The relevance of the Aramaic language family is rather broad and varied from person to person. Where there are some very strongly shared elements between opinions, there are also many more (often personal or curious) reasons cited for why the language still has a place in modern discourse.
From the July 2013 Contest:
Jacqueline Bass
The intricacies of a language reflect the character of a time and the culture that uses it. Over hundreds of years a piece of literature will be translated and retranslated many times in various languages. With each new translation something is almost invariably lost. Because each new language has a character of its own it can be difficult over many translations to uphold the true meanings of words and intent of the authors. Aramaic is important because it was the language that Jesus spoke. Even if you are not a Christian, his importance on the impact of history and culture throughout the world cannot be denied. Maintaining a knowledge of the language which he spoke and realizing that the new testament biblical authors were people who were Aramaic speakers who wrote in Greek is important in understanding the time in which Jesus lived. So much would be lost if we lost Aramaic.
Albocicade
I would say that -even if I do not read Aramaic- it is (at least) useful for NT / gospel studies… Not only Aramaic, for sure (Greek and other […] languages also). My reference is Dr. Jeremias… !מרן קם
Martin Davis
Every language affords it’s speaker the ability to not only convey the common, trivial and mundane stuff of life, but also to enter into a worldview, an interpretive framework, that is unique and particular to itself. Aramaic is relevant today because there has been no other time in history when so many tools and facilities have been available to enable both the scholar and the enthusiast to enter into the worldview and mindset of it’s ancient and modern speakers. Aramaic was for centuries the tool of government, administration, commerce and religion for much of Western Asia. It was also the everyday language for a large part of the Eastern Jewish Diaspora as well as the common folk of Gallilee where Jesus grew up. The relevance of Aramaic becomes apparent when an unsuspected meaning in the words of Jesus is revealed and one is given a glimpse into how his listeners may have understood his meaning.
David Anderson
Aramaic is relevant today for several reasons. First of all, it provides you with the satisfying accomplishment of being able to speak the language Jesus spoke. This is psychologically satisfying for the Christian believer. Secondly, not many people are fluent in it. Therefore you immediately become a specialist. Not many people are specialists and it is inherently good to specialize. The world needs more specialists, including Aramaic specialists, whereas it doesn’t really need another store clerk or receptionist or school teacher. Thirdly, the Aramaic language is a unique lens into the time of Yeshua (Jesus). Fourthly, following on from the previous point, Aramaic is obviously of relevance to the New Testament and to New Testament studies. Not many New Testament scholars can read Aramaic, and there needs to be more who can. Fifthly, Aramaic is exceedingly useful if one wishes to become an archaeologist excavating in the Middle East. It is also useful for papyrologists dealing with Ancient Near Eastern / Levantine writings. And it is necessary for those whose chosen field of expertise lies within the era and milieu of Second Temple Judaism. Sixthly, Aramaic is also extremely useful and pertinent to those researching early Syriac texts, including the Peshitta. Seventhly, if one wants to read the Targums in the original, one must be able to read Aramaic. Thus Aramaic is also extremely important for students and scholars of the Hebrew Bible. Finally, specializing in Aramaic can sometimes (albeit not very often) win you valuable competitions such as this one.
Jeff
Aramaic is still relevant to shlock novelist and movie directors as it provides an exotic language for their villains and conspiracy theories. If Aramaic were to completely disappear Dan Brown would be out of work, and would you really want to live in that kind of world? No, I think not.
Lisa Nehring
The Aramaic connotations, with their passion and their color, communicate matters of the heart, which is the essence of what the Besorah is all about. Wheras the Greek communicates more precision from the head, which aids in clarity of thinking, but doesn’t quite capture the heart issues invovled.