Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary

MARANATHA*

Aramaic expression used by Paul in 1 Corinthians 16:22, meaning either “Our Lord, come!” or “Our Lord has come.”

Quite certainly the use of maranatha (cf. amen and abba) originated in the worship services of early Jewish Christians whose mother tongue was Aramaic. Since Paul wrote in the Greek language, he needed to transliterate (writing the Aramaic phrase with Greek letters), a process that sometimes creates ambiguities. In addition, words were not written separately in ancient documents. Therefore, since maranatha consists of two words, it can be analyzed in different ways.

Most scholars agree that the first word in the phrase is maran or marana, meaning “Lord,” or more probably “our Lord,” and that the second word represents the Aramaic verb “to come.” This verb, however, may be taken either as a prayer (imperative tha or etha, “come!”) or as a statement (perfect tense atha “has come”). Five different interpretations are then possible: (1) If the words are considered as a prayer, Paul is praying for either Jesus’ spiritual presence, with possible reference to the Lord’s Supper, or (2) Jesus’ second coming. As a statement, the expression may refer to the Incarnation; it may be translated (3, 4) “Our Lord is present,” either with reference to the Lord’s Supper or to Jesus’ more general promise in Matthew 18:20; or (5) it may be translated “Our Lord is coming” (the so-called “prophetic perfect,” although some prominent Aramaic scholars argue that this is not really possible).

In support of rendering the expression as a statement (“our Lord has come”) is the fact that the Syriac (a form of Aramaic) version translates the verb in the perfect tense; further, the early church fathers usually interpreted it the same way. A majority of scholars, however, believe that such an interpretation does not fit the context well. Further, if the phrase is understood as a prayer, it can be related to other passages (Phil 4:5b; 1 Pt 4:7; cf. Rv 22:20b, which may be a translation of maranatha).

The fact that maranatha occurs immediately after Paul’s imprecatory curse (1 Cor 16:22) has led many to the view that the Aramaic expression is part of the curse itself. The KJB rendering (“let him be Anathema Maran-atha”) leaves the impression that the two words are a unit, whereas anathema is a Greek word meaning “curse” and probably ends the sentence. It is nevertheless quite possible, some modern scholars believe, to relate maranatha very closely to the curse, since the prayer for Jesus to come in judgment reinforces the solemnity and reality of Paul’s imprecation. Interestingly, a church council in the seventh century anathematizes dissidents with the words “anathema maranatha, let him be condemned at the Lord’s coming.”