MarYa: The Name of God in the Aramaic Peshitta

MarYa replaces YHWH in the Peshitta Tanakh. It is a combination of the Aramaic word Mar ("Lord") and the Hebrew Yah (shortened form of YHWH, used in Psalms 68:4 and other places). The letter heh is absent not only in MarYa, but also in any other word or name in which Yah is used:

Elijah in Hebrew is Eliyahu or Eliyah. In Aramaic it is Eliya. Elijah means "Yah is my God."
Jeremiah in Hebrew is Yirmeyahu or Yirmeyah. In Aramaic it is Eramya. Jeremiah means "Yah exalts."
Isaiah in Hebrew is Yeshayahu or Yeshayah. In Aramaic it is Eshaya. Isaiah means "Yah is Savior."
Yah is also used at the end of the Hebrew word HalleluYah (Hallelujah). In Aramaic it is HelleluYa This means "Praise Yah".

The form Yahu is used only at the end of Hebrew names in which the Tetragrammaton occurs. At the beginning of a name the form Ye is used (such as in Yeshua or Yehoshua). The name of God was most likely pronounced Yahweh originally. We can be certain of the pronunciation of the first syllable because the pronunciation of the short form Yah has been preserved. Yahowah or Yehowah ("Jehovah") comes from a misunderstanding of the Masoretic vowel pointings underneath the Tetragrammaton. The vowels pointings for the Hebrew "E' sound and the "A" sound were used so that the reader would not read the name out loud, but use Adonai (Lord) or Elohim (God). Other vowel pointings are also used in the Masoretic Text Tanakh, I think, but I can't remember what they were.

MarYa is not an emphatic form of Mar. The emphatic form of Mar is Mara (used in the Aramaic section of the Book of Daniel (2:4-7:28). Mara in English would be "The lord". There are other forms of Mar that are often confused with MarYa:

Maraye- Lords
Mari- My lord

Here are statements from other Peshitta scholars to support the belief that MarYa is the Aramaic word used for YHWH:

Maria mria, "the Lord." The Syrians hold this name to be equivalent to the Hebrew tetragrammaton Yod-Heh-Vav-Heh--and consider the letters in it as designating to the glory of the divine nature. Thus M is the initial for Morutha, "dominion;" R, for rabutha, "majesty;" A and I for aithutha, "essence," or "eternal subsistence."- John Wesley Etheridge, translator of A Literal Translation of the Four Gospels From the Peschito, or Canon of Holy Scripture in Use Among the Oriental Christians From the Earliest Times and The Apostolical Acts and Epistles: from the Peschito, or Ancient Syriac: To Which Are Added, the Remaining Epistles, and the Book of Revelation After A Later Syrian Text

...is used only of THE LORD God, and in the Peshitta version of the O.T. represents the Tetragrammaton...- R. Payne Smith, compiler of A Compendious Syriac Dictionary: Founded Upon the Thesaurus Syriacus of R. Payne Smith

It [The Peshitta] names "Yeshua" as "Yahweh" 32 times in the NT! The Greek has no word for Yahweh, though the Greek translator might have substituted "Kurios Theos" ("Lord God") or, "Theos" ("God") to indicate the Deity, since the Name ("THE LORD JEHOVAH")- "MarYah" is referenced 239 times in the NT quotations of OT scripture & etc. Actually, that probably happened only five or six times out of 239 in The Greek NT. All other places simply have "Kurios" ("Lord"), which can refer to The Deity or to a mere man. The Aramaic MarYah ("THE LORD JEHOVAH") never refers to anyone but The Deity.- Glenn David Bauscher, translator of The Aramaic-English Interlinear New Testament and The Original Aramaic New Testament in Plain English

question wrote:
Is YA (MRYA) the same as YaH (YHWH) ?


Of course it is!  

Think of the following names: 

Eli-Ya (Elijah - "Ya is my God"), spelled in Aramaic 0yl0

Khazqi-Ya (Hezekiah, "Stengthened of Ya"), spelled in Aramaic 0yqzx

Aeram-Ya (Jeremiah, "Ya will uplift"), spelled in Aramaic 0ymr0


"Ya" is a contraction for 'YHWH' in Aramaic. Think of all the names that end in "-iah".  

0yrm 
"Mar-Ya" is a compound title made up of the title "Mar" (Lord) and the contraction "Ya" and it means "The Lord YA" - which is the Aramaic cognate for "The Lord YHWH". 

