Why did Jesus speak Aramaic?

[vegan]

I have heard that Jesus and his disciples spoke Aramaic.  WHy is this?  Why didnt he speak Hebrew?

 

[DeputyDan]

Do you really believe everything you hear?

Want to buy some Florida river front property!

All kidding aside, Jesus probably knew both. That area after all was the crossroads of the world and many nationalities passed through the trade routes.

 

[DaveKerwin]

just the language of the locals is best I can figure it.

he wouldnt speak a language that they couldnt understand, so.....

 

[Mr.Cheese]

Palestine in Jesus' day was home to more than one culture. Aramaic and Hebrew and Greek were all possibilities. Many Jews no longer knew Hebrew depending on where they lived.

 

[I can eat 50 eggs]

HEbrew was the language of the educated Jew, Aramaic was what the commoners spoke. People in trade or government would speak Greek. He probably knew all 3.

 

[ZiSunka]

He spoke both.

I studied Hebrew and Aramaic a little bit, and if you look at a KJV, you can tell from the sentence structure and wording where he was speaking Hebrew and where he was speaking Aramaic, sometimes.

He spoke Aramaic because that was his native language, the one most likely spoken in his city and his home when he was a boy. But every child was also taught Hebrew from a very early age, so they could read and discuss the scriptures intelligently.

 

[RevKidd]

He spoke both.

Yep.

 

[RevKidd]

He could probably speak any language he wanted, maybe even English, Hmm just a thought.

 

[Defender of the Faith 777]

Aramaic in a sense, IS Hebrew.

I've studied both, to a limited extent, and they are combined into one language, because they are SO simliar. It's like English and American. They're just dialects, different vernaculars.

And, MOST people at the time spoke Aramaic. Just like the biscuit-crumpet debate between us Americans and the crazy English lol. It's all good.

 

[Chris†opher Paul]

He spoke Aramiac/Hebrew to his followers, that were also Hebrews. When the Bible was actually compiled in the third century, the New Testament was translated into Greek, because Greek was the common language of the known world.

 

[The Thadman]

Originally posted by vegan
I have heard that Jesus and his disciples spoke Aramaic.  WHy is this?  Why didnt he speak Hebrew?

Ahhh, my department!

LORD, guide my words

The lingua franca of the time in Judea was Aramaic. It's a simple language that, instead of being confined to the rigidity of logical-construct based languages such as Greek and Latin, conveys concepts by "painting pictures" with words through vowel placement, prefixes, suffixes, and 3-letter roots.

It's also kind of ironic. Aramaic was the language that gave birth to Hebrew. It's almost as if the New Testament is both a step forwards in God's plan for human development, yet goes back to the basics in terms of the conveying language.

Jesus probably knew Aramaic as his primary language with literacy in Hebrew, and a few phrases in Greek.

For some interesting things about the Aramaic language and the New Testament, give my website a peek:

http://www.AramaicNT.org

I've written many articles and have links to many others concerning the Aramaic language and the New Testament as well as a "Teach Yourself Aramaic" section in the works

Baseemootho la-kh! (Enjoy!)

Shlomo! (Peace!)

 

[Auntie]

Very interesting, The Thadman. Thanks for the info!

 

[Homie]

He could probably speak any language he wanted, maybe even English, Hmm just a thought.

MAYBE! hehe, he could speak mandarin if he wanted, he is the Son of God. Remember even his disciples spoke in languages they did not know when filled with the Holy Spirt.