Month: April 2022

The Tearing of the Temple Veil in the Original Hebrew/Aramaic
By
James Scott Trimm

We read in the Goodnews according to Matthew that at the death of Yeshua:

And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;
(Matthew 27:51)

(This same event is recorded in Mark 15:38 and Luke 24:35)

The fourth century “Church Father” Jerome writes concerning The Gospel according to the Hebrews (a Gospel use by the ancient sect of the Nazarenes along side our familiar four):

“But in the Gospel which is written in Hebrew characters we read not that the veil of the Temple was rent, but that superliminare templi infinitae magnitudinis
fractum esse atque diuisum. (the lintel of the Temple of wondrous size was broken and even forced asunder.)”
(Jerome; Letter 120 to Hedibia; Jerome on Mat. 27:51)

Also in the 14th to 15th Century Historia passionis Domini we read likewise:

“Also in the Gospel of the Nazarenes we read that at the time of Messiah’s death the lintel of the Temple, of immense size, had split (Josephus says the same and adds that overhead awful voices were heard which said: ‘Let us depart from this abode’.”
(Historia passionis Domini; MS: Theolog. Sammelhandschrift 14th-15th Century, foll. 65r)

This variant reading could be traced back to the reading of the Aramaic of the Old Syriac and Peshitta versions of these Gospels, which uses the phrase אפי תרעא literally “the face of the door” where the Greek reads καταπέτασμα “veil” in these verses. This may be the original Aramaic reading, or it may be a literal Aramaic translation of an original Hebrew reading פני הדלת. This word פני is used in the Torah to describe the place where the curtain was (Ex. 26:9).

A translator could have interpreted this original Hebrew/Aramaic phrase to refer either to the superliminare (lintel) or to the καταπέτασμα (veil).

The lintel was a crossbeam over the doorway to the Holy of Holies in the Temple. The lintel stood atop pillars eight stories high which formed this doorway. The lintel was some thirty feet across and made of solid stone. It would have weighed about 30 tons! At the death of Yeshua there was an earthquake. This earthquake caused the lintel to split, breaking in the middle. It would have been no small event when the two pieces of this thirty ton lintel came crashing down eight stories! When the lintel broke it caused the veil to be rent in two from top to bottom.  (In the Jewish culture it is common for a father to morn the death of his son by renting his garment in just such a fashion.)  This collapse of the lintel seems to have damaged the hekel doors as well. The Talmud states:

[For] forty years before the Temple was destroyed…
the gates of the Hekel opened by themselves.
until Rabbi Yochanan Ben Zakkai rebuked them
saying “Hekel, Hekel, why alarm you us? We know
that you are destined to be destroyed. For of you
has prophesied Zechariah Ben Iddo (Zech. 11:1):
“Open your doors, O Lebanon and the fire shall
eat your cedars.”
(b.Yoma 39b)

So the original Hebrew/Aramaic reading behind both our canonical gospels and the Gospel according to the Hebrews can be seen in the Aramaic of the Old Syriac (and later Peshitta).

We need your financial support now more than ever! We must raise at least $300 by the end of the day today (5/8/24) or our account will go into the negative tonight and start a chain reaction of returned items and fees!

As you know we have been digging ourselves out of a budget shortfall.  As I have said to you many times, I look on this work as a co-operative one with me, and all of you combining our resources together in order to get the job done of helping to teach this great truth to all in the world who will listen. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for your continued support, you are the ones who make it all possible by your contributions and your prayers for our work. I truly appreciate your help in every way.

If you can make a one time donation of $500 or $1,000 dollars to support this work.

Donations can be sent by Paypal to donations@wnae.org or by Zelle or GoFundMe.

Click HERE to donate

The “Cochin” Hebrew Gospels – Hebrew Translation of the Peshitta
By
James Scott Trimm

Some excitement has been recently generated around the “Cochin” Hebrew Gospels. In fact, in his book Messianic Church Arising (Sons of Zion vs Sons of Greece Volume Two) Dr. Miles R. Jones boldly declares “These Gospels have been ascertained to have come from a first century source!“ (p.265)

On page 262 Jones gives us his “Authentication of the Cochin Hebrew Gospels” in which he demonstrates a connection to the Gospel according to the Hebrews (Which he regularly refers to ambiguously as the “Hebrew Gospel” in his books).

