Have we misunderstood Jesus? Hidden in his Aramaic words lies the mystical wisdom to transform how we see the inter-connection between the world and the divine.
Dr. Jana Rentzel, a spiritual psychologist, reveals how understanding Jesus' teachings in his native Aramaic language uncovers a deeper connection to God's eternal oneness.
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Jesus’ first language was Aramaic. His disciples and audiences spoke in Aramaic and would have only understood Aramaic. When, however, Jesus’ teachings were translated into Greek and then into English, we lost their inner, mystical dimensions. A treasure trove of rich, spiritual wisdom became veiled by two thousand years of mistranslations, misunderstandings, and sometimes intentional bias. It is high time that we bring Jesus’ empowering wisdom teachings back to life, for at our deepest level, this transformation is what we all long for.
First, however, in order to understand the deeper meaning of Jesus’ words, we need to know who he was before organized religion got a hold of him – before Christianity translated (and often misrepresented) his message. To do so, we must understand the Aramaic culture and language in which Jesus and his followers were immersed. This is because the Aramaic worldview is radically different from our Western way of looking at life.
So just what is this Aramaic language and culture of Jesus?
Aramaic is an ancient Semitic language that evolved in Southwest Asia, now known as the Middle East. Aramaic was the common language at the time of Jesus. Because it grew out of a nomadic culture, it was closely attuned to nature. The Aramaic people considered themselves to be intimately embedded in the natural world, to the point that they didn’t distinguish any separation between their inner lives and the outer world. Rather than the sense of individualism that we embrace today, these ancient people experienced themselves to be at one with all of nature, humanity, the cosmos, and the divine.
In other words, the Aramaic people perceived and experienced reality as nondual and unitive. The cosmos and everything in it were seen as an interconnected whole – a oneness where there was no perceived separation between such things as spirit and matter, heaven and earth, inner and outer, light and dark, etc. They were, instead, considered to be complementary pairs and part of each other.
Why do we need to understand Jesus’ teachings in Aramaic?
Fundamental differences arise when we begin to understand Jesus’ words through his native Aramaic language. The successive Greek and English translations greatly misunderstood the Aramaic language. They were increasingly one-dimensional and literal, unable to convey the rich, multilayered, mystical meanings of Jesus’ Aramaic words. The tragedy of these imperfect translations is that we lost the deeper significance of what Jesus was actually teaching.
Jesus was primarily teaching us about the eternal Oneness that lies at the heart of each one of us; indeed, at the heart of all in creation. He showed us how to move beyond our sense of separateness into the heart of God that infuses and unites us all. Aramaic scholar and author, Neil Douglas-Klotz, points out that “once you hear and feel the true meaning of Jesus’ messages in Aramaic, you’ll understand that he wasn’t telling us about sin and guilt – but about how to empower ourselves” by opening to this greater reality of oneness.
What is the Aramaic “Heart” of Jesus?
Jesus taught us that God – the Oneness – lives within the spiritual heart of everything in creation. As he said in John 14:20, “I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.” (Note that Jesus would not have used the word “father;” he would have used the Aramaic word Alaha, often translated as “God” but more accurately translated as Ultimate Reality, Sacred Oneness, or Source – beyond gender.)
“If one completes the journey to one’s own heart,one will find oneself in the heart of everyone else.”– Father Thomas Keating
In 2 Corinthians 4:6, Paul reminds us that “God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts so that we may be enlightened with the knowledge of the glory of God in the person of Christ.” ¹
¹ George M. Lamsa’s translation of the Holy Bible from the Aramaic of the Peshitta
Our awareness of our spiritual heart bridges our mortal human self with our immortal spiritual Self (and therefore with God). When our attention is turned outward, away from God rather than inwardly toward God, we block this bridge that connects us. Our daily spiritual practice is what helps us keep the channels of our heart open so that we can continue to access God’s guidance and love on a regular basis. This is what Jesus was showing us how to do.
What are some examples of the misunderstandings of Jesus’ original words and teachings?
1. One of the most well-known mistranslations is that of Matthew 19:24, which is usually translated as “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” When, however, we return to the depth of the Aramaic language, we find meaning that makes much more sense: “It is easier for a rope to go through the eye of a needle than for one enmeshed in the material world to enter the eternal Oneness.”
