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Concise Bible Dictionary
:
This
word occurs
2 Kings 18:26
26
Then said Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebna, and Joah, unto Rabshakeh, Speak, I pray thee, to thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it: and talk not with us in the Jews' language in the ears of the people that are on the wall. (2 Kings 18:26)
;
Ezra 4:7
7
And in the days of Artaxerxes wrote Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of their companions, unto Artaxerxes king of Persia; and the writing of the letter was written in the Syrian tongue, and interpreted in the Syrian tongue. (Ezra 4:7)
; and
Isaiah 36:11,
11
Then said Eliakim and Shebna and Joah unto Rabshakeh, Speak, I pray thee, unto thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it: and speak not to us in the Jews' language, in the ears of the people that are on the wall. (Isaiah 36:11)
where it is translated “
the
Syrian
language” or “
tongue
”;
also
in
Daniel 2:4,
4
Then spake the Chaldeans to the king in Syriack, O king, live for ever: tell thy servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation. (Daniel 2:4)
where it is “
Syriack
.” Aramaic is the language of
Aram
, and embraces the language of Chaldee and that of
Syria
.
Mesopotamia
,
Babylonia
and Syria were its proper home. The first
time
we
meet
with
it in
scripture
is in
Genesis 31:47,
47
And Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha: but Jacob called it Galeed. (Genesis 31:47)
where
Laban
called the heap of
witness
“
Jegar-sahadutha
,” which is Chaldee; whereas
Jacob
gave it a
Hebrew
name
, “
Galeed
.” In
2 Kings 18:26
26
Then said Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebna, and Joah, unto Rabshakeh, Speak, I pray thee, to thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it: and talk not with us in the Jews' language in the ears of the people that are on the wall. (2 Kings 18:26)
and
Isaiah 36:1
1
Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the defenced cities of Judah, and took them. (Isaiah 36:1)
1 The heads of the people asked
Rab-shakeh
to
speak
to them in Aramaic that the uneducated
might
not understand
what
was said. In
Ezra 4:7
7
And in the days of Artaxerxes wrote Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of their companions, unto Artaxerxes king of Persia; and the writing of the letter was written in the Syrian tongue, and interpreted in the Syrian tongue. (Ezra 4:7)
the
letter
sent to
Artaxerxes
was written in Aramaic, and interpreted in Aramaic, that is, the copy of the letter and what follows as far as
Ezra 6:18
18
And they set the priests in their divisions, and the Levites in their courses, for the service of God, which is at Jerusalem; as it is written in the book of Moses. (Ezra 6:18)
is in that language and not in Hebrew. So also is
Ezra 7:12-26
12
Artaxerxes, king of kings, unto Ezra the priest, a scribe of the law of the God of heaven, perfect peace, and at such a time.
13
I make a decree, that all they of the people of Israel, and of his priests and Levites, in my realm, which are minded of their own freewill to go up to Jerusalem, go with thee.
14
Forasmuch as thou art sent of the king, and of his seven counsellors, to inquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem, according to the law of thy God which is in thine hand;
15
And to carry the silver and gold, which the king and his counsellors have freely offered unto the God of Israel, whose habitation is in Jerusalem,
16
And all the silver and gold that thou canst find in all the province of Babylon, with the freewill offering of the people, and of the priests, offering willingly for the house of their God which is in Jerusalem:
17
That thou mayest buy speedily with this money bullocks, rams, lambs, with their meat offerings and their drink offerings, and offer them upon the altar of the house of your God which is in Jerusalem.
18
And whatsoever shall seem good to thee, and to thy brethren, to do with the rest of the silver and the gold, that do after the will of your God.
19
The vessels also that are given thee for the service of the house of thy God, those deliver thou before the God of Jerusalem.
20
And whatsoever more shall be needful for the house of thy God, which thou shalt have occasion to bestow, bestow it out of the king's treasure house.
21
And I, even I Artaxerxes the king, do make a decree to all the treasurers which are beyond the river, that whatsoever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, shall require of you, it be done speedily,
22
Unto an hundred talents of silver, and to an hundred measures of wheat, and to an hundred baths of wine, and to an hundred baths of oil, and salt without prescribing how much.
23
Whatsoever is commanded by the God of heaven, let it be diligently done for the house of the God of heaven: for why should there be wrath against the realm of the king and his sons?
24
Also we certify you, that touching any of the priests and Levites, singers, porters, Nethinims, or ministers of this house of God, it shall not be lawful to impose toll, tribute, or custom, upon them.
25
And thou, Ezra, after the wisdom of thy God, that is in thine hand, set magistrates and judges, which may judge all the people that are beyond the river, all such as know the laws of thy God; and teach ye them that know them not.
26
And whosoever will not do the law of thy God, and the law of the king, let judgment be executed speedily upon him, whether it be unto death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment. (Ezra 7:12‑26)
.
In
Daniel 2:4
4
Then spake the Chaldeans to the king in Syriack, O king, live for ever: tell thy servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation. (Daniel 2:4)
the
Chaldeans
spoke to the king in Aramaic, the popular language of
Babylon
, and what follows to the end of Daniel 7 is in that language, though commonly called Chaldee. This must not be confounded with the “learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans” in
Daniel 1:4,
4
Children in whom was no blemish, but well favored, and skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king's palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans. (Daniel 1:4)
which is the Aryan dialect and literature of the Chaldeans, and probably the ordinary language which Daniel spoke in the court of Babylon.
Jeremiah 10:11
11
Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens. (Jeremiah 10:11)
is a verse in Aramaic.
This language differs from the Hebrew in that it avoids the sibilants. Where the Hebrew has ז z, ש sh, צ tz, the Aramaic has ? d, ? n, ? th, and ? t. Letters of the same
organ
are also interchanged, the Aramaic choosing the rough harder sounds. The latter has fewer vowels, with
many
variations in the conjugation of verbs, etc.
When the
ten
tribes were carried away, the colonists, who took their
place
, brought the Aramaic language with them. The Jews also who returned from Babylon brought many words of the same language. And, though it doubtless underwent various changes, this was the language commonly spoken in
Palestine
when our
Lord
was on
earth
, and is the language called HEBREW in the
New
Testament
, and is the same as the Chaldee of the Targums. In the ninth century the language in Palestine gave way to the Arabic, and now Aramaic is a living tongue
only
among the Syrian Christians in the district around Mosul.
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