"In all the world" or "In all the earth?" (Matt 24:14)
A brief look at Mattai 24:14
The King James Bible reads: "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all
nations; and then shall the end come."
The King James Bible was translated from later Greek sources. The Greek word used here is "oikoumene" (Strong's 3625).
Green's literal translation of the Greek says "in all the inhabited earth" (Interlinear Bible).
Professor Franz Delitzsch's Hebrew translation of the New Covenant Scriptures uses the phrase "kulah le'eiduth".
The Hebrew edition of Mattai by Isaac Salkinson and David Ginsburg uses the phrase "be'chal-ha'aretz", meaning "in
all the earth."
None of the versions above use the Hebrew word "olam", which is a word often denoting "age", "world", or "universe". If it did
use the word "olam" as in "age", it would leave Rabbeinu Yeshua's audience with the thought that the good news would
have been taught throughout their age (era) which would follow with the end of days. Obviously this was not the case.
If Rabbeinu Yeshua had of used the word "olam" in the sense of "universe", would this not imply that the good news would
also have to be taught to the angels and all the host of heavenly creatures? Absurd. This is certainly not what
Yeshua was referring to.
Thus, if Yeshua did not use a word meaning "age" or "universe", what exactly was the word used? We must determine
this from some of the earliest Aramaic and Hebrew manuscripts we have. Among these are the Hebrew editions of the
Brith ha'Chadashah compiled by the Nesarim (Hebrew speaking followers of Yeshua) back in 92 CE.
The Hebrew English Standard Version, translated from HPeshittaCoJ MSS 92, renders this passage in the following manner:
"And this good news of the Kingdom will be preached in all the earth, as a testimony to all the gentiles, and then the
end will come."
The Assyrian Aramaic text, dating from around the 4th to 6th century, uses the word "alma". Since this is a latter
text, quite similar to the Greek and Syriac, it is only included here for the sake of comparison and can not be relied
upon as an authoritative text for orthodox Nesarim.
What about the Aramaic English Standard Version (AESV)? The AESV was translated from various Aramaic and Hebrew
sources, some of which are faithful copies of the originals that appeared alongside (or soon after) the above
mentioned Hebrew manuscript (HPeshittaCoJ MSS 92). The AESV uses the phrase "the world" with a reference denoting
"in the sense of the earth itself"; "the world" is used along with the reference because the Aramaic it was
translated from has a marginal note that says: "this is the earth" - thus we can see a clear consistency between
the the AESV and the earlier Hebrew and Aramaic manuscripts and we are not left being dependent on a later Greek
or Aramaic translation of the original.
"And this gospel of the Kingdom will be preached in all the world, as a testimony to all the gentiles, and then
the end will come." (Matthew 24:14, AESV).
What does this imply?
Some individuals might jump to conclusions and say they must "preach the Gospel" throughout the entire earth
"because Jesus said so" and because "Christ will not return" if they do not. This type of thinking is based on
both faulty interpretation and selective reading (i.e., reading out of context).
What did Rabbeni Yeshua say? Read chapters 24 and 25, and remember carefully the words "concerning that day and
that hour, no man knows, not even the angels of heaven, but the Father only."
A brief look at Mattai 24:14
