Did Jesus speak Greek?

tonychanyt · Jul 27, 2023

Mark 7:

24 Jesus left that place and went to the region of Tyre. Not wanting anyone to know He was there, He entered a house, but was unable to escape their notice. 25 Instead, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit soon heard about Jesus, and she came and fell at His feet. 26 Now she was a Greek woman of Syrophoenician origin, and she kept asking Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.
27 “First let the children have their fill,” He said. “For it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”

Matthew 16:

18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.

The Peter-rock (Πέτρος-πέτρᾳ) pun only makes sense in Greek.

Peter
Πέτρος (Petros)
Strong's 4074: Peter, a Greek name meaning rock. Apparently a primary word; a rock; as a name, Petrus, an apostle.

rock
πέτρᾳ (petra)
Strong's 4073: A rock, ledge, cliff, cave, stony ground. Feminine of the same as Petros; a rock.

Jesus probably spoke Greek at some level.

BNR32FAN · Jul 27, 2023

tonychanyt said:
Mark 7:

Matthew 16:

The Peter-rock (Πέτρος-πέτρᾳ) pun only makes sense in Greek.

Peter
Πέτρος (Petros)
Strong's 4074: Peter, a Greek name meaning rock. Apparently a primary word; a rock; as a name, Petrus, an apostle.

rock
πέτρᾳ (petra)
Strong's 4073: A rock, ledge, cliff, cave, stony ground. Feminine of the same as Petros; a rock.

Jesus might speak some Greek.

It is believed that most Hebrews did speak Greek at that time because of Alexander the Great who conquered Persia which put Judea under his jurisdiction. That’s how we got the Septuagint.

PsaltiChrysostom · Jul 27, 2023

Greek was the lingua franca for the Mediterranean. Most likely the conversation between Jesus and Pilate was in Greek. Pilate would not have spoke Aramaic but Romans of the era received an education by Greek tutors.

Education in ancient Rome - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

tonychanyt · Jul 27, 2023

BNR32FAN said:
It is believed that most Hebrews did speak Greek at that time

reference?

BNR32FAN · Jul 27, 2023

tonychanyt said:
reference?

Septuagint - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

According to this few people could read or even speak Hebrew by second century BC.

PsaltiChrysostom · Jul 27, 2023

tonychanyt said:
reference?

Jewish Koine Greek is an actual article. For example, synagogue is a Greek word not Aramaic. If you want to read the history of Greek in Judaism especially during the Second Temple period, I recommend Hellenism

"It can hardly be maintained that Greek was used only by the upper classes and was restricted to commerce, or that it was restricted to those who needed it to communicate with the governing authorities; the Christian Hellenizers (Acts, 6:1), who apparently spoke Greek only and were thus more deeply affected by Hellenization, were not restricted to the higher classes. Josephus (Ant., 20:264) clearly indicates that ordinary freemen and even slaves in Palestine had learned many languages. However, his statement (ibid., 20:263) that it had proven difficult for him to master Greek, especially the pronunciation, and the faulty Greek in many inscriptions indicate that the level of knowledge of Greek was not high. Even Josephus (Apion, 1:50) had to employ assistants to polish the Greek of his De Bello Judaico. The knowledge of Greek possessed by Jewish Christians in Palestine, however, because of their closer contact with Diaspora Jews and with non-Jews outside Palestine, must have been better; and recent scholarship has concluded that it is probable that Jesus himself sometimes spoke Greek."

Jewish Koine Greek - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

tonychanyt · Jul 27, 2023

BNR32FAN said:
Septuagint - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

According to this few people could read or even speak Hebrew by second century BC.

Thanks for the link. To save the effort of everyone, this is how to do referencing in a scholarly manner:

Give the name of the source.
Provide the link to the source. It is the URL address.
Indent the quoted text.
Bold the relevant keywords that are important to the point that you are making.
Be concise and to the point.

This is what I do for others who read my posts. It is a standard high-school scholarship. If you practice this, I guarantee you: it will improve your analytical thinking. In any case, no one is required to do it here

PsaltiChrysostom · Jul 27, 2023

tonychanyt said:
Thanks for the link. To save the effort of everyone, this is how to do referencing in a scholarly manner:

Give the name of the source.

Provide the link to the source. It is the URL address.

Indent the quoted text.

Bold the relevant keywords that are important to the point that you are making.

Be concise and to the point.

