What Language Did Jesus Speak?

CE.com ^ | September 26, 2008 | Mickey Addison

[Salvation]

**History aside, how do we know from the Scriptures that Christ spoke Aramaic? Simple. In several places He is quoted speaking Aramaic. In St. Matthew’s and St. Mark’s Gospels, some of Christ’s words are rendered in the language the people spoke. “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” (Mt 27:46, Mk 15:34), “Talitha cuom” (Mk 8:41), and “Ephphatha” (Mk 7:34) are all Aramaic phrases. Even the word “Abba” which Christ uses often to refer to the Father is the Aramaic word roughly translated as “Daddy.” Incidentally, the Arabic word “Abu” has the same meaning… so “Abu Sulieman” means “Father of Solomon.”**

[Salvation]

Why is all this language study important to defense of the Faith? Just this: properly translating the Scriptures leads to proper interpretations.

Catholic Ping!

[bimboeruption]

Aramaic.

[Starstruck]

Probably Esṭrangēlā Aramaic.

[ought-six]

Aramaic.

[Secret Agent Man]

Christ was also referred to having sisters as well as brothers. Tell me there’s no aramaic words for sister.

To call Mary and Joseph faithful and pious but not have them consummate their marriage the way faithful and pious Jews would have - after Jesus’ birth - is absurd. There was no command she was never to have relations with her husband even after Christ was born. No command to remain a virgin forever. Nowhere.

[RnMomof7]

Most likely bi lingual ... He used Hebrew when addressing the scriptures in the temple.. as that was the language of the Jewish services.. In commerce he most likely used Aramaic

[Roman_War_Criminal]

Latin, Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek.....

(Not saying YOU)...You can’t limit God to what language He spoke/speaks. He created language.

[Cowboy Bob]

In all the movies I’ve seen, he has spoken English.

[zerosix]

At that time, the language of commerce in the land where the bible is concerned, the language spoken was Greek.

Only Romans citizens were taught and spoke Latin. It was forbidden to anyone else.

The common language (colloquial) amongst the locals in the area was Aramaic but if one was to be amongst a number of people one did not know, it would have been Greek.

However, Aramaic is what Jesus mostly spoke amongst His close associates & family. When He gave the prayer, known as The Lord's Prayer, was written in Aramaic.

[blackdog]

Why do the names in the bible refer to anglo names? Names like Peter, Paul, Mathew, Mary, Joseph, Luke, etc.... were not the names used in the region and at that time.

Anyone who knows about this would be kind by explaining it to me.

[GilesB]

**For example, when the “brothers of Jesus” are referred to in Scripture, it’s important to know that they are cousins, not children of Mary. We know this because Aramaic has no word for “cousin” and Semitic cultures usually consider all male relatives as “brother” or “uncle.”**

Logical fallacy. We do not know they are cousins just because the word for brother is used for cousins. The exact same fallacy could be used to claim that we know they were the Lord’s brothers, because the word is used for brother.

By the use of this word, we know that they were either his brothers or his cousins, or possibly some of each. But we do not know that they were his cousins and not his brothers.

Do the Catholics pretend that Mary remained a virgin? This little bit of word twisting above to “prove” it is a dishonest attempt....because, of course, there are many women who never bore children who were nevertheless not virgins...the same faulty, disingenuous logic.

[Olog-hai]

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“Talitha cuom” (Mk 8:41)

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Don’t you mean Mark 5:41?

[PROCON]

The language of Agape Love.

[HonorInPa]

King James translation

[DeoVindiceSicSemperTyrannis]

I agree

[Olog-hai]

Strong’s indicates Hebrew cognates to Aramaic words, although in the Greek dictionary says “Chaldee origin”; but they are connected to the Hebrew cognates, the greatest likelihood being that they are loanwords from Hebrew brought to Babylon by the exiles.

Greek has distinct words for siblings and cousins (e.g. “adelphos” for brother and “syngenes” for cousin), whereas the ambiguity is in the Hebrew and Aramaic words, since it is dependent upon context; it is not likely that the Gospel authors made a mistake when using the lingua franca of the day.

[boomop1]

piglatin

[RnMomof7]

Greek has distinct words for siblings and cousins (e.g. “adelphos” for brother and “syngenes” for cousin), whereas the ambiguity is in the Hebrew and Aramaic words, since it is dependent upon context; it is not likely that the Gospel authors made a mistake when using the lingua franca of the day.

That is why the Holy Spirit choose Greek for its language

[mikrofon]

Yeah, strictly King James version too…

(Funny how the alien cultures in the movies, they also spoke perfect English ;-)