Influence of Aramaic on Hebrew

October 6, 2018last updated on: October 6, 2018Jewish TextsAramaic, Dead Sea Scrolls, Hebrew, Jewish Script, Square ScriptCharles A. Sullivan

A graphic example showing the Aramaic influence on the Hebrew writing system.

As shown throughout this blog, the Hebrew language was heavily influenced, and almost overtaken by Aramaic. In the first century, only in the southern reaches of Israel did the Jewish the population continue to speak in Hebrew (with a few exceptions of course).

This influence is greatly shown in the shift in typography. Although Hebrew was retained in religious texts, the handwriting was changed from ancient Hebrew to an Aramaic style. Not only was the script changed but it also became the formally instituted one. The ancient Hebrew calligraphy was later reserved for the Samaritans and their texts, whom they greatly disliked.

The above image demonstrates the influence of Aramaic on the Hebrew writing system. The verse is a portion of Deuteronomy 31:24.

The Israelites around King David’s time used paleo-Hebrew as its writing system. The sample here is from the Samaritan Pentetauch which has traditionally maintained the paleo-Hebrew script even until today.¹
This Dead Sea Scroll example comes from a fragment.² It is written in Aramaic script but has a distinct Judaic influence. Some call it the Jewish Script, while others call it the Square Script. The image has been colourized by me from the black and white original for aesthetic purposes.
This sample is from the Aleppo Codex (10th century AD, copied in Tiberius, Israel).³ Before the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, this was one of the oldest Biblical Hebrew texts available. This style and period is called the Masoretic text. It is an advancement of the earlier Aramaic influenced Jewish Script. This has become the standard Hebrew religious script in use today.

For more information see The Role of Hebrew in the Jewish Aramaic World.

Praying in tongues, hymns and more: intro

September 25, 2018last updated on: October 8, 2018Gift of Tonguesangels, charismatic, Corinthians, Dead Sea Scrolls, ecstatic utterances, First Corinthians, glossolalia, hymns, men, Paul, Pentecostal, Praying in tongues, Psalms, songs, speaking in tongues, TalmudCharles A. Sullivan

Praying in tongues were part of Paul’s list of liturgical activities which include speaking in tongues, hymns, psalms and the amen construct found within the Corinthian assembly.

They all point to the fact that the Corinthian assembly had inherited the liturgical rites of their greater global Jewish community.

Continue reading Praying in tongues, hymns and more: intro →

The Dead Sea Scrolls, Jesus, and Paul

September 11, 2018last updated on: October 8, 2018Jewish Textscave, caves, Dead Sea Scrolls, DSS, Jesus, Jewish, Josephus, Masada, Messiah, New Testament, Paul, Philo, Purity, Qumran, Romans, Rome, Teacher of Righteousness, Temple, YaḥadCharles A. Sullivan

Capturing the spirit of first-century Judaism through the window of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the New Testament writings.

The Dead Sea Scrolls give an important look into first-century Jewish life from a mainly Jewish-Hebrew perspective; a genre lacking until their advent. Most of our extra-biblical knowledge of Israel during the first-century was previously drawn from Jewish Greek and Aramaic writers.

Continue reading The Dead Sea Scrolls, Jesus, and Paul →

9 Points on the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict

June 6, 2018last updated on: October 8, 2018Middle East Affairscharismatics, Christian Zionism, conflict, Israel, Israeli, Jew, Palestinian, Pentecostals, prophecy, Renewalists, solution, ZionismCharles A. Sullivan

Nine points Pentecostals and Charismatic families of churches must do to build healthy relationships with the nation of Israel, Jews, and Palestinians.

Pentecostals, traditional Charismatics, and third-wave Charismatics are collectively called Renewalists. They staunchly support the nation of Israel regardless of whatever behaviour this nation exhibits. Is this is a good thing?

No. It is not.

There is a great need within the Renewalist movement to build a fair and balanced relationship with the nation of Israel, Jews, and Palestinians. The current oral tradition is sorely lacking in this regard.

Continue reading 9 Points on the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict →

Tongues of Corinth Infographic

May 11, 2018last updated on: May 11, 2018Gift of TonguesAeolic, Aramaic, Attic, custom, Doric, Egaria, Epiphanius, Greek, Hebrew, interpreter, Jewish, Procopius, Public Reader, reader, rite, speaking in tongues, Talmud, Tongues, tradition, translate, translatorCharles A. Sullivan

A history of speaking, interpreting, and reading from 500 B.C. to 400 A.D. in Judaism and early Christianity.

An interactive infographic to help you navigate Paul’s world and how these offices later evolved in the Christian Church. Clicking on the image will bring you to the full interactive site.

Paul’s mention of speaking in tongues in I Corinthians is deeply wrapped in the Jewish identity. The same goes for his understanding of speaking, reading, and interpreting of tongues. These rites have a rich history that goes well over 800 years. The initial origins are deeply connected to the times of Ezra.

Here is the link to the Corinthian Tongues Infographic if clicking the image does not work.

The reference to speaking and interpreting in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians is entirely distinct from the miracle of Pentecost—for information about Pentecost see A History of Tongues in the Catholic Church and related articles found at the Gift of Tongues Project.

The customs of speaking, interpreting, and public reading are deeply embedded in Jewish tradition and inherited by the early church. Paul, if he was alive today, would be surprised at how the modern interpretations are so different than his intentions.

The Renewalist Response to the Gift of Tongues Project

March 20, 2018last updated on: May 21, 2018Gift of Tonguescharismatic, Pentecostal, renewalist, response, speaking in tongues, Third Wave, TonguesCharles A. Sullivan

Current Pentecostal, Charismatic, and Third Wave responses to the Gift of Tongues Project.

