Was the New Testament Originally Written in Aramaic?

[ebion]

Western Tradition teaches that New Testament is written in Greek while many of Eastern Tradition, especially Apostolic Church of the East (ACofE) teaches that New Testament is written in Aramaic. The Aramaic NT is called Aramaic PeshittA. (PeshittA is used to denote the earlier Eastern Peshittas, said by the Church of the East to have been given by the Apostles themselves - Thomas and/or Bartholomew; PeshittO is used for later manuscripts that were brought into conformance with the Greek NT, by adding books and verses.)

According to the Hebrew Historian Josephus, Greek wasn't spoken in first century Israel. Josephus also points out the extreme rarity in terms of a Hebrew (a.k.a Judean) knowing Greek in first century AD. Josephus wrote:

"I have also taken a great deal of pains to obtain the learning of the Greeks, and understand the elements of the Greek language, although I have so long accustomed myself to speak our own tongue, that I cannot pronounce Greek with sufficient exactness; for our nation does not encourage those that learn the languages of many nations, and so adorn their discourses with the smoothness of their periods; because they llook upon this sort of accomplishment as common, not only to all sorts of free-men, but to as many of the servants as please to learn them. But they give him the testimony of being a wise man who is fully acquainted with our laws, and is able to interpret their meaning; on which account, as there have been many who have done their endeavors with great patience to obtain this learning, there have yet hardly been so many as two or three that have succeeded therein, who were immediately well rewarded for their pains."
(Antiquities of Judeans XX, XI.)

Josephus' testimony on "Greek wasn't spoken in first century Palestine" and "the extreme rarity in terms of a Palestinian knowing Greek" are also arguments for "PeshittA Primacy" of the New Testament. But the real arguments are the TR passages that reading the Aramaic fixes, my favourite being Philemon 1:7 KJV. There are also a lot of word plays that show up in the Aramaic that are lost in the Greek. Although many of the examples would also hold in Hebrew, some of them do not.

Raphael Lataster/Christopher Lancaster wrote a book called Was the New Testament Really Written in Greek1e
where he gives a long list of examples where he demonstrates PeshittA primacy - I find it convincing. The theological differences to the GNT are not huge, but are significant.

Take a look and see what you think. It's not a big book - you can read it in an evening.

Disclaimer: The author of this book has a download page that disclaims the book. His theology has now turned toward mythiscm, and his new book is called: "There was no Jesus, and there is no God."

PS: Questions in this thread from people who obviously haven't read the book will be ignored, and we don't reply to posts in this thread by StephenGoranson,Ulan as we do not see them.

[ebion]

I want to distinguish between the PeshittA and the PeshitO. The Early PeshittA codicies are the original, and have been carefully curated by the Apostolic Church of the East, and have near perfect agreement regardless of the century they date from. The PeshittO are a family of manuscripts that were brought into conformance with the Greek over time.

To add a little to the possibility of confusion, there are not really pure PeshittO manuscripts, and there are different recensions or families of PeshittO (Harklean, Philoxean...), and the English translations of the PeshittO are often referred to as Western, rather than the Eastern PeshittA. The difference is theologically important, as well as the quality of the curation of the texts. Shamasha Paul Younan, an Assyrian CoE deacon says this:

The Western text manuscripts have been compromised to varying degrees, as they were made by a few groups which wanted to bring the Peshitt* more inline with the Greek text in a few places, which supported their Christology, but this is just a few verses, and by and large, but for some spelling of names and places, and some dialectical differences, they are much the same text as that of The Original Eastern PeshittA's text.

Because there is no carefully curated mother-lode PeshittO manuscript, the Western translations into English tend to be "critical editions" where the English is based on an amalgam of underlying Aramaic scripts, sortakinda like the way Erasamus did (4+ versions) of his "best of" Greek texts (and excluded the worst like Vaticanus).

The PeshittA never had 5 books from the GreekTR: Revelations, Jude, 3John, 2John, 2Peter. (called the Western five W5). So to bring the PeshittO more inline with the Greek text to support their Christology, most but not all PeshittO manuscripts added the W5 ytanslated into Aramaic from the Greek.