We read in the Goodnews according to Matthew that at the death of Yeshua:

And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;
(Matthew 27:51)

The fourth century “Church Father” Jerome writes concerning The Gospel According to the Hebrews (a Gospel use by the ancient sect of the Nazarenes along side our familiar four):

“But in the Gospel which is written in Hebrew characters we read not that the veil of the Temple was rent, but that the lintel of the Temple of wondrous size was broken and even forced asunder.”
(Jerome; Letter 120 to Hedibia; Jerome on Mat. 27:51)

Also in the Historia passionis Domini we read likewise:

“Also in the Gospel of the Nazarenes we read that at the time of Messiah’s death the lintel of the Temple, of immense size, had split (Josephus says the same and adds that overhead awful voices were heard which said: ‘Let us depart from this abode’.”
(Historia passionis Domini; MS: Theolog. Sammelhandschrift 14th-15th Century, foll. 65r)

The lintel was a crossbeam over the doorway to the Holy of Holies in the Temple. The lintel stood atop pillars eight stories high which formed this doorway. The lintel was some thirty feet across and made of solid stone. It would have weighed about 30 tons! At the death of Yeshua there was an earthquake. This earthquake caused the lintel to split, breaking in the middle. It would have been no small event when the two pieces of this thirty ton lintel came crashing down eight stories! The veil hung from the lintel and the hekel doors were attached to the pillars. When the lintel broke it caused the veil to be rent in two from top to bottom.  (In the Jewish culture it is common for a father to morn the death of his son by renting his garment in just such a fashion.) 

Dr. Miles Jones maintains that the Cochin Gospels reflect this reading, and that this is their “authentication” by which he ascertains that they “come from a first century source”. As evidence Jones cites the Hebrew readings of Matthew 27:51; Mark 15:38 and Luke 23:45 from the Cochin Gospels (ibid page 262) He begins with Matthew 27:51 as follows:

ובמהרה פני הדלת של ההיכל נתבצע לשנים מן תחילתו עד םופו וארץ נזדעזע ואבנים נסתרו

Which Jones translates:

“And suddenly the face of the entry to the Temple was split in two from the beginning until the end and the earth shook and the [heavens] were hidden.”

Jones then quotes Mark 15:38 and Luke 23:45 from the Cochin manuscript, each with the phrase פני הדלת which Jones renders “the entry of the Temple”. This is supposed to be proof of the first century origin of the text in the Cochin Gospels.

The truth is that this Hebrew phrase פני הדלת literally “the face of the door” is merely a literal Hebrew rendering of the Syriac Aramaic phrase found in these same passages in the Aramaic Syriac Peshitta אפי תרעא “the face of the door”. This word פני is used in the Torah to describe the place where the curtain was (Ex. 26:9). This phrase no more indicates the lintel than the veil. One could see where variant readings referring to a “veil” and to the “lintel” might have originated from this ambiguity, but the Cochin Gospel’s source is not the Hebrew Gospel itself, but the Syriac Peshitta (which itself is a revision of the Old Syriac version which was derived from a Western Aramaic or Hebrew original. (the Old Syriac also has this reading).

In fact the Cochin Gospels are replete with unique Peshitta readings. For example, in Luke 2:1 where the Greek has πᾶσαν τὴν οἰκουμένην “all of the world” the Peshitta has כלה עמא דאוחדנה “all the people of his dominion” which the Cochin Hebrew literally translates כל העם במקומותם “all the people of his dominion.” Many more examples could be given.

But one might ask, how do we know the direction of translation? Perhaps, one might argue, the Peshitta is a literal Syriac Aramaic translation of the Hebrew in the Cochin Gospels.

The direction of translation is clear. To begin with the Aramaic of the Peshitta is a revision of the older and more primitive of the Aramaic Old Syriac version, and the Cochin Hebrew agreed with the Peshitta against the Old Syriac (as in Luke 2:1 above, where the Old Syriac does not agree with the Peshitta.

The even more obvious evidence is in the fact that the Cochin Hebrew, at times, transliterates the Syriac of the Peshitta into it’s Hebrew text. For example in Matthew 1:1 the Cochin text retains the Aramaic ד prefixed to the name of Yeshua, despite the fact that this would not be used in Hebrew (but does appear in the Peshitta here). Even more obvious is to be found in Matthew 1:20 and 24 where the phrase “of the LORD” appears as the Syriac דמריא copied right out of the Syriac of the Peshitta. Again in Matthew 7:21 where we read “Lord, Lord” the Cochin Hebrew transliterates מרי מרי “Mari, Mari,” right out of the Aramaic of the Peshitta. So there can be no doubt that the Cochin Hebrew Gospels are a translation of the Syriac Aramaic Peshitta, and not vice versa.

It should come as no surprise to us that these Hebrew Gospels, found in India, are merely Hebrew translations of the Peshitta, since the Peshitta has long been the standard text of the so called “St. Thomas Christians of Malabar”.

