sisters were Mary and Salome. The Roman Catholic church teaches that ‘brothers’ here is not literal but an Aramaic expression meaning ‘near-kinsmen’ and ‘close relatives’. Eastern Orthodox Christians believe that the brothers of Jesus were children from Joseph’s prior marriage before he married Mary. Protestants interpret this scripture literally, meaning that after the Virgin Birth of Jesus, Mary and Joseph had children together.

The Aramaic New Testament: Manuscript Evidence

Unfortunately, the original Aramaic texts of the holy gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus the Messiah are lost to us. Perhaps they are yet to be discovered as the Dead Sea Scrolls and Nag Hammadi Codices were. We do have ancient Aramaic versions of the New Testament.
While certain books of the New Testament have Aramaic origins, others do not. The epistles of Paul were written in Greek in the original. Paul does, on certain occasions use Aramaic words in his epistles, such as Maranatha, Abba and Cephas. Paul’s use of Aramaic shows the Aramaic origin of the church. But Paul was writing in Greek to Greek-speaking churches.
We do have Ancient Aramaic texts of the New Testament that are useful for capturing the words of Christ in the language they were originally spoken.

Old Syriac: This is an ancient version of the Syriac Bible that seems to have been translated by Aramaic speakers from Palestine. It was discovered in the 1800s.
Peshitta: This is the official Bible of the Aramaic Christian churches. It is of ancient origin.
Harklean: Since the Aramaic Bible is of such ancient origin, it did not originally contain certain books that were at the time considered among the disputed books. Later these books were accepted by the church at large and then to a degree by the Aramaic churches. Their versions of these documents come from revisions to the Aramaic in the Philoxenian and Harklean versions. These extra writings are 2 Peter, 2 and 3 John, Jude and Revelation.
Christian Palestinian Aramaic The Aramaic Speaking Church of the Holy Land died out long ago but in 1952 versions of the Bible they used were discovered outside of Jerusalem. These manuscripts were not complete.
The Diatesseron of Tatian the Assyrian: Tatian the Assyrian made the first harmony of the Four Gospels. He made both a Greek and an Aramaic version. Tatian was the disciple of the famous Saint Justin Martyr. He composed this work around 150 AD. It was so popular among Aramaic Christians that it was used as Scripture. Later, a church official censored it and all copies were destroyed. Tatian is believed to have also used lost Aramaic gospels when composing the Diatesseron. It has survived in an Arabic translation from the Aramaic and also in a commentary to the Diatesseron by Saint Ephraim the Syrian in Aramaic.

Other scholars have used ancient Aramaic sources to make theoretical reconstructions of the words of Christ. Scholars used the grammar of the Jerusalem Talmud to reconstruct the words of Christ. Scholars who have done this are Gustav Dalman, Torrey, Charles Burney and Joachim Jeremias.
Recently, Maurice Casey has used Aramaic from the Dead Sea Scrolls, since this is contemporary with the time of Jesus, to reconstruct his teachings in the original Aramaic.
Of course, in the movie, “The Passion of the Christ’ the words of Christ were put back into the original Aramaic. This was done by Father William Fulco, a Roman Catholic priest and scholar.
The Syriac Peshitta is in a form of Aramaic virtually identical to the Aramaic used by Jesus Christ and it remains a useful and accessible tool for reading the words of Jesus in Aramaic, the language he spoke.