There are not many PeshittO text amalgams in English:

• Gwilliam and Pusey's 1901 critical edition of the Peshitta (which included 39 western Peshitto manuscripts and 3 eastern Peshitta manuscripts.) which I think formed the basis for the United Bible Societies 1905 critical version, which included to Philoxenian W4, plus the Crawford Codex book of Revelations.

PeshittO translations into English based on these were done by of the UBS/BFBS base

• The Antioch Bible which is put out by Gorgias Press, is based on the 1905/1920 BFBS printed edition, with new edits, and is a thus a recent product of the Western PeshittO type text in Serto script.
• The Way International with a concordance http://theway.org
• Jan Magiera's Aramaic Peshitta New Testament: Vertical Interlinear (3 Volumes) with a lexicon http://lightofword.org
• Murdock's New Testament (Syriac Peshito)

(For simplicity we ignore the Cureton and Syriac Sinaiticus.)

In a case where the difference does not matter, we may use Peshitt? or Peshitt* (pl.).
Links:

• The Eastern Peshitta vs. The Western Peshitto
• http://peshitta.org/for/showthread.php?tid=1927
• http://peshitta.org/for/showthread.php?tid=1928
• Syriac Bible
• Lexicon to the Syriac New Testament (Peshitta) : with copious references, dictions, names of persons and places, and some various readings found in the Curetonian, Sinaitic palimpsest, Philoxenian...
• The Palestinian Syriac lectionary of the Gospels by Agnes Smith Lewis, Margaret Dunlop Gibson

Forum Threads:

• viewtopic.php?p=161924#p161924
• viewtopic.php?p=164027#p164027

[ebion]

There are at least 4 or 5 Early PeshittA Codicies (used by the Apostolic Church of the East) that have near perfect agreement regardless of the century they date from:

• The Yonan Codex ( 5th to 7th c.)
• The Khabouris Codex, (11th c. copy of 4 c.?)
• The 1199 Houghton Codex (Ashael Grant)
• The Goodspeed MS (not complete; 6th or 7th c.)
• The Mingana Codex (dated 1613)

Shamasha Paul Younan, a Assyrian CoE deacon says this:

As I have compared hundreds of verses between the Eastern manuscripts I can look at myself, I have not seen any variants of any note, from Goodspeed of the 6th century, to the Khabouris of the 10th-12th century, the 1199 Houghton Ms, the 1613 A.D. Mingana...they all read the same, verbatim. I have found only 2 or three scribal errors as I said so far in the Khabouris, which are not made in the others.

I don't think we will find a 100% perfect copy, but I think the Mingana is as close as it gets in manuscript form.

There's a good listing of all of the early Syriac bible manuscripts at Online Resources for Peshitta; The purpose of this page is to concentrate in one place, resources found on the internet that relate to the Aramaic Bible in his best-known version, the Peshitta

They are almost all checkable on www.dukhrana.com. For example, it shows John 5:7-8, the Johannine Comma, is missing from:

• Khabouris Codex Khabouris_C - 359 (1John 4:19 - 5:14)
• Peshitta New Testament, New York, 1886 PNT_NY_1886 - 587 (1John 4:19 - 5:9)
• Peshitta New Testament, New York, 1886 PNT_NY_1886_UBonn - 46873 (1John 4:19 - 5:
• MS Syriac 148 (Mingana Collection) M_Syr_148 - 225a (1John 5:6 - 5:17)
• Peshitta New Testament in Malayalam, 1939 PNT_Malayalam - 0987 (1John 5:1 - 5:12)

Etheridge is an OK open Eastern Peshitta translation and it's online:

Etheridge(i)
7 and the Spirit testifieth, because the Spirit himself is truth.
8 And there are three that testify, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood; and these three are in one.
9 If the testimony of men we receive, how much greater is the testimony of Aloha? and this is the testimony which Aloha hath testified concerning his Son.

This example also shows, as always, there are no differences between the PeshittA codices. And the Johannine Comma is a good example of being able to answer NT questions by simply looking in the PeshittA.

