Aramaic Word Study – Master – Maron    מרון    Mem Resh Vav Nun

Matthew 6:24: “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”

Joshua 24:15: “And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

Joshua is pulling no punches. He is at the end of his life and he is giving his last exhortation to the people of Israel. No messing around, playing politics, a little spiritual here, a little secular there, a little compromise here, a little sell out there.  People it is time for you to choose who you are serving. Either you serve God or the idols of the enemy. There is simply no compromise. 

Jesus was even more emphatic. You cannot serve two masters.  Those are pretty harsh words to use to say that we serve a master.  I recall in Middle School at the age of thirteen our literature teach had us memorize a portion of the poem by William Ernest Henely  “Invictus” particularly the last two lines where he says; “I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.”  We have all grown up in a free world where we are reminded over and over that we are the master of our fate. Even in public school this was profoundly pressed upon us.  Still, At that tender age of thirteen, I had already received Jesus as my Lord and Savior. I was learning to love God with all my heart and soulat and I was not about to memorize what I felt were blasphemous line and I rebelled against this assignment. I even let the teacher and class know that God was the master of my fate and I refused to learn that poem unless I could recite “God is the master of my fate and captain of my soul.”  In fact I was so used to learning Bible verses by heart, that I even included that line in my declaration that I would learn that poem by heart.  My teacher calmly said; “Just cool down Billy Graham, (who just happened to be holding a crusade in Chicago at that time) I am not asking you to learn it by heart, just memorize it. You can believe whatever you wish.  You don’t have to believe it to get an “A”  just recite it like a parrot.”  I accepted that compromise and added a little note at the end of the test “This was memorized by my mind but not my heart.”  I got my “A.”  

I was well aware of the fact that Mr. Henely, God rest his soul, was wrong according to Jesus, we all have a master either God or mammon.  However, now that I am old and grey and much wiser, I realize I was a bit overzealous.  You see our English word master has various levels of meaning and The word master in Greek is kyriois from the root word kurios which is a person who exercises absolute ownership and rights over someone or something. In that case, God is my master. However, the Aramaic word is very interesting. It is maron which is one who rebels even though he appears to have surrendered.  

During the Middle Ages, Spanish and Portuguese Jews were forced to convert to Christianity. Either they became a Christians or they got their heads lopped off. So, they converted, but like my memorization of Henely’s poem, it was my mind and not my heart. These were not true conversions as they outwardly declared to be Christians but at night they would continue to secretly practice their Judaic heritage.  They were called Marranos from the Aramaic word maron, not to be confused with the word moron which has a Greek origin. 

The idea of a maron is one who will swear allegiance between two opposing forces for your own gain. So maybe I was a bit harsh on old Mr. Henely. God is not our master in the maron sense any more than a woman’s husband is her master.  She still has a free will and she can choose whether she will let her husband rule over her or not. God does not want to be a maron, that is one that will allow themselves to be controlled or ruled because they want something from Him like healing, prosperity, acceptance or even eternal life. God wants to be a husband to us not a master in Bali sense.  

Hosea 2:16: “And it shall be at that day, saith the LORD, that thou shalt call me Ishi (my husband); and shalt call me no more Baali (my master).” God does not want to be a master in the sense of ownership. In anything, He wants to be a master in the sense of a mentor or guide, yet one who willingly submits to his authority out of love not out of personal need or gain. We don’t desire to go to heaven because of streets of gold and pearly gates, we want to go where the Jesus we love is, we want to be with Him for eternity so we can continue this journey of love with Him.  

The word mammon in Greek is simply a transliteration of the Chaldean Aramaic word mamona which means money, wealth, possessions, and property. What Jesus is saying is that you cannot be a maron, a follower of God to get eternal life and all the other goodies you get from becoming a Christian and a follower of money and possessions by serving the lust of the flesh. 

In the words of Joshua, “Choose you this day whom you will serve.”  Will you serve your lustful desires for wealth, prosperity, fortune, fame, or property or will serve God out of love regardless of whether there is a heaven or hell, in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer?  But you can’t do both, you can’t seek God for wealth and prosperity and the flesh for the same thing and swear loyalty to both so long as both pay you.  If you seek both you are what Jesus calls a maron, one who swears allegiance to two opposing sources for self-gain. Come to think of it, if that is your ploy, you are a moron. 

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