2. Theologians and scholars have long believed that Jesus’ last words on the cross were, “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). But new research and Aramaic translations have revealed something much different. Rather than crying out in despair and abandonment, Jesus was declaring his trust and faith in God by saying, “Eloi Eloi lama sabachthani” (Mark 15:34). In Aramaic, this means “You have kept me” or “You have preserved me,” conveying that, instead of fear and doubt, Jesus was experiencing triumph in his eternal life with God. What a difference this makes!
3. In the Lord’s Prayer, the first line has been translated as “Our Father who art in heaven,” reinforcing the erroneous idea that we are praying to some distant big guy in the sky. But the Aramaic words for this opening line are abwoon d’bwashmaya, which more accurately address our divine Source that surrounds and infuses us. Jesus was teaching us to pray to – to connect with – Alaha, a.k.a. God. After all, in the Aramaic tradition, heaven was not considered to be separate from us – some “place up there.” Rather, heaven was experienced as that which is above us, below us, all around us, and within us – closer to us than our breath. We are steeped in heaven!
4. Perhaps the least understood and most mistranslated line in the Lord’s Prayer is “Lead us not into temptation….” This is not what Jesus taught us to pray! First of all, what was erroneously translated as “do not lead us into” actually means something more like “help us avoid.” Second, in Aramaic, the idea of temptation includes the temptation to become lost in the world of matter. While it is true that this material world is given to us to enjoy, it can only be truly enjoyed when balanced with its spiritual Source.
These are important distinctions, because Jesus is teaching us that God is our loving Creator and Sustainer who desires to guide us only toward the light of truth and goodness. Jesus never suggested that God would lead us into any kind of temptation. So this phrase translates more closely as “Help us avoid the things of this world that eclipse our spiritual focus.” This is quite a different meaning!
5. We’ve likely heard that Jesus came to save us from our sins. But what do those words mean in Aramaic? The Aramaic word for “save” is hayye, which means to give more life to something, to enliven it. So Jesus was not saying that we needed to be saved because we were intrinsically sinful. Jesus affirmed that we were originally and essentially good (after all, God had declared all of his creation to be “good” – “very good”). In saying that he had come to save us, Jesus was saying that he had come to show us the way to more life in and with God. He was teaching us how to open our hearts to a much larger, infinite sense of our spiritual Self, where we exist in and with God. Father Richard Rohr said, “We are saved by standing consciously and confidently inside the force field that is Christ.” ²
² adapted from Richard Rohr, Essential Teachings on Love, selected by Joelle Chase and Judy Traeger (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2018), 186–187.
How can we use Jesus’ Words in our Contemplative Prayer Practice?
Jesus spent much of his time alone in silent prayer, simply being with God, his Source. Shaluta is the Aramaic word for prayer and meditation, and it means to open our heart to God, to hollow out space within our heart so that there is room for God to most fully live in and through us. This contemplative prayer is one of the fundamental ways that Jesus taught us to turn back to and integrate with God.
In keeping with the Christian contemplative tradition and the use of a sacred word or phrase in our centering prayer, chanting the Aramaic words of Jesus is a powerful practice for warming the heart and enabling it to gently open – to “consent” as Thomas Keating says – to this deep presence of God, the deepest ground of our being.
For example, for your sacred phrase, try using the Aramaic words that Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman at the well in the Gospel of John 4:24: Alaha ruha. Remember, Alaha is the Aramaic word for God, and ruha means the One Breath of God that infuses, surrounds, and unites all in creation. So Alaha ruha can be translated as “God infuses, surrounds and unites us through our shared breath.”
As you silently repeat Alaha on your inbreath and ruha on your outbreath, feel your focus of attention move from your head down into your heart. Let the vibrations of the words resonate within your heart. Then, when you are ready to let go further, allow the words to simply dissolve into the One Breath. At this point, like in centering prayer, the words are simply a doorway into a wordless experience of God.
I suggest that you repeat this several times throughout your day, even if only briefly, to remain connected with your infinite Self and God. In doing so, the power and guidance and healing of this divine connection can be active and effective in all aspects of your life.
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Jana Rentzel is a PhD spiritual psychologist, trained spiritual director, and wisdom teacher. She gratefully stands on the shoulders of many luminaries, including Carl Jung, Thomas Merton, Thomas Keating, Richard Rohr, and Cynthia Bourgeault. She is currently studying under Neil Douglas-Klotz and Alexander John Shaia, both of whom have blessed her with a deep understanding and experience of the Aramaic Jesus.
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