ARAMAIC WORD STUDY – TRANSFORMATION – NSIONA נסיונא Nun Samek Yod Vav Nun Aleph

James 1:2-3: “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; (3) Knowing [this], that the trying of your faith worketh patience.”

I grew up on the KJV and of course as a small child, I would think as a small child.  So, I would watch the adventures of Mike Nelson, a freelance scuba diver on the television series Sea Hunt and try to figure out just what temptations he would face in each episode. That is probably why I advocate the Living Bible for small children just learning to read. That version reads:  “Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.” Living Bible.

I still remember the day when I was enlightened by some preacher to the fact that the word divers meant different.  I think that birth the idea that I would some day be a Bible translator or study Biblical languages.  I would never again be fooled by the old English of the KJV. Still, that left another mystery and that is why when you face troubles you should count it as all joy. 

By digging a little deeper I found that in the Greek the word for temptations was peirasmois which means adversity or trials.   The next verse then calls these trials dokimion which is the idea of trying out or testing to determine what is genuine.  In other words all these problems we face are only to prove to you that your faith is genuine. 

However, James native language was not Greek but Aramaic he may not have known Greek at all but just dictated to a scribe in Aramaic who translated it into Greek. In the Aramaic, unlike the Greek which uses two different words for temptations and trying, there is only one word used and that is nsiona which is an amazing word which means all that the Greek teaches and more.

In its Semitic origins this word comes from the root word nes which is used for a banner or a symbol of honor, such as a uniform worn by those who earned the right to wear that unform. It is the same as the Hebrew word nisayon used in Genesis 22:1: “And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, [here] I [am].”  Our old pal KJV once again translates this nsiayon as tempt but even if we put it into modern English and use the word test that raises more questions.  Why would God need to test Abraham.  He knew Abraham’s heart and desires.  When I was a teacher I would test my students to see how much they know, because unlike God I could not read their minds or hearts. But, you see that is not the testing of nisayon.  There is also another word in Hebrew for testing that is bechinah which is a testing to show how much you know. That is the test I gave my students.  Nisayon or nsiona in the Aramaic is a test not to prove how much you know but to provide an obstacle or struggle to propel a person beyond their limits. 

My study partner’s nephew recently completed boot camp in the Marine Corps. If you read my book Hebrew Word Study Revealing the Heart of God he is the one who wrote that chapter on standing in the gap. He did not come back the same person he was when he left.  He was more mature, more confident and more focused.  That is because the Marine Corps pushed him or nsiona him to his limits and then pushed him further. His family put his picture on Facebook where he was wearing his dress uniform, a uniform that only those who earn it can wear it.  That is also nsiona, a banner or a symbol of what you are capable of doing.  That uniform or nsiona declares to the world that he is capable of defending his country, he is capable of enduring great hardships and accomplishing things that most ordinary people cannot accomplish.  He may not have counted it all joy when he was crawling through mud with a drill instructor screaming in his ear but there was a joy in knowing if he made it through this boot camp he would come out with another, even deeper meaning of nsiona and that is the word miracle. The transformation from just a teenage kid to a man willing and able to risk his life for his teammates, his family and his country which to many people for some who enter the Marine Corps it is nothing short of a miracle.

You see you can count it all joy when you enter into many different difficulties because what nsiona does is to put you through the trials and difficulties that will break you down and strip you of all your trust in yourself and perform a miracle of transformation where you can raise you banner – nsiona for the world to see that your trust is in God alone.