I strongly agree with the premise of "The quality, and age, and therefore the importance of the Syriac witnesses to the New Testament", and the Johannine Comma is a good example.

Hence the manuscripts Sola scriptura are non-Trinitarian.

[ebion]

The reference for the Assyrian Church of the East (ACofE) New Testament is the PeshittA, and the best texts are online in Aramaic at www.dukhrana.com.

Even if you at least start with the right language, translating the Peshitta has some requirements on the English end of the translation. Tyndale wrote a book that explains in detail his reasons for the critical choices of translation he made of those "et. cetera" words. These changes are major and systematic, and change the whole flavour of the KJV relative to a real Tyndale bible like Matthew's, which nonetheless are the root of the bibles that the KJV was made from. We've summarized the Post Vulgate English Conventions for the Ebionaen Canon in a different thread.

There is an OK open translation into English of the PeshittA texts by Etheridge which is online at one of those sites you can compare texts: https://studybible.info:

What I think is the best English Translation of the PeshittA from Aramaic (by far) is the https://www.thearamaicscriptures.com (HAS) and they are on the web by chapter. My criteria for "best" is not only the quality of the texts and the fidelity of the translation, but their choice of words in English.

As a convenience, here is a pointer to the copy in the Internet Archive, which may be slightly out of date:

• Matthew
• Mark
• Luke
• John
• Acts
• James
• Romans
• 1st Corinthians
• 2nd Corinthians
• Galatians
• Ephesians
• Philippians
• Colossians
• 1st Thessalonians
• 2nd Thessalonians
• 1st timothy
• 2nd Timothy
• Titus
• Philemon
• Hebrews
• 1st Peter
• 1st John

The Eastern PeshittA does not contain the books of 3John, 2John, 2Peter Jude, Revelation. I don't think they refused them; it's more that their canon closed circa 250 AD before those books were written, or in wide circulation in the East (Antioch). We'll feel from to add them back into our Early Ebionaen Canon, from what ever the best texts are: Greek, Syriac or Coptic.

[RandyHelzerman]

The Eastern PeshittA does not contain the books of 3John, 2John, 2Peter Jude, Revelation. I don't think they refused them; it's more that their canon closed before those books were written or in wide circulation in the East (Antioch)

Looks like they were big fans of all 5 of the Beatles, tho.

[ebion]

It's use this thread to collect the best of PeshittA->GNT differences and will try to pull out a list of difference into a Commentary that can be read alongside any NT so we can see them.

But I just stumbled across one that rocketed up to near the top of my favorites list, Even though I usually ignore the Faulines, some of the doozies are from there, and they reinforce the thesis that (almost?) all the books of the NT were originally in Aramaic.

From (Romans 13:1 [KJV]):

Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.

This has been used for centuries to argue, sometimes from the pulpit, that Christians must submit to the authority of Kings, Bishops, Tyrants and Usurpers. The translation in the KJV is Tyndale's - it's the same words in Matthew's.

But that argument doesn't make sense: the only power a soul can be subject to must be a power in heaven, not on earth. Now look at the HAS translation of the PeshittA:

Now then, we are obligated; we who are strong; to bear up the weaknesses of the feeble, and not be pleasing unto our souls, but, a man from us should be pleasing unto his companion in the good things, according to that which builds * or, edifies *.
(Romans 13:1-2 [HAS])

I don't pretend to understand it, and don't care to because it's from the Faulines, but note the starkness of the difference from the Greek. And the Aramaic could not be used to argue that Christians should submit to tyrants.

[ebion]

This is the Table of Contents to Was the New Testament Really Written in Greek, with the verses, in case you want to check a verse. I''ll draw these up into a sword commentary that can be read alongside any bible.

