The Bible is the most important book underlying our cultural values, our religious belief systems and our moral codes. It is a dominant source underpinning our cultural norms and standards and provides a framework for how our society develops. Appeals to the authority of the Bible, have often impeded rather than helped psychological, social and spiritual growth, and been the criterion used to rationalise racial, religious and sexual prejudice and discrimination. Although our cultural values and our religious beliefs have evolved over the past two thousand years, the Bible remains the cornerstone of Judeo-Christian religious practices.

Without an understanding of the cultural context in which the Bible was written, the inherent paradoxes, ambiguities and mysteriousness of this book, cannot be deciphered. The major sources for biblical exegesis are the Greek Primacy and Aramaic Primacy perspectives. Greek primacy assumes that the New Testament was written in Greek and translated into Aramaic. (The Douay and the King James versions of the Bible are based on St. Jerome's fourth century translation from the Greek and Hebrew texts). "Ignorance of the scripture is ignorance of Christ" according to St. Jerome. The other perspective, Aramaic primacy, maintains that the New Testament was originally written in Aramaic, translated into Greek.

As social anthropologists and social psychologists have shown, language, thought, and perception are interdependent. Words frame our reality and colour our worldviews. Biblical language, used to express constructs related to cosmology (what is the nature of the world, is there a heaven and a hell), ontology (are we basically sinners or 'sons of God') and epistemology (is it constructive or destructive to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil), profoundly influences our constructs of reality. Our concepts of self, our value systems (the poor as blessed), the merits of pursuing of material success (the rich man getting into heaven) are indelibly influenced by our understanding of the Bible.

There are significant differences between the Greek and Aramaic in the connotations attached to words and phrases in the Bible. For example, the word 'ruha' has several meanings, depending on the context in which it is used. It may refer to breath, wind, spirit, or pride. Clearly the reference in the beatitude is to those who are poor in pride, rather than to those who are spiritually bereft. Similarly the word 'gamla' can mean camel or rope. (A rich man can enter heaven, just as rope can get through an eye of a needle, by being stripped from extraneous concerns, by becoming detached from materialism). This injunction is common to the teachers of all spiritual traditions.

A study of the Bible from the Aramaic, is an enriching and enlightening experience. Aramaic is the core language of the Semitic peoples, which include the Assyrians, Babylonians, Chaldeans, Hebrews, and Arabs. From the ninth century B.C. This language spread throughout Palestine and Syria and into Egypt. For approximately a thousand years thereafter, it was the official language of the Near East. It remained the vernacular of the people of the Holy Land, Syria and Mesopotamia, until the ninth century A.D., when it was replaced by Arabic.

Aramaic was the spoken and written language of the Jewish people, during the two centuries prior to the birth of Jesus and during his lifetime, according to many scripture authorities. Josephus, a historian living in the first century A.D., whose expertise is accepted by both Greek and Aramaic primacists referred to his own problems learning Greek, as follows, " I have also taken a great deal of pains to obtain the learning of the Greeks, and understand the elements of the Greek language; although I have so accustomed myself to speak our tongue (Aramaic), that I cannot pronounce Greek with sufficient exactness." Greek was a foreign language for the Jews of that time, according to Josephus. Ironically Greek primacists, while acknowledging Josephus as an expert on the history of the period, reject his assertion that the Jews favoured Aramaic over Greek, as a written and spoken language.

The contemporary Semitic Aramaic Scholar, Andrew Roth, asserts that Aramaic was the spoken and written language of the Jews during the time Jesus lived, and the language in which the New Testament was written, prior to being translated into Greek. His views support the work of the Assyrian Scholar, Dr. George Lamsa, author of the best translation of the Bible from the Aramaic into English. Dr. George Lamsa was a native Assyrian and an ethnologist who came to the U.S. in 1917. His study of the King James Bible revealed thousands of Biblical mistranslations and misinterpretations, as a consequence of using Greek rather than Aramaic scriptures as the basis for Biblical exegesis and apologetics. He dedicated his life to translating the Bible from the Peshitta Aramaic into English. He also wrote numerous books and commentaries from this perspective. His protege, Dr. Rocco Errico, continued his work and has written many in-depth studies of the scriptures (Old Testament Gospels and Epistles). Dr. Errico's seminal work Let Their Be Light, The Seven Keys, provides an in depth understanding of Semitic customs and thought processes, implicit within the linguistic communication of the Bible. These keys enable us " to sense the beauty and creative force of the Bible as seen through Eastern eyes." His book on the Lord's Prayer, Setting a Trap for The Mind of God opens up new perspectives related to this iconic prayer.

