Translator's Note

This translation of the Scriptures comes from a small Apostolic Church, the Ancient Church of the East, a Church that nearly disappeared from the map during the Middle Ages. Yet, because of that it retained the original Scriptures intact. There is almost nobody left that can read this language, a language that is no longer spoken; however, it is a language that has given birth to thousands of languages, because it is the original language that the Lord spoke from the beginning of recorded history. It is the language in which the doctrines of the Scriptures were nurtured. It is called in this translation the Ancient Aramaic language; but it is not Aramaic in the modern vernacular, nor is it Hebrew or any other designation that might imply it is open to personal or nationalistic interpretation. This is the language that the Lord chose, it is the language in which He taught, it is the language He read from, it is the language the Apostles spoke, and it is the language in which the Scriptures were compiled. This is not pride in language. The language is politically dead. It ceased to be used as a literary language in the 13th Century. It exists only as a liturgical language, and now as the language of this translation. It is no longer a language of a single race of people, nor is it the native language of any nation. It is a language free of national boundaries. This translation is in English, because it is the language in which the world has chosen to communicate. The language of the Scriptures must never become subservient to English or any other language. The English language must never be allowed to be the sole vehicle for the Scriptures, because this is how false pride, prejudice and racism begin. As the language of this translation, English is a window to the Scriptures. The Scriptures can be viewed through this window; but the window must not be broken, made into a door, or a gateway into a new interpretation, hierarchy or religious order.

Oct. 16, 2011

God's Mysterious Ways

A brief biographical note.

My grandfather Dr. Alexander was an Ashurai Christian. He translated the Bible from Aramaic, (his native tongue,) into Kurdish in the early years of the 20th Century. He was educated as a missionary-doctor by the American missionaries that established the first medical college in Urmia, North Iran, during the aftermath of the American Civil War.

Dr. Alexander studied with such American notables as Dr. Joseph Cochrane, Sr., Dr. Joseph Cochrane, Jr., Dr. Shedd, (and other missionaries from the Princeton University.)

Dr. Alexander came to the US before the breakout of the First World War, to visit his daughter and three sons. He had sent them to America in 1908 when he heard the rumors about the 1st World War.

Dr. Alexander brought with him his translation of the Bible in the Kurdish language (he knew several languages besides his native Aramaic). He took it to Princeton University for the Princeton Press to publish. He was told, "We don't know Kurdish, how can we tell if this is a true translation?" My grandfather was disappointed. He returned to the Middle East and continued to work as a missionary-doctor with Dr. Shedd during the War. They both died of the typhus epidemic sweeping those regions during the 1st World War. My grandfather died in 1915, Dr. Shedd died the following year.

My father Nimrud was also a translator. He served in the British Royal Air Force in the Middle East. He died in 1944, during the Second World War, when I was a year and a half old. My father spoke ten languages fluently.

My mother Margaret and her family were deported from Russia by Stalin in 1938. She worked in the American missionary hospital in Hamadan, Iran, until she met my father in 1942. She brought me as a child to America. She taught me about great literary writers of the world and related to me the history of my family. She told me how my grandfather's Kurdish language Bible manuscript was lost during the Exodus of 1916 from Urmia. Pursued by murderous bands of Kurds, Turks and Iranians, fifty percent of the Christian nation perished.

Turkey was officially an Axis Power during World War One. The Kurds were allied with Turkey. The Kurds murdered Mar Benyamin de Mar Shimun, the Patriarch of the Church of the East when he went to them to make peace.

Ever since my mother told me about my grandfather's translation of the Bible, I was inspired to translate the Aramaic Bible one day. My grandfather had wanted to reach out to the Kurdish people through the Bible. The Kurds are a Muslim nation. The Ashurai are a Christian nation.

In 1995, I finally began to translate the Aramaic Bible, at my wife's instigation, and through her support. After I had translated the Gospel of Mark, I gave copies to a few pastors in the US, but I was rebuffed. I was mystified. "Don't they want to know the truth?" I asked myself.

Providentially, I ran into an old Ashurai priest in Central California one day. He told me that the Western Bibles were all mistranslated. He told me about the Ancient Aramaic Scriptures and sold me a copy of the New Testament from the Leeshana Ahtiqua (Old Tongue). Later I found a copy of the Old Testament in the Ancient Aramaic that was passed on through my family. From the first comparisons of the two different versions, the English and the Ancient Aramaic Bibles, I realized that there were significant differences.

It has taken me twelve years now to fully understand that the Ancient Aramaic Scriptures were never translated, not even into the modern Aramaic vernacular. I realized then why the Princeton Theological Seminary had refused to publish my grandfather's Kurdish Bible: it was translated from the Presbyterian Bible word for word. The Presbyterian Bible was translated from the Greek and Latin versions of the Bible, commonly referred to as the Greek Original and the Latin Vulgate, respectively. In fact all the Bibles are derivatives of these two versions, neither of which are the authentic Scriptures. The top leaders of all the Western churches are not interested in the True Scriptures; they have held on to their own versions of the Bible because they are prejudiced. The Princeton Press at the time knew very well that my grandfather's translation was made from the Presbyterian Bible and that it was not an authentic translation of the original Ancient Aramaic Scriptures.

The Presbyterian missionaries did not even make an effort to translate the Ancient Aramaic Scriptures for the Syriac-speaking people of Urmia; they did not even translate from the Greek Original, they simply translated from the American Standard Version into the modern Aramaic vernacular of the people there. How do I know this? Because I have both copies: the English language Bible that they translated from and the Syriac-Aramaic Bible they published in 1897 in Urmia, Iran. To this day, the American Missionaries claim that they have already translated the Bible for the Assyrians from their own language and that it is essentially the same thing.

When I inquire from some of the Church of the East priests of today if the Ancient Aramaic Bible has been ever translated into modern Aramaic, they reply, "Why should we do it? We understand it in its present form?" Of course, they don't. If they did, why do they still use the American Presbyterian translation in Syriac?

No one did a comprehensive translation of the Ancient Aramaic Scriptures until I came along. It still amazes me that I'm the only one who has attempted the translation of the Authentic Scriptures.

I always wondered how it came about. Then it hit me, it is God's mysterious ways. I had to go through all that I went through in order to be the translator I became. My father and grandfather were both translators. My mother's grandfather was a scholar of the Ancient Aramaic Scriptures. I myself had some great mentors. Fr. Joseph P. Merrick , a classmate of Cardinal Richard Cushing, taught me religion in 1959-60, at a Jesuit College. John Adams, the great grandson of the second US President John Adams, was my high school teacher in 1962. He taught me American History, Government and Civics. I came to America when I was nine years old. I went to school here and graduated from the San Francisco State University in 1970. I learned a great deal living in freedom and experiencing the blessings of being an American. This translation project is my legacy.

August 10, 2006

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