This is why the Peshitta TaNaKH, 100% of the time, translates YHWH as MRYA.  - Paul Younan, a native Aramaic speaker and translator of The Peshitta.org Interlinear New Testament

When the Aramaic word Mariah is used it may refer to either the LORD God or to the highest ranking Lord of lords. For instance Jesus was called by the people "my Lord", Mar- from the word Mara, lord, master, sir...The term Mariah-LORD was substituted for the Hebrew word Yahweh, which refers to the LORD God only, but on a few occasions the Messiah is called Mariah (as in [Matthew] verse [22]:45) because he is the highest Lord among men. (GOD is the LORD of the Messiah.)...- Dr. Rocco A. Errico, translator of The Message of Matthew, and student of native Aramaic speaker Dr. George M. Lamsa (translator of Holy Bible From the Ancient Eastern Text.

ayrm (meem-resh-yodh-alap), the emphatic form used for the sacred Hebrew hwhy, plus yrml ayrm rma (Amar MarYah l'mari) The LORD said to my Lord, Matthew 22:44, also for Christ as Lord of all, Acts 10:36, and the one Lord, 1 Corinthians 8:6, Philippians 2:11.- William Jennings, compiler of Lexicon to the Syriac New Testament.

ayrm (mur-yaa) The Lord, an appellation signifying Jesus; Jehovah. - Alexander Yosep Oraham, compiler of Oraham's Dictionary of the Stabilized and Enriched Assyrian

THE DEITY: 
God...Alaha
Lord...Mariah- Dr. George M. Lamsa, native Aramaic speaker and translator of Holy Bible From the Ancient Eastern Text.

Throughout both volumes of this work, I have been repeatedly making the assertion that the Peshitta Tanakh and New Testament usage of the phrase MarYah (ayrm) is neither a title nor a conjugation of the word Mar (rm), meaning “master”. Instead, the word is a carrying over of the set-apart Name, a.k.a. the “Tetragrammaton”; a compound word, comprised of Mar and the simplified form of YHWH, Yah. In this form, MarYah replaces YHWH almost 7,000 times in the Peshitta Tanakh alone. Furthermore, the Peshitta New Testament carries over all Tanakh quotes with this word applying also to YHWH, as well as using it in the narrative portions of the Gospels and elsewhere to clearly designate YHWH.- Andrew Gabriel Roth, translator of Aramaic English New Testament.

LORD is MARYA, meaning LORD of the Old Testament, YAHWEH.- Janet M. Magiera, translator of Aramaic Peshitta New Testament Translation and Aramaic Peshitta New Testament: Vertical Interlienar. Janet Magiera was also a pupil of one of George Lamsa's students.

Here is how various translators render MarYa into English:

Andrew Gabriel Roth (Aramaic English New Testament)- "Master YHWH"

Paul Younan (Peshitta.org Interlinear)- "LORD"

James Scott Trimm (Hebraic-Roots Version "New Testament")- "YHWH"

Glenn David Bauscher (The Original Aramaic New Testament in Plain English and The Aramaic-English Interlinear New Testament)- "THE LORD JEHOVAH" or "LORD GOD".

George M. Lamsa (Holy Bible From the Ancient Eastern Text)- "LORD" and "JEHOVAH" in the Old Testament (sometimes transliterated as "Mariah"). "Lord" in the New Testament.

Rocco A. Errico (The Message of Matthew)- "LORD" when referring to God the Father and "Lord" when referring to Jesus Christ.

Janet M. Magiera (Aramaic Peshitta New Testament Translation and Aramaic Peshitta New Testament: Vertical Interlinear)- "LORD" in the standard edition. Transliterated as "Marya" in the Messianic Version.

John Wesley Etheridge (A Literal Translation Of The Four Gospels From The Peschito, Or Canon Of Holy Scripture in Use Among Oriental Christians From the Earliest Times and The Apostolical Acts and Epistles, From the Peschito, Or Ancient Syriac: To Which Are Added, the Remaining Epistles, and the Book of Revelation After a Later Syrian Text)- "Lord". In a select few places it is translated as "LORD".

James Murdock (The New Testament: Or, The Book of the Holy Gospel of Our Lord and Our God, Jesus the Messiah, A Literal Translation From the Syriac Peshito Version)- "Lord".

