An Aramaic Approach To Q

This is the first book to examine the Aramaic dimension of Q since the Aramaic Dead Sea scrolls made such work more feasible. Maurice Casey gives a detailed examination of key passages in Matthew and Luke's gospels, demonstrating that they used two different Greek translations of an Aramaic source, which can be reconstructed. He overturns the conventional model of Q as a single Greek document, and shows that Jesus said everything in the original Aramaic source. Further analysis of other gospel passages shows the evangelists editing a Greek translation of an Aramaic source. On one, it can be shown that Mark utilises a different Aramaic source. A complex model of Q is thus proposed. Casey argues that Aramaic sources behind part of Q are of extremely early date, and should contribute significantly to the quest for the historical Jesus.

Maurice Casey reconstructs sources of Q: material found in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke (and not in the Gospel of Mark). He replaces the conventional model of Q as a single Greek document with something more complex. This reconstruction and interpretation of the Aramaic sources raises the credibility level of deeds attributed to Jesus in earliest recorded sources.

Since the second edition of this book appeared in 1954, two major discoveries in the field of Aramaic studies—the Qumran texts and the Neofiti Targum—have been made available to scholars. These, along with some important publications on the subject, have made this third edition necessary. The book has been completely revised and reset and the supplementary notes of the second edition incorporated in the text; a new chapter has been added to take account of the implications of the new discoveries for previous views about the language of Jesus. Those parts of the book dealing with Acts have been revised and supplemented in the light of Dr. Max Wilcox’s important book on the Semitisms of Acts; and an Appendix by Dr. Geza Vermes, Reader in Jewish Studies in Oxford, has been added containing fresh evidence for the use of the expression “son of man” in Palestinian Aramaic.

This 1999 book was the first to use all the Aramaic Dead Sea Scrolls to reconstruct original Aramaic sources from parts of Mark's Gospel. The scrolls enabled the author to revolutionize the methodology of such work, and to reconstruct whole passages which he interpreted in their original cultural context. The passages from which sources are reconstructed are Mark 9.11-13; 2.23-3.6; 10.35-45; and 14.12-26. A detailed discussion of each passage is offered, demonstrating that these sources are completely accurate accounts from the ministry of Jesus, from early sabbath disputes to his final Passover. An account of the translation process is given, showing how problems in Mark's text arose from the difficulty of translating some Aramaic expressions into Greek, including the notoriously difficult 'son of man'. A very early date for these sources is proposed, implying a date of c. 40 CE for Mark's Gospel.

Multilingualism remains a thorny issue in many contexts, be it cultural, political, or educational. Debates and discourses on this issue in contexts of diversity (particularly in multicultural societies, but also in immigration situations) are often conducted with present-day communicational and educational needs in mind, or with political and identity agendas. This is nothing new. There are a vast number of witnesses from the ancient West-Asian and Mediterranean world attesting to the same debates in long past societies. Could an investigation into the linguistic landscapes of ancient societies shed any light on our present-day debates and discourses? This volume suggests that this is indeed the case. In fourteen chapters, written and visual sources of the ancient world are investigated and explored by scholars, specialising in those fields of study, to engage in an interdisciplinary discourse with modern-day debates about multilingualism. A final chapter – by an expert in language in education – responds critically to the contributions in the book to open avenues for further interdisciplinary engagement – together with contemporary linguists and educationists – on the matter of multilingualism.

Contemporary Gospel studies have recently taken increasing interest in the Jewish context of Jesus and the gospels. Judaism, Jewish Identities and the Gospel Tradition offers an overview of the ways in which Judaism is used in the canonical gospels and how this relates to the idea of a 'Jewish Jesus'. The essays bring together a range of influential scholars to analyse the role of Judaism in gospel studies. The book explores constructions of gender, the impact of the historical Jesus, and the significant steps toward Christian distinctiveness made in the gospel of John. The essays cover a range of biblical texts: from the Lord's Prayer to Mark's Christology and the Gerasene Demoniac to themes of poverty in Luke

A new 'life' of Jesus written by one of the outstanding scholars of his generation, it offers a complete resource on the 'Historical Jesus' debate. With an overview of the various positions taken on who the historical Jesus was, Casey provides a helpful and accessible tool for understanding how the historical Jesus has been received and understood, with attention paid to the contortions in evidence in the last century to prove that Jesus was not Jewish.

With ca. 120 articles from ca. 100 writers from ca. 20 countries, this publication forms a repository where students and scholars can readily get to know their way around the breadth of recent research on the historical Jesus.