For the Semitic people in Biblical times, provision and preparation of food, was a major preoccupation. Consequently, biblical literature is full of references to household chores, farming, and culturally significant events, (birth, marriage, death). Hunting metaphors are used to describe the concepts of prayer, sin and evil. In Aramaic, the word for prayer 'slotha', literally means to set a trap, i.e. a trap for the mind of God. (A hunter would set a trap attached to a piece of string and while kneeling in a patient, expectant posture, await his prey, so in prayer one waits with a receptive attitude of quiet expectancy to trap the mind of God). From archery, come the terms for "evil" and "sin". To sin means to miss the mark and consequently to be off target. The Aramaic word 'beesha' which in the Greek texts, has been strictly translated as "evil", has many meanings such as immature, not ripe, hardships, and much more. The context of the sentence determines the meaning of 'Beesha'. When we are constantly evil, missing the mark and off target we cannot grow spiritually. We grow to maturity, if we are willing to change our attitude, ("To be born again," is a Northern Aramaic idiom, meaning to change one's attitude). When our conceptual systems or cognitive distortions, prevent our receptivity to new ideas, we need to change our frames of reference, to revise our thinking.

Perusing the Scriptures from the perspective of the Aramaic Primacy, unravels theological paradoxes such as the following: Why did Jesus say to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan." (The word "sata" means errant, Jesus was reprimanding Peter for his misconception of Jesus' mission). How was Lot's wife turned into a pillar of salt? (This is an idiomatic expression, referring to her having a stroke). What was the purpose of Jesus giving his followers power to handle snakes and drink poison? (This idiom means to handle devious people and to be unaffected by their gossip). (I think we can empathise with this expression as most of us have had to deal with 'snakes in the grass' as part of our life experience). Did Jesus really say "if anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother, and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes even his own life, he cannot be my disciple?" The Aramaic word 'sna' can mean 'to hate' or "to set aside". Our translations have Jesus telling his disciples to hate their family. However, he was speaking to those who were to be disciples that they would need to ' set aside' family to study under him and travel with him.

Several Aramaic words and phrases survive in the English Bible translations. Examples of this include the following Aramaic words Jesus used Sabbata (Saturday), Rabbi (teacher) Satana (errant), Bar-Jonah (son of Jonah) The Hebrew word for son is 'bar' as in 'bar mitzvah'). The last words of Jesus on the cross, Eli Eli lema sabachthani are in Aramaic.

In 1943, Pope Pius XII in his encyclical promoting Biblical studies Divino Afflante Spiritu, made the following recommendation, "Let the Catholic exegete undertake the task, of all those imposed on him the greatest, that namely of discovering and expounding the genuine meaning of the sacred Books.....studying the languages of Aramaic and Hebrew as a sound basis for understanding the scriptures." In 1971, The Vatican Ecumenical Council recommended giving greater emphasis to the importance of the Bible the "soul of theology" in the Catholic Church. They are digging into Hebrew and Aramaic texts, searching for meanings perhaps still hidden. In 1994, the Pontifical Biblical Commission, whose Chairperson was Cardinal Ratzinger, in its report Interpretation of the Bible in the Church, stated "the theological foundation of inculturation is the conviction of faith that the word of God transcends the cultures in which it has found expression and has the capacity of being spread to other cultures in such a way as to be able to reach all human beings in the cultural context in which they live."