I should add that my comparisons have concluded that the entire text of the books of the Cochin Hebrew New Testament, are simply a translation of the Syriac Aramaic of the books of the Peshitta canon (as far as that canon goes).

We need your financial support now more than ever!

As you know we have been digging ourselves out of a budget shortfall.  As I have said to you many times, I look on this work as a co-operative one with me, and all of you combining our resources together in order to get the job done of helping to teach this great truth to all in the world who will listen. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for your continued support, you are the ones who make it all possible by your contributions and your prayers for our work. I truly appreciate your help in every way.

If you can make a one time donation of $500 or $1,000 dollars to support this work.

Donations can be sent by Paypal to donations@wnae.org

Or click HERE to donate

Today I received this private message:

Sir, I don’t understand why such a talented man and the compiler of so many study aids is having such a hard time financially. Don’t you have books you can sell? I am embarrassed for you constantly asking for money. Brother, go to the Throne Room, you have that right. I am close to where you are and I will never ask men for help. I will always plead my case before my Father. Please stop!

Here is my response:

Believe me, I would rather spend less time fund raising, and more time with my “nose in the scrolls” doing this great work.

I am a literal laborer in His Word. Am I not worthy of my wage? Should I be ashamed of such? The tithe belongs to YHWH, men are merely it’s custodians. Now if you are a full tither, then that is very good. But if you are not, isnt’t this reaction akin to expecting me to make bricks without straw? And if you do not feel my labor in the word is worthy of support, then please find one that is, and tithe there. And to the degree that I am poor and asking for tzadikah, in Judaism this means I am blessing you by giving you the opportunity to preform a mitzvah. AT the end of the day, no one is forced to donate. But, it would be foolish of me to starve and become homeless and no longer be in a position to do this great work, simply because I did not tell people of the need. Then people would say “why didn’t you tell us, if we had only known, we would have helped.

BTW I have published about twenty books, all total their sales bring in 100 to 150 dollars a month. My translation of Jasher took three months of full time work, and its sales over nearly fifteen years have never even paid me minimum wage for the time spent translating it. I have found a much more successful model is to publish material freely on the internet, with the endeavor paid for by tithes, freewill offerings and tzadikah of those who wish to support the effort. It is also more successful at getting more information out to more people than if I was selling it.

Our rent is due in about ten days, and right now we do not have it!

As I have said to you many times, I look on this work as a co-operative one with me, and all of you combining our resources together in order to get the job done of helping to teach this great truth to all in the world who will listen. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for your continued support, you are the ones who make it all possible by your contributions and your prayers for our work. I truly appreciate your help in every way.

If you can make a one time donation of $500 or $1,000 dollars to support this work.

Donations can be sent by Paypal to donations@wnae.org

Or click HERE to donate

We have tried to stay above water in what is turning out to be the toughest month in a long time. However we must raise at least $563 by the end of the day today or our account will go into the negative and start a cascade of returned items. Today is the 19th, and we really should be saving up to raise the rent by now, but instead we are nearly $600 underwater (and our electric bill is still past due!)

We need your help today! We must raise at least $563 by the end of the day today!

There is much work do be done. I hope to be spending most of the day today with my “nose in the scrolls” analyzing the thousands of pages of Hebrew manuscripts of NT books, facsimiles of which I have recently acquired (thanks to Dr. Al Garza). Unfortunately, my attentions at the moment are distracted by the financial distress of the pending potential disaster in our account tonight. I need you to step up to the plate today!

As I have said to you many times, I look on this work as a co-operative one with me, and all of you combining our resources together in order to get the job done of helping to teach this great truth to all in the world who will listen. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for your continued support, you are the ones who make it all possible by your contributions and your prayers for our work. I truly appreciate your help in every way.

If you can make a one time donation of $500 or $1,000 dollars to support this work.

Donations can be sent by Paypal to donations@wnae.org

Or click HERE to donate

Do the Old Syriac and Peshitta NT use a Greek Word for “Covenant”?
By
James Scott Trimm

Recently I wrote a blog titled Do the Old Syriac and Peshitta NT use a Greek Word for “Torah”? Today I want to address a similar concern about a word used for “Covenant” in the Old Syriac and Peshitta versions of the NT books.

It has been suggested to me that the Old Syriac and Peshitta Aramaic versions of “New Testament” books had to be translations from a Greek source, because in some places they use the Greek word דיתיקא (diyatiki) for “covenant/testament”.

