Maranatha

Biblical Text

Maranatha is an Aramaic expression that occurs only once in Scripture, in 1 Corinthians 16:22. Closing his letter, Paul wrote, "If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema," and then added this phrase (1 Corinthians 16:22). The Greek text transliterates the Aramaic sounds directly into Greek letters, and the New Korean Revised Version renders it as "The Lord is coming." The prayer "Even so, come, Lord Jesus" in Revelation 22:20 is often compared to it as an expression of the same idea in Greek.

Word and Background

Aramaic was widely spoken in Judea in the time of Jesus. Mar means "lord," and maran means "our Lord." Because ancient manuscripts were written without spaces between words, the meaning changes depending on where the phrase is divided.

• Marana tha: a prayer, "Our Lord, come"
• Maran atha: a confession, "Our Lord is coming (or has come)"

The church at Corinth was a Greek-speaking Gentile congregation, yet Paul used this expression without translating it. For this reason, it is regarded as a term from the worship of the Aramaic-speaking early church that was passed down intact, like other words preserved in their original language, such as Abba, Father, Amen, and Hosanna. The phrase also appears near the end of a eucharistic prayer in the Didache, a document generally dated to the first or second century.

Significance in Scripture as a Whole

Maranatha is understood as a concise expression of the early church's faith, which called Jesus Christ "our Lord" and awaited his Second Coming. Scholars frequently cite this expression as evidence that the earliest Aramaic-speaking believers already addressed Jesus as "Lord" in prayer. Revelation 22:20 is nearly the last verse of the New Testament, and many interpreters read it in connection with the Maranatha prayer.

Interpretations and Issues

• Prayer or confession: The rendering "The Lord is coming" reads the phrase as a declaration. Many scholars, citing Revelation 22:20 and the phrase's use in the Didache, read it as the prayer "Our Lord, come," but both interpretations have supporters.
• Relationship to the preceding sentence: Some read it together with the curse immediately before it as a warning that "the Lord is coming to judge." Others regard it as a liturgical formula used in eucharistic worship.
• Second Coming and presence: The phrase is generally read as a prayer awaiting the Second Coming. Some interpreters, however, pointing to its use in the Didache, hold that it also carried the sense of asking the Lord to be present in the Eucharist. Denominations and theological traditions differ in their eschatology regarding the timing and sequence of the Second Coming, but they share the view that Maranatha expresses the hope of Christ's return.
• Distinguishing later embellishments: Sermons often repeat the claim that "early Christians greeted one another with 'Maranatha,'" but Scripture contains no such record. In addition, because the King James Version transliterated "Anathema Maran-atha" as a continuous phrase, English-speaking readers sometimes misunderstood it as a single curse formula. Today the two words are generally read separately.

In the Korean Church

In the Korean church, Maranatha is used as an expression of faith that awaits the Lord's return. It is frequently quoted in sermons on the Second Coming and in Advent sermons, and it commonly appears in worship song lyrics and in the names of mission organizations, worship teams, and prayer groups.