• 1. Split Words – Undeniable Evidence of Peshitta Primacy
  • 1. Burn or boast? – 1Corinthians 13:3
  • 2. Be an imitator or be zealous? – 1Peter 3:13
  • 3. Power or covering? - 1Corinthians 11:10
  • 4. Her children or her deeds? – Matthew 11:19 / Luke 7:35 / Colossians 3:6-7
  • 5. To compare or to represent? – Mark 4:30
  • 6. Those who are strong or who have power? – Revelation 6:15
  • 7. Saying or thinking? – John 11:31
  • 8. Through the gate or door? – Luke 13:24
  • 9. Suffer or tolerate? – Revelation 2:20
  • 10. To hope or wait? – Romans 8:24
  • 11. In Him, on Him or into Him? – John 3:15
  • 12. Angry or merciful? – Mark 1:41
  • 13. Because, when or since? – John 12:41
  • 14. Beginning or firstfruits? – 2Thessalonians 2:13
  • 15. We shall or let us? – 1Corinthians 15:49
  • 16. Whatsoever place or as many as? – Mark 6:11
  • 17. Disregarded or heard? – Mark 5:36
  • 18. I or she? – Luke 7:45
  • 19. Walking or passing on? – Mark 1:16
  • 20. Paraptoma or hamartia? – James 5:16
  • 21. Of salvation or of life? – Matthew 16:16
  • 22. Alms or righteousness? – Matthew 6:1
  • 23. Heart or understanding? – Ephesians 1:18
  • 24. Bowels or love? – Philippians 1:8, 2:1 / Colossians 3:12 / Philemon 7, Philemon 12, Philemon 20 / [I John 3:17 [KJV]]
  • 25. Sit or dwell? – Revelation 14:6
  • 26. Shout or voice? – Revelation 14:18
  • 27. To permit or send? – Matthew 8:31
  • 28. Marvelled or afraid? – Matthew 9:8
  • 29. Wearied or harassed? – Matthew 9:36
  • 30. Another or the next? – Matthew 10:23
  • 31. Commandment, word or law? – Matthew 15:6
  • 32. The Big One! A QUADRUPLE split word. Prisoner, servant, bondsman, apostle
  • 33. Beloved or sister? – Philemon 1:2
  • 34. Given to her or it? – Revelation 13:15
  • 35. The Even Bigger One! A SEPTUPLE split word. Intemperate, unclean, unjust,
  • 36. Wedding or wedding hall? – Matthew 22:10
  • 37. Another or neighbor? – James 4:12
  • 38. Irritated or denied? – Acts 3:14
• 2. Semi Split Words
  • 1. Hardly die for a righteous man or a wicked man? – Romans 5:7
  • 2. Why hast thou forsaken me or why have you spared me? – Matthew 27:46 / Mark
  • 3. Camel or rope? – Matthew 19:24 / Mark 10:25 / Luke 18:25
  • 4. Give not a holy thing or hang not earrings? - Matthew 7:6
  • 5. Simon the leper or potter/jar maker? – Matthew 26:6 / Mark 14:3
  • 6. Eunuch or believer? – Matthew 19:12 / Acts 8:27
  • 7. Hate or put aside? – Luke 14:26
  • 8. Salted or scattered/destroyed? – Mark 9:49
  • 9. This generation or this family? – Mark 13:30
  • 10. Pains or cords? – Acts 2:24
  • 11. Bed or coffin? – Revelation 2:20
  • 12. House or among? – Matthew 11:8
  • 13. Voice or sound? – Acts 9:7
  • 14. Teacher or my great one? – Matthew 23:8
  • 15. Perform repeatedly or revert? – Romans 2:1-3
  • 16. Given up to vile passions or diseases of disgrace? – Romans 1:26
  • 17. Cities or talents? – Luke 19:17-19
  • 18. Gall or anger? – Acts 8:23
  • 19. Feet or foot soldiers? – Romans 3:15
  • 20. World or land of Israel? – Acts 11:28
  • 27. And in these days came prophets from Jerusalem unto Antioch.
  • 21. Good and food or much and cheer? – Acts 14:17
  • 22. Peace or cultivated land? – James 3:18
  • 23. Peace or cultivated land? Again… – Acts 12:20
  • 24. Join or touch? – Acts 5:13
