FURTHER ON ABBA FATHER

I posted recently about the inaccuracy of referring to God as "Daddy" rather than "Father." A friend of mine further clarified this point in a post today. Here it is:

The term Abba is best understood as meaning Father not Daddy.

"Matt. 6:9 Father (Gk. patēr, “father”) would have been “Abba” in Aramaic, the everyday language spoken by Jesus (cf. Mark 14:36; Rom. 8:15; Gal. 4:6). It was the word used by Jewish children for their earthly fathers. However, since the term in both Aramaic and Greek was also used by adults to address their fathers, the claim that “Abba” meant “Daddy” is misleading and runs the risk of irreverence. Nevertheless, the idea of praying to God as “Our Father” conveys the authority, warmth, and intimacy of a loving father’s care" (ESV SB)

"This view (abba as "Daddy") has now been show to be incorrect. While it is true that children would address their father as abba, it is also true that grown children also addressed their father as abba. In fact, most references to fathers as abba in the Mishnah and the Targums come from grown-up children. It is true that little children called their father abba, but these were the normal words of the language and they were 'correct and grammatical adult Aramaic.' The early church and the writers of the NT demonstrate this understanding of the term in that they do not translate abba as 'Daddy' but as 'Father'. If they though it meant 'Daddy,' they could easily have revealed this by translating the term by the diminutive term patridion ('Daddy'). They never did this, however. They used instead pater ('Father'). Thus it is best to understand Abba as a reference by young or old to their 'Father'."

- Robert H. Stein - "The Method and Message of Jesus' Teachings"