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What languages did Jesus and the apostles speak?
by Jake King The Bible was written in three languages. Most of the Old Testament was written in Hebrew, but some portions of the Old Testament were written in Aramaic (Genesis 31:47; Ezra 4:8-6:18; 7:12-26; Jeremiah 10:11; Daniel 2:4-7:28). And the New Testament was written in Greek. And it is thought that Jesus and the apostles spoke all three of these languages. According to John 1:42, one of the apostles had a Hebrew name (Simon), a Greek name (Peter), and an Aramaic name (Cephas). Aramaic"It is commonly agreed that Aramaic was the common language of Palestine in the first centry A.D." (Eerdmans Bible Dictionary on "Aramaic"). Jesus and the apostles were Palestinian Jews, therefore, Aramaic was the language they commonly spoke. Evidence of this is seen repeatedly in the New Testament. For example, Jesus called James and John "Boanerges," an Aramaic word meaning, "Sons of Thunder" (Mark 3:17 ESV). When resurrecting Jairus' daughter, Jesus said to her "Talitha cumi." This is Aramaic for, "Little girl, I say to you, arise" (Mark 5:41 ESV). Likewise, in healing a man who was deaf and mute, Jesus said, "Ephphatha." This is Aramaic for, "Be opened" (Mark 7:34 ESV). Jesus addressed God with "Abba," an Aramaic word meaning, "Father" (Mark 14:36). While dying, Jesus prayed these Aramaic words: "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"—which mean, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Mark 15:34). The word "Maranatha," used by Paul in 1 Corinthians 16:22, is an Aramaic word referring to the coming of the Lord. Greek"Aramaic was the language Jesus and his disciples usually spoke, though they also spoke and wrote Greek, the language in which the New Testament was written" (Brideway Bible Dictionary on “Aram”). Greek "was the common language of the Roman Empire as it had been of the Greek Empire. Because one language was spoken everywhere, Christianity was able to spread more quickly" (Bridgeway on "Greece"). Jesus, Andrew, and Philip apparently had a conversation with some Greeks in John 12:20-23, which implies that Jesus and these disciples spoke Greek. In fact, the names "Andrew" and "Philip" are even Greek names. HebrewJesus and the apostles also used some Hebrew. Jesus spoke a Hebrew/Aramaic word "Corban" (Mark 7:11-12), a word that also appears in the Old Testament, where it is translated "offering" (Leviticus 1:2 TNIV). Matthew's record of Jesus' Aramaic cry ["Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"] replaces "Eloi" with the Hebrew "Eli" (Matthew 27:46). Concerning "the angel of the bottemless pit," John wrote, "His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he is called Apollyon" (Revelation 9:11 ESV). ["Abaddon means destruction; Apollyon means destroyer""(ESV footnote).] Likewise, John spoke of "the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon" (Revelation 16:16 ESV). Other tonguesThen, of course, on Pentecost, the apostles "were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:4 ESV). The Greek word for "tongues" means "the supernatural gift of speaking in another language without its having been learnt" (Vine's Expository Dictionary). The apostles spoke the languages of: "Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians" (Acts 2:9-11 ESV). Albert Barnes estimated that this represents seven or eight languages, including: 1. Persian—the language of the first three groups, the "Parthians, Medes and Elamites." 2. Latin—the language of those "visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes." 3. Coptic—the language of those from Egypt. 4. Arabic—the language of the Arabians. 5. A mixed dialect made up of Syriac and Greek—probably the language of those from Cappadocia. |