sophiaserpentia | (no subject)

"Eli, Eli, lmana sabachthani" are reported as words spoken by Jesus shortly before he died. This phrase apparently had great meaning to the early Christians, and was even used by some as a 'phrase of power' in Christian spellcasting (as demonstrated by several spell fragments presented in Meyer and Smith's Ancient Christian Magic).

The most common interpretation of this phrase is that it is a quote from Psalm 22. Noted scholar George Lamsa, an expert on the Aramaic language, has a different opinion.

On p. 103 of Idioms in the Bible Explained, and A Key to the Original Gospel, he writes,

It... seems probable that the later writers did not agree on its exact meaning when they translated [the sayings of Jesus] into Greek. This term even at present is only used by the Aramaic-speaking people in Assyria, the same language which the Galileans spoke at the time of our Lord. This phrase in Aramaic means, "My God, my God, for this I was kept" (this was my destiny -- I was born for this).

Jesus did not quote the Psalms. If He had He would have said these words in Hebrew instead of Aramaic, and if He had translated them from Hebrew He would have used the Aramaic word "nashatani," which means, "forsaken me," instead of the word "shabacktani," which in this case means, "kept me." ...

... These words... even today are used by Assyrians when they suffer and die unjustly. Instead of complaint and dissatisfaction, they leave everything to God. They believe that it is God's desire that they should pass through such experiences.

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That's really interesting. I wish I could find some good books on translations from the Aramaic language that Jesus spoke. It seems that so much of the Bible has been misinterpreted. Is George Lamsa a good author to check into?

I don't agree with everything George Lamsa wrote, but he seems like a knowledgeable source. He published a translation of the Bible from the Peshitta (Aramaic version) though I have not purchased this yet.

Another author who I want to look into more is Rocco Errico, who has written a few books with a similar approach.

I have personally found the works of Neil Douglas-Klotz to be very illuminating in the area of approaching the teachings of Jesus from the Aramaic -- especially The Hidden Gospel, which I've quoted from a few times in my journal:

http://www.livejournal.com/talkread.bml?journal=sophiaserpentia&itemid=340

http://www.livejournal.com/talkread.bml?journal=sophiaserpentia&itemid=14451

http://www.livejournal.com/talkread.bml?journal=sophiaserpentia&itemid=26967

http://www.livejournal.com/talkread.bml?journal=nonduality&itemid=49316