Closeup: Yochanan (John) Chapter 1, found on pg. 232 in the AENT.
Q: “Is there a difference between the Lamsa translation and the AENT?”
A: The Aramaic English New Testament (AENT) is founded upon the translation by George Lamsa, as well as translations by Paul Younan, and Etheridge, and Murdock, with significant improvements upon each of these translations. Further, the AENT translation also consulted the Khabouris Manuscript (disc. 1954) which was not done by these other four translations.
In addition, the AENT is special, since the Aramaic is printed side-by-side with the English. To the best of my knowledge, there is not a Lamsa book in diglot form, with both languages. The reason this is important is for proof that the Aramaic has been translated correctly.
Here, I can give several examples:
Philippians 2:11 Lamsa:“And every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord, to the glory of God his Father.
Philippians 2:11 AENT pg. 592:
We can see here that Lamsa followed the Greek tradition, writing “Jesus Christ is Lord” instead of following closely what the Aramaic actually says. The Greek has been adequately expressed in English by the King James, aka Authorized Version:
“And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:11 AV)
Does the Aramaic actually say that “Master YHWH is Y’shua Mashiyach…?” Let’s check:
וכֻל לֶשָן נַודֶּא דּמָריָא הו יֶשֻוע משִיחָא לשֻבחָא דַּעלָהָא אַבֻוהי
So we see that in this verse, the AENT has more accurately rendered the Aramaic into English than the Lamsa translation — and the difference is powerful.
1 Corinthians 12:3 Lamsa:“Therefore I want you to understand that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed; and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Spirit.”
1 Corinthians 12:3 AENT pg.522:
By contrast, we see that the Aramaic is in fact worded the way the AENT claims:
מֶטֻל הָנָא מַודַּע אנָא לכֻון דּלַיתּ אנָש דַּברֻוחָא דַּאלָהָא ממַלֶל וָאמַר דַּאמַר דַּחרֶם הֻו יֶשֻוע וָאפלָא אנָא מֶשכַּח למִאמַר דּמָריָא הֻו יֶשֻוע אֶלָא אֶן בּרֻוחָא דּקוּודשָא
In places where the AENT English differs from the English found in prior translations, the reasons are given in the AENT footnotes.
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Footnotes below are as found in the Aramaic English New Testament by Andrew Gabriel Roth, 3rd & 4th Edition.
[2] Simple and beautiful, yet perhaps the most powerful statement of belief in all of Rav Shaul’s letters. A declaration of such magnitude as this most certainly demands original Hebrew and Aramaic to comprehend the fullness of such a bold statement and revelation.