My father turns 90 years old this year. So this October, my wife, our son, and I will travel to Taiwan to celebrate him. I call my father, “daddy” in the English. But I haven’t always called him that. Growing up as a little boy in Asia, I called my father, “baba” in Chinese, a common way to say “dad” or “father”. Some call their fathers simply, “ba”, a shorter, more casual version of “baba”. The Koreans have the equivalent “appa” in the Korean language. I love to hear Joanna “Jojo” Kim affectionately calling her dad, “appa”. “Baba” is used primarily by small Chinese children, but it can be used by young adults, and sometimes, even full adults. If I am right, the same applies to “appa” for the Koreans.
In the Bible, the Greek word for “father” is “pater” (pronounced pah-TAIR). When Jesus spoke to the crowd at the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6.9, he taught them to pray like this: “Our Father (pater) in heaven, hallowed be thy name.” Jesus called, or referred to, God the Father, as “pater” more than 150 times in the New Testament. Here are some more verses where he used the Greek word, “pater” for “Father”.
Matthew 11.25
At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father (pater), Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children;
John 12.27
“Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father (pater), save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour.
Luke 23.34
And Jesus said, “Father (pater), forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments.
Luke 23.46
Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father (pater), into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last.
But I don’t want you to think that every time the New Testament wishes to make reference to “father”, we find the Greek word, “pater”. That is because we also find the word, “abba”. Even though “abba” is found in the New Testament, it is not a Greek word. Rather, it is Aramaic. When the Aramaic for “father” is transliterated, it matches the sound “abba”. So, why are there two different ways to say, “father” in the New Testament? Is “abba” different from “pater”? If they are different, how are they different? Let’s begin.
The word, “abba”, appears altogether three times in the Bible. Jesus used it once. The Apostle Paul, twice. Let’s take a look at the one time Jesus said, “abba”.
Mark 14.36
And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”
Every time Jesus called, or referred to, God his Father, in the New Testament, he used the word, “pater”. Not this time. Jesus said, “pater” more than 150 times in the New Testament. But on that day in the Garden at Gethsemane when Jesus began to say a prayer to the Father, he didn’t say “pater”. He said, “abba”.
Why?
Some say that “abba” means “papa” or “daddy”. In the same way a child calls his father, “daddy” in the 21st century, a child called his father, “abba” in the 1st century. “Abba” was an everyday and affectionate term, and it emphasized the closeness in the father and child relationship. The father feels very comfortable with the child, and vice versa.
Joachim Jeremias, a German Lutheran theologian
Abba is a “children’s word used in everyday talk” that expressed the heart of Jesus’ relationship to God. [Jesus] spoke to God as a child to its father: confidently and securely, and yet at the same time reverently and obediently.
But does “abba” really signify a comfortable and childlike relationship between a father and child? Does “abba” really mean “daddy”? What made Jesus want to call the Father, “daddy”, at Gethsemane? What made Jesus say, “daddy” right before he was to be arrested?
Others think that Jesus said, “abba” because it was an exceedingly tense moment, and when he did that, that was his way of crying out to the Father. It signaled a most intimate moment between Father and Son. Jesus knew he would be handed over to the Romans within minutes, and afterwards, to go to the cross to fulfill the Father’s will. He revealed his deepest emotions and spoke to the Father, “Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” He himself stated that his soul was very sorrowful, even to death. So, did Jesus call the Father, “abba” because he was crying out during what was a very tense moment between a father and a son? Perhaps. But if that were the case, shouldn’t we expect to see Jesus call “abba” at least a few more times during other tense moments in his ministry as well? He didn’t. He said, “pater”. When Jesus spoke his last words before he breathed his last on the cross, he said, “Father (pater), into your hands I commit my spirit.” He did not say, “abba”. What makes the scene at the Garden of Gethsemane unlike all the rest?