Diyatiki is an Aramaic Word

While “diyatiki” is a Greek word, it is also an Aramaic word, just as “ballet” is a French word, but it is also an English word. Diyatiki is what is called a “loan word”, a word that originated in one language, but was fully adopted into another language. In fact the word “diyatiki” even appears in the Aramaic Rabbinic literature. For example in the Talmud we read:

WILLS, DEEDS OF GIFT, etc. Our Rabbis taught: What is meant by WILLS (דייתיקי) (diyatiki)? — [Documents which contain the words:] ‘This shall be established and executed,’ so that when [the author of the document] dies, his property becomes the possession of the person named [in the document!.
(b.Babba Metzia 19a)

Many more examples could be cited from the Aramaic Rabbinic literature.

Diyatiki also appears in the Peshitta Tanak (“Old Testament”), which we know to have been translated from Hebrew. For example in Jeremiah 31:31:

Behold, the days come, says Marya, that I will make with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah, a new covenant (דיאתיקי):
(Jer. 31:31)

Certainly the Talmud and Peshitta Tanak were not translated from Greek source texts.

The fact is that the Peshitta Syriac Aramaic version is a revision of the Old Syriac version (towards greater agreement with the later Byzantine tyope text) and that the Old Syriac is a Syriac version of prior Western Aramaic and/or Hebrew versions of the books of the “New Testament” and as such they are important sources for restoring the original Hebrew and Aramaic of the books of the “New Testament”.

I have recently been given (by Dr. Al Garza) a thumb drive containing literally thousands of pages of Hebrew manuscripts of “New Testament” books, and their relationships to the Old Syriac Aramaic will be important clues, as I sort out those that are merely medieval Hebrew translations from Greek or Latin, from those that may actually play an important part on Hebrew and Aramaic NT origins.

Emergency Alert! Several bills are hitting our account, and we do not have the funds in our account to cover them. We have even had to delay paying our electric bill, which is now past due, because the funds were not there! This is a serious emergency! Medical bills have zapped our funds! Rent will be due in two weeks, and we do not even have the funds to cover bills today, much less the rent! We are in serious danger of a cascade of bouncing returned items! We need your help today!

As I have said to you many times, I look on this work as a co-operative one with me, and all of you combining our resources together in order to get the job done of helping to teach this great truth to all in the world who will listen. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for your continued support, you are the ones who make it all possible by your contributions and your prayers for our work. I truly appreciate your help in every way.

If you can make a one time donation of $500 or $1,000 dollars to support this work.

Donations can be sent by Paypal to donations@wnae.org

Or click HERE to donate

Barabbas and the Original Hebrew Gospels
By
James Scott Trimm

There is an account, found in all four gospels, that there was a prevailing Passover custom in Jerusalem that allowed Pilate, the governor of Judea, to commute one prisoner’s death sentence by popular acclaim. According to all four Gospels (Matt. 27:15-26; Mk. 15:6-15; Lk. 23:13-25 and Jn. 18:38b-40) . According to all four accounts, Pilate put forward to individuals, and let the crowd choose between the two: Yeshua and Barabbas. As the accounts go, the crowd chose Barabbas.

However in the Commentary to Matthew by the Fourth Century Church Father Jerome, he makes an interesting comment, speaking about Barabbas in his commentary to Matthew 27:16 he writes “… is interpreted in the so-called Gospel according to the Hebrews as ‘son of their teacher’ (Latin: filius magistri eorum). (Jerome on Matthew 27:16)

I have written in depth about the Gospel according to the Hebrews elsewhere. It is the original source text behind the synoptic gospels (and to a lesser extent John) and our Gospel of Matthew is essentially an abridgement of it.

It has been proposed by some authors that Jerome is saying that Barabbas (Bar Abba) was not really names “Bar Abba” (son of a father) but “Bar Rabbon” (Son of their master”). The problem is that when Jerome says “their” here, is is almost certainly doing so to distinguish himself from the Jews. It is very unlikely that anyone would be given the name or title “son of their master”. It is much more likely that the word “their” is Jerome’s, and that the term that appeared in the original Hebrew Gospel source was “Son of the Master” or “Son of a Master” not “Son of their Master.” Thus we would expect the original Hebrew to read Bar Rabbah (בר רבה) rather than Bar Abba (בר אבא).

It has been proposed (by Dr. Miles Jones) that a manuscript known as the “Catalan” Gospels may express Jerome’s proposed original reading here. (The Catalan Gospels are Hebrew Gospels which are a Hebrew translation of a version in the Catalan language. Dr. Miles Jones has proposed that this Catalan version was translated from the original Hebrew (Hebrew>Catalan>Hebrew) and that this Catalan version thus holds as an important witness to Gospel origins).

Unfortunately the Catalan version has here בראבן or בר אבן in it’s text. Which might be “son of their father” but not “son of their master” and since the word “their” is almost certainly Jerome’s and not part of the original name, the Catalan Gospels do not really testify in this passage to this original reading at all.