  • 25. Perfected or finished? – Luke 13:32
  • 26. Walk or work? – Luke 13:33
  • 27. Priest or priests? – Mark 1:44
• 3. Poetry and Word Plays
  • 1. The beauty that is “Janus Parallelism” – Matthew 13:31-32
  • 2. A word play of common roots for love, owe and neighbour – Romans 13:8
  • 3. The Lord’s Prayer – Matthew 6:9-13
  • 4. Paul the poet! – Philippians 4:8
  • 5. Jesus on mithla and miltha – Luke 8:11
  • 6. The Beatitudes – Matthew 5:3-12
  • 7. Jesus the poet! – Luke 7:32
  • 8. Oceans of wordplay – Luke 12
  • 9. Signs and miracles – John 4:48
  • 10. Kh’da over the Khad – Luke 15:4-5
  • 11. We are not forsaken – 2Corinthians 4:8-9
  • 12. Separating Pharisees – Luke 17:18-20
  • 13. Simpler and prettier in the Aramaic – Romans 4:25
  • 14. Triple slavery word play – Luke 7:8
  • 15. Amazing poetry with a hidden meaning – 1Timothy 3:16
  • 16. Even foxes have holes – Luke 9:58
  • 17. Concentrated poetry – 1Timothy 5:10
  • 18. Awesome foursome word play – Luke 7:41-42
  • 19. Triple wordplay to Semites in Thessalonica – 1Thessalonians 1:3-5
  • 20. You did not dance nor lament – Matthew 11:17
  • 21. Stephen the poet! – Acts 7:24-26
  • 22. God rewards “non-braggers” – Matthew 6:3-4
  • 23. Parallelisms in the Gospels – Matthew 5:45
  • 24. Revealing poetry – Revelation 17:17
  • 25. Semitic rhyming – Hebrews 12:3
  • 26. Crumbs from the table – Luke 16:21
  • 27. Creative Semitic writing to Titus “the Greek” – Titus 3:4-5
  • 28. Afflicted one – Acts 9:33-34
• 4. Semitic Idioms
  • 1. Pick up snakes – Mark 16:18
  • 2. Cut it off and pluck it out – Mark 9:43-47
  • 3. Eyes of your heart – Ephesians 1:18
  • 4. Of the household – Ephesians 2:19
  • 5. Bowels of Jesus – Philippians 1:8, 2:1 / Colossians 3:12 / Philemon 7, 12, 20 /
  • 6. His face was set – Luke 9:53
  • 7. Their phylacteries and borders – Matthew 23:5
  • 8. Who shall declare his generation? – Acts 8:33
  • 9. Pressed in the spirit – Acts 18:5
  • 10. Son of its hour – Matthew 13:5
  • 11. High mountain – Matthew 4:8 / Luke 4:5
  • 12. To go – John 12:11
  • 13. Son of peace – Luke 10:6
  • 14. Slow of heart and heart burn – Luke 24:25 / Luke 24:32
  • 15. How your breath should depart – Luke 12:11-12
  • 16. Son of his city – Hebrews 8:11
• 5. Miscellaneous Proofs – Minor Variants, Loan Words, Bad Greek
  • 1. Numerous Aramaic loan words in the Greek – Luke 1:15 / Matthew 12:10 / Luke
  • 2. Lambs, sheep, sheep? Or lambs, sheep, goats? Or lambs, rams, ewes? – John
  • 3. Miracle or miracles? – John 6:14
  • 4. Bad Greek grammar in Revelation – Revelation
    • 1. Rev. 1:4 "Grace to you, and peace, from he who is and who was and who is to come" (all nom. case)
    • 2. Rev. 1:15 "His legs were like burnished brass (neut. gender dative case) as in a furnace purified"
    • 3. Rev. 11:3 "My witness (nom.) shall prophesy for many days clothed (accus.) in sackcloth."
    • 4. Rev. 14:14 "I saw on the cloud one seated like unto a Son of Man (accus.) having (nom.) upon his
    • 5. Rev. 14:19 "He harvested the vintage of the earth, and cast it into the winepress (fem), the great
    • 6. Rev. 17:4 "A golden cup filled with abominations (gen.) and with unclean things" (accus.)
    • 7. Rev. 19:20 "The lake of blazing (fem.) fire (neut.).
