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To: NYer
It is generally agreed that Jesus and his disciples primarily spoke Aramaic, the common language of Judea in the first century AD, most likely a Galilean dialect distinguishable from that of Jerusalem.[1] The towns of Nazareth and Capernaum in Galilee, where Jesus spent most of his time, were Aramaic-speaking communities.[2] Aramaic was the common language of the Eastern Mediterranean during and after the Neo-Assyrian, Neo-Babylonian, and Achaemenid Empires (722–330 BC) and remained a common language of the region in the first century AD. In spite of the increasing importance of Greek, the use of Aramaic was also expanding, and it would eventually be dominant among Jews both in the Holy Land and elsewhere in the Middle East around 200 AD[3] and would remain so until the Arab conquest in the seventh century.[4][5]

Seriously....you give Wikipedia as a legit source????

Greek was the dominant language in the eastern Mediterranean and the principal language of commerce throughout the Roman Empire. This was of course influenced by Alexander the Great...a Greek. Palestine was multilingual in the first century, with Greek, various Aramaic dialects, Hebrew and some Latin - but Greek was the language of choice in order to disseminate a message as widely as possible. (Backgrounds of Early Christianity, Ferguson, pp 135-136)

We know Jesus grew up in Nazareth in the region of Galilee. At the time it was a part of the Roman Empire. The cultural mix of Galilee means that Jesus would have been able to speak Greek, Hebrew or Aramaic. Aramaic would have been the native tongue in this area due to the influence of the captivity in Persia. It is believed Jesus used this language and home and with His friends. However, there was a high proportion of non-Jewish people in Galilee. When you consider the presence of Sepphoris and Tiberias as centers of Roman influence it is very likely that Greek would be known to all of its inhabitants.(Introducing the New Testament, Drane, p52)

That the New Testament is written in Greek attests to the fact the writers wanted to get the word out to as many people as possible.

224 posted on 02/13/2015 6:31:23 PM PST by ealgeone
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To: ealgeone
Seriously....you give Wikipedia as a legit source????

Yes, seriously (I cited the same article). The statement in the article that Jesus and the disciples primarily spoke Aramaic is taken from this reference:

"Allen C. Myers, ed. (1987). "Aramaic". The Eerdmans Bible Dictionary. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans. p. 72. ISBN 0-8028-2402-1. "It is generally agreed that Aramaic was the common language of Palestine in the first century AD. Jesus and his disciples spoke the Galilean dialect, which was distinguished from that of Jerusalem (Matt. 26:73) "

Does Eerdmans Bible Dictionary pass muster as a legit source?

The context of the discussion was Matt. 16;18 and the reference to "rock." As I've pointed out, in John 1:42 Jesus tells Simon he will be called "Cephas," which to anyone with half an ounce of linguistic knowledge is a transliteration into Greek of the Aramaic word "Kepha" meaning "rock."

225 posted on 02/13/2015 6:51:41 PM PST by CpnHook
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To: ealgeone

Dear friend, your understanding of middle eastern culture is sorely lacking. Ditto for language throughout the world.


239 posted on 02/14/2015 5:28:25 AM PST by NYer (Without justice - what else is the State but a great band of robbers? - St. Augustine)
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