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Revelations of the Aramaic Jesus: The Hidden Teachings on Life and Death
“Neil Douglas-Klotz has distilled his decades of rigorous scholarship, deep practice, and revolutionary insight into a potent elixir for our times.” —Mirabai Starr, translator of Julian of The Showings and author of Wild Mercy
This book is an approach to Jesus’s recorded words and teachings through his native language, Aramaic, answering many questions clearly and consistently, even if unexpectedly, no matter which Gospel you have in your hands.
From the
“Jesus’s teachings have been used historically to fuel what became modern Western culture, with all its pluses and minuses. At the same time, viewed through his native language, the same teachings provide a solution to our culture’s greatest challenges, pointing the way toward a proper use of our human individuality and will.”
Through expansions of Aramaic’s multiple meanings as well as guided contemplations, Revelations of the Aramaic Jesus provides a guide to transformation through the way of the prophet of Nazareth. It shows how Jesus’s deepest teachings address contemporary challenges, such as our relationships with nature and each other, as well as the purpose of life itself.
Revelations of the Aramaic Jesus is a guide to living an authentic interior life without dogma and a spiritual path that makes you more comfortable in your own, providing a sense of meaning and purpose.
This book is an approach to Jesus’s recorded words and teachings through his native language, Aramaic, answering many questions clearly and consistently, even if unexpectedly, no matter which Gospel you have in your hands.
From the
“Jesus’s teachings have been used historically to fuel what became modern Western culture, with all its pluses and minuses. At the same time, viewed through his native language, the same teachings provide a solution to our culture’s greatest challenges, pointing the way toward a proper use of our human individuality and will.”
Through expansions of Aramaic’s multiple meanings as well as guided contemplations, Revelations of the Aramaic Jesus provides a guide to transformation through the way of the prophet of Nazareth. It shows how Jesus’s deepest teachings address contemporary challenges, such as our relationships with nature and each other, as well as the purpose of life itself.
Revelations of the Aramaic Jesus is a guide to living an authentic interior life without dogma and a spiritual path that makes you more comfortable in your own, providing a sense of meaning and purpose.
- GenresSpirituality
246 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 1, 2022
161 people are currently reading
99 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
September 3, 2023
The promise of the book is to reveal the inside story of Jesus' teachings and sayings. The premise is that the more standard versions of the Bible that people read obscure the actual words of Jesus. As a result, the author's expertise about the Aramaic language promises to reveal more than theologians, most biblical experts, and ordinary believers understand about Jesus. Reading the book should encourage a more fulfilling interior, spiritual life. Revelations according to the author are mystical akin to other prophets and religious figures.
John 1:1 is reevaluated with reference to the Gospel of Thomas revealing light about the four traditional Gospel accounts. Thomas is an extra-canonical sayings gospel that the author cites alongside the four canonical Gospels. Scholars have proposed dates of composition as early as 60 AD and as late as 250 AD.The work is useful for the author's purpose as a Coptic-language text of which almost two-thirds of these sayings resemble those found in the canonical gospels and its editio princeps counts more than 80% of parallels, while it is speculated that the other sayings were added from Gnostic tradition. As such, the phrase "the Word was God" becomes an ongoing conversation, or messaging in that "this Word-Wisdom exists as, with and within Reality itself" (p. 117).
The mystic tradition in the history of religions often exists in conflict with religious authorities and the Aramaic Jesus is no exception. John 14:6b "No man comes to the Father, but by me" becomes similar to other "intermediaries--saints, bodhisattvas, Orishas, ancestor, spirit guides and more--in order to help establish a clear connection to this Source, by whatever name it was known" (p. 169).
In John 17:2 "As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him" is not a reference to "religious officials" (p. 191) as to the forgiveness of sin or the necessity to believe in Jesus to receive eternal life. Rather, for the author, Jesus is simply the anointed one clarifying the misunderstanding that believing in Jesus "is the prerequisite for life eternal, or that Jesus and God are the same" (p. 192).
The interior mystical and inside knowledge of Jesus followers are codified in the fourth century and in Chapter 19 the author refers us to online sources about what are the canonical and non-canonical teachings of the Jesus figure (note the Chapter 19) reference on p. 232 n. 1.).
The book includes abundant references to Aramaic words and meanings while including prayer references throughout as well. It is a contemplative and spiritually mystical work.
John 1:1 is reevaluated with reference to the Gospel of Thomas revealing light about the four traditional Gospel accounts. Thomas is an extra-canonical sayings gospel that the author cites alongside the four canonical Gospels. Scholars have proposed dates of composition as early as 60 AD and as late as 250 AD.The work is useful for the author's purpose as a Coptic-language text of which almost two-thirds of these sayings resemble those found in the canonical gospels and its editio princeps counts more than 80% of parallels, while it is speculated that the other sayings were added from Gnostic tradition. As such, the phrase "the Word was God" becomes an ongoing conversation, or messaging in that "this Word-Wisdom exists as, with and within Reality itself" (p. 117).