A number of readers have asked me lately about the response from the Renewalist communities (Pentecostals, the Charismatic Movement, and affiliations) to the Gift of Tongues Project. Here are a few observations.

An opinion piece

The reader must be aware that the following responses are feelings, opinions, and hunches that are harvested from a very narrow set of data. The results are from personal observations and conversations within the Renewalist communities about speaking in tongues. It is also from data gathered from my website, Facebook ads, and a focus group. Still, even with all these tools at hand, this is speculative and subject to change. Neither do these thoughts align with the standards set out in The Gift of Tongues Project which has a more rigorous objective framework.

Continue reading The Renewalist Response to the Gift of Tongues Project →

Greek, Hellenic Judaism and the problem tongues of Corinth

February 1, 2018last updated on: October 8, 2018Gift of TonguesAeolic, Ancient Greece, Aramaic, Attic, Corinth, Corinthian, dialect, Doric, ethnic, Greek, Hebrew, Hellenism, Hellenistas, Jews, Judaism, koine, language, linguistic, Paul, Septuagint, TonguesCharles A. Sullivan

A look at the problem tongues of Corinth being an internal linguistic struggle between Doric, Aeolic, and Attic Greeks.

This is part 2 of an 7 part series on the mystery tongues of Corinth. Part 1, The Role of Hebrew in the Jewish Aramaic World, covered how Hebrew became the language of religion and worship in Aramaic Judaism. The precedence about Hebrew established here transferred over to Jews living in a Greek world.

When you add that the ancient synagogue liturgy of Hebrew as the language of instruction was adopted in the Corinthian assembly, then we are getting close to finding a good answer to the question of Corinthian tongues.

This conclusion is greatly strengthened by a fourth-century church father by the name of Epiphanius. He did not stop at explaining the tongues of Corinth as being a problem of Hebrew instruction. He further commented it was a linguistic conflict between Doric, Aeolic, and Attic Greeks.

Continue reading Greek, Hellenic Judaism and the problem tongues of Corinth →

The role of Hebrew in the Jewish-Aramaic World

January 25, 2018last updated on: October 8, 2018Gift of TonguesAramaic, Babylonians, Canaanite, Corinth, Corinthians, Ezra, faith, Greek, Hebrew, Israel, Jewish, Jewish Script, Josephus, language, languages, literature, liturgy, Parthians, Paul, Persian, Phoenician, Public Reading, script, Talmud, Tongues, worshipCharles A. Sullivan

The influence of Aramaic and Hebrew on Jewish life around the first-century.

The goal of any information gleaned from this inquiry is to find a possible connection with Hebrew being a part of the first-century Corinthian liturgy. A subsequent purpose is to confirm or deny an assertion by the fourth-century Bishop of Salamis, Epiphanius, that the mystery tongues of Corinth had its roots in the Hebrew language.

We cannot assume any synagogue outside of Israel, let alone Corinth, used the Hebrew language as part of their religious service. So, it requires digging deeper into the relationship between Hebrew and Aramaic to find answers.

Continue reading The role of Hebrew in the Jewish-Aramaic World →

A Jewish-Greek Perspective on the Tongues of Corinth

January 22, 2018last updated on: October 15, 2018Gift of TonguesAramaic, Bible, catholic, Corinth, Corinthians, Greek, Hebrew, Hellenized, Jerusalem, Jewish, language, literature, liturgy, Paul, research, Roman, Roman Empire, Tongues, worship, YavnehCharles A. Sullivan

The following is a journey into identifying speaking in tongues through Hebrew and Greek Jewish traditions.

This is an introduction to a series of articles devoted to this subject.

Researching Jewish traditions about speakers and interpreters has uncovered two very important customs that are so close to Paul’s narrative that it would be hard to call them accidental parallels. The first solution relates to the reading out loud of Scripture in Hebrew with an immediate translation in the local vernacular. The second one is the custom of instructing in Hebrew and providing a translation into the local language.

There is also a third alternative: the use of Aramaic as the principal language of conflict in Corinth. This could be a solution if more information comes forward. For the time being it will be relegated a distant third option and only small snippets of this subject will be addressed. The majority of this series will be devoted to the first two concepts.

These first two options have existed all along but few have paid attention to them in the Christian community. This Jewish-centric approach has been minimized for two reasons: antisemitism and ignorance of Jewish literature in both Catholic and Protestant communities, and the hyper-emphasis on the Greek and Latin cultures to exclusivity by rationalist scholars in the 1800s.

The option of instructing in Hebrew with a translation into the local language best fits the Corinthian narrative. However, the rite of public reading in Hebrew with an immediate translation into the local language does have some strengths that cannot be discounted. The solution could even be a mixture of the two.

Continue reading A Jewish-Greek Perspective on the Tongues of Corinth →

Tongues of Corinth teaser

December 10, 2017last updated on: December 10, 2017Gift of TonguesCharles A. Sullivan

A sample of an interactive web series on the tongues of Corinth from a Jewish perspective.

This is only a screen shot of the interactive web page in development. Because of this, the rollovers and information links won’t work. The graphic shows the first tab. The second and third tabs are still a work in progress.

tongues of Corinth from a Jewish perspective

Please note: the previously published articles on the tongues of Corinth available at the Gift of Tongues Project are going to be phased out and completely replaced by new ones. The information will not change, but the new articles will align with the structure supplied in this interactive web page.

Your feedback would greatly be appreciated on the layout, design, and information.

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