Simon "The Leper"
Mark 14:3

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Posted by Steve Caruso , updated Tuesday, August 20, 2002 8:29 AM

 

"And while he was in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, seated at table, there came a woman with a jar of perfumed oil of great price; and when the jar was broken she put the perfume on his head." -Mark 14:3

The bold area in Greek reads "Σιμωνος του λεπρου" (Simônos tou leprou), which litterally means "Simon the Leper" or "Simon the Skin-Diseased" ("λεπρου" (leprou, or lepros in the nominative case) can stand for various skin diseases like it's Hebrew-Aramaic counterpart). This seems strange, because according to the Law laid down in Leviticus, Lepers are not allowed within the city:

"And the leper who has the disease on him is to go about with signs of grief, with his hair loose and his mouth covered, crying, "Unclean, unclean!" While the disease is on him, he will be unclean. He is unclean: let him keep by himself, living outside the town." -Leviticus 13:45-46

Now, taking a look at the Aramaic in the Sinaitic Palimpsest, we find that Simon is addressed as "ܐܒܪܓ ܢܘܥܡܫ" which would most likely be as recorded in the Peshitta/o: "ܫܺܡܥܽܘܢ ܓܰܪܺܒܳܐ" (Shim'un Gériba). Now things start to become clearer. "ܓܰܪܺܒܳܐ" (Gériba) can easily be confused with "ܓܰܪܳܒܳܐ" (Géraba) since Aramaic at that time was written without vowel markers.

-"ܓܰܪܺܒܳܐ" (Gériba) means POTTER or JAR MERCHANT where,
-"ܓܰܪܳܒܳܐ" (Géraba) means LEPER or SKIN DISEASE

But both are spelled with the same consonants: Gamal - Rish - Beth - Alap

In addition, why was there no record of Eesho' (Jesus) healing Simon? If he were a leper, it would be very dangerous for His disciples and other people in the house. Leprosy is a very contagious disease and not worth the risk of catching. Here the Aramaic sheds some light.

 

 

Everything © 2002 Steve Caruso unless otherwise noted.
Please feel free to use this for private or public use, just send me an email first! :-)


 


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