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Bible Dictionaries
Maranatha
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
or MARANATHA. An Aram. [Note: Aramaic.] expression which occurs in 1 Corinthians 16:22 in juxtaposition with ‘anathema’ (‘If any man loveth not the Lord, let him be anathema. Maran atha’ [so RV [Note: Revised Version.] ]).
1. Meaning of the term . The original meaning of the term has been disputed, but it is now generally agreed that it is a component of two distinct words (cf. RV [Note: Revised Version.] above). Most moderns follow Bickell in holding that the two parts of which the expression is composed mean ‘Our Lord, come I’ (= Aram. [Note: Aramaic.] mâranâ thâ ). This seems preferable to the older view, according to which the meaning would be ‘Our Lord has come I’ (= Aram. [Note: Aramaic.] mâran ’athâ ). The imperative sense is made probable by Revelation 22:20 (’Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!’), from which it may perhaps be inferred that some such formula as ‘O our Lord, or O Lord, come!’ was in use in early Christian circles. A very early instance of the use of the term occurs in the Didache at the end of the Eucharistic prayer (ch. 10).
The passage runs as follows:
‘Let grace come, and this world pass away.
Hosanna to the God of David.
If any is holy, let him come: if any is not, let him repent.
Maranatha. Amen.’
Here the combination maranatha. Amen (= ‘O our Lord, come! Amen’) is strikingly parallel with the remarkable phrase in Revelation 22:20 (‘Amen. Come, Lord’). It is noticeable also that in both passages the expression is used as a concluding formula. Whether any similar formula was in use among the Jews is disputed. An old Jewish acrostic hymn, still extant in all types of the Jewish liturgy, the initial letters of the lines of which may be read ‘Amen. Come’ (Heb. âmçn bô ) at least suggests the possibility of such a usage.
2. Original significance of the expression . It is clear from the passage in the Didache cited above that ‘Maranatha’ cannot be regarded as a formula of excommunication synonymous with ‘anathema’ (so Calvin, comparing ‘Abba, Father’). It was rather a watchword of the earliest Christian community, embodying the thought in the form of a prayer that the ‘Parousia,’ or Second Advent of the Lord, might soon be consummated, in accordance with the ardent expectations current in the first generation.
3. Later usage. In later usage, under the influence of false exegesis, the term acquired an imprecatory sense. It thus occurs in an early sepulchral inscription (4th or 5th cent.) from the island of Salamis. Its supposed correspondence with the Jewish shammatha (the 3rd or highest degree of excommunication) has, of course, nothing to substantiate it. Further details of this development will be found in Hastings’ DB [Note: Dictionary of the Bible.] , s.v . ‘M ranatha.’
G. H. Box.
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Hastings, James. Entry for 'Maranatha'. Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hdb/m/maranatha.html. 1909.
