Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Harold R. Holmyard III" <hholmyard AT ont.com>]

Dear Jim,

> Read James C wrote:
>
> >  I think it is possible to find books which support just
> >  about every thought in the world conceivable. But it is clear
> >  from the ancient writings what their opinions were on these
> >  things, whether a person accepts them as authentic or not.
> >  Putting magic overtones on the declaration which was clearly
> >  directed to the El $aDai of the hebrew bible is ludicrous at
> >  best and can only be entertained by lovers of controversy.
>
> That is certainly true.  Even the position which suggests that the red
> letter bible contains the very words, in king james english, that jesus
> spoke.  Further, that Acts has to say that christians (!) took their
> magical books and burned them means at least two things- 1) there were
> christians who HAD magic books and used them, and 2) they were led to a
> better understanding of prayer then they previously held (which means
> that previously they held that prayer and magic were interrelated).
> Acts itself proves my contention.

HH: My impression has always been that these were people brought to 
faith by the spectacle of the demons jumping on the Jewish exorcists 
(Acts 19:14-16). This news spread to everyone, bringing honor to 
Christ's name and causing many to believe. So these were probably new 
converts, and their magical books related to their lives before they 
had faith in Christ:

Acts 19:17 And this became known to all the Jews and also the Greeks 
living at Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the 
Lord Jesus was magnified.
Acts 19:18 And many who had believed came, and confessed, and 
announced their practices.
Acts 19:19 And a considerable number of those practicing magic 
brought their books together and burned them before everyone. And 
they counted their value and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver.

Paul had come to a relatively unevangelized Ephesus. The only 
disciples mentioned at first were twelve disciples of John the 
Baptist.

                                Yours,
                                Harold Holmyard
> From hholmyard AT ont.com  Fri Jul 22 15:52:32 2005
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Dear Peter

> Well, there are several apparently Aramaic words recorded in
> transliteration in Mark's gospel, e.g. TALIQA in 5:41 and SABACQANI in
> 15:34 (Q = theta, C = chi), and an apparently Hebrew one, ELWI = Elohi
> in 15:34 (W = omega). Translations into Greek are given for all of them,
> just as for "Abba". One interpretation is that Jesus was always speaking
> Aramaic. Another is that Jesus was normally speaking Hebrew which was
> translated into Greek, and the few Aramaic words preserved are preserved
> to show their distinctively Aramaic nature.


HH: Another source that thinks Mark 15:34 involves Aramaic is the NET 
Bible. Here is a note that it has on the verse:

sn Perhaps the crowd thought Jesus was calling for Elijah because the 
exclamation "my God, my God" (i.e., in Aramaic, Eloi, Eloi) sounds 
like the name Elijah.

                                Yours,
                                Harold Holmyard