As I continue to plow through the creation of the New Testament for the Ancient Roots Translinear Bible (ARTB), I’m struck with how many Greek-based words we use to describe our Christian faith that aren’t found in the original Old Testament Hebrew: words like parable, apostle, church, and baptism, to name a few.  Each one of these has required a lot of thought on my part about how to handle it—and given me some insights along the way.

PARABLES AND PROVERBS

The Greek New Testament uses two different words PARABLE (parabole) and PROVERBS (paroimia).  In most bible translations, Jesus spoke in parables, while the book of Proverbs is ascribed to Solomon.  I grew up with these words partitioned separately in my brain, knowing that Jesus was an excellent parable-teller and that people were amazed at his wisdom.  Thus, I never thought about comparing Jesus with Solomon. 

But in the Aramaic New Testament, the word parable disappears.  Jesus was telling proverbs, and was a superb “proverb-teller”.  Is this a minor point, or does it give us some understanding about why people were amazed?

JESUS AND SOLOMON

Solomon was considered the wisest king who ever lived on the earth.  Multiple stories about his wisdom and how he prayed for wisdom are in the Old Testament (I Kings 3).  The book of Proverbs (the majority are ascribed to Solomon) has been a source of wisdom for all of us.  They are short, generally two lines.

Jesus outdid Solomon, the king of proverbs!  His style of proverbs in a longer story was easier to understand and remember.  I cannot recite a chapter of Proverbs, but I can tell you the story of the prodigal son, the Samaritan taking care of the traveler, the widow finding her coins, etc. (If the Gospels had been written in Old Testament style, Jesus’ life would have been split into two separate books:  What he did (like Chronicles for David and Solomon) and what he said (like Psalms and Proverbs by David and Solomon, respectively).  We would have a second book of Proverbs!)

People were amazed.  How could this carpenter’s son outdo Solomon? People came from far and near to hear Solomon.  We have confirmation that thousands of people came to hear Jesus.  Even as a young lad, his wisdom impressed the priests in Jerusalem.

The Wise King of the Jews

I’ve never heard preaching about Jesus being a fulfillment of Solomon as the greatest king of the Jewish nation.  But the fact that that title was so easily be added above his head on Good Friday lets me know that the subject must have been in general discussion at the time of Christ. Jesus was like Solomon in one other key way:  Solomon, son of David, built the first permanent temple.  Jesus, son of David, built the eternal temple!

Enjoy the last half of summertime.  I’m a little behind schedule, but still close to being finished with the Ancient Roots New Testament by the end of the year.  I’ll keep you posted.  One of the ARTB fans sent me this poem from T.S. Eliot.  It captures completely the journey I’m on to recover what the “locusts have eaten”:

Words strain,

Crack and sometimes break, under the burden,

Under the tension, slip, slide, perish,

Decay with imprecision, will not stay in place,

Will not stay still.

            T. S. Eliot

I want the original words back—down to the smallest detail!

A. Frances Werner