04-14-2004, 12:50 AM
Shlama Akhi Larry,
How about this one (from RUACH QADIM)....
But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law (nomikos), because these are unprofitable and useless. Warn a divisive person once, and then warn him a second time. After that have nothing to do with him. You may be sure that such a man is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.
Titus 3:9-11 (NIV)
Well that seems pretty clear! The Greek word nomikos is derived from nomos, and most certainly means "things pertaining to the law". However, the Aramaic has a different reading:
L0t40 0rpsd 04wtkt Nmw 0nyrx Nmw Fbr4d Fy94t Nmw Flks Nyd F9b Nm
Nyn0 Nqyrsw Nyhb tyl ryg Jrtwy
L0t40 hl tn0 Frmd Nytrtw Nbz 0dx rtb Nm 0=wysrh 0rbg Nm
h4pn Byx whw 0=xw wh Mq9m wh 0nkhd Nmd (dy tywhw
But avoid foolish questions and genealogies and contentions, and the theological arguments of the scribes, for they are unprofitable and vain. After you have admonished the heretic once or twice, shun him, knowing he is such is corrupt; he sins and condemns himself.
Titus 3:9-11 (Lamsa)
The word sapra, clearly designates "scribe" as opposed to Torah (nomikos, namusa). As such, this verse is another example of how attacking a small group of heretics was misapplied to the entire Jewish people. The "scribes" here that Paul mentions are actually two groups. First, there are "the scribes and the Pharisees" so frequently mentioned in the Gospels who denied Y'shua's claims outright. These scribes are also rebuked in Galatians 3 and 4 for putting fences around Torah.
Another type of "scribe" that fits this description and rebuke are the Evyonim, or Ebionites. These were Pharisees who accepted Y'shua as Messiah but ultimately rejected any divine claims about him. Their dispute began with the famous circumcision controversy in Acts 15, where they ended up losing the debate. Twenty years later, the Evyonim broke off from the mainstream Nazarene Messianic movement and threw out all of the early books of the New Testament canon except for a mutilated version of the Gospel of Matthew that they heavily edited.
Both groups were very well known for their mastery of Hebrew and Aramaic, and therefore the term "scribe" is very appropriate here.
And so, once again the Peshitta contains the historically accurate reading, whereas the Greek showcases its political and bigoted agenda quite easily. I must also confess to the fact that this verse gave me problems in the Greek version for years, and was the one instance of "anti-Semitic" evidence the counter missionaries would point to that I could not refute. Thank YHWH I don't have to worry about that now, since the original Aramaic brings clarity to even the most egregious Greek reading.
***
NOW SINCE WRITING THIS I BEGAN TO THINK EVEN MORE DEEPLY ON THIS MATTER. IT SEEMS TO ME THAT BECAUSE THE EVYONIM DID NOT EMERGE UNTIL THE YEAR 70, THAT THE PESHITTA DESIGNATION OF "SCRIBES" MUST DATE TO A TIME WHEN THEY WERE STILL INTACT WITHIN THE MESSIANIC MOVEMENT.
FURTHERMORE, IF PAUL IS INSTEAD REFERRING TO THE PHARISAIC SCRIBES THAT REJECTED Y'SHUA, THAT WOULD ALSO MOST LIKELY RELATE TO PRIOR TO THE SECOND TEMPLE BEING DESTROYED. I JUST DON'T SEE YOCHANAN BEN ZAKKAI AND HIS TIBERIAN SCHOOL BEING SET UP SO QUICK AFTERWARDS AS TO BE THE INTENDED TARGET OF PAUL, WHO WAS IN FACT DEAD BY THE YEAR 67!!!!
AND SO. FROM WHERE I SIT, IF WE ASSUME PAULINE AUTHORSHIP OF TITUS, WE ARE ALSO ASSUMING THE PESHITTA VERSION OF TITUS CIRCULATED WITHIN A GENERATION OF THE RESURRECTION. THE ZORBAN REDACTION THOUGH OF "NOMIKOS" BY CONTRAST DEFINITELY SEEMS TO SPEAK TO A LATER PERIOD WHEN JEWISH APSECTS OF THE FAITH WERE BEING DOWNPLAYED IN THE WAKE OF JERUSALEM'S DESTRUCTION AND THE DISPERSION OF ISRAEL.
WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK???