    • 8. Rev. 20:2 "And he seized the dragon (accus.), the old serpent (nom.) who is the Devil and Satan, and
    • 9. Rev. 21:9 "Seven angels holding seven bowls (accus.) filled (gen.) with the seven last plagues."
    • 10. Rev. 22:5 "They have no need of lamplight (gen.) nor of sunlight (accus.).
  • 5. The Greek NT quotes the Septuagint? – Matthew 11:10
  • 6. Which or no which? – Acts 10:36
  • 7. Semitic parallelisms in the supposedly Greek Bible – 1Peter 2:14 et al
  • 8. Jesus the non-Levitical high priest – Hebrews 3:1
  • 9. Burnished brass? – Revelation 1:15 / Revelation 2:18
  • 10. For, but or and? – 2Corinthians 2:1
  • 11. Greek Primacist United Bible Society “jumping ship”? – Acts 10:36
  • 12. The Greek NT quotes the Septuagint? Again? – Matthew 22:44
  • 13. A crowd or the crowd? – John 12:12
  • 14. Abba abba – Galatians 4:6
  • 15. Thief or thieves? – 1Thesssalonians 5:4
  • 16. The alpha and the O – Revelation 1:8 / Revelation 21:6 / Revelation 22:13
  • 17. Not even missing – Matthew 8:10
  • 18. Can’t you leave the old reading alone? – Hebrews 1:3
  • 19. As someone somewhere testified – Hebrews 2:6
  • 20. Aramaic explaining Aramaic is no proof of Greek primacy – Mark 3:17 / Mark
  • 21. Galilee of the Gentiles, Greeks or Arameans? – Matthew 4:15
  • 22. Contention or contentions? – Titus 3:9
  • 23. Must the Scriptures be written in a “global language”? – 2Timothy 3:16 / Acts
  • 24. Chief and chief? Or chief and elder? – Acts 18:8, 17
  • 25. Peshitta Unoriginal? If so, it is STILL Superior, Due to Yeshua’s Words
    • 6. Historical (External) Proofs
  • 1. The Aramaic language
  • 2. The Aramaic Bible
  • 3. What the ancient religious authorities said of the original Bible
  • 4. What the modern authorities say
  • 5. The Septuagint
  • 6. The Greek NT: a pale imitation
  • 7. Other Aramaic versions
  • 8. From Hebrew, to Aramaic, to... Arabic? Where’s the Greek!?
• 7. Contradictions in the Greek New Testament Prove Peshitta Primacy
  • 1. The Genealogies of Yeshua – Matthew 1:6-16 / Luke 3:21-31
  • 2. Did Joseph name Yeshua? – Matthew 1:21 / Luke 1:31
  • 3. Does God lead us into temptation? – Matthew 6:13 / Matthew 4:3 /
  • 4. Is wisdom vindicated by her children? – Matthew 11:19 / Luke 7:35
  • 5. Was the Ethiopian a eunuch? – Matthew 19:12 / Acts 8:27 / Deuteronomy 23:1
  • 6. Can we be teachers or not? – Matthew 23:8 / Matthew 28:19-20
  • 7. Was Simon really a leper? – Matthew 26:6 / Mark 14:3 / Leviticus 13:45-46
  • 8. Was it really Jeremiah the Prophet? – Matthew 27:9-10 / Zechariah 11:13
  • 9. Was Jesus forsaken? – Matthew 27:46 / Mark 15:34 / Psalms 37:25-28 / John
  • 10. Was she Greek or not? – Mark 7:26 / Matthew 15:22
  • 11. Shall we sinners maim ourselves? – Mark 9:43-47 / 1Corinthians 6:19-20
  • 12. Is that generation still alive? – Mark 13:30
  • 13. Why does Jesus wake up Peter, James and John, after telling them to “sleep
  • 14. Do we need to hate to become good Christians? – Luke 14:26 / Romans 9:13 /
  • 15. Is the Gospel really foolish? – 1Corinthians 1:21 / 2Timothy 3:15-16
  • 16. A medley of Old Testament apologetics
  • 17. God blinded their eyes? – John 12:40 et al
  • 18. Debating about the law and/or Torah is unprofitable and vain? – Titus 3:9 /
• 8. I Don’t Know Aramaic, What Hope is There for Me?

