Lamsa Bible:
Aramaic Peshitta Bible Repository
John 1:50-51 - GNT lacks wordplay
I was reading this great
book by one of the world's leading authorities on midrashic literature, and
found a real pleasant surprise for you all.
The scholar is Dr. James Kugel, Starr Professor of
Hebrew Literature,
Harvard University.
The book is called "In Potiphar's House: The
Interpretive Life of BIblical Texts."
Let me set this up. Dr. Kugel is interested in
uncovering ancient strands of Hebrew storytelling tradition. He is particularly
fond of the Joseph narrative in Genesis (hence the title), and delves into an
amazing level of detail what primary sources such as Onkelos, Genesis Rabba and
even some fragmentary Aramaic poems and the Koran have to say about various
passages.
About 3/4 through this amazing Joseph study, Dr. Kugel
begins talking about the Hebraic idiom "angels ascending and descending" and if
it refers to one group of angels or many, etc. Then he makes the point that "bo"
in Hebrew could point to the angels ascending and descending on the patriarch
Jacob as opposed to a general area (p. 114).
Then on p. 115 Kugel writes:
"It is interesting that there is even an echo of this
midrash in the New Testament:
Y'shua answered him, 'Because I said to you I saw you
under the fig tree, do you believe? You shall see greater things than these.'
And he said to him, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened and
the angels of Elohim ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.'
John 1:50-51
"How can we know that this New Testament passage is part
of the above midrashic tradition and not simply an allusion to the mention of
angels ascending and descending" in Genesis? Because it clearly says 'angels of
Elohim ascending and descending on the son of man'. Clearly this belongs to the
exegetical school represented by R. Yannai above, that is, the one that takes BO
in Genesis to mean not 'on the ladder' but 'for Jacob'. So here too, BO is being
taken as referring to a person, namely, 'the son of man'. (IT IS WORTH NOTING
THAT, ALTHOUGH THE GOSPEL OF JOHN WAS PRESUMABLY WRITTEN IN GREEK, THIS
PARTICULAR PLAY ON WORDS DOES NOT WORK IN GREEK, SINCE THE WORD FOR 'LADDER' IN
THE GREEK BIBLE IS FEMININE, AND THE ONLY ALTERNATIVE TO 'ON IT' WOULD THUS BE
'FOR HER'.)"
****
So even though he "presumes" Greek NT primacy, the text
he is looking at points to a Hebrew-Aramaic heart. Cool no?
_________________
Shlama w'burkate
Andrew Gabriel Roth