It is traditional that I bring up the common myth that the Aramaic word "abba" means "daddy" around this time of year, but I must admit that this is the first year in a long time that sightings of that anecdote among the blogs are few. (So either, there isn't as much interest this year, or people are actually doing their research. :-) )
So, for those of you who aren't familiar with this particular meme, it is common to find around the Internet and in sermons throughout the world that where Jesus is recorded in the New Testament to use the Aramaic word "abba" that the term was an informal word, the likes a child would refer to their pop (i.e. "dad" or "daddy").
This stemmed from an idea that was originally proposed by a scholar named Joachim Jeremias (b1900-d1979); mainly, that the form "abba" originated from "child-babble." The connection between "abba" and "daddy" was then popularized by his following.
However, this idea was immediately challenged by a number of other scholars, such as James Barr who published an article entitled "Abba Isn't 'Daddy'" (in the Journal of Theological Studies) which outlined the numerous problems with such an assertion and addressed them in detail.
Overall, I believe that Mary Rose D'Angelo summed up what happened next nicely:
"Jeremias began almost at once to retreat from the claim that "abba" had the same connotations as "daddy." In a sense, Barr's title (but only his title) misrepresents Jeremias. Even as Jeremias acknowledged that the word was in common use by adults and was used as a mark of repect for old men and for teachers, he continued to stress the origins in babytalk and the consequent intimacy as a special component of Jesus' use of the word. This meaning seems to have been the basis on which he regarded Jesus' use as absolutely distinct from the Judaism of his time.
The NT itself gives quite a different reading of αββα. Each of the three occurrences of αββα in the NT is followed by the Greek translation ο πατερ, "the father." This translation makes clear its meaning to the writers; the form is a literal translation -- "father" plus a definite article -- and like abba can also be a vocative. But it is not a diminutive of "babytalk" form. There are Greek diminutives of father (e.g., παππας [pappas]), and the community chose not to use them.
--Mary Rose D'Angelo. Journal of Biblical Literature, Vol. 111, No. 4 (Winter, 1992), pp. 615-616
And beyond this, many years after Jeremias' death, modern linguistic study of how children pick up speech has completely discounted his conclusions of abba as "babytalk."
But...
There is still a point of confusion: In Modern Hebrew, "abba" has become commonly used as... You guessed it: "Daddy." So, when a Hebrew speaker happens upon this anecdote, to them it makes "perfect sense." :-)
The myth survives.
Nevertheless, happy Father's Day to all of the pas, fathers, pops, dads, papas and daddies out there, wherever you are!
Peace,
-Steve
5 comments:
Wow! Ask a hundred parishioners what "Abba" means and a hundred of them would say, "Daddy."
We have heard this repeated so often it is going to be hard to dislodge.
Abba in Modern Hebrew is less formal than "av". Av would mean Father, whereas abba is something that only a natural son or daughter would call their father. So our Father in the New Testament is telling us that we really can call him a Father, since he has adopted us as sons and daughters through faith.
Nonetheless, the "Abba, Father" occurs only 3 times in the NT.
And every time, the authors choose to write the original aramaic followed by a greek translation - there was something that really marked them about Jesus using the word "Abba" - something pretty dramatic.
All over the middle east, kids have used and still use similar terms (even in arabic) to address their fathers directly. But adults also use the term, maybe with a more formal meaning than the kids. Did you call your dad "father" or "dad" when you grew up? What does this mean with respect to your culture? Are we confusing a debate about the English language's dad/father distinction with a multi-usage Aramaic term? How formal or informal is it?
And do we have clear definitions of this that Abba=Father > Abba=Daddy in all contexts from circa 1st century AD Israel? No.
So the truth of the matter is that scholars can't assert with 100% certainty that when Jesus said "Abba!" he was using a formal or an informal address for God -regardless of Jeremias' argument or the qualms they have with it.
The only thing we do know for certain is there was something that really struck witnesses about Jesus usage of the word Abba - enough to keep the aramaic in their greek texts - unlike nearly every other word. This is without a doubt the most salient feature about the "Abba! which means Father" utterance.
So on the balance of probabilities, and as an academic myself, I wouldn't go knocking the "abba=daddy" merely because of some scholars disputing some other scholar's theory about a term whilst using extra-biblical evidence. There are other biblical reasons than those given by Jeremias to believe that Abba was possibly an informal way of addressing one's father - including the aforementioned preservation of Abba! by greek writers; or Mt.8:3 and Jesus asking us to enter the Kingdom like little children. And this whole-of-scripture approach has been The guiding principle for exegesis for many a century...
Yes, scholars cannot assert anything with 100% certainty. That is the nature of the quest for knowledge, and as "an academic [yourself]" I would assume that you'd understand that. :-)
With all of the recorded uses of "abba" that we have, the existence of Greek diminutives which are unused to translate "abba" in the New Testament, the existence of diminutives of "abba" in Aramaic ("baba," "babbi," "abbi", "pappya" etc. all of which literally mean "daddy"), and how the word is used historically in documents throughout the corpus of Aramaic literature, we *can* assert that the patterns found in the New Testament do not support the "abba" == "daddy" conclusion.
I can't argue against the fact that it is something that is characteristic of early Christianity as a focus, and something that stood out, even to the Greek -speaking/writing compilers of the New Testament. To them, it was something as unusual and defining as "marana tha" or "talitha koumi."
At the same time, it isn't something that is unique, either as "מִן קֳדָם אֲבוּהוּן דְבִשְׁמַיָּא" ("min qadam abuhon di-bishmaya" - "before their father in Heaven") even appears in the Kaddish and for a number of other uses see this entry in the Jewish Encyclopedia here.
As such, the more context and examples where we can see "abba," the less support we can see that it meant anything other than "father."
Peace,
-Steve
I enjoyed your post very much. I saw your comment on Willard Paul's blog. I will come back and read more posts when I have more time. Doylene
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