Jesus Spoke Aramaic, Hebrew, and Greek

The New Testament is written in Greek, the common language of the Roman Empire at the time.  It was the Greek language which helped spread the gospel across the then known world. Some, myself included, believe that God arranged events so that at the arrival of Jesus there was one essentially global empire with one universally understood language. Communications across the Empire were much faster across great distances than we today would imagine.

The languages of the subjugated peoples were still in use and the Jews spoke Aramaic among themselves. The sacred language in use in their synagogues was Hebrew and they considered it to be a great honor to speak and read before the congregation.  Jesus would have been conversant in both languages and he also read before the congregation. The Samaritan Woman at the Well would have been speaking Hebrew. (Luke 2: 39-52; John 4:4-26: Luke 4:16-21)  Some of Jesus' sayings  in the New Testament are presented in untranslated Aramaic. ("Talitha cumi" and "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani!")

Many Jews probably spoke only Aramaic and Hebrew, but to function in the Roman environment it was very helpful to also speak and understand Greek. Jesus was able to talk to Pilate (John 18: 28-38) and the Roman soldiers  (Matthew 8: 5-13 ), answering them in Greek It is unlikely that Pilate or the centurions understood a single word of Aramaic.

Messianic Prophecies from the Bible: He Would Bring Light to The Lands of Zebulon and Naphtali

Some of the Old Testament Messianic prophecies fulfilled by Jesus have been found after years of study by scholars.  This one was easier to find; so that we would not miss it, Matthew said, "Here is one of them ."

“Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee;  And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.  From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.“ Matthew 4:12-17

 

“Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations. The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.” Isaiah 9:1-2

Messianic Prophecies from the Bible: He Will Be from Nazareth

"And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene." Matthew 2:23

This Messianic prophecy has no direct counterpart in the Old Testament (TANAKH) and has led some to say it reflects an error in Matthew and others to say that it is a reflection from a lost Jewish scripture. Probably, neither one of these views is correct.

The ancient Jews were zealous, even fierce, protectors of their holy books, and especially the Torah. Hand copies of the books were checked letter by letter for exactness. If any book failed to have the correct word total and letter total, it was discarded. If any one letter was not in the correct sequence, the entire book was discarded. There were no erasers and any corrections or smudges of the letters rendered the books unusable. Because the unusable books were still revered scripture, they were not destroyed, but were placed into sealed chambers (genizah: Hebrew for "hiding place") along with torn or soiled copies and books worn out by constant use. Needless to say, archeologists and biblical scholars jump with joy when one of these chambers is newly discovered.

Back to Matthew 2:23. Instead of a specific “proof text” Old Testament quotation, this verse probably connects the fact that the Nazarenes were held in contempt as unsophisticated country hicks (John 1:46; John 7:52) with the prophecies that the Messiah would be held in contempt (Psalm 22:6-8, 69:9-11, 19-21; Isaiah 53:2-4, 7-9).

This allusion would have been immediately obvious to Matthew’s Jewish readers, even the illiterate ones who had heard the scriptures read thousands of times. It is us modern readers, who don’t really know our Bibles, who have to dig it out. Dinesh D'Souza had it right when he said, "...we live in a religiously illiterate society..."

Book Comment: Jesus of Nazareth

Jesus of Nazareth (1977), by William Barclay, is a novelization of the film (also 1977) of the same name by Franco Zeffirelli. The novel adheres closely to the script and is heavily illustrated with color stills from the film. This was a major big-budget movie with more name actors and actresses than you want me to list here and featured a score by Maurice Jarre.

BCE and CE

     BCE is the abbreviation for "Before the Common Era" and CE is the abbreviation for "Common Era."  These terms correspond to the earlier BC, "Before Christ," and AD, "Anno Domini" (Latin for the "Year of the Lord").  The newer terms are used because they are more inclusive of non-Christians than the earlier terms.  The actual dating remains the same.

     The earlier dating terminology was established in the Sixth Century and has been shown to be in error by about four to eight years.  Jesus of Nazareth was born in Bethlehem (Bayt Lahm, West Bank) in about the year 6 BCE.