[B-Greek] Barabbas, son of a father
Kevin P. Edgecomb
kevin at bombaxo.com
Sat Mar 21 23:22:36 EDT 2009
Dear Mr Macy,
Your suggestion would not work. There are two reasons.
One is that the equivalent of the "abba" part of the name is indeed the
Aramaic for father [ )B) ], but this -a at the end indicates the Aramaic
definite particle was present. The Aramaic construction "abba", always
definite, is simply the word for "father" (absolutely not "daddy" as some
would have it), apparently out of respect. So it would be literally "son of
the father", though perhaps understood as "son of his father", as a kind of
pseudonym to preserve anonymity.
Secondly, both Hebrew and Aramaic, likewise Greek, do not attach special
significance to an anarthrous noun, which is not applicable in this case,
anyway. The connotations of the English "a" as indefinite pronoun need in
those languages needs to expressed in order to be read there.
Regards,
Kevin P. Edgecomb
Berkeley, California
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