Many assume that , even if other portions of the “New Testament” were written in Hebrew or Aramaic, that surely the Pauline Epistles were originally written in Greek. After all, would Paul have written to the Corinthians or Thessalonians in Greek?
Certainly Paul did not write his epistles in the native languages of their geographic designations. Few, if any, would argue for a Latin origin for Romans, and certainly no one would argue for a Gaulish origin for Galatians.
In fact, there are many Aramaic words transliterated into Greek letters in the Greek texts of Paul’s letters, remnants of an earlier Aramaic version. Some examples are “Father” Abba (אבא) (Romans 8:15; Gal. 4:6). “our Lord comes” Maranatha (מרן אתא) (1Cor. 16:22) “hosts” tz’vaot (צבאות) (Rom. 9:29) “token” ra’hubuna (רהבונא) (2 Cor 1:22; 5:5; Eph 1:14) “basket” s’rigta (סריגתא)(2Cor. 11:33).
There are several scholars who have come to the conclusion that the Pauline Epistles were originally written in Aramaic, and not Greek at all. The following are a few examples:
Dr. Karen Tourne Masterson, who holds a Ph.D. in Near Eastern Languages from UCLA, has written:
The argument that Paul is a Hellenistic Jew because many of the quotes that appear in the Greek version of the Old Testament are from the Septuagint is inadequate. If his writings were originally written in Aramaic, his native language, the translator would not translate the Old Testament himself, but would use the version that was most familiar to his readers (the same approach is used today in translations). The evidence from God’s Word causes us to take issue with the tradition which contends that Paul wrote in Greek. Knowing that Aramaic was his native tongue should prompt us to consider the language of an Aramaic original which lies behind the Greek and other versions to which we have access today.
(An Aramaic Approach to the Church Epistles; The Way Magazine; March-April 1984 pages 17-20)
And Dr. Daniel McConaughy, who holds a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago, where he specialized in Syriac, Greek, and early Church history, wrote:
“God’s Word itself does not explicitly identify the language in which the New Testament was written, but it does provide information that indicates what the original language was. This information can be further augmented by historical facts known about Israel and its culture during the Testament era, as well as by the earliest non-Biblical writings about the early Church. Both the Biblical evidence, which is primary, and the church historical evidence strongly indicate that the original language of the New Testament was Aramaic. …
Knowing that the New Testament writers wrote in Aramaic, not Greek, opens up new vistas of understanding and research. Primarily, this knowledge further enables the Biblical researcher to see that the Bible is not a compendium of random written and oral sources. Rather, it is the Word of God, revealed to men who recorded that revelation in the native Aramaic and later oversaw its translation into Greek, Latin, and Syriac; and it is with the descendants of these first translation endeavors that today’s Biblical researcher must work.”
(The Aramaic Origin of the New Testament; The Way Magazine; May-June 1985 pages 17-20)
McConaughy is former Coordinator of the Biblical Research Department at the Way College of Emporia. He discovered a previously lost page of the Old Syriac Curetonian codex of the Gospels, and has been published in at least two academic journals.*
Finally native Aramaic speaker and Peshitta scholar George M. Lamsa wrote:
The Pauline Epistles were letters written by Paul to small Christian congregations in Asia Minor, Greece and Rome. These early Christians were mostly Jews of the Dispersion, men and women of Hebrew origin. Paul on his journeys always spoke in the Jewish synagogues. His first converts were Hebrews. Then came Arameans… Paul emphasizes Hebrew law and history. He refers to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as our fathers. In his letters and teaching he appeals to the Jewish people to accept Jesus as the promised Messiah. Paul’s mission was first to his own people… Paul was educated in Jewish law in Jerusalem. He was a member of the Jewish Council. His native language was western Aramaic but he acquired his education through Hebrew and Chaldean or Palestinian Aramaic… He defended himself when on trial in the Hebrew tongue. Acts 22:2… Very early the Epistles were translated into Greek for the use of converts who spoke Greek. Later they were translated into all tongues.
(George M. Lamsa; The New Testament according to the Eastern Text; 1940; pp. xi-xii)
In fact, in Ephesians 2:19-20 Paul begins a flow of logic, which only makes sense in the Aramaic not in Greek.
19 Henceforth, you are neither strangers nor foreigners, but sons of the city, who are sanctified, and sons of the house of Eloah.
20 And you are built upon the foundation of the emissaries and of the prophets: and Yeshua the Messiah has become the head of the corner of the building (Ps. 118:22-23).
(Eph. 2:19-20 HRV)
To begin with in verse 19 in the Greek, Paul identifies his audience as “fellow-citizens (συμπολιται) of the saints” and “of the household (οικειοι) of Eloah (Theos).”
However in the Aramaic Peshitta verse 19 literally says “sons of the city” (בני מדינתא) an Aramaic idiom for “citizen”. Verse 19 then in the Aramaic has “and sons of the House of Eloah” (ובני ביתה דאלהא) in idiomatic way of saying “of the household of Eloah” in Aramaic. It should be noted that the phrase “House of Eloah” (ביתה דאלהא) is also an idiomatic term in Hebrew and Aramaic for the Temple. Remember, none of these idiomatic expressions appear in the Greek which simply reads “of the household (οικειοι) of Eloah (Theos).”
Then in verse 20 Paul refers to the “household of Eloah” as “having been built (θεντες) on the foundation of the emissaries and prophets, being the cornerstone (ακρογωνιαιον) himself, Messiah Yeshua”. Verse 21 then says “In whom all the building (οικοδομη) being fitted together grows into a Holy Temple in YHWH.” And finally verse 22 has “In whom also you are-being-built-together (συνοικοδομεισθε) into a habitation for God by the Spirit”.
However in the Aramaic “having been built” (v. 20) is ואתבניתון “cornerstone” is ריש קרנא דבנינא literally “the head corner of the building”. In verse 21 “the building” is בנינא and “you are being built” is מתבנין . The words for building here are all benyana (בנינא) and the verb root for “to build” in each case is b’na (בנא) which is the verb root for the word “stone” ‘abana (אבנא).
It is important to know that there is a common wordplay in Hebrew between “son(s)” ben (sing.) b’nai (plural) and “stones”. A classic example is found in Matthew 3:9
And think not to say within yourselves,
We have Abraham to our father:
for I say unto you, that Elohim is able of these stones
to raise up sons unto Abraham.
(Matt. 3:9)
By using these related words Paul has implied a wordplay between believers as “sons of the House of Elohim” (2:19) and “stones of the Temple” (implied in 2:20-22). The wordplay is very clear in the Aramaic and is clearly original to the document. The use of the Aramaic idioms “sons of the house of” and “House of Eloah” becomes the transition point at which Paul’s argument turns to the subject of an allegorical Temple built out of believers in 2:20-22). The whole point to Paul’s argument is embedded in an Aramaic word play that is absent in the Greek, that is itself rooted in an Aramaic idiom which is also absent from the Greek. This is very clear evidence that Paul wrote in Hebrew or Aramaic and his work was then translated into Greek.
[*] (“A Recently Discovered Folio of the Old Syriac (Sy(c)) Text of Luke 16,13-17,1”; Biblica Vol. 68- Fasc. 1- 1987; pp. 85-90. and “An Old Syriac Reading of Acts 1:4 and More Light on Jesus’ Last Meal before His Ascension”; Oriens Christianus; Band 72 1988; pp. 63-67).
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