Aramaic Word Study – This Cup   Haka’ Kasa’ Hei  Kap Aleph    Kap Samek Alep

(This Word Study is excerpted from Chaim Bentorah’s book: Aramaic Word Study: Exploring The Language Of The New Testament)

Matthew 26:39:  “And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.”

History is filled with Christians who went to their deaths for the sake of Jesus without a plea on their lips to be spared, some even went facing great torture with joy and praise to the God they love.  So why does it appear as if Jesus is having second thoughts about His fate? The problem lies in the fact that Jesus was praying in Aramaic and the Aramaic word for cup may have another understanding than representing His fate. So just what is the cup in Aramaic?  

The word that is used for cup in Aramaic is the word kasa.  It is identical to the Hebrew word kavas which is also the word found in other Semitic languages that are used for a stork.  The stork was noted for its tender loving care for its young. Even care for young not its own.  Legend has it that during the time of famine a mother stork will peck her breast till it bleeds and feed her young with her own blood. Legend also teaches that if one of the stork’s chicks died, the mother stork would resurrect its young with its own blood.   

The Semitic mindset would instantly see the wordplay we in the Western world would not. In the garden, Jesus is praying that this kasa cup or its alternative meaning of a nurturing love would pass from Him.  In Greek, the word pass is parelthato which means to avert, avoid, or pass over.  But in the Aramaic, it was the word avar.  Now avar in Aramaic is the same word in Hebrew and has a wide range of meanings.  The word itself is the picture of a river overflowing onto its banks.  It literally means to be overwhelmed.   Jesus was not praying to get out of this situation but it was this cup, or this nurturing, sacrificial love for us that so overwhelmed him that He could not bear it, just like a parent watching their child suffering and dying in a hospital bed cannot bear to watch the love of their life in such torment.  But it would suggest something else as well.  

Note in verse 37 it says he became sorrowful.  The word sorrowful in the Aramaic is kamar  which means to burn or kindle and is used for a burning love or compassion. As Jesus was about to sacrifice His own life His entire being was filled with burning love and compassion for mankind. I believe this sorrow was knowing that even after all His suffering there would still be millions upon millions who would not only reject His sacrifice but scorn it and mock it as well. 

When He asked “If it is possible let this cup  or this nurturing love  avar me,” I believe He meant “let it  overwhelm me.”  The word if possible in Aramaic is shekev which literally means if this happens.  In other words, Jesus is saying that if this is to happen tonight, then: “Let this burning love, this nurturing love for mankind just overwhelm me, so overwhelm me that it will be all I will think about.”   Just as the thousands upon thousands of martyrs throughout the centuries thought only of Jesus and saw His face as they faced their torture and death Jesus thought only of us and that He would see our face when his torture and life would end. 

(This Word Study is excerpted from Chaim Bentorah’s book: Aramaic Word Study: Exploring The Language Of The New Testament)

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