What language did Jesus speak?

Apokalupto: Actually this is not about what language Jesus Christ spoke, but what He taught in, since it is widely accepted that Jesus probably spoke a few languages, Aramaic and Greek being the obvious ones.

After reading up on this, I'm beginning to see why those who read the GNT believe that Jesus taught in Greek and not so much Aramaic, but rather incorporated Aramaic with Greek, somewhat like how we might speak in English primarily but speak a few words in another language like "Welcome my amigo." Part of the reason for this is because it's built into how Jesus spoke.

Keep in mind that Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are all originally Greek manuscripts and that we don't have any Hebrew or Aramaic manuscripts until later after the fact.

Apokalupto: In the GNT Gospels Jesus uses a lot of word plays and puns that can't be translated from Aramaic into Greek, they would not make sense anymore. These word plays and puns only work in Greek, and Jesus used a lot of them.

Another reason is that in the 1st century it was common to speak more than one language in the known world, even in Israel, which was primarily Aramaic and then Greek. Evidence of some of the Jewish world being Hellenized is the ancient Greek translation of the OT or Pentateuch, and after that the whole Septuagint. Some of Jesus apostles had Greek names, though Jews they were.

It's interesting to note how that sometimes we get translation of the Aramaic in the gospel written by the author. This is interesting to note because if it was just and only Aramaic, why is there little bits and pieces being translated? This points toward the idea that Jesus taught in Greek and incorporated Aramaic, in intimate moments and times of stress.

For example, when Jesus tells the little Jewish girl after bringing her back to life "Little girl, I say unto you, arise." in Aramaic. That was a translation. This makes sense since in small localized villages and especially with little children, they probably only speak Aramaic, so it makes sense for Jesus to use Aramaic here.

Another example of Jesus incorporating Aramaic is just before His arrest on the mount of olives, Jesus is praying to the Father "Pater abba" repeating the word "Father" twice in both Greek and then Aramaic. And another example is when Jesus cried out to God on the cross in Aramaic. It makes sense to use your native tongue in intimate moments and times of stress.

In john 20 the Greeks come to His disciples asking to hear Jesus speak.

It also wouldn't make sense from Jesus point of view to "teach" in Aramaic when the known world was Greek. Consider this verse. Acts 19:10 And this continued for two years, so that all who dwelt in Asia (Today Turkey which was a Greek speaking country at the time) heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.

Jesus speaks to Greeks, and Romans in the gospel.

But the most interesting thing to read are the wordplay usage in Greek that Jesus so oft employed, it is a blast to read in the original language.

Apokalupto: Many words that just seem scattered, or just pop up in Aramaic, like "Abba" "Amen" or "Satan" and many others, in the middle of a sentence are interesting to note. These words were never translated into Greek, they were transliterated, meaning letter for letter equivalent. These weren't translated into Greek wit an equivalent, for example, you could say "Men" in Greek for "Amen" but we don't see that, we see the Aramaic "Amen" why is that?

If Greek put an "a" before "men" it would actually negate its meaning. He could have used the Greek "Men" for Aramaic "Amen" but He didn't, instead its pulled directly from Aramaic and sits in the middle of a sentence, and Jesus does this a lot where He suddenly uses a Aramaic word, this is to be expected from someone who is speaking in the common tongue where the language is mixed, such as Koine Greek, and Jesus, although spoke in hard sayings and parables, still spoke crowds and the every-man so everyone could understand His language.

I believe Jesus mother tongue was Aramaic, evidence of the intimate moments where complete Aramaic sentences are used, but I think He taught in Greek, too.

Apokalupto: I read this comment and thought it worthy to re-post here just to show some perspective.

"As a tribal person whose families live and co-exist with the dominant American society, I have made these observations about speaking both the dominant language, English, in our case, and also speaking our own languages (which I do not).

My own grandma, whom I miss so very much, grew up speaking Kiowa. I’m not certain when she learned to speak English. Yet in her last years, she would read her Bible in English, pray in and communicate in both English and Kiowa, and sing her Kiowa hymns. I remember her sitting on the bed in my aunt and uncle’s house and singing and praying and crying because she was essentially isolated in her Kiowa-ness. My aunts, uncles, and cousins and my family loved her, but we could not appreciate her experiences. She could tell us about many things, but we could not appreciate them as she did.

She would talk about going up to the spring on a hot day. The spring gurgled up cold water, the taste of which she simply loved. Yet, we did not understand what the water actually tasted like as she understood it. The Kiowas were a meat-eating society. She told us about eating the steaks, ribs, and roasts of buffaloes. We understood steaks, ribs, and roasts of cattle, but it’s not the same thing at all. I didn’t taste buffalo meat until I was in my late 30’s. Grandma was with the Lord, reunited with her family in heaven.

I said all of this to make this observation. When my grandma would speak English, she would occasionally slip into Kiowa phrasing and vocabulary. She would tease us about being crazy kids–there are many Kiowa synonyms for that concept. When she slipped in the ocassional Kiowa word as she spoke to us, she did it without really understanding that perhaps we didn’t understand what she meant or what she was saying. She simply did it as part of her own speech pattern.

That’s what I see in the speech of Jesus. He would speak, occasionally dropping in the Aramaic phrase, word, or thought. When he went in to the the young girl who was dead, He took her hand, and said, “Talitha, cumi.” Jesus apprently had sisters. Being the oldest, he apparently heard his Mother, on many occasions, awaken them. I think he had heard her say on most or many morning to the particular girl, “Talitha, cumi.” Little lamb, arise. His words were both the call out by the Messiah to the girl who was in eternity, and it was the tender call of an older brother relating to a girl as if she were His sister. That’s what my grandma would do. Occasionally, as she spoke to me, she would call me tul-lee, boy or son.

So I see Jesus, who spoke Greek, lapsing occasionally or even frequently, into His native Aramaic. It was the Messiah relating to the human race both as Messiah and as the very human Jesus.

In my thought life, occasionally, I hope there is a place in Heaven where the Kiowas get together and speak and pray and worship the Lord, perhaps around the fruit-bearing tree. And occasionally, Jesus comes and speaks a little Kiowa to them and eats with them. Kiowas love to eat. My grandma would love that."

Apokalupto: .

shadowline: I have been told that there is good reason to suppose that the Gospels were in fact originally written in Hebrew, and much earlier than is generally supposed - like, as early as the thirties of the first century. But it's one of those things that can't be proved, from what I hear of it, unfortunately.

Apokalupto: As it is, you were told but it is very likely not true at all. As for one example, the gospel of Luke is written to a Greek name, Theophilus, probably a Greek fellow. It is written in a very higher Koine Greek.

John's gospel was written late and he tells us why he wrote it. John 20:31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.

He wrote it that people would believe on Jesus. This doesn't make sense to write it in Hebrew, a dying language which few people read, especially when the known world was primarily Greek speaking.

These are just a few examples off the top of my head, but then there are the other internal examples I gave which you might have glossed over.