Romans 1:17 query

[Paul Younan]

Shlama Akhi Dave,

But I must ask again, does the peshitta say "And She The Spirit gives testimony,..."?

You know in English, the word "that"? It doesn't matter if the noun you are pointing to is masculine or feminine, right? You can use "that" for either a masculine or feminine word, right?

For instance, you can say in English:

(1) That man, or
(2) That woman

Both of the above are proper English grammar, right?

Not so in Aramaic. In Aramaic, articles like "that" (and many other components of grammar, i.e. verbs and adjectives) must agree in gender (and number) with their noun counterparts.

In Aramaic, if the noun is Feminine, you must say:

(1) Hay Rukha, (that (f) Spirit (f))....NOT
(2) Haw Rukha, (that (m) Spirit (f))

Likewise, in Aramaic if the noun is Masculine you must say:

(1) Haw Shleekha, (that (m) Apostle(m))....NOT
(2) Hay Shleekha, (that (f) Apostle(m))

The Peshitta in Romans 8:16 is translated "And that Spirit gives testimony."

NOTE: just because an Aramaic word is grammatically feminine, does not mean that the thing described by it is feminine. Peter's name, for instance, "Keepa" - it's grammatically feminine....and he of course was a man.

Now, for fun - go through your beloved "Old Scratch" and see how many grammatical errors of this magnitude (and worse) are there. <!-- s:biggrin: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/biggrin.gif" alt=":biggrin:" title="Big Grin" /><!-- s:biggrin: -->