With this small message I wish everyone a very merry Christmas for those celebrating, while at the same time I would like to bring to notify everyone (yes, even those not celebrating Christmas, since the language concerned may offer much of interest also to those who are of other persuasions, although the language itself might be mainly associated with Christianity, Eastern Christianity to be more precise) that I intend to offer Syriac classes in the course of next calendar year.
The rather odd New Year wish in the title can be put into context by the following in Syriac:
Its transcription would read:
en melḥā ṯep̄kah bəmānā ṯeṯmallaḥ : ləmeddem lā āzzā ellā ḏṯettəḏīš men nāšā
The translation reads:
If salt loses its taste, by what means will its saltiness be brought back? It is of no use for anything, but it will be trampled upon by anyone.
Quite a few may have associated this sentence already with the well-known saying that states: “You are the salt of the Earth.” Indeed, the sentence above is in fact the (almost exact) sentence that follows that famous quote in the New Testament. Both the comparison of people with salt and the subsequent warning against losing one’s “salty” attributes are both found in verse 5:13 of the Gospel of Matthew. This verse is in fact part of Jesus’ Sermon of the Mount.
All that remains for me to say is that I wish my dear readership, followers, and everyone else a very good, healthy, and enriching 2024! And please do not hesitate to contact me if you would like to learn Syriac to spice salt up your life!