William Norton (A Translation, in English Daily Used, of the Peshito-Syriac Text, and of the Received Greek Text, of Hebrews, James, 1 Peter, and 1 John: With an Introduction To the Peshito-Syriac Text, and the Revised Greek Text of 1881 and A Translation, in English Daily Used: of the Seventeen Letters Forming Part of the Peshito-Syriac Books- "Lord".

American Christian Press (Aramaic-English Interlinear New Testament)- "Lord".

Victor Alexander (Aramaic New Testament, Exodus: Liberation, Genesis, Book of Isaiah, Jeremiah: Earamya, Daniel, Jonah, Zechariah, Malachi )- "Lord" in Aramaic New Testament edition and in his translations of the Peshitta Old Testament Books of Exodus, Jeremiah, Daniel, Jonah, Zechariah, and Malachi. "Maryah" in Aramaic Scripture edition and in his translation of Isaiah.

Joseph Pashka (Aramaic Gospel and Acts)- "Lord".

Lonnie Martin (The Testimony of Yeshua)- "Lord".

A. Frances Werner (Ancient Roots Translinear Bible: New Testament)- "Lord". "Lord (Yahweh)" in Old Testament quotes.

Herb Jahn (Aramaic New Covenant)- "Yah Veh" when referring to God the Father. "Lord" when referring to Jesus.

The Peshitta obviously does not fully transliterate the Tetragrammaton into the Estrangela script. This was most likely out of reverence for the name of the one true God. The Peshitta does not make any attempt to hide the name of God though, as you can see from all of the above evidence. Most ancient versions of the Bible use circumlocutions for the name of God. The Septuagint uses Kurios in most manuscripts, but some have the Tetragrammaton in them (some using the Paleo-Hebrew script, and one transliterates the Name as IAO. The Aramaic Targumim replace "YHWH" with memra ("Word"). The Latin Vulgate uses Dominus (Lord). The Peshitta seems to stand alone as the only version of the Old Testament (that isn't written in Hebrew) to consistently use the Name of God, and it is definitely the only ancient New Testament to use the name of God. The Medieval versions of Matthew in Hebrew (Shem Tov and Du Tillet, for example) are well-known as frauds. It is a well-known fact that the Rabbis forbade the verbal use of the name of God for fear that it would be used in a shameful way. Jewish people frequently use HaShem ("The Name"), Adonai ("Lord"), and Elohim as circumlocutions. Many Jews won't even write "God" out, instead they write it as "G-d".

Some of the quotes that are mentioned earlier in this article also make mention that MarYa is used when speaking of Jesus. The Aramaic Peshitta is the only New Testament that refers to Jesus by the name of Yahweh. This is obviously another thing that makes the Peshitta stand out among the many versions of the New Testament. Here are a few places in which Jesus is called MarYa (using Janet Magiera's Aramaic Peshitta New Testament Translation: Messianic Version):

For today the deliverer, who is Marya Meshikha, is born to you in the city of Dawid.- Luke 2:11

Therefore, all the house of Israyel should truly know that Alaha has made this Yeshue, whom you crucified, Marya and Meshikha.- Acts 2:37

Shimon said to them, "Repent and be immersed, each one of you, in the name of Marya Yeshue for the forgiveness of sins, so that you will receive the gift of the Rukha d'Qudsha."- Acts 2:38

Because of this, Alaha also elevated him highly and gave him a name that is greater than all names, that at the name of Yeshue every knee should bow that is in heaven and on earth and that is under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Yeshue-Meshikha is Marya, to the glory of Alaha his Father.- Philippians 2:9-11

He said, testifying these [things], "Yes, I am coming soon." Come Marya Yeshue.- Revelation 22:20

While the Greek New Testament also declares the deity of our Lord Jesus the Messiah quite clearly, it does not ever use the name "Yahweh" of Jesus. The Peshitta stands alone as the only text of the New Testament that refers to Jesus by the personal name of God. MarYa is our God, and Jesus is MarYa. 

http://aramaicnttruth.org/downloads/Understanding%20why%20MarYah%20is%20the%20Aramaic%20Name%20for%20YHWH.pdf - A wonderful PDF article by Andrew Gabriel Roth on the subject.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLHKo7rlNdI - A video I did about the deity of Christ in the Aramaic Peshitta.

http://www.bible-geeks.com/