01-28-2009, 11:53 PM
Is that really an Aramaic pronunciation of his name?
To me, it looks like the angel is speaking to Cornelius in GREEK, with proper Greek inflection. That is, in vocative case, as the Greek NT shows. Note that the Peshitta text elsewhere writes Cornelius with a Simkath on the end, which reflects the proper nominative case for his name.
Someone could use this to argue that the Peshitta text of this passage is derived from the Greek because it copied the spelling of his name as it was found in different sentences, but I don't think this is necessarily true. Except for the angelic quotations, Cornelius' name is always spelled the same, with a Simkath reflecting nominative case. I think names are generally borrowed from Greek into other languages in nominative case, which is why we get extra S's on the end, as in the name Jesus, for example. I think the Peshitta would have spelled Cornelius' name this way even if he were the object of the sentence. However, there is no example of this because in this short passage, when he is referred to by name, he is always the subject of the sentence and thus coincidentally matches nominative case with the Greek text.
Then why does the spelling of those two verses reflect vocative case? I would say the Peshitta is accurately recording how Cornelius was addressed.
bar Sinko
To me, it looks like the angel is speaking to Cornelius in GREEK, with proper Greek inflection. That is, in vocative case, as the Greek NT shows. Note that the Peshitta text elsewhere writes Cornelius with a Simkath on the end, which reflects the proper nominative case for his name.
Someone could use this to argue that the Peshitta text of this passage is derived from the Greek because it copied the spelling of his name as it was found in different sentences, but I don't think this is necessarily true. Except for the angelic quotations, Cornelius' name is always spelled the same, with a Simkath reflecting nominative case. I think names are generally borrowed from Greek into other languages in nominative case, which is why we get extra S's on the end, as in the name Jesus, for example. I think the Peshitta would have spelled Cornelius' name this way even if he were the object of the sentence. However, there is no example of this because in this short passage, when he is referred to by name, he is always the subject of the sentence and thus coincidentally matches nominative case with the Greek text.
Then why does the spelling of those two verses reflect vocative case? I would say the Peshitta is accurately recording how Cornelius was addressed.
bar Sinko