MICAH 5:2 Complete Jewish Bible

Micah 5:1... Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)

But you, Beit-Lechem near Efrat,so small among the clans of Y’hudah,out of you will come forth to me the future ruler of Isra’el,whose origins are far in the past, back in ancient times.

Neither is there SALVATION in any other; for there is NO OTHER NAME+ under Heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
Acts 4:12

That at the NAME of YESHUA+ every knee shall bow, of beings in Heaven, beings in earth, and beings under the earth; and that every tongue should proclaim that YESHUA+ MASHIYACH+ is LORD, to the Glory of ALAHA, His+ FATHER.
Philippians 2:10-11

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Friday, December 28, 2012

The CAMELS are Marching !


~ or ~
The Evidence is Mounting !


Photo by Wysinfo.com

A Look at the CAMEL Variants
as found in the ancient
New Covenant texts...

Nestle-Aland's Greek New Testament, while certainly not my favorite for accuracy, has made a valuable contribution in the researching and listing of manuscripts of the New Covenant.

Considering that there are THOUSANDS of manuscripts and fragments of the Greek New Covenant, Nestle-Aland's work stands as a classic, in this regard especially, in spite of their eclectic text. [ 1979 edition, 12th printing, 1991]

This Nestle-Aland volume is helpful in tracking down the CAMEL vs ROPE discrepancy found in the "Golden, Best, and Historic" ( GBH ) version of an Aramaic English translation published by the Netzarim publishing house.

This discrepancy is only found in the Aramaic TRANSLATIONS, not in the actual Aramaic texts themselves.

The texts online at Dukhrana's collection have oftentimes NO vowel pointings for the Aramaic word for "camel," GaMLa, as in Mr. Steven Silver's Khabouris T manuscript and Mr. Paul Younan's manuscript.  

The Aramaic texts which DO retain vowel pointings, as in the "G, B, and H" Netzarim volume, have the normal vowel pointings which marks GaMLa as "camel."

The vowel pointings ARE marked as GaMLa, (which is correctly translated as "CAMEL")  in the Dukhrana Aramaic texts of :
  • Khabouris C
  • Peshitta New Testament, New York, 1886 Mingana Manuscript
  • Syriac Manuscript 148-38a
... And this is TRUE for all 3 mis-translated verses in question: Matthew 19:24, Mark 10:25, and Luke 18:25.

Yes, all three verses of YESHUA+ HA MASHIYACH+ 'S  very words are mis-translated as "rope," according to the existing VOWEL POINTS of GaMLA found in the Eastern texts listed above. 

They were changed into ROPE in the English translations of Mr. Younan and Mr. Lamsa... and the "Golden, Best, and Historic" Bible translation published by the Netzarim Publishing House... with apparently no vowel pointings able to be found to substantiate the change !  

Recall that the Netzarim "Golden, Best, and Historic" version says that GaMLa is actually a "GaMaLah"... a rope... due to the vowel pointings, ( page 56   of the Mis-Pag. Edition, footnote 182, for Matthew 19:24).

Unfortunately, these particular vowel pointings, claimed to make a ROPE out of a CAMEL,  are nowhere to be found!

They are not even in the Aramaic text itself that is SUPPOSED to be translated in that volume ! 

Significantly and in opposition to the erroneous translation of the Netzarim Bible, in the two other parallel verses in Mark 10:25 and Luke 18:25, the vowel pointings are the same as in the text of Matthew 19:24... the vowel pointings which make the word CAMEL not ROPE.

The vowel pointings making CAMEL into ROPE are also not found in the Aramaic Lexicons, Klein's Semitic Etymology, or the other Aramaic texts themselves which are available online for all to see, through Dukhrana.

?   ?   ?

Where, then , is the linguistic authority to verify even this claim that GaMaLah means ROPE ? 

Where also is the written grammar or lexicon reference which verifies that an extra vowel point is added ... and indeed, that word is USED in Aramaic literature... to make another, bona fide Aramaic word out of GaMLa ?   

Why Go to the Greek Manuscripts
to check an Aramaic discrepancy ?

RIGHT!

By far the  most logical place to check the Aramaic CAMEL vs. ROPE word would be to look   in the Aramaic resources: Aramaic lexicons, Semitic etymology volumes, and such Aramaic online resources as Dukhrana and the Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon ( CAL )   for that word GaMLa, camel, and the rope word, GaMaLah.

In ALL the Aramaic resources listed above (and in earlier posts), however, "GaMLa" and its compounds and prefixed forms retain the definition of CAMEL... never ROPE.  

And GaMaLah is just not found !


Because Aramaic is actually a conglomeration of several Semitic dialects, the goodly Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon found online at Dukhrana allows readers to check EACH WORD in a verse. It displays the Aramaic dialect of each word used and its slightly different shades of meaning.

A most excellent, scholarly tool ! 

It has been developed by HEBREW, not GREEK, scholars at the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, Ohio.  

For instance, let us look momentarily at the Aramaic word for ROPE found in the New Covenant.  ROPE  is actually "CHaBL"... much like the English word "cable." 

