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Dear <font face="Arial Unicode MS" size="2">David,<br><br>Of course, I heard and read all similar opinions in works of Christian<br>and Jewish scholars, and I know about existing theories. In addition I read <br>a lot of books on Hellenistic Palestine and studied Greek and Aramaic<br>works in original. For long time (since the 60s up to present) I worked on<br>comparative projects where different versions and ancient translations of the<br>Bible were scrutinized and compared.<br>The problem of solution of the original language of the NT may depend<br>(very much like an original text of the Hebrew bible) on new findings. Exactly like<br>DDS confirmed certain unclear words in Hebrew bible (see scholarly apparatus in the last ed. of the Biblia Hebraica Stutgartientia), so new findings of<br>Aramaic texts can confirm or overturn the theoretical conclusions of the<br>scholars in respect to a Greek original. For me not only particular Aramaic quotations, but also certain Semitic
structures of the Greek text point either to preceding Western Aramaic text or to authors who wrote Greek but thought in Aramaic.<br>Although the dominant opinion today is "pro-Greek", there are also opinions about Aramaic primacy. Some of them even so extreme as to declare the text of Old Syriac (Peshitta) as the underlying structure of Greek NT.<br>Unfortunatelly the situation with the preservation of the texts of the first and second century C.E. is so bad, that we do not have enough good material<br>for definite judgment.<br>Maybe I am biased as Semitic scholar who dealt a lot with Aramaic language<br>that I would like to see an Aramaic original. Btw, several Aramaic texts which are found among the DDS are contemporary with the NT, i.e. written between the 50s and the 80s of the first century in Palestine.<br>And about the use of the Septuagint in the NT I can tell you, that a new theory exist (however without a definite proof), that the Septuagint reflects another
version of Hebrew bible [so called Egyptian recension]. Among others, you can read works of Emmanuel Tov on Septuagint and other ancient Greek translations (Symmachos, Lukian[os], etc.). One of the important tools in this comparative work is a Samaritan Pentateuch.<br>The philological work that tries to understand relations between different versions is far to be finished and so the question about the original language of the NT. However one should be careful not to make absolute statements before the problem is solved. <br><br>Hayim Sheynin<br></font><br><b><i>David Frank <david_frank@sil.org></i></b> wrote:<blockquote class="replbq" style="border-left: 2px solid rgb(16, 16, 255); margin-left: 5px; padding-left: 5px;"> <!-- Network content --> <div id="ygrp-text"> <div> </div><div><font face="Arial Unicode MS" size="2">Hayim --</font></div> <div><font face="Arial Unicode MS" size="2"></font> </div> <div><font face="Arial Unicode MS" size="2">I won't argue with you about whether the earliest forms of the Gospels might have been written in Aramaic rather than Greek. I will point out, though, that at the time of Christ the Hebrew scriptures were being circulated in Greek translation, though I'm sure you are well aware of that. In fact, there is evidence that many of quotes of the Hebrew Bible in the Greek New Testament were actually quotes from the Greek Septuagint translation rather than from the original Hebrew. You see this especially in the (anonymous) Epistle to the Hebrews, but also in the Gospels, such as where Jesus quoted the Septuagint version of Deut. 6:5 when asked what the greatest commandment was. Well,
actually, I have to admit that the spoken answer was probably in Aramaic, but as it is recorded in the oldest manuscripts the answer is in Greek and apparently based on the Greek Septuagint translation of Deut. 6:5. We have no reason to think that Jesus actually ever uttered a word of Greek.</font></div> <div><font face="Arial Unicode MS" size="2"></font> </div> <div><font face="Arial Unicode MS" size="2">I don't doubt that the language spoken by the Jews in Palestine at the time of Christ was primarily Aramaic. The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews was probably from Alexandria, where Greek was spoken more.</font></div> <div><font face="Arial Unicode MS" size="2"></font> </div> <div><font face="Arial Unicode MS" size="2">You are a very learned man in terms of languages, literatures, history and traditions, Hayim, so I don't expect I am telling you anything you didn't already know.</font></div> <div><font face="Arial Unicode MS"
size="2"></font> </div> <div><font face="Arial Unicode MS" size="2">-- David Frank</font></div> <div><font face="Arial Unicode MS" size="2"></font> </div> <blockquote style="border-left: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);"> <div style="font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;">----- Original Message ----- </div> <div style="background: rgb(228, 228, 228) none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><b>From:</b> <a title="hsheynin19444@yahoo.com" href="mailto:hsheynin19444@yahoo.com">Hayim Sheynin</a> </div> <div style="font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant:
normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><b>To:</b> <a title="lexicographylist@yahoogroups.com" href="mailto:lexicographylist@yahoogroups.com">lexicographylist@<wbr>yahoogroups.<wbr>com</a> </div> <div style="font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><b>Sent:</b> Monday, July 02, 2007 4:38 PM</div> <div style="font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><b>Subject:</b> Re: [Lexicog] Re: When Semantics Doesn't Matter</div> <div><br></div> <div>Dear David and Fritz,<br><br>If anything, I intended that the original of some parts (like four synoptic Gospels and Acts) of the NT could be or might be written in Palestinian Aramaic,
perhaps Galilean dialect. I know that most of the theologians today are convinced that so called Q-text (a prototypal source of the NT) was written in Greek. But nobody saw this Q-text, and it seems to me logical that it could be written in the original language of Jesus Christ and his disciples. Until the earliest text found, my suggestion must remain as a suggestion. If the original text had be written in Greek, I cannot understand an animosity of earlier Rabbis who saw the Christian teaching as very harmful for Rabbinic Judaism. The Jews of Rabbinic period (i.e. Hellenistic and Roman periods) did not have easy access to Greek writings. If they knew Greek, this was a street language. It is true for Palestine, but it is different for Alexandria and North African Jewish settlements. <br></div> <div>Necessities of life pushed Greek words into Hebrew and Aramaic as loanwords, however it is not a proof of Palestinian Jews'
proficiency in Greek.<br><br>Hayim Sheynin</div></blockquote> <div></div> </div> <!--End group email --> </blockquote><br> <p>
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