+- Peshitta Forum (http://peshitta.org/for)
+-- Forum: New Testament (http://peshitta.org/for/forumdisplay.php?fid=3)
+--- Forum: Aramaic Primacy Forum (http://peshitta.org/for/forumdisplay.php?fid=8)
+--- Thread: Camel or Rope? Matt: 19:24 (/showthread.php?tid=1660)
Re: Camel or Rope? Matt: 19:24 - Jerry - 05-22-2010
Quote:But I thought the word for camel in Aramaic is "Gamel" and "Ghamle" is a rope used to tie up a boat. I know that Aramaic don't use vowels in their writings. So they write identical. So I was wondering if St. Matthew was referring to "Ghamle" (in speaking) when He wrote "Gamal."The grammar of the words is of this type:
g'mel (not used in Peshitta NT) - camel
g'am:lo` - a-camel, or the-camel
g'am:le` - the-camels
What we do know from the Peshitta NT is that a cord, rope, or rigging used to suspend or tie a small boat to the larger ship was called a ch:bel. Refer to Acts 27:32. It was also used as a whip in John 2:15, so it is likely not significant in diameter.
FWIW, I have not seen anything definitive enough yet, to sway me to the opinion of g'mel meaning either rope or camel. I would need to see a specific Aramaic example of where G:M:L was used to specifically denote a rope. The lexicon listing by Paul is fairly convincing, but lexicons are not the same as actual usage.
Re: Camel or Rope? Matt: 19:24 - distazo - 05-23-2010
These type of words are the most difficult, since the context and usage often helps translators too see what the actual meaning was.
The same problem exists with the before-last words of Jeshua, 'eli, eli, lama, shabaqthani', where shabaqthani, could mean something different than the default meaning.
So, the real definitive solution would be an aramaic inscription, from a fisherman, who calls his ropes 'gml' <!-- s
--><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/smile.gif" alt="" title="Smile" /><!-- s -->