Difference between revisions of "Abba"

<p> Abba is the emphatic form of the Aram. word for ‘father’ (see Dalman, <i> Aram. Gram. </i> p. 98, for אב and its various forms; also Maclean, in <i> Dict. of Christ and the [[Gospels]] </i> , <i> s.v. </i> ). It is found only in three passages in the NT, viz. &nbsp;Mark 14:36, &nbsp;Romans 8:15, &nbsp;Galatians 4:6; in each case ὁ πατήρ is subjoined to Ἀββᾶ, the whole expression being a title of address. [The use of ὁ πατήρ, nominative with the article, as a vocative, is not a Hebraism, as Lightfoot thought, but an emphatic vocative not unknown to classical Greek and common in the NT: ‘nearly sixty examples of it are found in NT’; sea Moulton, <i> Gram. of NT Greek </i> , Edinburgh, 1906, p. 70.] </p> <p> Lightfoot on &nbsp;Galatians 4:6 argues that the bilingual expression is a liturgical formula originating with [[Hellenistic]] Jews, who, while clinging to the original word which was consecrated by long usage, added to it the Greek equivalent; but he supports an alternative theory that it took its rise among [[Jews]] of [[Palestine]] after they had become acquainted with the Greek language, and is simply an expression of importunate entreaty, and an example of that verbal usage whereby the same idea is conveyed in different forms for the sake of emphasis. As illustrations of this repetition, he quotes &nbsp;Revelation 9:11 (Ἀπολλύων, Ἀβαδδών) &nbsp;Revelation 12:9; &nbsp;Revelation 20:2 (Σατανᾶς, Διἀβολος). Thayer, in <i> Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible (5 vols) </i> ( <i> s.v. </i> ), points out that, though devotional intensity belongs to repetition of the same term ( <i> e.g. </i> κύριε, κύριε), it is also expressed by such phrases as ναὶ ἀμήν, ‘Hallelujah, [[Praise]] the Lord,’ where the terms are different. The context of each passage where ‘ <i> Abba </i> , Father’ is found appears to prove that the Greek addition is not merely the explanation of the [[Aramaic]] word, such as, <i> e.g. </i> , St. Peter might have added in his preaching-a custom to be perpetuated by the Evangelists, as suggested by the passage in Mk.; but is rather an original formula, the genesis of which is to be sought further back, perhaps in the actual words used by our Lord Himself. Thus Sanday-Headlam on &nbsp;Romans 8:15 ( <i> International Critical [[Commentary]] </i> , 1902) remark: </p> <p> ‘It seems better to suppose that our Lord Himself, using familiarly both languages, and concentrating into this word of all word such a depth of meaning, found Himself Impelled spontaneously to repeat the word, and that some among His disciples caught and transmitted the same habit. It is significant however of the limited extent of strictly [[Jewish]] [[Christianity]] that we find no other original examples of the use than these three.’ </p> <p> Thus, the double form is due to the fact that the early [[Christians]] were a bilingual people; and the duplication, while conveying intensity to the expression, ‘would only be natural where the speaker was using in both cases his familiar tongue.’ [[F. H]]  Chase ( <i> Texts and Studies </i> i. iii. 23) suggests that the phrase is due to the shorter or [[Lucan]] form of the Lord’s Prayer, and that the early Christians repeated the first word in the intensity of their devotion, coupling a Hellenistic rendering with the Aramaic <i> Abba. </i> He argues that the absence of such a phrase as ὅ ἐστιν, or ὅ ἐστι μεθερμηνευόμενον, in &nbsp;Mark 14:36 is due to the familiarity of the formula; and that, while the [[Pauline]] passages do not recall Gethsemane, they suggest the Lord’s [[Prayer]] as current in the shorter form. Moulton ( <i> op. cit. </i> p. 10), combating Zahn’s theory that Aramaic was the language of St. Paul’s prayers-a theory based on the Apostle’s ‘ <i> Abba </i> , Father’-remarks that ‘the peculiar sacredness of association belonging to the first word of the Lord’s Prayer in its original tongue supplies a far more probable account of its liturgical use among [[Gentile]] Christians.’ He mentions the analogy (see footnote, <i> loc. cit. </i> ) of the Roman [[Catholic]] ‘saying <i> Paternoster </i> ,’ but adds that ‘Paul will not allow even one word of prayer in a foreign tongue without adding an instant translation’; and further refers to the [[Welsh]] use of <i> Pader </i> as a name for the Lord’s Prayer. </p> <p> It seems probable (1) that the phrase, ‘ <i> Abba </i> , Father,’ is a liturgical formula; (2) that the duality of the form is not due to a Hebraistic repetition for the sake of emphasis, but to the fact that the early Christians, even of non-Jewish descent, were familiar with both Aramaic and Greek; (3) that <i> Abba </i> , being the first word of the Lord’s Prayer, was held in special veneration, and was quoted with the Greek equivalent attached to it, as a familiar devotional phrase (like <i> Maran atha </i> [&nbsp;1 Corinthians 16:22], which would be quite intelligible to Christiana of Gentile origin, though its Greek translation, ὁ Κύριος ἐγγός [&nbsp;Philippians 4:5], was also used; cf. <i> Did. </i> 10. 5, where ‘Maran atha’ and ‘Amen’ close a public prayer); and (4.) that our Lord Himself, though this cannot be said to be established beyond doubt, used the double form in pronouncing the sacred Name, which was invoked in His prayer. </p> <p> In conclusion, it should be noted that, while the phrase is associated with the specially solemn occasion of the [[Gethsemane]] agony, where our Lord is reported by St. Mark to have used it, both examples of its use in the Pauline writings convey a similar impression of solemnity as connected with the [[Christian]] believer’s assurance of sonship-and sonship (let it be noted) not in the general sense in which all humanity may be described as children of God, but in the intimate and spiritual connotation belonging to υἱοθεσίαν, or ‘adoption,’ into the family of God. </p> <p> Literature.-See article‘Abba’ in Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible (5 vols), <i> Dict. of Christ and the Gospels </i> , and <i> Jewish Encyclopedia </i> , an art in <i> Expository Times </i> xx. [1909] 358, and the authorities cited above. </p> <p> R. Martin Pope. </p>

<p> <strong> ABBA </strong> is the ‘emphatic’ form of the Aram. [Note: Aramaic.] word for ‘father.’ It is found in the Gr. and Eng. text of &nbsp; Mark 14:36 , &nbsp; Romans 8:15 , and &nbsp; Galatians 4:6 (in each case <em> Abbâ, ho patçr </em> , ‘Abba, Father’). Aram. [Note: Aramaic.] has no article, and the ‘emphatic’ affix <em> â </em> is usually the equivalent of the Heb. article. Both can represent the vocative case (for [[Hebrew]] see Davidson’s <em> Syntax </em> , § 21 f.); and <em> abba </em> occurs in the Pesb. of &nbsp; Luke 22:42; &nbsp; Luke 23:34 for <em> pater </em> . The ‘articular nominative’ is found in NT sixty times for the vocative; and so we have <em> ho patçr </em> for <em> ô pater </em> (Moulton, <em> Gram. of NT Greek </em> , p. 70). Jesus often addressed God as ‘Father’ or ‘my Father.’ In both cases He would probably use ‘Abba’; for <em> ’abbâ </em> may be used for <em> ’âbî </em> (Targ. on &nbsp; [[Genesis]] 19:34 ). In &nbsp; Mark 14:36 , <em> ho patçr </em> is perhaps a gloss added by the Evangelist, as in &nbsp; Mark 5:41; &nbsp; Mark 7:11; &nbsp; Mark 7:34 he adds an explanation of the Aram. [Note: Aramaic.] : but in &nbsp; Romans 8:15 and &nbsp; Galatians 4:6 the Gentile Christians had learned for importunity to use the Aram. [Note: Aramaic.] word <em> Abba </em> ; as the Jews in prayer borrowed <em> [[Kyrie]] mou </em> (‘my Lord’) from the Greek, and used it along with Heb. words for ‘my master,’ ‘my father’ (Schöttgen, <em> Hor. Heb </em> . 252). </p> <p> [[J. T]]  Marshall. </p>