This is what I do for others who read my posts. It is a standard high-school scholarship. If you practice this, I guarantee you: it will improve your analytical thinking. In any case, no one is required to do it here

Okay... I work 50 hours a week and I am working on an MBA. I'm here for fun, not to write an paper following YOUR requirements. I will simply no longer respond to you.

tonychanyt · Jul 27, 2023

PsaltiChrysostom said:
Jewish Koine Greek is an actual article. For example, synagogue is a Greek word not Aramaic. If you want to read the history of Greek in Judaism especially during the Second Temple period, I recommend Hellenism

"It can hardly be maintained that Greek was used only by the upper classes and was restricted to commerce, or that it was restricted to those who needed it to communicate with the governing authorities; the Christian Hellenizers (Acts, 6:1), who apparently spoke Greek only and were thus more deeply affected by Hellenization, were not restricted to the higher classes. Josephus (Ant., 20:264) clearly indicates that ordinary freemen and even slaves in Palestine had learned many languages. However, his statement (ibid., 20:263) that it had proven difficult for him to master Greek, especially the pronunciation, and the faulty Greek in many inscriptions indicate that the level of knowledge of Greek was not high. Even Josephus (Apion, 1:50) had to employ assistants to polish the Greek of his De Bello Judaico. The knowledge of Greek possessed by Jewish Christians in Palestine, however, because of their closer contact with Diaspora Jews and with non-Jews outside Palestine, must have been better; and recent scholarship has concluded that it is probable that Jesus himself sometimes spoke Greek."

Jewish Koine Greek - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Thanks for the research

BNR32FAN · Jul 27, 2023

tonychanyt said:
Thanks for the link. To save the effort of everyone, this is how to do referencing in a scholarly manner:

Give the name of the source.

Provide the link to the source. It is the URL address.

Indent the quoted text.

Bold the relevant keywords that are important to the point that you are making.

Be concise and to the point.

This is what I do for others who read my posts. It is a standard high-school scholarship. If you practice this, I guarantee you: it will improve your analytical thinking. In any case, no one is required to do it here

Yes I took English 101 but I often post while at work when I have a minute and don’t have time for all that.

BNR32FAN · Jul 27, 2023

PsaltiChrysostom said:
Okay... I work 50 hours a week and I am working on an MBA. I'm here for fun, not to write an paper following YOUR requirements. I will simply no longer respond to you.

Yeah I’m in the same boat typically working anywhere from 10-13 hours a day 5-6 days a week. So I usually have to make quick posts at work when I have a spare minute and I often don’t have adequate time to really engage in a discussion as comprehensively as I would like. Fortunately my truck is broke down right now so I’m waiting on a mechanic to come fix it. Thank God the AC still works. Lol

SavedByGrace3 · Jul 27, 2023

tonychanyt said:
Mark 7:

Matthew 16:

The Peter-rock (Πέτρος-πέτρᾳ) pun only makes sense in Greek.

Peter
Πέτρος (Petros)
Strong's 4074: Peter, a Greek name meaning rock. Apparently a primary word; a rock; as a name, Petrus, an apostle.

rock
πέτρᾳ (petra)
Strong's 4073: A rock, ledge, cliff, cave, stony ground. Feminine of the same as Petros; a rock.

Jesus probably spoke Greek at some level.

Good point.
I believe his main language was Aramaic. Of course He conversed in Hebrew in the Temple. Your example makes sense when it comes to Greek.

SavedByGrace3 · Jul 27, 2023

I have thought that some of the gospels were written in Aramaic for Aramaic speaking readers. Yet on the cross Jesus spoke in Aramaic and the writer had to translate for the reader... would not have to do this if the gospel was written in Aramaic.

Matthew 27:46 KJV
46. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?
that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

PsaltiChrysostom · Jul 27, 2023

SavedByGrace3 said:
I have thought that some of the gospels were written in Aramaic for Aramaic speaking readers. Yet on the cross Jesus spoke in Aramaic and the writer had to translate for the reader... would not have to do this if the gospel was written in Aramaic.

Matthew 27:46 KJV
46. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?
that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

According to two church fathers, Papias and Origen(?), there was an Aramaic Matthew, which would make sense. Matthew's audience was Jewish Christians. Mark, Luke and John are all Greek from the get go.

Jesus probably was speaking Aramaic to most of his Jewish audiences. However, according to Matthew 4:24-26, Jesus does venture into the Decapolis, a set of ten Hellenic cities. Mark's story of Jesus casting out the Gerasene demons into the pigs was a gentile, aka Greek, region as Jews would not have kept pigs being unclean. Jesus would have used Greek when speaking to non-Jews, such as the Roman centurion or to Pilate. Finally, He would have been taught Hebrew while growing up and probably was speaking that when He was in Jerusalem as a teenager with the rabbis at the Temple.

Blade · Jul 27, 2023

tonychanyt said:
Mark 7:

Matthew 16:

The Peter-rock (Πέτρος-πέτρᾳ) pun only makes sense in Greek.

Peter
Πέτρος (Petros)
Strong's 4074: Peter, a Greek name meaning rock. Apparently a primary word; a rock; as a name, Petrus, an apostle.

rock
πέτρᾳ (petra)
Strong's 4073: A rock, ledge, cliff, cave, stony ground. Feminine of the same as Petros; a rock.

Jesus probably spoke Greek at some level.

Yeah I agree.. it was the language of the land at that time

rdclmn72 · Aug 12, 2023

Jesus lived in nazareth, only 1 mile away from a neighboring greek colony. He was close enough to work there. He had a practical reason to learn and use it.

Dave G. · Aug 12, 2023

Since Jesus spoke things into existence, put life into man with a breath, raised the dead, healed at will, I seriously doubt He had any problem with speaking any language He wanted or needed to.

Did Jesus speak Greek?

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