The mystic tradition in the history of religions often exists in conflict with religious authorities and the Aramaic Jesus is no exception. John 14:6b "No man comes to the Father, but by me" becomes similar to other "intermediaries--saints, bodhisattvas, Orishas, ancestor, spirit guides and more--in order to help establish a clear connection to this Source, by whatever name it was known" (p. 169).
In John 17:2 "As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him" is not a reference to "religious officials" (p. 191) as to the forgiveness of sin or the necessity to believe in Jesus to receive eternal life. Rather, for the author, Jesus is simply the anointed one clarifying the misunderstanding that believing in Jesus "is the prerequisite for life eternal, or that Jesus and God are the same" (p. 192).
The interior mystical and inside knowledge of Jesus followers are codified in the fourth century and in Chapter 19 the author refers us to online sources about what are the canonical and non-canonical teachings of the Jesus figure (note the Chapter 19) reference on p. 232 n. 1.).
The book includes abundant references to Aramaic words and meanings while including prayer references throughout as well. It is a contemplative and spiritually mystical work.
December 9, 2024
I don’t often write reviews, but this book changed my life. Growing up with westernized Christianity, something never felt right. This book brought Yeshua to life in a way that finally made sense, replacing years of confusion with peace and clarity. Yeshua wasn’t just a religious figure—he was a mystic, an enlightened soul who taught us about love and how to connect our small, egoic selves to our true, divine nature. I’m so grateful to have read this book, and I know I’ll keep coming back to it again and again.
November 9, 2023
Heart Opening
I experienced a beautiful heart opening through the words in this book. What I had always felt to be true about Jesus was confirmed. Through these poetic translations of the original Aramaic texts we get a vision of a man whose soul is fully connected to Source and whose heart seeks to share the beauty and power of that union with all humanity. It isn’t about dogma or belief, it is experiential, a knowing, a connection with All That Is.
I experienced a beautiful heart opening through the words in this book. What I had always felt to be true about Jesus was confirmed. Through these poetic translations of the original Aramaic texts we get a vision of a man whose soul is fully connected to Source and whose heart seeks to share the beauty and power of that union with all humanity. It isn’t about dogma or belief, it is experiential, a knowing, a connection with All That Is.
September 24, 2024
Absolutely life changing. I could not put it down and read the whole thing in one sitting. If you have studied Christian Scripture at all, this author's exegesis is incredibly deep and will bring you new insights in abundance! A must read for any spiritual seekers.
May 1, 2025
Yes indeed life changing. Highly reccomend for all followers of Jesus
June 8, 2024
This was the best surprise find among my 2023 reads. I don't recall how I found it, maybe buried in a reference within a book of Rumi's poetry? But the premise is that by unpacking the language Jesus preached in (Aramaic) down to the meanings of syllables in words, you can discover many more layers of meaning than the modern translations can offer.
Aramaic (and other semitic languages) assigned multiple meanings to words, and multiple elemental meaning to the syllables at the roots of each word. For example, "dami" means wine, but also "essence" and "blood." Lachma means bread, as well as understanding. When you re-read familiar bible passages and insert any of these other meanings in for words you see, the whole message is both richer and sometimes a bit less obvious.
I also liked the section where Klotz compared many passages in John and Thomas that say the same thing in Aramaic, but look totally different based on the word choices of translators. These two communities were known to be rivals with lots of ties, and their teachings were far more overlapping with each other than with the Synoptic gospels.
All-in-all, this book inspired me to world-build a fiction novel around many of the unique ways of seeing the world within it.
Aramaic (and other semitic languages) assigned multiple meanings to words, and multiple elemental meaning to the syllables at the roots of each word. For example, "dami" means wine, but also "essence" and "blood." Lachma means bread, as well as understanding. When you re-read familiar bible passages and insert any of these other meanings in for words you see, the whole message is both richer and sometimes a bit less obvious.
I also liked the section where Klotz compared many passages in John and Thomas that say the same thing in Aramaic, but look totally different based on the word choices of translators. These two communities were known to be rivals with lots of ties, and their teachings were far more overlapping with each other than with the Synoptic gospels.
All-in-all, this book inspired me to world-build a fiction novel around many of the unique ways of seeing the world within it.
March 12, 2024
Incredibly helpful linguistic and spiritual insights into key Biblical texts, including the Lord's Prayer and the Beatitudes. Douglas-Klotz examines the Aramaic with a poetic precision, illuminating Jesus' context in ways that simply would not be possible without his expertise. Concepts like verb tense- completely different from what exists in English- take some time to sit with and dwell in, and this very different walk through the Gospels both explains and makes room for such differences. He also offers meditations and breathwork that allow for deeper reflection on Jesus' cultural context. Worth reading, meditating on, and continuing to use for reference, whether for scholarly work or personal reflection.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews