About the Aramaic Language

"Abba" in Aramaic does not mean "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'" (published in Journal of Theological Studies) which outlined the numerous problems with such an assertion and addressed them in detail.

"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. [21]

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

Attested forms for "daddy" in Aramaic include, "papi," "baba" and "abbi" and modern studies of how children aquire language have completely discounted Jeremias' assertions of abba as "babytalk" since.

There are several ways to express the word "cousin."

"Brother" however did bear similar connotations in idiom that it does in English, and was used in similar frequency.

New Age "translations" of the Aramaic Lord's Prayer
are patently incorrect.

Such as "Oh Father-Mother, birther of the cosmos..." etc.. The traditional Aramaic forms are very close to the traditional English forms in content and idiom.

"Allah" is not Aramaic for "God"
(as Allah is Arabic).

In Aramaic "God" is either "Elah" "Elaha" or "Alaha" depending on dialect and context.

Many of the "Aramaic idioms" of George Lamsa
have no historical basis

Lamsa was not keen on citing his sources and primarily leaned on his own modern anecdotes.

The Syriac Peshitta is not
the "original Aramaic New Testament."

There several several Syriac versions prior to it, and Syriac itself is a dialect that did not crystalize until around 200 AD and did not become a major literary dialect until 400 AD.

Jesus and his followers did not speak Syriac Aramaic.

Most scholars believe that they spoke some form of Old Galilean.