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To: Elsie

It is practically certain that Jesus read Hebrew. I think Jesus Himself used Aramaic, not Hebrew, as His dominant language. Did He speak Greek? I would say He probably could, as many Jews were bilingual.

From what I read, Greek was a commonly spoken language in Israel during the time of Jesus. Most scholars now have moved away from the idea that the Septuagint was ONLY for those Jews of the diaspora. The Septuagint was also used by Jews in Palestine. This makes sense, considering the difficulty in READING a language that required special training (no vowels). Archeology has also found many artifacts that point to a common use of Greek by the Jews. I imagine only those such as the Pharisees, not the common people, would READ the Hebrew Scriptures.

"It makes you wonder if the Hebrew OT would have been translated into LATIN (similar to the Sept.) if Jersualem had not so upset Rome that it got wiped out!"

Greek was still the language that united people. It was considered a more cultured language, even in Rome. What is interesting is why Greek fell out of use later. Perhaps the splitting of the Roman Empire into an East and West half?

Regards


233 posted on 06/12/2005 8:21:40 AM PDT by jo kus
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To: jo kus
It is practically certain that Jesus read Hebrew. I think Jesus Himself used Aramaic, not Hebrew, as His dominant language. Did He speak Greek? I would say He probably could, as many Jews were bilingual. From what I read, Greek was a commonly spoken language in Israel during the time of Jesus. Most scholars now have moved away from the idea that the Septuagint was ONLY for those Jews of the diaspora. The Septuagint was also used by Jews in Palestine. This makes sense, considering the difficulty in READING a language that required special training (no vowels). Archeology has also found many artifacts that point to a common use of Greek by the Jews. I imagine only those such as the Pharisees, not the common people, would READ the Hebrew Scriptures.

We know Y'shua spoke Hebrew as he spoke with the scholars in the Temple when he was child. His first public act as an adult was to read the scroll of Isaiah in the synagogue in his home town of Nazareth.

We also know that Y'shua spoke Greek as his quotations were always from the Septuagint version of the Tanach. The official language of the Roman Empire was Koine Greek not Latin.

Whether Y'shua spoke Aramaic is questionable as it's only requirement is to support the "rock"/ "peter" myth.

B'Shem Y'shua

238 posted on 06/12/2005 9:29:45 AM PDT by Uri’el-2012 (Y'shua <==> YHvH is my Salvation (Psalm 118-14))
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