Biblical Hebrew Forum

["George Athas" <gathas AT hotkey.net.au>]

Hi Patrina!

I'd like to echo Trevor's remarks and say that Aramaic was sufficiently 
different from Hebrew as to be beyond the recognition of Hebrew speakers. The 
problem today is that Hebrew has attained a greater status than Aramaic, to 
the extent that we often get the impression that Aramaic is a dialectal 
derivative of Hebrew. I think that mistaken impression is due to Judean 
history and the use of the two languages through the centuries for the people 
of Judah.

However, the truth is quite different. In the ancient world, Aramaic was by 
far the more dominant language -- it had a wider sphere of influence and 
usage. The difference between Aramaic and Hebrew could be likened to the 
modern day difference between French and Italian: there is a lot of overlap, 
but not to the extent where one language is intelligible to the other.


Best regards,

GEORGE ATHAS
Lecturer in Biblical Languages
Southern Cross College
Sydney, Australia



  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Patrina 
  To: b-hebrew 
  Sent: Saturday, May 29, 2004 11:40 PM
  Subject: [b-hebrew] Understanding Aramaic & understanding Hebrew


  Please would someone explain to me whether Aramaic is different enough
  from Hebrew that speakers of one language wouldn't be able to understand
  speakers of the other language, or would they be able to follow the
  majority of it apart from an occasional word?  Previously I have assumed
  that the differences might be like me listening to Shakespeare's English
  compared to modern English.  For example, the Aramaic version of "My El,
  my El, why have you forsaken me?" being understood by a Hebrew speaker as
  "My El, my El, why have you slaughtered me?" is a thought that has
  crossed my mind, but I might be misunderstanding.

  I am puzzling over 2 Kings 18:26-28 about how much Hezekiah's people
  would, or wouldn't, have understood Rabshakeh delivering a message on
  behalf of the Assyrian King.  2 Kings 18:26 - "Then Eliakim the son of
  Hilkiah, and Shebnah and Joah, said to Rabshakeh, "Speak now to your
  servants in Aramaic, for we understand {it;} and do not speak with us in
  Judean in the hearing of the people who are on the wall." NASB

  I'm wondering about the above verse, because the implication is that the
  Judeans wouldn't be able to understand Aramaic, but Rabshakeh refuses to
  do as Eliakim, Shebnah and Joah ask, having the full intention to be
  understood by all the people within hearing of his voice (v.27). 
  Wouldn't the listeners have understood the gist of it fairly easily
  anyway?

  Patrina Nuske Small
  Adelaide, South Australia
  -- 
    Patrina
    patrina AT bestmail.us

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