In Syrian Villages, the Language of Jesus Lives

My dad often spoke of this: In Syrian Villages, the Language of Jesus Lives - New York Times.

When he was growing up in Lebanon, my father's church still used Aramaic in the liturgy, so he knew some psalms and prayers in that language. He was very proud of his connection to that ancient world and spoke often of those villages in Syria where they still used Aramaic.

The article strikes certain sour Orientalist notes - "a vestige of an older and more diverse Middle East that existed before the arrival of Islam" - excuse me, the Middle East has continued to be diverse throughout 1300 years of Islam, so get over yourself. And the little explanation about a man named John Francis "western names are common in Syria and Lebanon." Oh please. Where do you think the names John and Francis come from anyway? Read your Bible, mister. The guy who gave you his name probably goes by Hanna Francis but he said John, the English form of Hanna, for your benefit.

Comments

[Amir]

A few factual corrections:

1. In the time of Jesus, Aramaic to Hebres was kind of like what Latin is today to English. It is widely used in scholarly references but not a spoken language. Jesus mother tongue language (Hebrew) is still spoken very widely and is even the official language of a modern day country - ISRAEL. The origin of Hebrew is Aramaic as much as Latin is the origin of English.

2. The origin of the name John is the Hebrew name Johanan. In Hebrew the h in John is very much pronounced while in English it is silent. Quite similarly, have you ever wondered why in the name Matthew there are two 't' s? That is because the Hebrew origin is Matityahu . . .

3. While on the topic. Every name in Hebrew has a literal meaning. Jesus in Hebrew is Yeshua. Yeshua in Hebrew is Salvation in English. Interesting, huh ?