Original language of the New testament

[Shane R]

That the NT may have been written in Hebrew is a very tenuous, nearly ridiculous view. Hebrew had become a liturgical language, not an everyday language (much like Latin or Church Slavonic in more recent times!) and had been replaced by Aramaic or Greek in that regard. This is one area where the general lack of knowledge of the Deutero-canon among Protestants really reveals a lamentable ignorance of the first century context. Moreover, it is firmly established that the majority of NT quotes, perhaps all, from the OT are taken from the LXX. If they were quoting the LXX for Scriptural reference, why would they be writing in Hebrew?

 

[hedrick]

That the NT may have been written in Hebrew is a very tenuous, nearly ridiculous view. Hebrew had become a liturgical language, not an everyday language (much like Latin or Church Slavonic in more recent times!) and had been replaced by Aramaic or Greek in that regard. This is one area where the general lack of knowledge of the Deutero-canon among Protestants really reveals a lamentable ignorance of the first century context. Moreover, it is firmly established that the majority of NT quotes, perhaps all, from the OT are taken from the LXX. If they were quoting the LXX for Scriptural reference, why would they be writing in Hebrew?

I agree that it's unlikely that any part of the NT was written in Hebrew or Aramaic. But this doesn't seem like a very strong argument. When people translate theology into English, they often use a standard English translation for any Bible quotes. If someone translated a NT book into Greek, using the LXX for quotes would be natural.

 

[Erik Nelson]

https://weekly.israelbiblecenter.com/the-original-language-of-new-testament/

 

[Radagast]

Hi!
Have any of you guys heard about the claim that the New Testament would have been written in hebrew after all and only later translated into greek?

This claim is false. The NT doesn't read like a translation, and all the oldest NT manuscripts are in Greek. Old Testament quotes in the NT are mostly from the Greek OT that Jews of the time used.

In a way, to me, it would make sense that it were that way because Jesus and the disciples spoke hebrew and the whole community wad basically hebrew

They spoke Aramaic. We know this from the small number of words written verbatim (like "Talitha koum," "Ephphatha," or "Raca").

Also, I'm not an expert on biblical greek so I wouldn't know but I've heard that a lot of the language in the NT is less than perfect, which could be more plausible if it were translated maybe?

More an indication that, for the authors, Greek was a second language.

are there any early hebrew NT texts?

No.

It is generally accepted that the New Testament was originally written in Greek. Only the book of Matthew has some connection to being written in Hebrew/Aramaic beforehand, and it may not be the best source (It's Papias saying that it was written in the Hebrew language [or Hebraic style the language can go both ways] and that everyone interpreted it as best they could).

Indeed.

If Papias is to be believed, Matthew wrote down Jesus' exact words in Aramaic, somebody else translated them into Greek, and the book we now call Matthew was written in Greek using that translated stuff (plus the book we now call Matthew seems to have copied from Mark a lot).

Greek was a military language used to conquer the world.

I wouldn't say that.

In Greek there are 36 words for GO

I wouldn't say that either.

The gospel? I think you mean it was first taught in Aramaic. However, once it left Judaea, Samaria, and Galilee, it switched to Greek. That was VERY soon. The entire NT was written in Greek, and should not be translated into Hebrew for a "better understanding."

Indeed!

Any seminary teacher worth his salt will tell you you must learn to think Jewish.

Not at all.

 

[Radagast]

I don't believe I am. I am sure you are speaking of the New Testament. The arguement is Jewish logic the same as Jesus uses.
He said that since God takes care of the birds, HOW MUCH MORE SO will he take care of you.

The logic follows:
If Augustine got rid of the original Hebrew manuscripts, HOW MUCH MORE SO would he have emptied the New Testament of hints of Jewish thought in his hermeneutic and interpretation.

Augustine did not "get rid of the original Hebrew manuscripts."

Your logic is, in fact, false.

 

[JackRT]

The earliest New Testament manuscript is a fragment of the Gospel of John that has been dated to about AD 125. It is in Greek.