How about this one (from RUACH QADIM)....
But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law (nomikos), because these are unprofitable and useless. Warn a divisive person once, and then warn him a second time. After that have nothing to do with him. You may be sure that such a man is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.
Titus 3:9-11 (NIV)
Well that seems pretty clear! The Greek word nomikos is derived from nomos, and most certainly means "things pertaining to the law". However, the Aramaic has a different reading:
L0t40 0rpsd 04wtkt Nmw 0nyrx Nmw Fbr4d Fy94t Nmw Flks Nyd F9b Nm
Nyn0 Nqyrsw Nyhb tyl ryg Jrtwy
L0t40 hl tn0 Frmd Nytrtw Nbz 0dx rtb Nm 0=wysrh 0rbg Nm
h4pn Byx whw 0=xw wh Mq9m wh 0nkhd Nmd (dy tywhw
But avoid foolish questions and genealogies and contentions, and the theological arguments of the scribes, for they are unprofitable and vain. After you have admonished the heretic once or twice, shun him, knowing he is such is corrupt; he sins and condemns himself.
Titus 3:9-11 (Lamsa)
The word sapra, clearly designates "scribe" as opposed to Torah (nomikos, namusa). As such, this verse is another example of how attacking a small group of heretics was misapplied to the entire Jewish people. The "scribes" here that Paul mentions are actually two groups. First, there are "the scribes and the Pharisees" so frequently mentioned in the Gospels who denied Y'shua's claims outright. These scribes are also rebuked in Galatians 3 and 4 for putting fences around Torah.
Another type of "scribe" that fits this description and rebuke are the Evyonim, or Ebionites. These were Pharisees who accepted Y'shua as Messiah but ultimately rejected any divine claims about him. Their dispute began with the famous circumcision controversy in Acts 15, where they ended up losing the debate. Twenty years later, the Evyonim broke off from the mainstream Nazarene Messianic movement and threw out all of the early books of the New Testament canon except for a mutilated version of the Gospel of Matthew that they heavily edited.
Both groups were very well known for their mastery of Hebrew and Aramaic, and therefore the term "scribe" is very appropriate here.
And so, once again the Peshitta contains the historically accurate reading, whereas the Greek showcases its political and bigoted agenda quite easily. I must also confess to the fact that this verse gave me problems in the Greek version for years, and was the one instance of "anti-Semitic" evidence the counter missionaries would point to that I could not refute. Thank YHWH I don't have to worry about that now, since the original Aramaic brings clarity to even the most egregious Greek reading.
***
NOW SINCE WRITING THIS I BEGAN TO THINK EVEN MORE DEEPLY ON THIS MATTER. IT SEEMS TO ME THAT BECAUSE THE EVYONIM DID NOT EMERGE UNTIL THE YEAR 70, THAT THE PESHITTA DESIGNATION OF "SCRIBES" MUST DATE TO A TIME WHEN THEY WERE STILL INTACT WITHIN THE MESSIANIC MOVEMENT.
FURTHERMORE, IF PAUL IS INSTEAD REFERRING TO THE PHARISAIC SCRIBES THAT REJECTED Y'SHUA, THAT WOULD ALSO MOST LIKELY RELATE TO PRIOR TO THE SECOND TEMPLE BEING DESTROYED. I JUST DON'T SEE YOCHANAN BEN ZAKKAI AND HIS TIBERIAN SCHOOL BEING SET UP SO QUICK AFTERWARDS AS TO BE THE INTENDED TARGET OF PAUL, WHO WAS IN FACT DEAD BY THE YEAR 67!!!!
AND SO. FROM WHERE I SIT, IF WE ASSUME PAULINE AUTHORSHIP OF TITUS, WE ARE ALSO ASSUMING THE PESHITTA VERSION OF TITUS CIRCULATED WITHIN A GENERATION OF THE RESURRECTION. THE ZORBAN REDACTION THOUGH OF "NOMIKOS" BY CONTRAST DEFINITELY SEEMS TO SPEAK TO A LATER PERIOD WHEN JEWISH APSECTS OF THE FAITH WERE BEING DOWNPLAYED IN THE WAKE OF JERUSALEM'S DESTRUCTION AND THE DISPERSION OF ISRAEL.
WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK???
Shlama w'burkate
Andrew Gabriel Roth
Andrew Gabriel Roth