Matthew 26:6, Simon the leper or Simon the potter?

[Christian2]

Matthew 26:6


6 And when Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper,

Someone is trying to tell me that "leper" is mistranslated and should be "potter" or "jar merchant."

He said:

Now, taking a look at the Aramaic in the Sinaitic Palimpsest, we find that Simon is addressed as "ܐܒܪܓ ܢܘܥܡܫ" which would most likely be as recorded in the Peshitta/o: "ܫܺܡܥܽܘܢ ܓܰܪܺܒܳܐ" (Shim'un Garibo). Now things start to become clearer. "ܓܰܪܺܒܳܐ" (Garibo) can easily be confused with "ܓܰܪܳܒܳܐ" (Garobo) since Aramaic at that time was written without vowel markers.

-"ܓܰܪܺܒܳܐ" (Garibo) means POTTER or JAR MERCHANT where,
-"ܓܰܪܳܒܳܐ" (Garobo) means LEPER or SKIN DISEASE

Source: http://www.aramaicnt.org/HTML/MATTHEW/evidences/Simon.html

His argument is that the New Testament was originally written in Aramaic.

He goes on to say:


The Bible incorrectly says Jesus visited a leper. This is because our English version comes from the Latin, which comes from the Greek. The Greek INCORRECTLY reads "Simônos tou leprou" because when translating they incorrectly read Garaobo instead of Garibo. Now if one were to read the Aramaic texts he sees Jesus visited a potter, not a leper. Based on this I want you to tell me what language was the NT written in Greek or Aramaic?

I have always believed that the New Testament was written in Koine Greek, with the possible exception of the first edition of the Gospel of Matthew.

Can anyone help me out with this?

Thank you.

[John Reece]

Matthew 26:6

Someone is trying to tell me that "leper" is mistranslated and should be "potter" or "jar merchant."

He said:

Now, taking a look at the Aramaic in the Sinaitic Palimpsest, we find that Simon is addressed as "ܐܒܪܓ ܢܘܥܡܫ" which would most likely be as recorded in the Peshitta/o: "ܫܺܡܥܽܘܢ ܓܰܪܺܒܳܐ" (Shim'un Garibo). Now things start to become clearer. "ܓܰܪܺܒܳܐ" (Garibo) can easily be confused with "ܓܰܪܳܒܳܐ" (Garobo) since Aramaic at that time was written without vowel markers.

-"ܓܰܪܺܒܳܐ" (Garibo) means POTTER or JAR MERCHANT where,
-"ܓܰܪܳܒܳܐ" (Garobo) means LEPER or SKIN DISEASE

Source: http://www.aramaicnt.org/HTML/MATTHEW/evidences/Simon.html

His argument is that the New Testament was originally written in Aramaic.

He goes on to say:


The Bible incorrectly says Jesus visited a leper. This is because our English version comes from the Latin, which comes from the Greek. The Greek INCORRECTLY reads "Simônos tou leprou" because when translating they incorrectly read Garaobo instead of Garibo. Now if one were to read the Aramaic texts he sees Jesus visited a potter, not a leper. Based on this I want you to tell me what language was the NT written in Greek or Aramaic?

I have always believed that the New Testament was written in Koine Greek, with the possible exception of the first edition of the Gospel of Matthew.

Can anyone help me out with this?

Thank you.

It is not realistic to expect the answer to the question (highlighted in bold navy) to be settled by a single word in a single verse, or even multiple verses, in a single NT book.

The premier Aramaic scholar in the first half of the 20th century was Charles C. Torrey (Professor of Semitic Languages at Yale and founder and first director of the Aramaic School of Oriental Research in Jerusalem), who wrote many books and articles arguing that certain portions of the NT (in the original first draft) were written in Aramaic: that is, the Gospels, part of Acts, and Revelation.

Not even Torrey — nor any scholar of any note — would go so far as to assert that Paul’s letters were written in Aramaic.

[James Peter]

Whilst sources used within NT texts are probably aramaic in origin the documents themselves are all, in my opinion and that of the vast majority of NT scholars, written in greek. 'Sections' of the NT may have been written in aramaic originally but when they were translated they were also heavily redacted into the documents we have today and it would be wrong to say, for example, that 'Acts was written in Aramaic and then translated into greek'. Acts was written in greek but uses both aramaic and greek sources.

[Howie]

Matthew 26:6



Someone is trying to tell me that "leper" is mistranslated and should be "potter" or "jar merchant."

He said:

Now, taking a look at the Aramaic in the Sinaitic Palimpsest, we find that Simon is addressed as "ܐܒܪܓ ܢܘܥܡܫ" which would most likely be as recorded in the Peshitta/o: "ܫܺܡܥܽܘܢ ܓܰܪܺܒܳܐ" (Shim'un Garibo). Now things start to become clearer. "ܓܰܪܺܒܳܐ" (Garibo) can easily be confused with "ܓܰܪܳܒܳܐ" (Garobo) since Aramaic at that time was written without vowel markers.

-"ܓܰܪܺܒܳܐ" (Garibo) means POTTER or JAR MERCHANT where,
-"ܓܰܪܳܒܳܐ" (Garobo) means LEPER or SKIN DISEASE

Source: http://www.aramaicnt.org/HTML/MATTHEW/evidences/Simon.html

His argument is that the New Testament was originally written in Aramaic.

He goes on to say:



I have always believed that the New Testament was written in Koine Greek, with the possible exception of the first edition of the Gospel of Matthew.

Can anyone help me out with this?

Thank you.Dear Christian2,

All of the question which your thread brings up are valid areas of exploration. Recently, Maurice Casey has written some scholarly and provocative books on the issue. They might prove illuminating as a starting point.

All the best.

[Christian2]

Thank you to all who responded. I appreciate the input from all of you.