An Aramaic Approach to the Gospels and Acts

The New Testament was preserved in Greek, but the events narrated in the Gospels and part of Acts took place in a largely Aramaic-speaking environment. Matthew Black therefore begins with the hypothesis that the material contained in these books was spoken or written in Aramaic. Black surveys the New Testament for Aramaic grammatical features (syntax, grammar, and vocabulary), poetic features (parallelism, alliteration), and other linguistic evidence that the New Testament text was translated from Aramaic. He uses this approach to shed light on difficult passages from the Gospels and Acts.

BlackÂ’s foundational work, which continues to be the starting point for any study of Aramaic and the New Testament, is enhanced by a new introduction from Craig A. Evans. Evans places BlackÂ’s work in the context of related scholarly studies, provides extensive resources for further study of Aramaic and its significance for New Testament studies, and discusses the criteria best used when consulting the Targumim in New Testament interpretation.