08-20-2008, 07:19 PM
Shlama Akhi Mike,
"POLIT-ARCHAS" is simply a compound Greek title for "City Rulers", it is a perfect cognate to the Aramaic for those verses of "Reshe da'Mdintha" (heads of the city). I can see a Greek translator, familiar with the vernacular of Thessalonica, translating "politarchas."
I don't think this is a case either way for Greek or Aramaic primacy, because it doesn't rule out the possibility that the Greek translator of Aramaic Acts may have been either a native of Thessalonica or familiar with their dialect. In fact, the title seems to have been common throughout Macedonia from the inscriptions, so the translator may have come from any number of areas in that large geographical location.
Far more convincing to me as far as the language of Acts goes is 2:24, where the evidence is rock-solid. It's a mistranslation that could have only come from Aramaic.
+Shamasha
"POLIT-ARCHAS" is simply a compound Greek title for "City Rulers", it is a perfect cognate to the Aramaic for those verses of "Reshe da'Mdintha" (heads of the city). I can see a Greek translator, familiar with the vernacular of Thessalonica, translating "politarchas."
I don't think this is a case either way for Greek or Aramaic primacy, because it doesn't rule out the possibility that the Greek translator of Aramaic Acts may have been either a native of Thessalonica or familiar with their dialect. In fact, the title seems to have been common throughout Macedonia from the inscriptions, so the translator may have come from any number of areas in that large geographical location.
Far more convincing to me as far as the language of Acts goes is 2:24, where the evidence is rock-solid. It's a mistranslation that could have only come from Aramaic.
+Shamasha