Books Restored to the Original Manuscript Order Just as the manuscript order of the books of the Tanak (OT), (followed by Judaism) does not agree with the ordering of the same books in the Christian "Old Testament" as printed today, so also does the manuscript order of the NT differ. The ancient manuscript order of the books of the "New Testament" has first the "Gospels" then "Acts" followed by the Jewish Epistles (Ya,akov (James); 1 & 2 Kefa (Peter); 1, 2 & 3 Yochanan (John) and Y'hudah (Jude)) followed by the Pauline epistles which are followed by Revelation. This order was rearranged by Rome in the Latin Vulgate in which the Pauline epistles were given first place and the Jewish epistles given second place. Translated from the Original Hebrew and Aramaic The HRV "New Testament" text is taken from ancient Hebrew and Aramaic manuscripts.
(Shem Tob, DuTillet and Muster Hebrew Matthew; Munster Hebrew Hebrews; The Old Syriac Aramaic Gospels; The Aramaic Peshitta NT and the Crawford Aramaic Revelation.) Acts 11:27-30 Mt. 26:9 = Mk. 14:3 Mt. 19:12 & Acts 8:26f Mt. 19:24 = Mk. 10:25 = Lk. 18:25 Jn. 12:11 & 15:16
The original manuscript order had an important significance. It agreed with the precept that the message was to the Jews first and then to the Goyim (Gentiles). It also agrees with the concept that Ya'akov, Kefa and Yochanan were emissaries that come BEFORE Paul (Gal. 117) and with the concept that Kefa, Ya'akov and Yochanan served as three pillars which lend authority upon which Paul's message was built (Gal. 29) and not vice-versa. The reader of the NT was intended to read the "Jewish" epistles FIRST and then to read the Pauline epistles already having understood the Jewish epistles. The NT reader was intended to read Ya'akov's (James') admonition concerning faith and works (Ya'akov 2) as well as Kefa's warnings about Paul being difficult to understand and often twisted (1Kefa 315-16) etc. before ever attempting to understand the writings of Paul. The HRV follows the ancient manuscript order (which agrees also with the order of the ancient Aramaic manuscripts) in placing the "Jewish epistles" immediately after Acts and placing the Pauline Epistles AFTER them.
Unlike most translations this edition is not rooted in a Greek Hellenistic text. Instead this translation seeks to understand the text of the New Testament from the languages in which it was originally written. This is important because there are some passages in the NT which do not make sense at all in Greek, but only begin to make sense when we look at them in Hebrew and Aramaic:
And in these days prophets came from Jerusalem to Antioch. Then one
of them, named Agabus, stood up and showed by the Spirit that there
was going to be a great famine throughout all THE WORLD, which also
happened in the days of Claudius Caesar. Then the talmidim, each
according to his ability, determined to send relief to the brothers
dwelling IN JUDEA. This they also did, and sent it to the elders by
the hands of Barnabas and Saul.
Now this doesn't make sense at all, why would those in Antioch send relief to those dwelling IN JUDEA if the famine was to strike all THE WORLD. They would be facing famine themselves. The solution lies in the fact that the word for "WORLD" in the Aramaic manuscripts is `ERA (Strong's #772) the Aramaic form of the Hebrew word ERETZ (Strong's 776). This word can mean "world" (as in Prov. 19:4) "earth" (as in Dan. 2:35) or "land" (as in Dan. 9:15) and is often used as a euphemism for "The Land of Israel" (as in Dan. 9:6). Certainly the word here is not meant to mean "world" but "land of Israel."
And when Y'shua was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper,...
As any Bible student knows, lepers were not permitted to live in the city (see Lev. 13:46). Since ancient Hebrew and Aramaic were written without vowels, there was no distinction between the Aramaic words GAR'BA (leper) and GARABA (jar maker or jar merchant). Since in this story a woman pours oil from a jar it is apparent that Simon was a jar merchant or jar maker and not a leper.
....there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the
Kingdom of Heaven's sake....
The man in Acts 8:27 appears to be a proselyte to Judaism since he seems to be making the Torah-required pilgrimage to Jerusalem (Dt. 16:16). The Torah, however, forbids a eunuch both from becoming a proselyte Jew, and from worshiping at the Temple (Dt. 23:1f). This also raises the question of why one would become a eunuch (be castrated) for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven. After all eunuchs are excluded from the assembly of Israel. The word for "eunuch" in the Aramaic manuscripts of both of theses passages is M'HAIMNA which can mean "eunuch" but can also mean "believer" or "faithful one" as it clearly means here.
--Mt. 19:12 NKJV
So he [Phillip] arose and went. And behold,a
man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury, and had come to Jerusalem to worship.
--Acts 8:27 NKJV
...it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle
than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God.
The word for "camel" in the Aramaic manuscripts is GAMLA which can mean "camel" but can also refer to a "large rope," which is certainly the meaning here.
One word that the Greek translators often misunderstood was the Aramaic word `EZAL which normally means "to go" or "to depart" but is used idiomatically in Aramaic to mean that some action goes forward and that something progresses "more and more".
One case where the Greek translator misunderstood this word and translated to literally is in Jn. 12:11:
Because that by reason of him many of the Jews
went away (!?!?!?!?), and believed on Jesus. (KJV)
Now I have translated the Aramaic of this passage as follows:
because many of the Judeans, on account of him,
were trusting more and more (`EZAL) in Yeshua.
And Jn. 15:16:
...that ye should go and bring forth fruit...
I have translated from the Aramaic:
KJV
...that you also should bear fruit more and more (`EZAL)...
- James Trimm