[ebion]

My favourite verses for those afflicted with KingJamesOnlyism:

This mistranslation from the Aramaic (§ 1,24) shows up in many places in the KJV.

1. Philemon 7 For we have great joy and consolation in thy love, because the bowels of the saints are refreshed by thee, brother. (Philemon 1:7 [KJV])

I have yet to meet a KingJamesOnlyist who could ignore them.

From; http://www.peshitta.org/pdf/Idioms.pdf and https://archive.org/details/WastheNewTe ... inGreek1e/

This example is not really a split word, more of a “pseudo split word”, as the variant in question (at least to my knowledge) does not occur in the Greek (just about all Greek versions read “bowels”). It does occur though in the English versions. The Byzantine versions tend to say “bowels”, while the Alexandrian versions tend to say “love”. That the variant is caused by differing translations of an Aramaic idiom, is indicative of an Aramaic original, undermining the Greek.

However, this example is quite amazing, as it runs throughout many New Testament books, and is evidence of Aramaic originality to letters sent to Christians in Greek cities! It also is an example of where an idiom is translated literally in some versions, and meaningfully in others.

The KJV renders (Philemon 1:7 [KJV]) it as:

For we have great joy and consolation in thy love, because the bowels of the saints are refreshed by thee, brother.

The translation of from the Aramaic of Philemon+1:7 gives "bowels" or "mercy" as the word:

>

Word 	Vocalised 	ID 	Root 	Category 	Meaning 	PS 	JEN 	CAL 	Person 	Gender 	Number 	State 	Tense 	Form 	Enclitic

ܪܚܡܐ 	ܪܰܚܡܶܐ 	2:19852 	ܪܚܡ 	Noun 	bowels, mercy 	537 	207 	62057-01079 	- 	Masculine 	Plural 	Emphatic 	- 	- 	

>

The CAL lexicon for 62057-01079 gives:

>

rxm#2 noun pl. emphatic
rḥm, rḥmˀ (rəḥem, raḥmā) n.m. #2womb

  1 womb JLAtg, Sam, Syr, LJLA. --(a) intestines CPA, Syr. --(b) genitals Syr. --(c) fig. Qum.
  2 pl. : mercy, compassion : see s.v. rḥmyn . --(a) sg. : favor Sam, LJLA. 

>

The obvious translation from the Aramaic is mercy:
The translation of these verses, from the Aramaic, should be for example "for the compassionate mercy of Jesus Christ."
Lamsa, a native Aramaic speaker translates it from the Aramaic, "for the love of Jesus Christ."

PS: Interestingly, the Tyndale translation does not have it, so this is a KJVOnly error:

And we have great joy and consolation over thy love: For by thee brother, the saints' hearts are comforted. (Philemon 1:7 [TyNT])

[ebion]

I'll break these into individual posts in case there are nuances per verse.

My favourite verses for those afflicted with KingJamesOnlyism:

This mistranslation from the Aramaic shows up in many places in the KJV and Tyndale bibles.

1. Philemon 12 Whom I have sent again: thou therefore receive him, that is, mine own bowels: (Philemon 1:12 [KJV])
2. whom I have sent home again. Thou therefore receive him, that is to say mine own bowels, (Philemon 1:12 [TyNT])

[ebion]

I'll break these into individual posts in case there are nuances per verse.

My favourite verses for those afflicted with KingJamesOnlyism:

This mistranslation from the Aramaic shows up in many places in the KJV and Tyndale bibles.

1. Philemon 20 Yea, brother, let me have joy of thee in the Lord: refresh my bowels in the Lord. (Philemon 1:20 [KJV])
2. Even so brother, let me enjoy thee in the Lord. Comfort my bowels in the Lord. (Philemon 1:20 [TyNT])