Greek Structure

Christian Alexander

Does the structure of Aramaic resemble that of Greek? To put it another way, is the Greek phrase "God of Me" equivalent to the Aramaic phrase "My God"? And does it matter that Jesus says "God of Me" while presenting it in various contexts when He is making the same claim?

DMB

Well first, Aramaic is closest to Hebrew (Semitic); Greek has a different development (Indo-European ... but MJ's the expert).

Second, you'd have to be clear about whether you're talking about Matthew's or Mark's quoting. The former hebraises Mark's aramaic.   An interesting match is at 4Q381 (Qumran).

MJ. Smith

To put it another way, is the Greek phrase "God of Me" equivalent to the Aramaic phrase "My God"?

Thanks DMB, I'd started to answer and then decided not to. Christian, think about your question and what you are actually asking:

1. Are you asking if languages that use particles/prepositions have a difference in implied meaning from languages that dependent on cases to show the relationships have a difference in implied meaning from languages that depend on affixes? This question has meaning to those who take the theory that language shapes thinking to its extreme form. but not to me.
2. Are you asking if the difference between using case or prepositions when both are available can reflect discourse grammar emphasis or formality intention? Of course, but you would need to be fluent in both languages to know when emphasis or formality is intended. I do not believe in trusting someone else's analysis in this case.
3. Given that Greek is an inflected language with a possessive case, where did you get the idea that "God of me" is a Greek phrase? A more reasonable way to look at an inflected language is "God my" or "my God" depending on language sequence. Yes, I realize that Greek uses an article before God, something that sounds very forced/unnatural in English.