Aramaic peoples of East Mediterranean

Jesus and his disciples read and spoke Aramaic, and the Bible was translated for the Aramaic-speaking people in the early centuries after Christ. But Aramaic, like all languages, has changed over the years … and 2,000 years is a long time, especially for the nearly one million Aramaic people of today! Several different Aramaic languages are spoken today, and none of these language communities has had God’s Word in a readable written form for several centuries. But many still revere the historical translation (now about 1,700 years old) as the symbol of their identity.

In 2002 the Aramaic New Testament was completed: praise God! Since 1999 translators have been working on the Old Testament, with plans to complete it in 2014.

  • A third of the Old Testament (13 books) has now been drafted. Of those, five books (Genesis, Joshua, Ruth, Esther and Jonah) have been published. Exodus, Judges and 1 Samuel are now ready for publication. Praise the Lord for great progress.

  • On the team’s agenda for 2010 is publishing 2 Samuel, Ezra, Nehemiah and Psalms. Pray for God’s strength to reach this goal.

  • Praise God for giving His children strong faith in the midst of difficult circumstances. Pray that He’ll deliver the Assyrian Aramaic believers from their adversities, as He has promised so often in the Psalms.

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