Learn John 3:16 in Aramaic
Dr. Rocco A. Errico is an ordained minister, international lecturer and author, spiritual counselor, and one of the nation’s leading Biblical scholars working from the original Aramaic Peshitta texts. He also holds a special title of Teacher, Prime Exegete, Maplana d’miltha dalaha, among the Federation of St. Thomas Christians of the order of Antioch.
John 3:16 in Aramaic vs King James
Hello, I’m Dr. Erico, and I’m going to read to you from the Aramaic text, but translate it as I am reading it. This is what the Aramaic text looks like, and this was the language of Jesus. He taught and healed people speaking this language. I’m going to read to you one of the most famous verses in John that people actually know everywhere. It’s John 3:16, but it is different in Aramaic. The was the oriigna language in which John’s gospel was written. Normally we hear the verse as “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”
Now, I’m going to translate it as I’m reading the text here in Aramaic. It says, “For God loved the world so much so that he would give his son, the sole heir, so that anyone who believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life or life eternal.” If you notice the difference, it says, “For God loved the world so much so that he would give.” The tense is different in most English translationselse they change it to “for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son“. This is Jesus speaking. And when we’re reading this third chapter and the 16th verse in the gospel of John, it’s in the past tense and it shouldn’t be. Jesus was talking to Nicodemus and to all those that were there, but basically aiming at it at, Nicodemus, the Pharisee teacher who was there; who came to inquire of Jesus. Now this famous verse is quoted everywhere in churches and on billboards. But what it really says is “For God loved the world so much so that “he would “give”, not that he “gave”, because Jesus is talking to Nicodemus. He hasn’t gone to the cross yet. So there’s a mistake in the Greek, but in the Aramaic new Testament it is “he would give”
Then the term “only begotten”is something that St. Jerome did in the fourth century. When he went from the old Latin to the Latin Vulgate, he added the term “begotten” because in the old Latin it says “his only son.” The word in Aramaic is “Eheedaya “. And it means and refers to “the first born son” in any ancient, Semitic, Near Eastern family. Why did they use the term “only”? Because it means he is the sole heir, the one who will take care of his brothers and sisters and his parents as they age. It is not that the gave his only begotten son but rather that God would give his beloved son the sole heir. And that was a tremendous statement to make in those days. Jesus used it as an illustration meaning that God would allow men to take Jesus and crucify him, that he may show a new way of life for human beings and to reveal that life is eternal.