What Jim Caviezel said: "The Son of Man with a Kiss"

I asked my readers yesterday for a translation of a phrase that Jim Caviezel says in Aramaic at the beginning of the TV ad which he (and other Catholics) will appear in during tonight's world series game four.

One reader posted this response in the combox:

"L'bar nash b'nashak."

"The son of man with a kiss."

Jesus doesn't have to use verbs, or even make sense. He just has to show up every once in a while and put sick people in their place.

Thanks are due to the reader for passing on what is indeed the correct translation. However, the reader seems to have missed the point of what Jim Caviezel is saying, as did this commentor over at NRO's The Corner:

What Caviezel said was "l'bar nash b'nashak", or "the son of man with a kiss". Which isn't even a complete sentence, but whatever.

Clearly there is some confusion here. So let's clear it up: Jim Caviezel is not speaking nonsense, or deliberately dropping verbs. He is quoting the Gospel of Luke (22:48) which reads:

[47] While he [Jesus] was still speaking, there came a crowd, and the man called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them. He drew near to Jesus to kiss him; [48] but Jesus said to him, "Judas, would you betray the Son of man with a kiss?"

By quoting this passage, Caviezel is making the point that just as Judas betrayed Jesus through a symbolic kiss of "friendship," the people of Missouri are being misled from the truth about amendment 2 by the false claim that amendment 2 will save lives (instead of actually harming innocent lives).

Hopefully this clears up the confusion.

Really, though, in this age of instant information, I'm surprised that everyone would just presume that Caviezel was talking nonsense and not even bother to google the phrase (which instantly reveals the source).

And considering how often proponents of amendmend 2 will accuse the other side of ignorance and an obstinant unwillingness to learn what the otherside believes, perhaps a little basic knowledge of the bible would in turn serve the proponents of amendment 2 in good stead...

Update: And to cement the fact that journalists and commentators just don't feel like figuring out what Caviezel really had to say, here is how Alessandra Stanley treated the question in today's New York Times:

"Republicans cobbled together a response ad that did not mention Mr. Fox but attacked the ethics of embryonic stem cell research. It included testimonials by the actress Patricia Heaton ("Everybody Loves Raymond") and James Caviezel, who played Jesus in Mel Gibson's "Passion of the Christ." At least in the advance version shown on YouTube last night, Mr. Caviezel’s introduction seemed either garbled or to be in Aramaic." [source]

... and if in Aramaic, irrelevant. I guess.

As of this posting (7pm EST), not a single article available online article includes a translation (although over 850 articles cover Caviezel's appearance). Are Aramaic translators that completely scarce?

Update 2: The Washington Times includes more details and background on this story.

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