08-29-2012, 03:24 AM
Hi distazo and Paul (and other users):
While I belive in an Aramaic original, I'm still confused about the credibility of Eph. 1:18. (I feel like this proof does not suffice.) Why? -- Zorba indeed did understand the idiom, but that Zorba was probably from 7th - 15th century A.D. No early manuscript of Ephesians has the reading of "understanding".
It seems like it is irrelevant that Zorba understood this idiom. Why? -- the Textus Receptus Zorba (7th - 15th century) changed the reading probably because of his familiarity with the LXX, since the LXX was around at that time. The Septuagint may have been a great source for that specific Zorba to learn about the Semitic heart thing. In fact, that the Majority text contains the literal reading gives hint that the Greeks probably did understand this idiom for a while. They had similar beliefs about the heart like the Semites did (until [the Greek] science changed that).
If I, an Aramaic primacist, doubt the credibility of this proof, how much more will a Greek primacist?!
(To be honest, I do seek correction here if I err. Is my side to this reasonable?) <!-- s:dontgetit: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/dontgetit.gif" alt=":dontgetit:" title="Dont Get It" /><!-- s:dontgetit: -->
Paul Younan Wrote:Secondly, the post you linked to about understanding is incomplete in scope. Prior to that post, we spoke on the forum about the Semitic practice of associating wisdom not with the brain, but with the heart. As in, the heart rather than the brain was considered to be the seat of emotion and wisdom.
The fact that the variant exists in the Greek shows that Zorba understood, at times, this fact and translated more liberally to show the meaning instead of the strict wording.
distazo Wrote:No, actually, I added Eph 1:18 to my own list.
It is an example of dynamic translation with a semitic idiom behind it! The 'heart', like the OT shows, is a very special meaning and it still was for 1st century jews. To translate it with 'understanding' shows a different audience, the Greek one! (It is hard to see why, if the original was Greek) to translate 'understanding' to 'heart'...
While I belive in an Aramaic original, I'm still confused about the credibility of Eph. 1:18. (I feel like this proof does not suffice.) Why? -- Zorba indeed did understand the idiom, but that Zorba was probably from 7th - 15th century A.D. No early manuscript of Ephesians has the reading of "understanding".
It seems like it is irrelevant that Zorba understood this idiom. Why? -- the Textus Receptus Zorba (7th - 15th century) changed the reading probably because of his familiarity with the LXX, since the LXX was around at that time. The Septuagint may have been a great source for that specific Zorba to learn about the Semitic heart thing. In fact, that the Majority text contains the literal reading gives hint that the Greeks probably did understand this idiom for a while. They had similar beliefs about the heart like the Semites did (until [the Greek] science changed that).
If I, an Aramaic primacist, doubt the credibility of this proof, how much more will a Greek primacist?!
(To be honest, I do seek correction here if I err. Is my side to this reasonable?) <!-- s:dontgetit: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/dontgetit.gif" alt=":dontgetit:" title="Dont Get It" /><!-- s:dontgetit: -->