ARAMAIC WORD STUDY – COLD WATER – GAR  קר  

Matthew 10:42: “And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.”

There were some things in the first century that have not changed in over 2,000 years.  Jesus is referencing one such attitude.  People are always ready to do a favor for someone who has wealth or status because they expect something in return, some reward.   The words little ones in Greek is mikron.  Today we use the word micro to describe something small, microscope, microbe, etc. Mikron means something that is little or small. So what does it mean to give a cup of water to a small or little?   Obviously, if you are giving a cup of cold water to someone small you are speaking of a child.  Hence most translations make mikron an adjective and add the word one ie., little one or a child.  But that is really just paraphrasing.  A few translations will say one who is humble, ie., small in self.  We think of a humble person as one who does not seek to draw attention to himself.

In the Aramaic the word that is used is zeora. It is where we get our English word zero. It could mean a person who is young or a child.  But its use in the Talmud and Targum is often to suggest a person who has suffered some sort of set back in health or finances.  It is sometimes used for an elderly person whose strength has diminished and can no longer perform the way he used to.  We often hear an elderly person who has lived an active and fruitful life bemoan that they are not worth much anymore.   

The word for cold water in Aramaic is dqarura from the root word qar which simply means cold or chilled.  I often hear preachers read this as a cup of water assuming the emphasis is on water.  If that were the case the text would use the word mayim  – water rather than qar – cold.  The emphasis is on the word cold. When someone draws water from a well it comes up very cool and refreshing. Often the one who draws the water will quickly take a drink of that water to take advantage of its refreshing cool taste.  In the climate of the Middle East that water quickly loses that cool satisfying crispness.  If someone approaches you as you draw up the water and asks for a drink, such as Jesus did with the woman at the well, the person drawing the water would likely take the first drink from his cup to take advantage of its ultimate coolness and then offer some to the other person once their thirst was quenched.   By the time the person has satisfied his thirst the water is no longer as cool as it was when it was first drawn and thus they would share the water that has lost its chill and would not be as satisfying.  However, if a person of importance were to ask for a drink of water, you would not hesitate to offer him the first drink of qar – cold as you want to be on his good side and possibly get some reward for offering him a cold drink of water.  

Jesus was telling his disciples that if they gave a drink of cold water in the name of the disciple or in the name of the teachings of Jesus to a person of diminished reputation, strength or health, to someone that could offer no reward, they would still get a reward. In other words don’t go out seeking the wealthy, the leaders, the politicians, the celebrities to share this message with, but treat everyone as an equal and share with whoever you have the opportunity to share.

I was in a fairly large church filled with zeoras people of ordinary rank who really struggle to even give a tithe or offering.  Yet, these were people who had wonderful testimonies of the love of God in their lives and how God has delivered them from some real struggles. Yet, the pastor never asked them to give a word of testimony.  One day the owner a one of the largest car dealerships in town, which had three locations with his name on them started to attend our church.  Almost immediately our pastor asks this man to come forward and give a testimony.  He was quickly made a deacon in the church and given an adult class to teach.  He was wined and dined by the pastor and shown off to any guest speaker or denominational leader that happened to visit our church.  The pastor made sure that everyone knew this wealthy, community leader was a member of our church.  It was less than one year that we never saw this man again in our church I suspect this man realized that he was just being patronized and used.   The pastor was left with egg on his face trying to explain to the many who asked him: “What happened to so and so?”