While the Greek texts can typically be translated as ‘antichrist,’ our Aramaic source text uses words meaning ‘false anointed one,’ or ‘false Christian.’
The word ‘Christ’ just means ‘Anointed One.’ Every Christian is an Anointed One (‘Christian’ literally means ‘little anointed’), and Jesus is also called the Anointed One. The ‘antichrist’ passage in John does not appear to be talking about the arrival of some shadowy future ‘false Messiah,’ as some are taught, because the context in 1 John 2 describes these ones as ordinary Christians who left the faith and now ‘deny the Son.’
The ‘Anti-’ part in Greek can indeed mean ‘opponent’ or ‘opposite’ but it can also mean ‘like’ or ‘reminiscent of,’ which basically means fake. This overlaps with the Aramaic word used, since that word means ‘false’ or ‘liar’ – again, fake.
One of the goals of our project is to see what happens if we prioritize the Aramaic over the Greek; we wish to see what happens, to see if it would make sense. Since the Aramaic uses ‘false’ or ‘liar,’ then we are compelled to translate it that way for that reason alone.
However, does the Aramaic fit the context? Has the Aramaic got it wrong? Or, perhaps, are our Aramaic lexicons incomplete?
In casual readings, translating it as ‘antichrist’ (meaning, someone who opposes Christ) seems to fit better. So why does the Aramaic text use words meaning ‘fake Christian?’
Why does the Aramaic source say ‘false’ or ‘fake?’
A compelling case can be made for why the Aramaic says ‘fake,’ and that the context supports it.
First, we must remember that John was talking about Christians who, he says, ‘left us.’ They were likely the early Gnostics who caused the first documented splits among Christians. Gnostics denied that Jesus was the Messiah, instead viewing him as a divine messenger who delivered secret knowledge. Gnostics also denied that YHWH was the supreme God, believing him to be the ‘demiurge,’ an evil God. These facts explain why John said, ‘They’re the ones who deny that Jesus is the Anointed One’ and ‘They’re the ones who deny both the Father and the Son.’
John says these former Christians were ‘trying to lead you astray,’ yet they still claimed to be from God and said that their teachings were divinely inspired. This explains why John warns in the same account, ‘You must test the breaths to prove whether they actually come from God.’ Here, ‘breaths’ (or ‘spirits’) refer to teachings and messages that people claim are divinely inspired.
In summary, the context describes Christians who ended up falling away to Gnosticism and tried to lead their former associates to follow them, still claiming to be worshipping God. John argued that, in actual fact, they were never genuine Christians in the first place (‘if they’d been like us, they’d still be with us’), they were merely fakes or frauds.
This likely explains the Aramaic wording.
Of course, by definition, one can't really be a fake Christian without also being automatically in opposition to Christ! We could still call them ‘antichrists’ if we wished; it’s just not the term used in the Aramaic of 1 John.
Therefore, we feel that other translations may be falling short here, as the Greek can also mean ‘like,’ in addition to meaning ‘anti’ or ‘in opposition.’ By only saying ‘antichrist,’ the full meaning is obscured; the ‘like’ connotation is lost to many readers.
It could also be that our Aramaic lexicons are incomplete, and the Aramaic word could also have both connotations of fraud and opposer, just like the Greek does. This is very possible. But since frauds are automatically in opposition to truth, this would make little (or no) difference anyway.
This all likely explains why our Aramaic source manuscript uses ‘false’ or ‘fake,’ as it better fits the much wider context of the book in its cultural and historical setting. It also overlaps in meaning with the Greek word.