The Aramaic perspective on the scriptures, resolves apparent riddles and contradictions, in the Bible which impact upon our concept of God. The God of the Old Testament is described as a jealous God. How could a God, whose essence is love, be conditional, be jealous, be wrathful? The religious perspective of the writer, affected how God was perceived, presenting an ethnocentric view of the deity. From the Jewish tradition, God bequeathed the land of Canaan to Abraham and to his descendents in perpetuity, through the line of Isaac. Within the Muslim tradition, God bequeathed the land to Abraham and his descendants, through the line of Ishmael. Prophets speak of God being a jealous God. "I your God am a Jealous God", yet Jesus tells us God is love. (The word " tanana" means to be jealous, envious, or zealous, depending on the context in which it is used.) Clearly the most appropriate term here would be zealous. The ambivalent view of God continues in Christian prayer. In the Lord's Prayer, we ask that God "lead us not into temptation" as if God's nature is ambivalent or untrustworthy.

Have you ever wondered how a loving God could abandon Jesus at his time of greatest need, or how Jesus would feel forsaken at the culmination of his life by saying "My God, My God, Why hast thou forsaken me." This exclamation means "My God, My God, this is my destiny." If ever there was a time in his life when Jesus was aware of his closeness to his Father, this was it. (This awareness is reinforced by his encouragement to the good thief, "This day you will be in Paradise with me")

Dreams, visions and revelations are frequently referred to in the Bible. (There are over two hundred references to dreams or visions in scripture). In the Book of Numbers we read "If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known unto him in a vision and will speak unto him in a dream." In the New Testament, in the Acts of the Apostles, there is the following prophecy "I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh and your sons and daughters shall prophecy and your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams.” Dr. Lamsa claimed that forty-percent of the Bible is based on dreams, visions and revelations. Although the writers of scripture frequently refer to dreams and visions as the source of their revelations, other times they may use synonyms such as "the angel of the Lord appeared" or "I was in the Spirit."

Amplification or hyperbole, is a literary technique used to emphasise the significance of an event or the intensity of emotion evoked by it. (The Irish tradition of "keening" is a ritualised use of hyperbole to express loss and grief, similar to the Semitic tradition of public verbal and physical gestures to lament the loss of a loved one). On the Mount of Beatitudes we are told that Jesus addressed an audience of five thousand men, besides women and children. (Anyone who has visited this site becomes aware of its size which could not accomodate such a large crowd.) In Irish we have the similar idioms, "Tir agus Talamh bhi ann" (The country and the land were there), or " Saol agus a mathair bhi ann" (life and his mother were there). The phrase 'everlasting hell' is also hyperbolic. (The Aramaic word for hell 'gayhenna dnoora ' is a state of mental torture where there is "weeping and gnashing of teeth" i.e. regret caused by unforgiveness). The word "to forgive" in Aramaic, means to unhook. If we don't forgive, we continue to carry around mental burdens which can be "a living hell." (Gehenna was the city dump in Jerusalem, a place of everlasting fire).

As with all languages, the Aramaic language is full of idioms, expressions of speech, which say one thing but mean something else. When an idiom is translated into another language, it loses its contextual meaning. What bemusement would be on the face of a Dubliner to the following comment from a speaker from the Gealtacht, "One beetle recognises another" ("Aithnionn ciarog, ciarog eile"), or the quizzical gaze of the native Irish speaker to the Dubliner's impeccable Irish transliteration, expressing his joy on meeting his soul mate, "Taim trasna an Gealac" (I'm over the moon"). Can you imagine the amazed stare on the face of the Mississippi shopkeeper, as you re-enter her shop with a strange look on your face, in response to her farewell remark, "Y'all come back now !" If Gaelic Irish poetry was translated into French, and then from French into English, it's poetic richness and fluidity would be significantly diluted. To revitalise and fully comprehend the depth of meaning of the original inspiration and expression, immersion in the original Gaelic linguistic context, social psychology and culture, would be necessary. Similarly, reliance on Greek rather than Aramaic sources for Biblical exegesis, have resulted in translations full of idiomatic errors, cultural misrepresentations and inexplicable conundrums. When idioms or hyperbolic expressions, are transliterated, of course they are indecipherable. When mystical experiences are translated without reference to context, they become magical and mystifying. For example the story of Jonah being in the belly of a whale for three days is indeed extraordinary and mystifying. The Aramaic expression to be "in the belly of a whale" is an idiom meaning "to be between a rock and a hard place" or "in a pickle".