ARAMAIC WORD STUDY – PRAY – TSELUTHA צלותא  Sade Lamed Vav Taw Aleph

I Thessalonians 5:15-18: “See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men. (16) Rejoice evermore.(17) Pray without ceasing.(18) In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”

This is a very popular verse, so popular most people do not give it a second thought. We are to be thankful to God for everything that happens to us. So, if our car breaks down, we thank God. After that is the will of God in Christ Jesus. 

There are a couple thoughts that go through my mind however, what is this everything business?  The NIV says in every circumstance.  That is sort of like everything.  Another translations says whatever happens or another says in every situations.  Well, that all pretty well says the same thing, there is hardly a nuance of difference between things, circumstances and situations. 

In the Greek the word for everything is panti which is each and every part – a totality.  In the Aramaic the word is kul which means any, every and totality.  That is identical to the Greek.  The word thanks in Aramaic is yada’ which means to confess or to take control, accept responsibility. 

Another idea might be that the root word is yad with a definite article, then it is the hand. It would appear that from the context Paul is telling us not so much to be thankful for everything that happens but that we are to acknowledge that if our lives belong to God through Christ Jesus then nothing that happens is a random event. There is purpose behind everything, every event in our lives and we are to acknowledge that as children of God nothing is going to happen to us that is not from the hand of God, in the will of God.

The problem is that we rarely read I Thessalonians 5:18 in context.  The prior verses talk about following only that which is good which is the word tava in Aramaic and is identical to the Hebrew word for tov which means good or that which is in harmony (with God).  So, one condition of giving thanks in everything as it is the will of God is that this everything only encompasses that which is in God’s will – which is in harmony with Him.  If it is not in harmony with Him then we are not obligated to be thankful for it. A Christians gets a DUI arrest he does not need or should he be thankful to God for that (other than learning a good lesson). Being under the influence is not God’s will so the results are not the will of God.  Only those things that happen when we are acting 100% in harmony with God, doing His will then we are to be thankful because there will be a wonderful outcome.

Then we are to rejoice evermore.  The word in Aramaic for rejoice is chada, which means to be glad, bright and joyful.  One form of this word is the joy of dancing in a wedding. We are betrothed to Jesus, we are His bride and a bride is happy, joyful.  There is a lot of uncertainty with the future when one gets married, but the knowledge that she will be sharing that future with one who loves her makes the prospects exciting.  

There is a scene in the movie Fiddler on the Roof where Tevye’s daughter married a poor tailor.  Tevye remarks that his daughter and son in law are as poor as church mice but they are so happy that they don’t know how miserable they are.  Another daughter married a man who was sent to prison in Siberia. Tevye asks her as she is preparing to leave her comfortable home to join her husband in the frigid land of Siberia for a life of hardship: “You mean he asks you to come and join him?”  She replies; “He didn’t ask me, I want to go, I want to be with him.”   These young women rejoiced chada in the midst of hardship for they were with someone who loved them and whom they loved in return. 

Finally, pray without ceasing.  I wondered about his.  How can you pray without ceasing?  I mean you have to sleep, you have to work, you have to eat.  You can’t spend 24 hours a day 24/7 with your eyes closed muttering prayers to God. For one thing you run out of things to pray.  In Aramaic the word prayer is tselutha from the root word tesla which is a word for dry leather skin used for covering the body, a table or a bed.  It also has the idea of sinking into the depths and being totally covered as the leather skin totally covers you as clothing or on a bed or table. 

So, when Paul says pray without ceasing he is not really talking about muttering words to God, he is talking of living a life of prayer, that is a life absorbed in God such that you recognize that you are in His presence 24/7 and that whatever you do you are doing with Him as unto Him.  This is why Jewish men wear a head covering, a kapah to remind themselves to pray without ceasing that is to remember they are always in God’s presence and whatever they do they do as unto Him. That is why I wear a baseball cap, even if I am speaking in a church. It is to remind me that as I speak I am speaking in the presence of God and whatever I say I am saying it as unto God.   

So, if you live a life in harmony with God, rejoicing in being the bride of Jesus and willing to enter any circumstance or situation with Him by your side and you pray without ceasing that is you let your life be absorbed by Him so that you know you are always in His presence and what ever you do, whatever happens it is unto God, why would you not be thankful for every situation. If your car breaks down, you are not alone, you and God are in it together and it is His will.  You can be thankful for the good things that will come out of that situation. 

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