However, both the DuTillet Hebrew Matthew and the Munster Hebrew text of Matthew, have in their accounts, not “Barabbas”, or “Bar Abba” but “Bar Rabbah” (בר רבה) just exactly as we would expect to find in the original Hebrew of the Gospels!

I have recently been given (by Dr. Al Garza) a thumb drive containing literally thousands of pages of Hebrew manuscripts of “New Testament” books, and their relationships to the Gospel according to the Hebrews and well as Du Tillet and Munster Matthew will be important clues, as I sort out those that are merely medieval Hebrew translations from Greek or Latin, from those that may actually play an important part on Hebrew and Aramaic NT origins.

Emergency Alert! Several bills are hitting our account tonight (6/6/24), and we do not have the funds in our account to cover them. We must raise at least $540 by the end of the day today or we will have cascade of bouncing returned items tonight! We need your help today!

As I have said to you many times, I look on this work as a co-operative one with me, and all of you combining our resources together in order to get the job done of helping to teach this great truth to all in the world who will listen. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for your continued support, you are the ones who make it all possible by your contributions and your prayers for our work. I truly appreciate your help in every way.

If you can make a one time donation of $500 or $1,000 dollars to support this work.

Donations can be sent by Paypal to donations@wnae.orgor by Zelle or GoFundMe.

Click HERE to donate

Do the Old Syriac and Peshitta NT use a Greek Word for “Torah”?
By
James Scott Trimm

Recently it was suggested to me that the Old Syriac and Peshitta Aramaic versions of “New Testament” books had to be translations from a Greek source, because they use the Greek word נמוסא for “law/Torah” rather than the Aramaic word אוריתא ‘Uraita, which comes from the same root as the Hebrew word “Torah”, and which is used in the Targums and Talmuds.

Namosa is an Aramaic Word

The fact is that נמוסא (Namosa) is an Aramaic word, though it is a loan word from Greek. “Namosa” is as much an Aramaic word, as “ballet” is an English word, though it is a loan word from French. No one would argue that an English book which used the word “ballet” must have been translated from French. Likewise, the use of the Aramaic word “Namosa” in no way implies that the Old Syriac and Peshitta versions were translated from Greek.

In fact, Hebrew and Aramaic words are built upon a system of three letter root verbs. And both languages have incorporated the root verb נמס into their vocabulary systems as a root meaning “to civilize”.

The Aramaic word נימוסא is used in the Targums and the Jerusalem Talmud. For example where Psalm 1:2 says:

But his delight is in the Law of YHWH;
and in His Law does he meditate day and night.
(Psalm 1:2)

The Aramaic Targum has נימוסא nimosa for “Law [of YHWH]:

אֱלָהֵן בְּנִימוּסָא דַייָ רְעוּתֵיהּ וּבְאוֹרַיְתֵיהּ מְרַנֵן יֵמָם וְלֵילֵי

And where 1Samuel 2:13 reads:

And the priests’ custom with the people was, that, when any man offered sacrifice, the priest’s servant came, while the flesh was in seething, with a fleshhook of three teeth in his hand;
(1Sam. 2:13)

וְנִימוּסָא דְכַהֲנַיָא מִן עַמָא כָּל גְבַר דְנָכֵיס נִכְסְתָא וְאָתֵי עוּלֵימָא דְכַהֲנָא כִּמְבַשֵׁל בִּסְרָא וּמַשִׁילְיָא דִי לֵיהּ תְּלַת שְׁנִין בִּידֵיהּ:

The word for “custom” in the Targum is נימוסא nimosa.

In the Jerusalem Talmud we read the phrase “he is engaged in studying the laws of his Creator” (y.Ber. V, 9a) and again the Aramaic word is נימוסא nimosa.

Many more examples could be cited from the Rabbinic literature, both Hebrew and Aramaic. In fact in modern Hebrew in Israel today, a mother could be heard scolding her child, saying “Nimosa!” meaning to be polite, “behave yourself”.

So it is clear that this word may be of Greek origin, but it has become a loan word in Hebrew and Aramaic, and even incorporated into their system as a three letter verb root. This word is as much a Hebrew and Aramaic word as it is a Greek word, just as “ballet” is as much an English word as it is a French word.

It is very clear that the Targums and Talmuds were not translated from Greek sources, but were (in the case of the Targums) Aramaic translations of Hebrew, and (in the case of the Talmuds) composed in Aramaic.

Nomosa in the Syriac Dialect

So now let us deal with the question of the regular usage of this word in the Aramaic Old Syriac and Peshitta versions.

