Good Morning Yamon Ki Yesepar and Nevim Arith Hayomim:

Matthew 19:9: “And I say unto you, whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committed adultery: and whoso married her which is put away doth commit adultery.” KJV

Matthew 19:9 “I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, and marries another woman commits adultery.”  NIV

I love to study the Gospels in Aramaic rather than the Greek because the Aramaic is after all a Semitic language unlike the Greek.  The poetic flow of the language, the freedom of the language and its flexibility is unlike the hard, exacting, scientific nature of the Greek language.  Aramaic is a language of love and relationships.  Greek is a language for mathematicians and scientist. Aramaic is the language Jesus spoke and I could picture Him speaking this language with its many colorful metaphors, words plays, and pictures.  Jesus spoke the Northern dialect of Aramaic, also known as the Old Galilean dialect which is filled with many idioms and colloquialisms.  Even those in Judea, such as Nichodemus who spoke the Southern dialect of Aramaic or Chaldean dialect (the language Daniel spoke), had problems with the idioms of the Northern dialect like when Jesus said “You must be born again.”   One speaking Chaldean, like Nichodemus, would take
Jesus’s statement literally where those of the Northern dialect would clearly see the word play and colloquial expression and know Jesus was speaking of a spiritual birth.

When I read the Gospels in the Aramaic I find little that contradicts my Greek New Testament, I simply find a richer and deeper understanding and appreciation for the Words of Jesus.  The Eastern Church believes that the Gospels were originally written in Aramaic and later translated into Greek. I tend to concur with this belief as I believe the Gospel writers wanted to preserve the rich poetic quality of the teachings of Jesus. The Eastern Church also retained it Semitic influence and the influence of the Jews where Constantine in the Western Church bumped the Jews out of the church with his pagan influence and therefore lost its Semitic nature.

The Apostle Paul dealt heavily in theology and doctrine and hence the scientific nature of the Greek language would lend itself more to the Epistles.  But the love, compassion, and mercy found in the Gospels is more appropriately addressed in the Aramaic and it would stand to reason that the Gospel writers would want to first record the sayings and life of Jesus in their own native tongue and that of Jesus.

As I said, I find little contradictions between the Aramaic text and the Greek text; it is just that God’s loving nature is so much better reflected in Jesus as he spoke His words in Aramaic rather than Greek.  However, on occasion I do run across some issues that fly against the Greek text.  In most cases they are not major issues, but this one really is and I would like to address it and let you decide for yourself and let the peace of God rule your hearts as to which version you will accept (Colossians 3:15).

In Matthew 19:9 Jesus said that whoever divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery.  This is how it is read in the Greek text.  The word divorce in the Greek is apolyse meaning divorce, release, or dismiss.  The Greek text really reads “And marries another (Greek: allen) commits adultery and whoever marries another who is divorced (apoleimenen) commits adultery. “  Many modern translations, like the NIV, simply put the two “another” and “one who is divorced” together making it clear that any remarriage after divorce is adultery.

The Aramaic reads a little different and seems to allow a little wiggle room. The Aramaic text reads “Whoever divorces his wife dala’ gavara’ and nasav commits adultery.  Dala’ gavara’ means “without a charge of adultery.”   Yeah, they had no fault divorce in those days also.   But note, Jesus does not say “marries” another, but nasav another.  The word nasav is a colloquial expression, literally translated as “take” but means simply to have sex with another.  The thinking of Jesus’s day was not unlike that of today. A man cannot have sex with another woman while married, but if he is divorced, he is allowed to sleep around until he gets married.  After all, no harm done, no broken hearts, just sleeping around, testing the waters so to speak to find someone that satisfies you.   Jesus is saying: “Just because you are divorced does not give the right to sleep around, you have sex with someone outside vows of marriage then you are
committing adultery.

But look at what else Jesus say.  In the Greek it says: “if you marry a divorced woman you are committing adultery.”   The Aramaic says almost the opposite.  The word “divorced” in Aramaic shrita.  That word is not used here; instead, the word shvikta is used.  This means a woman who is not divorced or an undivorced woman.  If you marry a woman who is not yet divorced, you are committing adultery.  There is the belief today as in that day that if a woman was just separated from her husband, you could  sleep with her while the husband was working out the details of the divorce.  Again the word that is used is nasav which simply means to have sex with, and does not necessarily imply marriage.

In the Aramaic text, Jesus was not declaring that once divorced you cannot remarry as indicated in the Greek text, but once divorced you do not have the right to sleep around.  Jesus was preserving the sanctity of marriage, that sex only takes place within marriage vows. Moses in Deuteronomy 24:1-4 allowed for divorce.   He did not forbid remarriage.  Jesus ratified Deuteronomy 24:1-4. He did not like divorce but due to man’s hardness of his heart, He allowed it.  He did however, set some pretty strong rules in the interim between marriages and that is you do not play around, particularly with a woman who is still within the vows of a marriage.