BSN: ARAMAIC

The Aramaic language was the language commonly used by Jews living in 1st-century Israel. Hebrew was known by those who worked with the Scriptures, while Aramaic was used by the common folks. Greek was also used in commercial activities (because it was the most common language in the Roman Empire at that time). Aramaic and Hebrew are distinct but similar languages; Greek, of course, is also distinct from both of them but it is not similar to them. (This is why “Jesus” and “Joshua” are not the same name in English even though they both come from the same Hebrew and Aramaic name. See Joshua/Jesus for more.)
Aramaic – the common language spoken among Jews in Israel during the time of Jesus; it is related to the Hebrew language as, say, Italian is related to Spanish; religious professionals also spoke Hebrew, while commercially-oriented Jews also spoke Greek because Greek was the most commonly-used language throughout the Roman Empire (which dominated the inhabited world at the time)
The presence of Aramaic words in the Greek New Testament help confirm the Judean Jewish roots of the gospel.
Aramaic words in the New Testament include:
- Abba (Mk 14:36; Rom 8:15; Gal 4:6) – “Father”
- Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” (Mk 15:34; Mt 27:46 – “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (which is the opening line of Psalm 22). Some commentators say that though this phrase is Aramaic, it has some characteristics of Hebrew.
  - This phrase is rendered “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” in Mt 27:46
- Ephphatha (Mk 7:34) – “Be opened”
- Hosanna – (This word seems to have come from the Hebrew through Aramaic to Greek) – from Psalm 118:25 meaning “Rescue now” or “Do rescue” which was a rallying cry; for “rescue,” you could substitute “save,” or “deliver”
- Mammon – (Matt 6:24; Luke 16:9, 11, 13 e) This is consistently translated as “wealth” in the NASB 1995. It is also translated as “money” in other modern English translations. The King James Version transliterates it.
- Maranatha (1 Cor 16:22) – “O [our] Lord come!”
- Rabboni (Mk 10:51; Jn 20:16) – a strengthened form of “Rabbi.” According to Strong’s Concordance, “rabbi” is of Hebrew origin and “rabboni” is of Aramaic origin.
- Talitha kum (Mk 5:41) – “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”
References to Aramaic also show up in the Old Testament, though it did not displace Hebrew as much then as in New Testament times. (2 King 18:26; Ezra 4:7; Is 36:11; Dan 2:4 e)