Syriac is a dialect of Aramaic, one of many such dialects over the centuries. Aramaic dialects of this period are classed as Eastern and Western. The Western dialects were used in Galilee and Judea, while in Syria and “Babylon” (the area of the old Babylonian captivity) Eastern dialects were used.

The Targums and Jerusalem Talmud were written in Western Aramaic, while the Peshitta and Babylonian Talmud were written in Eastern dialects of Aramaic.

The books of the “New Testament” were originally written in Hebrew or Western Aramaic. Certainly a Western Aramaic version was needed and existed from a very early time. But a Syriac Aramaic version was also soon needed for the Gentile believers at Antioch (in Syria), and so a Syriac version was probably made from the Western Aramaic version. This was primarily a revision of dialect.

So we have two Aramaic words for “Law”: אוריתא (‘Uraita) and נמוסא (Namosa). In fact the word אוריתא (‘Uraita) does appear in both the Old Syriac and the Peshitta in Matthew 11:13; 12:5 and 22:40. However the word normally used for “Torah” in the Old Syriac and Peshitta is נמוסא (Namosa).

In the Western dialects (and in the Babylonian Talmud) אוריתא (‘Uraita) is the normal word used for “Torah” (although נימוסא can be used, as in the Targum to Psalm 1:2). And in the Syriac dialect of Aramaic נמוסא (Namosa) is the normal word for “Torah” and the use of אוריתא (‘Uraita) is like using a foreign word, which the Syriac reader probably understands, but as a commonly understood word from another dialect.

In fact the word נמוסא (Namosa) is the word used for “Torah” throughout the Peshitta Tanak (“Old Testament”). For example:

Then said YHWH unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law (בנמוסי), or not.
(Ex. 16:4 KJV)

This is just one of literally over a hundered examples. I have previously written on the Jewish origin of the Peshitta Tanak, it is well established the the Peshitta Aramaic Tanak was translated directly from the Hebrew Tanak.

If the use of namosa for “Torah” in the Old Syriac and Peshitta “New Testament” books, proves that they were translated from Greek, then the use of the same word for “Torah” throughout the Peshitta Aramaic Tanak would also prove that Peshitta Tanak is a translation from Greek. And a proposition that would also “prove” things we know are not true, proves nothing at all.

The fact is that the Peshitta Syriac Aramaic version is a revision of the Old Syriac version (towards greater agreement with the later Byzantine tyope text) and that the Old Syriac is a Syriac version of prior Western Aramaic and/or Hebrew versions of the books of the “New Testament” and as such they are important sources for restoring the original Hebrew and Aramaic of the books of the “New Testament”.

I have recently been given (by Dr. Al Garza) a thumb drive containing literally thousands of pages of Hebrew manuscripts of “New Testament” books, and their relationships to the Old Syriac Aramaic will be important clues, as I sort out those that are merely medieval Hebrew translations from Greek or Latin, from those that may actually play an important part on Hebrew and Aramaic NT origins.

Emergency Alert! Several bills are hitting our account on Monday night, and we do not have the funds in our account to cover them. We have even had to delay paying our electric bill, which is now past due, because the funds were not there! This is a serious emergency! Medical bills have zapped our funds! Rent will be due in two weeks, and we do not even have the funds to cover bills today, much less the rent! We are in serious danger of a cascade of bouncing returned items Monday night! We need your help today!

As I have said to you many times, I look on this work as a co-operative one with me, and all of you combining our resources together in order to get the job done of helping to teach this great truth to all in the world who will listen. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for your continued support, you are the ones who make it all possible by your contributions and your prayers for our work. I truly appreciate your help in every way.

If you can make a one time donation of $500 or $1,000 dollars to support this work.

Donations can be sent by Paypal to donations@wnae.org

Or click HERE to donate

Did Luke Originally Begin at Luke 1:5?
By
James Scott Trimm

In a recent blog, I wrote titled Prophecy, the Restoration and the Original Hebrew of Luke, I wrote about my analysis of a Hebrew version of Luke saying:

One interesting feature of this Hebrew manuscript of Luke, is that it has Luke 1:1-4 as a preface, and then has the “Chapter 1” heading immediately above Luke 1:5.

As I made my comparisons, I found that Luke 1:1-4 in this version, did *not* follow the general sentence structure of the Aramaic Old Syriac text of Luke 1:1-4, but that beginning in verse 5, the Hebrew and Aramaic follow very similar vocabulary, grammar and sentence structure. (I have thus far made detailed comparisons of 1:1-7). In fact the transition is striking as suddenly beginning in verse 5 the two texts become parallel.

