Was the New Testament Really Written in Greek?

Table of Contents

• “Was the New Testament Really Written in Greek?”
  • Are we commanded to hate?
  • Why does the Lord’s prayer rhyme in Aramaic?
• Where to Learn More?
• Where to Read the Aramaic?
• Counter-arguments
  • Arguments against Aramaic Originals
  • Arguments against Hebrew Originals

I think it is worth investigating whether Greek was really the original language of the New Testament. I believe the Greek texts were a translation from either Hebrew or Aramaic, because the Greek contains many errors that were introduced in the translation process. A great illustration of why this is important is Mark 7:19 where some Greek manuscripts have Yeshua declaring all foods clean, contradicting verses like Matthew 5:17-19, Isaiah 66:3, Revelation 18:2, etc. See The Law Remains.

Greek:

... because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is eliminated?” (Thereby He declared all foods clean.)

~ Mark 7:19 (NASB)

Aramaic:

Mark 7:19 in the Aramaic AENT [Murdock translation]. Yeshua said He would not abolish the Law, and certainly He did not contradict Himself here.

I would highly recommend reading the Aramaic New Testament instead of the Greek, as the Aramaic is much more accurate in many ways. Please see “Where to Read the Aramaic?” below. The gospels and a few other books are available in Hebrew and these also seem quite accurate.

“Was the New Testament Really Written in Greek?”

I’m only including a couple of excerpts from the book “Was the New Testament Really Written in Greek?”. Note that I don’t necessarily agree with everything stated in the book or in these excerpts – as always, test everything!

Are we commanded to hate?

'Was the New Testament Really Written in Greek?', p.165

Why does the Lord’s prayer rhyme in Aramaic?

'Was the New Testament Really Written in Greek?', p.155

Where to Learn More?

Here are some additional resources if you would like to study this topic:

• Aramaic Peshitta differences from the Greek text
• Greek mistranslations

I encourage everybody to think for themselves regarding “Greek primacy”.

Where to Read the Aramaic?

I no longer distribute the AENT because it has been discontinued by the author.

If you would like a print version, Lamsa’s translation of the Aramaic is on Amazon. It has the sacred names in standard English. Holy Bible: From the Ancient Eastern Text.

You can also view that translation, as well as other public domain translations like Murdock’s, by going to dukhrana.com and clicking on “Peshitta Tool”.

Here is a new print translation, though me and my colleagues haven’t read this one and can’t vouch for it: The Peshitta Holy Bible Translated.

For Hebrew, I recommend the texts available at hebrewgospels.com.

Counter-arguments

Arguments against Aramaic Originals

I have recently watched this video by Nehemiah Gordon and learned some interesting facts:

1. The Aramaic New Testament uses the Greek word for law, “nomos”, and not the Hebrew or Aramaic words. I checked this by looking at Matthew 5:18 on dukhrana.com.
2. Likewise, the Aramaic New Testament uses the Greek word for testament. I checked this by looking at Matthew 26:28 on dukhrana.com.

This doesn’t necessarily prove that the Aramaic was translated from the Greek, but there seems to be contradictory evidence.

Arguments against Hebrew Originals

I’ve also found a page that lists instances where the New Testament quotes from the Old Testament. Sometimes the quotes match the Septuagint, sometimes the Hebrew Massoretic Old Testament. See List of 300 Old Testament quotes in New Testament.