The interesting thing is that "CHaBL" ( for rope) is found in ALL THESE ARAMAIC DIALECTS: 

  • Jewish Literary Aramaic, Targumic
  • Galilean
  • Palestinian Targumic Aramaic
  • Christian Palestinian Aramaic
  • Samaritan
  • Syriac
  • Late Jewish Literary Aramaic
Now note this: CAL also listed other definitions in these various dialects for "CHaBL" which were somewhat related to ROPE or CORD:

  • Syriac ... a measuring line or line
  • Syriac and Late Jewish Literary Aramaic ... snare
  • Galilean and Syriac ... region
  • Syriac ... seashore or space
  • Syriac and Late Jewish Literary Aramaic ... a flame, a twisted thing.  
However, no "CAMEL" was to be found hiding within the Aramaic word for  "ROPE" ... and vice versa !
Photo by Flickr.com


The Greek Documentation 

Because: the Aramaic resources of lexicons, Dukhrana, CAL, and their quoted references:

  • NEVER list GaMLa and its forms as ROPE
  • ALWAYS list GaMLa  as CAMEL 
  • ALWAYS list CHaBL as ROPE
  • NEVER list ROPE    for GaMLa
  • and NEVER include the "GaMaLah" form to mean ROPE
... as found in the New Covenant Peshitta and other old writings...

then: the only other resource available to locate this anomoly, this odd Aramaic  discrepancy .... is the Greek ! 
  
 ( More to come on this exciting find. )
   


Sunday, December 2, 2012

An Aramaic GAMLAH is Still an English CAMEL !


Photo by fasterthenrocket.com
A certain man came and drew near and said to him, "Good Teacher, what is good that I should do that I should have Eternal Life? " 

Then HE+ said to him, "Why do you call ME+ good? There is none good except one ALAHA. Now if you desire to enter into Life, keep the Commandments." 

He said to HIM+, "Which ones?" 

Then YESHUA+ said to him, "That you will not kill, and not commit adultery, and you will not steal, and you will not give false witness. And honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as yourself."  

That young man said to HIM+, " All these things I have obeyed them from my youth. What do I lack?"

YESHUA+ said to him, "If you desire to be perfect, go sell your possessions and give them to the poor, and you will have treasure in Heaven, and come follow ME+." 

And that young man heard this word and went away sad, for he had many possessions. 

YESHUA+ then said to His+ disciples, "Truly I+ say to you that it is difficult for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.

And again I+ say to you that it is easier for a rope to enter into the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of ALAHA. 

And when the disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed and were saying, "Who indeed is able to gain Life?"

Matthew 19:16-25

These words are from the "golden, best, and historic" Aramaic - English New Covenant version. [ Capital letters and Aramaic textual spellings of YESHUA+ and ALAHA  added to make the English version line up with the Aramaic text. Footnote has underlining added. Sr. JH  ]

The fanciful footnote (#182) that accompanies this erroneous translation of the Aramaic text says this: 

"Gamala  refers  to a "heavy rope" rather than a "camel" which is also spelled gimel-meem-lamed-alap.   Greek scholars puzzled over a camel passing through the eye of a needle, which is a physical impossibility. 

"YESHUA+ is clearly not saying a rich man can't enter, or HE+ would not "love: this one! 

The "heavy rope" lesson teaches about a rich man entering Heaven, after he "unravels" his fortune strand by strand as YESHUA+ instructs.  

"If his wealth was bound tightly and strong like a rope, it is to be unwound like threads which will pass through the eye of the needle! 

"Careful attention is required to thread a needle; so are the rich obligated unto YHWH for how their wealth is acquired and dispersed.

"Theological attempts to "prove" the eye of the needle to be a geographical location have utterly failed." 

( end of quote)  

Photo by flickr.com

Fanciful Footnote PROBLEM #1:

Gamlah is the word in the Aramaic text... not Gamala... according to  the vowel pointings in this Aramaic text. Gamlah = camel in every Aramaic lexicon available, i.e., [ Jennings, J. Payne Smith, Dukhrana, Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon, Ernest Klein's Hebrew  Etymology, and Henry Whish's Clavis Syriaca, plus in Jeff Benner's Ancient Hebrew Lexicon of the Bible ( #2070 pg 315) ]
  

Fanciful Footnote PROBLEM # 2: 

Which Greek  scholars "puzzled" over a camel passing through the eye of a needle ? Who, what , when, where, and why... rudimentary documentation giving the authority for such a broad-sweeping statement. 

Fanciful Footnote PROBLEM # 3: 

A parallel passage with the same exact  details is found in Mark 10:25, but this account records one OTHER important detail.  It says ( from the G,B, and H version itself...)


" And YESHUA+ looked at him and loved him and said to him, "One thing is lacking in you..."

Thus, Scripture says YESHUA+ did indeed love the sad rich man who chose Eternity WITHOUT YESHUA+, Eternity outside of Heaven, in order to keep his riches.

That is why the rich young ruler was
SAD !

 YESHUA+ did NOT give him a loop-hole to escape the confines of Damnation in HELL, HADES, or SHEOL... and eventually, the Lake of Burning Fire at the Second Death !  

If indeed YESHUA+ had proffered
to the rich man a WAY to keep his wealth
and have Heaven too...
the rich man would have left
HAPPY ! 

For, that is what he wanted, hoping YESHUA+ would think that he had kept the commandments so well that HE+ would allow him to enter Heaven !

The LORD said that which is impossible with men is possible with GOD. Yes, it is impossible for a man to shake off the grip of Mammona on his heart. By love of money or fear of no money... it is humanly impossible to untangle oneself from Mammona's grip. 

BUT now....

.... YESHUA+ has made it possible --- for those who love HIM+ ---  to be freed of both the LOVE of and the FEAR of money. 

There is a way even for the very wealthy ones to enter into Heaven; history is full of the accounts of those  who forsook their wealthy holdings and followed YESHUA+.

Since they lived ...albeit simply, as YESHUA+, their Example+ did... they did not die of starvation or exposure ... and laid up for themselves treasures in Heaven.

Where are our treasures laid up?

A Aramaic  "gamlah" is still an English camel and a needle is still a needle. 

And the Words of YESHUA+ are still Truth. 

YESHUA+ said, " I+ am the Way , the Truth, and the Life; no man comes to The FATHER except through ME+. " 
John 14:6