I got a lot of response to this article, from people claiming that the “Church Father” Epiphanius claimed that the original Hebrew of Luke began with Luke 1:5.

The source of this claim was a source that quoted Epiphanius as saying that the original Hebrew Gospel of Luke began with the words “It came to pass in the days of Herod…” and referencing this to Luke 1:5.

The fact is that this quote from Epiphanius says no such thing. The relevant statement from Epiphanius in his description of the Ebionites:

And the beginning of their Gospel runs: It came to pass in the days of Herod the king of Judaea, when Caiaphas was high priest, that there came one, John by name, and baptized with the baptism of repentance in the river Jordan. It was said of him that he was of the lineage of Aaron the priest, a son of Zacharias and Elisabeth : and all went out to him.
(Epiphanius, Panarion 30.13.6)

What did Epiphanius mean by “their” Gospel? We find that a few lines earlier when he writes:

In the Gospel that is in general use among them [the Ebionites] which is called “according to Matthew”, which however is not whole and complete but forged and mutilated – they call it the Hebrews Gospel-it is reported:… (Epiphanius, Panarion 30.13.2-3)

The reference here is not to the Gospel of Luke at all, but to the Ebionite version of the Gospel of Matthew (really the Ebionite version of the Gospel according to the Hebrews, of which our Matthew is an abridgement).

Moreover, the reference is also not to material parallel to Luke 1:5 at all, but to material parallel to Luke 3:1-2 and the beginning of their parallel to Matthew 3:1.

It is easy to see when we compare the passages:

There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.
(Luke 1:5 KJV)

[1] Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene,
[2] Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.
[3] And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins;
(Luke 3:1-3 KJV)

It is absolutely clear to anyone looking at these passages that Epiphanius is saying that the Ebionite version of Matthew opened with material parallel to Luke 3:1-3 and than only by quoting the phrase out of context, is it made to appear to refer to material parallel to Luke 1:5.

The fact is that this quote is not talking about an original Hebrew version of Luke, or even the book of Luke at all, but the Ebionite version of Matthew.

Here is the point Ephiphanius was trying to make. Earlier, in his analysis of the Nazarenes, he wrote:

They [The Nazarenes] have the Gospel according to Matthew quite complete, in Hebrew: for this Gospel is certainly still preserved among them as it was first written in Hebrew letters. I do not know if they have even removed the genealogy from Abraham to Christ.
(Epiphanius, Panarion 29:9:4)

But in regards to the Ebionites he writes that it ” however is not whole and complete but forged and mutilated” (Epiphanius, Panarion 30.13.2-3) He then makes the point that the Ebionites, who rejected the virgin birth, had removed the first two chapters of their version of Matthew, so that their Matthew started with material parallel to Luke 3:1-3 and with the account of Yochanan immersing in the wilderness (i.e. parallel to our Matthew chapter 3).

Anyone who actually looks at what Epiphanius is saying. can clearly see that he is not even talking about the book of Luke, and he certainly is not saying that an original Hebrew version of Luke omitted Luke 1:1-4 beginning with Luke 1:5.

I was recently provided with a thumb drive containing thousands of pages of Hebrew manuscripts of “New Testament” books in Hebrew, including every book of the “New Testament” in Hebrew! Of course the hard work is sorting thru this material, and determining what is a translation from Greek or Latin sources, and what may actually play a part in NT origins.

We need your financial support now more than ever!

As you know we have been digging ourselves out of a budget shortfall.  As I have said to you many times, I look on this work as a co-operative one with me, and all of you combining our resources together in order to get the job done of helping to teach this great truth to all in the world who will listen. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for your continued support, you are the ones who make it all possible by your contributions and your prayers for our work. I truly appreciate your help in every way.

If you can make a one time donation of $500 or $1,000 dollars to support this work.

Donations can be sent by Paypal to donations@wnae.org

Or click HERE to donate

Shalom Chaverim,

As many of you know, I have been having some neurological issues of unknown origin, currently diagnosed as “polyneuropathy” (this is just a description, not a cause). I am now seeing two different specialists (one is a neurologist) and taking a lot of expensive tests (even after insurance). Late last week I had a brain MRI, we do not yet have the results. Tomorrow I see another specialist, and later this month I am going back to the neurologist for a “nerve test”. We do not know the cause yet, but a lot of the possibilities are pretty dark. I picked up prescriptions over the weekend for my wife and I (for those that do not know, my wife is chronically ill, disabled and suffers chronic pain) and that alone was nearly $150 after insurance! The secular job I was working from home, making political calls for a candidate, ended with the end of his campaign, on March 1st (the Texas Primary). After bills clear our account tonight, we will be close to broke! Rent will be due in just over two weeks, and I do not know right now, how we are going to pay it.

