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Ephesians 6:14-15
#1
Andrew Gabriel Roth "Implied wordplays in Ephesians?"
Apr-18-2003 at 04:06 AM (GMT3)

Quote:Shlama all!

I've been very busy working on RUACH QADIM and would like everyone's opinion on something I noticed in Ephesians. One of the most interesting things I have found recently is a phenomenon I call an "implied wordplay". Put simply, this means that word A is used to remind the listener of word B that is NOT mentioned directly, but has its synonym standing in its place. Hopefully my meaning will become clear as we go along.

Here is an abridgged version of the proof I have in my upoming book, and this one of several I caught in Ephesians:

Arise therefore, gird up your loins with truth and put on the breastplate of righteousness. And have your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.

Ephesians 6:14-15

The Aramaic word for "truth" (qoshta--e.g. John 17:19) has a common synonym, shrara. Now look at this:

shrara = truth
shrina = breastplate

"shrara" is not in the text (quoshta is), but it is the synonym that is being implied.

Next though we have tzedekaya (righteousness) to consider. This word has a very interesting synonym in the form of qadishta (holy), in this manner:

qoshta = truth
qadishta = holy

In the end then the image could no be more powerful as Paul is clearly making word choices that speak to a deeper message well established in Hebrew tradition:

He will cover thee with His pinions, and under His wings shalt thou take refuge; His truth is a shield and buckler.

Psalm 91:4 (1955 Jewish Publication Society translation of the Holy Scriptures)

And, most remarkably of them all, we have this:

And he put on righteousness (tzedekah) like a coat of mail (or "breastplate"-- shiryone) . And a helmet of salvation (kova d'yeshoowa) upon his head. And he put on the garments of vengeance for his clothing, and he was clad in zeal as a cloak.

Isaiah 59:17 (1955 Jewish Publication Society translation of the Holy Scriptures)

Now let's see how the Hebrew Tanakh and the Aramaic New Testament match up in word choices and terminology:

Shiryone/Breastplate (Isaiah)
Shrina/Breastplate (Paul)
Tzedekah/Righteousness (Isaiah)
Tzedekaya/Righteousness (Paul)

These are, with very minor dialectical differences aside, the exact same words! An interesting departure though is with this term:

Kova d'yeshoowa/Helmet of Salvation (Isaiah)
Sonorta d'porqana/Helmet of Salvation (Paul)

Why does Paul do this? The answer is for two very special reasons. First, kova (helmet) is an exclusively Hebrew word that has no direct cognate in Aramaic. Paul therefore substitutes in the only two places that the word helmet appears in the New Testament (1 Thessalonians 5:8 is the other) with the more familiar sonorta. It is the second reason though that is the true mindblower:

Yeshoowa (Isaiah) = Y'shua Ha Moshiakh (New Testament)
Porqana (Isaiah) = Paroqa (Aramaic for "The Savior"--New Testament)

Therefore, in the final analysis, Paul is well aware that the Tanakh verse he is alluding to contains his Master's name, and the Aramaic equivalents he uses in Ephesians contain his title! Now honestly, given all this evidence, is a reasonable person expected to believe that all these deep Aramaic and Hebrew patterns arrived wholly by accident, only through Greek translation, and even then at least half a millennia after the fact? As I hope I have demonstrated well by now, poetry, especially of the Semitic variety, simply does not translate well into a western language like Greek. However, I leave it to the reader's best judgment to decide for themselves which scenario is more likely given the fact that Paul was a native Aramaic speaker.

What does everyone think?

Shlama w'burkate
Andrew Gabriel Roth
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#2
Shlama Akhi,

Actually, I chose Ephesians as my sample chapter, and it is posted here. If you have any trouble retrieving it, let me know and I will send it to you. Meanwhile, I hope you got the CD-Rom by now and really look forward to your opinion.

I also have an urgent prayer request. My father has liver cancer, and now he is going into major surgery on Monday, which is, of all days, Yom Kippur. I have a special prayer that will be said by the rabbi at a shul I go to, but I would also like to ask for my brethren here to lift up their voices in prayer to the Almighty and His Son, that my father may be healed.

I hope this posts fine...I have had trouble replying before.

Peace and blessings to all you
Andrew Gabriel Roth
Shlama w'burkate
Andrew Gabriel Roth
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#3
"I also have an urgent prayer request. My father has liver cancer, and now he is going into major surgery on Monday"

Done Akhi. I hope all goes well.
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#4
Shlama Akhi Andrew,

I'll keep your father in my prayers as well. They wrote my death sentence out in full 23 years ago giving me 6 to 8 months to live. Cirrhosis in the infantile stages or something like that was the diagnosis.
I remember having Assembly of God and United Pentecostal Church people praying for me. UPC has some pretty flaky doctrines but they could sure pray the prayer of faith and make it stick like glue. <!-- s:rockedover: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/rockdover.gif" alt=":rockedover:" title="Rocked Over" /><!-- s:rockedover: -->

Shlama w'Burkte, Larry Kelsey
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#5
Shlama Akhi Andrew,

Donna, Kaylen and I are praying for you and your father - may God heal him speedily.
+Shamasha Paul bar-Shimun de'Beth-Younan
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#6
Shlama Akhi Chris:
Count on my prayers for your father also!

Ab. Valentin
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#7
Shlama Akhi Gabriel!
I'm joining your prayer for your father. Hope he'll be fine,
Ab. Valentin
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#8
Shlama all--

Todah rabbah for all your responses, public and private.

Now I have something interesting to share with you. About 2 hours ago, I returned from seeing my father. He manages a cigar store, mostly for enjoyment. I stopped by right after work to tell him that I was able to arrange a special prayer to be given by a rabbi on Yom Kippur.

At the store, people were coming up to my Dad, one every few minutes, for more than an hour. The customers hugged him, and all said they were praying for him. Now before I go further, let me explain something. My father does not really talk about his faith all that much. He surely believes in YHWH and is proud of his heritage (in case you wondered where that little aspect of my personality came from), however he just does not talk on the details. What I can say is that he has totally supported me in my Messianic walk. He respects my decision and has a strong interest in Messianic/Nazarene trends (and Torah code and mystical stuff too). I have also suspected that he nurtures a great tolerance of Y'shua as I believe in him, because I keep the holidays and traditions. He has even been kind when I tried to witness to him and not disagreed with me. But again, direct statements on this score don't come out of his mouth.

Well, that rule was broken tonight. After about the 10th person said they were praying for him (and of course I kept thinking-- "Dad, you have no idea how many others will when I am done"..) my Dad said this:

"Thank you so much. I have to say, although the operations coming up are daunting and risky, even as I know they are still my best hope, and even though I've been very tired physically, something has changed. I feel the power of the prayers doing their work and somehow it comforts me."

<!-- s:bigups: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/bigups.gif" alt=":bigups:" title="Big Ups" /><!-- s:bigups: --> <!-- s:bigups: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/bigups.gif" alt=":bigups:" title="Big Ups" /><!-- s:bigups: -->

I know that a lot of that is because of all of you.

Peace and blessings
Andrew Gabriel Roth
Shlama w'burkate
Andrew Gabriel Roth
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