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=== Did Jesus Preach in Greek? ===

=== Did Jesus Preach in Greek? ===

Some wonder if Jesus taught in Greek and if the Gospels were originally written in Greek rather than Aramaic.  The traditional view is that Jesus and the Apostles spoke in Aramaic, the colloquial language of that region and time.  Many of Jesus' sayings are quoted directly in Aramaic, including Talitha cum, which means, "Little girl, get up!" (Mark 5:41). Also, Abba ("Father"; Mark 14:36; Gal.4:6; Rom.8:15); Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani ("My God, my God, why have you forsaken me"; Mark 15:34); Cephas ("Peter"; John 1:42); Mammon ("Wealth"; Matt.6:24, RSV); Raca ("Fool"; Matt. 5:22, RSV).  Linguists can even pinpoint Jesus' dialect to be western Aramaic associated with Galilee, rather than the Aramaic dialect spoken in Jerusalem.  But notice how the Aramaic sayings were never part of His teachings, but were slang, names, or speech related in some way to childhood or emotional utterances.

The traditional view is that Jesus and the Apostles spoke in Aramaic, the colloquial language of that region and time.  Many of Jesus' sayings are quoted directly in Aramaic, including Talitha cum, which means, "Little girl, get up!" (Mark 5:41). Also, Abba ("Father"; Mark 14:36; Gal.4:6; Rom.8:15); Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani ("My God, my God, why have you forsaken me"; Mark 15:34); Cephas ("Peter"; John 1:42); Mammon ("Wealth"; Matt.6:24, RSV); Raca ("Fool"; Matt. 5:22, RSV).  Linguists can even pinpoint Jesus' dialect to be western Aramaic associated with Galilee, rather than the Aramaic dialect spoken in Jerusalem.  But notice how these Aramaic sayings were not part of His teachings, but were less formal, or names, or even emotional utterances.

The powerful Greek language would have very been useful to Jesus in teaching.  Greek was in common use by Jewish people in Palestine, thanks in part to the conquest by Alexander the Great.  Greek was even widely used in Jewish ossuaries to bury the dead.  Commerce took place often in Greek, and Jesus had been in business as a carpenter.  He surely knew the language.  Several of the key terms, such as Jesus' criticism of the Pharisees as "hypocrites", is derived directly from Greek without any comparable term in Aramaic or Hebrew.  Several of the Apostles have Greek names (e.g., Andrew and Philip), but others, like John, Bartholomew, Matthew, and Thomas, had Aramaic or Hebrew names. There has been no discovered book in the New Testament written in Aramaic or Hebrew that predates the Greek versions. The Gospel of John even seems to take advantage of the Greek "Socratic method" in repeating questions and then providing the important information as answers to the questions.<ref>For example, John 3:4 states, “How can a man be born again?  Is it even possible?”  (Answer, yes, by the Spirit and water.  John 3:5-8).</ref>  For an interesting presentation of the view that Jesus taught in Greek, look at website discussing it on the internet.<ref>See, e.g., http://www.triumphpro.com/did_jesus_and_the_apostles_speak_greek.htm</ref>

For teaching purposes, the powerful Greek language would have been useful.  Greek was in common use by Jewish people in Palestine, thanks in part to the conquest by Alexander the Great.  Greek was even widely used in Jewish ossuaries to bury the dead.  Commerce took place often in Greek, and Jesus had been in business as a carpenter.  He surely knew the language.  Several of the key terms, such as Jesus' criticism of the Pharisees as "hypocrites", is derived directly from Greek without any comparable term in Aramaic or Hebrew.  Several of the Apostles have Greek names (e.g., Andrew and Philip), but others, like John, Bartholomew, Matthew, and Thomas, had Aramaic or Hebrew names. There has been no discovered book in the New Testament written in Aramaic or Hebrew that predates the Greek versions. The Gospel of John even seems to take advantage of the Greek "Socratic method" in repeating questions and then providing the important information as answers to the questions.<ref>For example, John 3:4 states, “How can a man be born again?  Is it even possible?”  (Answer, yes, by the Spirit and water.  John 3:5-8).</ref>  For an interesting presentation of the view that Jesus taught in Greek, look at website discussing it on the internet.<ref>See, e.g., http://www.triumphpro.com/did_jesus_and_the_apostles_speak_greek.htm</ref>

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