The good news is that last week, I was given a thumb drive containing dozens of Hebrew manuscripts of New Testament books, comprising literally thousands of manuscript pages. I am slowly and methodically working my way thru these texts, in an effort to begin sorting out those that are only Hebrew translations of the Greek and Latin texts made in medieval times, and those that may actually descend from the actual original Hebrew and/or Aramaic books of the “New Testament”. The work is very exciting, and at this point we now have Hebrew manuscripts of *every* book of the “New Testament”. We live in some very exciting times!

That is why I need your help today. Can you donate to support this important last days Scripture restoration by clicking here? Or sending a donation by Paypal to donations@wnae.org ?

Shalom Chaverim,

I cannot over state this. We are in a new era of Hebrew and Aramaic NT studies. In the 20th Century, with the resources that existed at that time (before the internet as we know it), I tracked down a great many resources for the time. I obtained a copy of the DuTillet Hebrew manuscript of Matthew from the Biblioteque Nationale in Paris France (this was a whole process in the 1980’s that took several months). I tracked down and obtained copies to Munster’s 1537 edition of Hebrew Matthew from a manuscript which he obtained “from the Jews”. I tracked down and obtained a facsimile of the 1551 Paris edition of Hebrew Matthew with marginal notes, published by Munster’s student Iohannes Quinquaboreus Aurilascensis. I obtained a facsimile of the Hebrew version of Hebrew which Munster had obtained from the Jews, published after his death as an appendix to a 1557 reprinting of his Hebrew Matthew. I obtained the actual Greek of the marginal notes to certain Greek manuscripts of Matthew, giving alternate readings from the “Judaikon” (Jewish version). And I also tracked down all of the citations from the “Gospel according to the Hebrews” as quoted in the Church Fathers, in the original Syriac, Greek and Latin in which they were quoted. Meanwhile my old friend Dr. George Howard had obtained and published the Hebrew text of Shem Tob’s Hebrew Matthew. And of course, I obtained copies of Aramaic NT manuscripts that were readily accessible.) All of this was a monumental task in the late twentieth century.

But as the internet has grown, libraries around the world have digitized and cataloged materials online! And over the last couple of years researchers, (not myself) as online sleuths, have tracked down and recovered dozens of previously unknown Hebrew manuscripts of New Testament books. An individual who has acted as a hub for collecting this material into one place, is Dr Albert Garza. Dr. Garza recently mailed me a thumb drive containing dozens of such manuscripts consisting of literally thousands of pages of manuscripts from libraries all over the world! I have to say, it is a bit overwhelming.

That is why I need your help today. Can you donate to support this important last days Scripture restoration by clicking here?

Of course locating and obtaining facsimiles of such manuscripts is only the first part of the job. The manuscript pages are often written in a “messy” hand and often in obscure scripts. And the job of sorting out of this massive amount of material, that which may be related to an original Hebrew and Aramaic “New Testament” and that which is merely a medieval Hebrew translation made from a Greek or Latin source, is a monumental task which has only just begun, and will take countless hours of time with “my nose in the scrolls”. Fortunately, my life experience up until now was designed to give me talents required to work at this monumental task! But it will take a lot of time and effort.

That’s why I need your help today! Can you donate to support this important last days Scripture restoration by clicking here?

That said, I need your help. As you know, my wife is chronically ill, disabled and suffering from chronic pain. And now, I too am suffering from a nervous system disorder, which has so far only been diagnosed as “polyneuropathy,” but we are pretty sure that is only a stand in, until an actual cause can be found. I am having partial paralysis and pain in my legs, as well as some other neurological symptoms. I am undergoing a lot of tests and am seeing two specialists, one of which is a neurologist. We don’t yet know what is causing my symptoms, but some of the possibilities are pretty dark. This last week I had an MRI of my brain done, I have not heard back on the results.

We are facing a lot of added medical expenses. The co-pay on my MRI alone was nearly $100, and I just picked up prescriptions for my wife and I that totaled $150 after insurance! We really need your financial support today.

We need your financial support now more than ever! We must raise at least $516 to cover bills clearing our account tonight!

As you know we have been digging ourselves out of a budget shortfall.  As I have said to you many times, I look on this work as a co-operative one with me, and all of you combining our resources together in order to get the job done of helping to teach this great truth to all in the world who will listen. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for your continued support, you are the ones who make it all possible by your contributions and your prayers for our work. I truly appreciate your help in every way.

If you can make a one time donation of $500 or $1,000 dollars to support this work.

Donations can be sent by Paypal to donations@wnae.org.

Or click HERE to donate