Lost Saying of Yeshua Recovered in Aramaic
By
James Scott Trimm
More than thirty years ago, when I first began my work on restoring the ancient sect of the Nazarenes, I undertook the task of collecting every surviving quotation from the Gospel once used by that community—always striving to find them in the earliest available language. This meant consulting either Greek or Latin, depending on the language in which a particular Church Father had written. But one quotation continued to escape my reach in its original form. For decades, I was limited to an English translation that had appeared in various scholarly lists and had been accepted largely without question.
This elusive quotation appears in Theophania, a work by Eusebius of Caesarea, the fourth-century Church Father who wrote in Greek. Though Theophania was originally composed in Greek, it survives in full only in an ancient Syriac version—a dialect of Aramaic—preserved in manuscripts dating back to the fifth century.
For many years, I lacked access to this Syriac text and was therefore unable to verify the original wording. I was stuck with the standard English version:
“I choose for myself the most worthy: for the most worthy are those whom my Father in heaven has given me.”
I was finally able to locate the Syriac Theophania and discover the original Aramaic quotation:
דאגבא לי הנין שפירא שפירא הנון דיהב לי אבי דבשמא
This is, for all practical purposes, the recovery of a lost saying of Yeshua. The commonly accepted English translation was a poor approximation. A much more accurate rendering of the Aramaic—both into English and into literal Biblical Hebrew—reveals something richer and more profound.
Literal English Translation:
“I gather to myself those who are good. The good are they whom my Father who is in heaven has given me.”
Literal Hebrew Translation:
אֶאֶסְפָה אֵלַי אֶת־הַטּוֹבִים. הַטּוֹבִים הֵם אֲשֶׁר נָתַן־לִי אָבִי אֲשֶׁר בַּשָּׁמַיִם.
Eusebius introduces this quotation in the context of explaining Matthew 10:34–36, a passage which itself references Micah 7:6:
“[34] Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.
[35] For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
[36] And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.”
(Matthew 10:34–36, KJV)
Eusebius prefaces the quote with the words:
“He (Messiah) himself taught the reason for the separations of souls that take place in houses (as described in Matthew 10:34–36 and Micah 7:6), as we have found somewhere in the Gospel that is spread abroad among the Jews in the Hebrew tongue, in which it is said…”
This recovered saying also harmonizes beautifully with the parables of Matthew 13, many of which focus on gathering that which is good: the good seed in the parable of the wheat and the tares (13:24–30, 36–43); the precious pearl (13:45–46); and the good fish gathered in the parable of the dragnet (13:47–50). In every case, the theme of Yeshua as one who gathers the good resounds with clarity.
This is the kind of work we are doing—recovering and restoring the lost voice of the original Nazarenes, preserving the words of our Master as they were first spoken and understood in their Semitic context.
If this work resonates with you, I humbly ask for your support. Research like this takes time, resources, and access to rare manuscripts and texts. Your donation—no matter the amount—helps make discoveries like this possible and helps keep alive the vital task of restoration.
Please consider making a donation today to support this ongoing work of truth, faith, and historical recovery.
We must raise at least $680 by the end of the day today to keep our account from plunging into the negative and starting a chain reaction of returned items and fees.
Donations can be sent by Paypal to donations@wnae.org or by the ling below thru Paypal, Zelle, GoFundMe
Thank you—and may the One who gathers the good remember your generosity.
