The Gospel of John in Syriac

The Gospel of John in Syriac and English

The gospel of John is written in Greek, expressing Hebrew concepts. When I read the gospel of John in Modern Hebrew, I found myself understanding clearer. I can see how John uses the concepts of the Old Testament. Many concepts are flowing from Old Testament to New Testament.

But the main message was translated without any problem. The world that Jesus lived in is the world that we live in. The main message that John understood was that Jesus is God and wants his students to love one another.

Jesus was speaking in Aramaic (Syriac) to communicate with his hearers. So, Jesus was “translated” into our language. Jesus was living in another culture. When we read the gospel of John in Syriac (Aramaic), we see some Semitic culture catching our attention. For examples:

l      In John 8: 13-14 we learned that the phrase “I am” conveys a thought of eternal existence reserved only for God in his culture. Otherwise you might wonder: Why did they try to kill Jesus for saying that he is “I am”?

l      You can translate John 8: 26: “You do not empty yourselves to make room for my word.” I love that imagery.

l      If you read John 3: 8, in Syriac or Hebrew, you can see the wordplay. Jesus was using the Hebrew word “Ruach” or the Aramaic/Syriac word “Rukha,” to say spirit and wind. It is the same word. So you see why Jesus compared the movement of spirit with wind.

l      In Syriac and Hebrew a same word can express “work,” “service” and “worship.” (John 9: 4)

l      In Semitic culture, prostrating oneself before God is the most submissive form of worship. Religious concepts can be very cultural concepts.

l      Jesus lived a culture having a word to express the concept of purifying oneself, especially in the context of a ritual washing prior to worship or priestly service. (John 9: 7) Muslims maintain this concept still. It is cultural.

l      When we read John 7: 9-10, in Hebrew and Syriac, we find “in Galilee (v 9)” and “openly (v 10)” sound very similar. John may have been poetic about his writing, by mentioning Galilee, and then saying, “Jesus went up to the feast secretly, not openly.”

l      When we read John 8: 10-11, in Syriac, we find Mawtha (death) and Matha (to come) sounds similar. “You will die in your sins and where I go you cannot come.”

If you go to http://www.peshitta.org/ you will find much possible wordplay in the footnote area.

Reading the gospel of John, I even wonder whether the gospel writer was thinking in Aramaic. He uses only limited vocabularies. For example, other gospel writer, Luke used way more vocabularies than him. (numbers)

The gospel writer may have been teaching in Aramaic. But now he was telling the story of Jesus to the people who speak in Greek. So, if we read in Syriac, we may discover how the author was translating things in his head. He may have been thinking in Aramaic (Syriac). Or someone is pretending to be John who didn’t speak fluent Greek.

Among many Syriac translations, I am using the Syriac Peshitta version of the gospel of John here.

Since I am not saying the Syriac version is more authentic, I would like to write how the gospel author is telling the story in Greek.

The most popular example appears when Jesus was asking Peter whether he loves him. Jesus asked Peter two times, whether he loves (agape) him. Peter answers two times that he loves (phileo) him. And at the end Jesus then says whether he even loves (phileo) him. Peter is saying that at least he loves (phileo) him. In this conversation Peter does not dare to say he loves (agape) him. Why? Because after he denied Jesus, he obtained some humility. Jesus then simply guided to love him and thus serve him. You can see a lot of thoughts were passing between Jesus and Peter in this short conversation. The gospel writer was obviously catching those unheard conversation and sharing with us.

After all, when I read the story of Jesus in another language, we find different nuance. Sometimes, the meaing becomes clearer. It all helps us to comprehend the story of Jesus better.

Translation

I hope that you will get used to reading Syriac Gospel. I wish you will read the Gospel in Syriac or Modern Hebrew. I hope that you have already studied the basic grammar of Syriac or Hebrew.

The purpose of this book is to read in Syriac and learn John’s way of storytelling. Read the gospel of John over and over. It will become easier and boost your confidence. 

 I translate literally into English. Syriac is a poetic language. They express poetic concepts often. I translate respecting Syriac way of expressing. For example, they don’t say, “I have money.” They say, “There is money for me.” It has different nuance. When it tries to emphasize something they say for example, “you love I.” It means “it is you that I love.”

At least I didn’t translate here as “There is money for me,” or “You love I.” But I am trying to translate literally. But I confess that in some part I chose to translate certain way for a theological reason. I couldn’t help myself.

            I love to read Modern Hebrew Gospel of John. It is a wonderful blessing for me to read the story of Jesus in Syriac as well. When I read in Hebrew, I feel I am more in tune with Jesus. I wonder “why did Jesus use those words?” I feel how Jesus might have thought. I sense how Jesus and his Jewish disciples would have thought about certain teachings of Jesus.