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The Arameans, or Aramaeans (Old Aramaic: 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀, Aramayya; Hebrew: אֲרַמִּים; Ancient Greek: Ἀραμαῖοι; Classical Syriac: ܐܪ̈ܡܝܐ, Aramaye, [1] Syriac pronunciation: [ʔɑːrɑːˈmɑːje]), were a tribal [2] Semitic people [3][4] in the ancient Near East, first documented in historical sources from the late ...
The Arameans were a military force until about the 9th century BCE, when they fell to the attacking Assyrians. Although the Aramean nation fell, its language did not; Aramaic, which is very similar to Hebrew, was adopted not only by Babylonian Jews as the "Jewish tongue," but also by the well-informed as the language of choice.
- A Fugitive Aramean Was My Father
- An Aramean Tried to Destroy My Father
- Not An Aramean
- Whitened with Wickedness
- Laban’s Alter-Egos
- Is The Biblical Laban Really So Bad?
- Why We Demonize Others
- Protecting Jacob’s Reputation
- Begins in The Bible
- My Father Was Not An Aramean
When farmers bring their offering of first produce to the priest at the Temple, after the priest takes the basket of produce and places it before the altar, the farmer recites a declaration “before YHWH.” It opens (Deut 26:5): In the simple reading, the text refers to the Israelites who moved to Egypt, and were eventually enslaved there. Concerning...
Rabbinic midrash however, does not translate the first three words as “my father was a fugitive/wandering Aramean” instead reading the present participle אֹבֵד not as the adjective “wandering” but as the verb “destroying.” They thereby creatively understood the phrase to mean “an Aramean (would have) destroyed my father.” The midrash thus identifie...
The Torah presents Laban as fooling Jacob into marrying the wrong sister, thus extending his years of labor. Jacob even accuses Laban of changing the agreed upon pay multiple times (the Torah’s narrator never describes this directly). The Hebrew word for a trickster or deceiver is ramai (רמאי). Genesis uses the verbal form of this root in Jacob’s a...
The story in which Abraham’s servant goes to Haran to find a wife for Isaac introduces Rebekah and her brother (Gen 24:29): In commenting on this verse, Genesis Rabbah(60:7, Theodor-Albeck) offers a play on Laban’s name, which means “white”: R. Berechiah’s reading stands out when we contrast it to other rabbinic texts that see “white” as a color wi...
One particularly popular way of blackening Laban is to say that he is one and the same as some other biblical villain.
Many of these midrashim are well-known, and influence the manner in which we understand the biblical Laban. But what does the Torah actually say about Laban? We first meet him when Abraham’s servant arrives in Haran and wishes to take Rebekah back to Canaan to marry Isaac. While Laban attempts to stall the servant, no motive for this is given. Perh...
Fred Guyette, a research librarian at Erskine College, notes how the book of Psalms makes use of animal metaphors to portray Israel’s enemies negatively.Wild animals are bestial, they are not easy to control or dominate. Thus, it is easy to fear and or hate them. This kind of hatred is often extended to other races or ethnic groups. We “other” them...
One uncomfortable truth the Rabbis may have been facing is that Jacob is depicted as every bit as cunning as his uncle. Jacob’s name can mean the deceiver—certainly that is how Esau understands it when he accuses Jacob of tricking him twice, once out of his birthright and next out of his blessing (Gen 27:36).Later, after being duped by Laban into m...
The distancing of Israel from Aram begins in the Bible. At the beginning of the story, when Jacob appears at Laban’s house, Laban declares that the two are close family, “the same bone and flesh” (עצמי ובשרי; Gen 29:14) and Jacob does not demur. At the end of the story, when they meet in Gal-ed, Laban suggests that he and Jacob share the same God t...
The distancing that begins in the Bible is taken further by the rabbis into the realm of demonization. Returning to the rabbinic midrash, Jeffrey Tigay points out that the demonization of Arameans The rabbinic polemic against Arameans likely reflects more than just discomfort with the biblical text. The linguistic hegemony of Aramaic extended past ...
Nov 21, 2023 · The Arameans were an ancient people who migrated to the Fertile Crescent region between 1500 and 1200 BCE. Over the subsequent centuries, the Arameans established small states of their own, the...
Jan 4, 2022 · After the time of Solomon, the Arameans were a perennial thorn in Israel’s side. They fought Israel during King Ahab’s time, and Israel won (1 Kings 20). In another battle, however, they killed Ahab (2 Chronicles 18:34). They raided Israel (2 Kings 6:8) and later laid siege to the capital, Samaria (verse 24).
Jul 8, 2019 · The translation of anathema as a general curse means this unique meaning of the anathema as akin to the ḥerem is lost. Perhaps a more precise translation of the Pauline anathema would be a vow-curse, similar to the later use of the vow in the incantation bowls.
The Aramean Curse prevents a person from receiving justice in both formal and informal settings. The most important place to receive justice is in the home. Breaking the Aramean Curse does allow justice to flow, but the blessing of favor is far better than mere justice. Hosea demonstrated that in his relationship with his wife, Gomer.
