So they probably said the Aramaic word, not the Greek. There is absolutely no suggestion of the ‘ghost’ of a dead person in the Aramaic word.įurther, according to ancient writings, Matthew was originally written in Aramaic, and it was likely the disciples’ native language. Additionally, it’s used to describe the vision God gave to Moses, showing him how to make the Tent of Proofs (the Tabernacle). We know that Daniel was not seeing the ghosts of dead people. It’s also the same word used to describe the visions and prophetic dreams of Daniel. Was Abram saying that Sara looked like a ghost? It was used in the Aramaic translation of Genesis 12:11 where Abram says to his wife, ‘you are a woman of beautiful appearance’. It can actually be a very mundane word, used to describe how someone appears. That’s variously defined as appearance, vision, or sight with no reference to ghosts or spirits. The answer may lie in the word used by the Aramaic versions of Matthew and Mark. However, the meanings listed in reference works give various definitions: vision, dream, apparition, phantom, and appearance.Ī vision (a prophetic dream) and an apparition (a ghost ), are two very different things. Therefore, English Bibles say ‘ghost’ or ‘apparition’. The Greek word used in the account to describe what they saw was phantasma, which is the root of the English word phantom. Yet, if none of this is true, readers would be seriously misled. Firstly, it implies that the disciples believed in ghosts, but it also implies that they had an understanding of a spirit afterlife. Yet choosing that word has large implications. However, many Bible translators have implanted something in the readers’ minds that may be wholly untrue. When Jesus’ disciples saw him coming toward them walking across the water (Matthew 14:26 Mark 6:49), what did they think they were seeing? Nobody knows what was going through their minds, despite many people guessing over the years.
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