ARAMAIC WORD STUDY – BUT ONLY – ‘ELA’ EN  אלא אן  Aleph Lamed Aleph   Aleph Nun

Mark 13:31-32: “Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away. (32) But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.”

The Aramaic follows pretty close to the Greek in this passage. No one knows when the events that Jesus discusses will come. Well, actually there is much debate among Bible scholars as to just what the event is that this passage is referring to.  These passages are filled with Aramaic and cultural colloquial and idiomatic expressions. Jesus may not be speaking of the time when heaven and earth pass away because that is an Aramaic idiom for saying: “What I just said is true.”  I will not go into all the idioms used in Mark 13, I will save that for our In Depth Study on our Learning Channel. But I do want to do is share one other idiomatic expression which might clear up a few things. 

First there is considerable debate as to what the event is that the not even the Son knows the time.  Some say it is the rapture, some say the tribulation, others say the end of the world and others pointing to verse 30 say that it has to do with the destruction of Jerusalem as “this generation will not pass until it is all fulfilled.” So it must be an event that took place within the lifetime of many listening to Jesus. I will go into that in my In Depth Study as well.

However, what I find most perplexing about this passage is that no one knows when these events will take place, not even the Son, only the Father.  All you English translations agree that the Greek clearly teaches that only the Father knows. The Aramaic walks in lock step.  It uses the Aramaic word ‘ela’ en which means but only.  No man knows, not the angels neither the Son but only the Father. 

It is very significant that Jesus does not say, Son of Man or the Father in Heaven. If He were referring to Himself he would use that expression of deity and the identify God as the Father in Heaven. However, He simply says the son and the father. I do not use capital letters in the context as I do not believe Jesus is referring to Himself or God the Father.

For one thing, how is it that if Jesus is God incarnate He does not know what the God knows.  If Jesus is God logically he knows what God knows because He is God.  To say He doesn’t know is to deny the existence of the Trinity.  Commentators try to explain it by saying that as  human Jesus did not know every thing that God knows, He was limited in His knowledge.  Frankly, that is heresy.  Our creed teaches that Jesus was and is fully God.  There are not three separate entities. There is only one God. 

Thus, when Jesus says not the son but only the Father (knows) He is clearly using an Aramaic idiomatic expression. I personally call it the Semitic yes and no.  God knows and He doesn’t know. I know, that is illogical.  That is illogical in Western Platonic logic but not Eastern logic.

There is an old Rabbinic story about a man who asked a rabbi a question and the rabbi answered and the man said; “You’re right.”  A rabbi overhearing the answer stepped in and gave a totally contradictory answer and the man pointed to the second rabbi and said; “You’re right.”  A third rabbi stepped up and said: “He’s right and He’s right, they both can’t be right.”  The man pointed to the third rabbi and said; “You’re right.   That is why I call it the Semitic yes and no.  In the Easter mindset there is not contradiction if you are using son and father in an idiomatic expression.  In Eastern oriental culture a son follows after his father.  He takes over the father’s house when he passes.  He becomes the family patriarch. He inherits the estate and takes over the family business.  Every father gives his son the business. The father carefully instructs the son the way the business is to be run. However, once the son inherits the business he may end up making a lot of changes.  Hence the father knows how to run the business and how he wants it to be run but the son has ideas of his own and thus it is said that the son doesn’t know what the father knows when he institutes the changes. 

Thus, what Jesus is saying that the Father knows when all these events will happen but when the Son, Jesus pays the penalty of sin on the cross and makes salvation available this will change the Father’s plans or timetable.   Put another way, the express that the father knows but the son doesn’t is an idiomatic expression for saying that the time of the end, if that is what is being spoken of, is conditional.  

There are many examples of God changing a timeline or even an event that was ordained.  He was going to destroy the Hebrew people after the sin of the gold calf until Moses interceded and then God changed direction.  God planned to destroy Nineveh but the people repented and God changed that plan. 

I grew up in a Baptist church where we were taught the rapture could occur at any time. Then the preachers would always as that the only thing hindering the return of Jesus was that there was still another soul to be saved.  Some mother his praying for her child’s salvation and God is holding back the rapture to give him a chance to be saved.  

There are certain times and events that God has control over.  There are events and times that God has permitted us to have control over when it will occur.  For example, God may have planned to allow the United States to collapse and fall. But He has placed the control over the time for this into our hands.  Will we repent, will we continue to pray, will we fight to get the Gospel out.  We control whether this nation will survive or not. It is in  God’s hands but He has voluntarily passed that control unto us. 

God knows what will happen but He doesn’t know.  He can know and not know at the same time. Wrap your brain around that and you will see how important prayer, fasting and repentance is to the survival of this nation.  Actually, to the very power of prayer itself to change things that God ordained.

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