Acts 14:17

[Paul Younan]

Shlama Akhay,

In the Greek versions of Acts 14:17, we read with astonishment <!-- s --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/wink1.gif" alt="" title="Wink" /><!-- s -->

Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave them rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling their hearts with food and gladness.

In the original Aramaic text, we read:

Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did [font=Estrangelo (V1.1)]Fb=[/font], and gave them rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling their hearts with [font=Estrangelo (V1.1)]0ysrwt[/font] and gladness.

Now [font=Estrangelo (V1.1)]Fb=[/font] is plural and derives from the singular [font=Estrangelo (V1.1)]0b=[/font] which means:

Twb N Twb)
1 Palestinian,Syr,Bab goodness, good things
2 Palestinian,CPA,Sam,Syr choice produce
3 JLAGal,JLATg,Syr,JBA pl. const.: blessed is, happy is
4 Syr pl congratulations
5 JBA much, many > Twb) a
LS2 269
LS2 V: TuwbA)

Secondly, [font=Estrangelo (V1.1)]0ysrwt[/font] is a noun that is derived from the verbal root [font=Estrangelo (V1.1)]Ysrt[/font] which means:

trsy V
091 Syr to restore, to repair
092 Syr to help, to expedite
093 Syr to nourish
121 Syr to be nourished
122 Syr to eat
LS2 836

trsy I
1 Syr be of good cheer!, buck up
LS2 836
LS2 v: tarsAy

Obviously, the original Aramaic text reads:

Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did much, and gave them rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling their hearts with cheer and gladness.

The two problems are immediately cleared up with reference to the original Aramaic. Firstly, the meaning Paul was trying to convey was not that God did good, but that he left us Gentiles with plenty of witness (c.f., the first clause of the sentence) even though he left us on our own path (c.f., v. 16).

Secondly, "cheer" goes much better in context with "gladness", especially considering the subject of the clause is the "heart." How exactly does the heart need "food?"

It is easy to see here that the Greek versions must have been translated from the Aramaic, because they made two mistranslations in one verse here!

Note: It does not matter what language Paul and Bar-Naba conversed in with the inhabitants of Lystra. The objective here is to show that this was recorded in Aramaic and that the Greek versions are translations of that original written source.