02.26. The power of language

The power of language The modern nation known as the Syrian Arab Republic covers much the same region as ancient Syria, though its boundaries have shifted over the years. The present capital, Damascus, is one of the world’s oldest cities and has existed since the dawn of history. In early biblical times the land was known as Aram and its people as Arameans. Abraham spent some time there, mainly in Haran, on his way to Canaan, and many of his clan settled there. His son Isaac and grandson Jacob both married women from this clan, and Jacob lived in Aram long enough to become known as an Aramean.¹

Aram does not feature again in the biblical story till the time of the divided Israelite kingdom, when the Bible usually calls it Syria (though some versions retain Aram). By this time the Aramaic language had spread so widely that it was the most commonly used language of south-west Asia. Ancient Syria had many conflicts with Israel, but its lasting influence was not through its military power but through its language.

Written Aramaic used letters that were similar to Hebrew letters, and isolated sections of the Old Testament are written in Aramaic instead of the usual Hebrew.² In the Persian Empire, Aramaic was the official language.³ When Alexander the Great conquered Persia, the Greek language spread throughout his empire and became the official language. But in south-west Asia, Aramaic was still widely used, in spite of the increasing use of Greek. Aramaic was the language Jesus and his disciples usually spoke, though they also used Greek, the language in which the New Testament is written. In some cases the actual words Jesus spoke, ‘talitha cumi’, ‘ephphatha’, and ‘eloi, eloi, lama, sabachthani’,⁴ are transliterated as well as translated. The hearers apparently felt that no translation could fully capture the feeling with which they were spoken.

1. Genesis 12:1-5; Genesis 25:20; Genesis 28:1-5; Genesis 29:4-5; Genesis 31:20; Deuteronomy 26:5

2. Ezra 4:8-24; Ezra 5:1-17; Ezra 6:1-18; Ezra 7:12-26; Jeremiah 10:11; Daniel 2:4-49; Daniel 3:1-30; Daniel 4:1-37; Daniel 5:1-31; Daniel 6:1-28; Daniel 7:1-28 3. Ezra 4:7. The period of Persian rule over Israel was 539-333 BC.

4. Mark 5:41; Mark 7:34; Mark 15:34

Hebrew scroll