A fragment of the primitive Aramaic gospel text from Jn1v14

Recovered Aramaic text

The original text of Jn1v14 has been reconstructed from biblical manuscripts and quotations made by several early Syriac authors as follows:

oB tNG)w )rGP t$B]L )B)d htLM

English translation

'The Word (f.) of the Father put on a body and dwelt with us.’

Notes on the translation

Since the Syriac word )tLM pronounced 'meltha' which means 'the word' is grammatically feminine, both of the associated Syriac verbs are feminine in grammatical agreement. However, this does not imply that Yeshu`a (Jesus) was feminine, only that the Aramaic word John used to describe him was!

Commentary

Paul applies the terminology found in our Aramaic reading to his teaching about the resurrection of believers. Whereas in our text, the immortal God put on mortality, Paul remarks several times that those who follow Yeshu`a will put on immortality, (see 1 Corinthians 15v54, 2 Corinthians 5vv2-4). To a believing community familiar with the primitive Aramaic text I have edited above, Paul's teaching would have reminded them that their longed for 'clothing with immortality' will be achieved by the immortal Yeshu`a who had clothed himself with mortality. The Greek text of John's gospel appears to have been created long after Paul's death, because it does not use the same terminology and it cannot explain what Paul is getting at. That our Aramaic gospel reading existed well before AD 130 can also be demonstrated historically. According to Ephrem of Nisibis who died in June 373 AD, this primitive text was criticized by Marcion who wrote, “Yesu did not put on a body.” There is an English translation of Ephrem's comments published by Carmel McCarthy, [1]. Originally, Marcion was a Roman Catholic. He was excommunicated by the Roman Catholics in AD 137 and founded his own sect. It is ironic therefore, that the Greek text of John reflects the views of Marcion by omitting the terminology found in the primitive text!

Paul also applies the 'putting on' terminology found in our reading to Christian baptism in a particularly interesting way, (see Galatians 3v26-29). He teaches that when we believe and are baptized, we put on Christ (v26 f.) just as Christ put on our humanity when he was conceived and born as a baby, (Aramaic Jn1v14) as the offspring and the heir of Abraham. In this way Paul says that we are born anew into Christ's new spiritual race (v28) with inheritance rights as heirs of Abraham, (v29). What is interesting about this passage in Galatians is that the terminology used in Aramaic John 1v14 provides a missing link. It links baptism with the incarnation by showing that Christians become the sons of God by putting on Christ in the same manner that Christ became a son of man by putting on a body.

References

[1] McCarthy C., 'Saint Ephrem's commentary on Tatian's Diatessaron.' OUP 1993, page 193.