Aramaic Revolutionizing Study of the Old and New Testaments
As the news broke last week that a fragment of what could be the earliest copy of the Gospel of Mark, the oldest of the four canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and central to the belief system of Christianity had been discovered in the face mask of an Egyptian mummy, esteemed Bible scholar and historian, Ewan MacLeod, B.Sc. Hons., M.Sc., is unveiling a new website, JesusSpokeAramaic.com.
Aramaic was the language spoken by Jesus and the disciples, and in which the Gospel was first preached. MacLeod said, “Learning this beautiful and ancient language will enrich the lives of all who come to it, and will make the pages of the Bible come alive to this modern generation.”
Ewan MacLeod is an authority on Hebrew and Aramaic having dedicated over 25 years of study, as well as an author, international Bible speaker, Bible collector and historian who has a special interest in the original languages of Scripture (Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek) as well as Bible manuscripts. He believes that the Bible is the inspired Word of God, inerrant in all its parts, and the only revelation by which people can get to know God.
MacLeod desires to restore people’s faith in the Holy Scriptures through this easily navigated, interactive website and weekly newsletter subscription.
MacLeod said, “I believe that Aramaic needs to be more mainstream, and that once people can see what Aramaic has to offer, more will seek Aramaic rather than the Greek based New Testament. My goal in producing the website is to bring Aramaic to the world and that by learning the Aramaic language and studying the Aramaic Bible, one can get back to more authentic and original roots of the Old and New Testament.”
Aramaic was the language of the Assyrian and Babylonian Empires, and is Judaism’s second Holy Language, alongside Hebrew. The Aramaic language became dominant amongst Jews after the Babylonian exile. JesusSpokeAramaic.com boasts highly original video lessons covering the Aramaic Peshitta New Testament (pronounced: “Pe-sheet-a”), Biblical Aramaic, the Aramaic Old Testament and the Jewish Targums, which introduce Aramaic and make it accessible for Bible believers of all faiths and backgrounds.
Rev. Dave Bauscher, renown author, respected expert on Aramaic and moderator at peshitta.org, a forum for Aramaic, said, “I wholeheartedly endorse Ewan MacLeod’s JesusSpokeAramaic.com website as a place to begin learning about the Aramaic language. As a Peshitta primacist, I believe the Peshitta New Testament is the very original New Testament, from which the Greek New Testament was translated. This is not the prevalent view of Bible scholars in the West, but this viewpoint is starting to get a foothold and spread, due to the recent dissemination of translations and articles of the Peshitta Bible on the internet and in print. In this regard, JesusSpokeAramaic.com provides invaluable information and tools for studying Aramaic and the Peshitta Bible, both Old and New Testaments.”
Ewan MacLeod, his wife and family reside outside London, England. His international travels will bring him stateside in July 2015. He is available for interview via Skype or telephone during East, Central, Mountain and Pacific time zones.
(Source: Christian Newswire)
