did Jesus speak Hebrew or Aramaic?

Question

he spoke Aramaic and that's my evidence.

http://scriptures.lds.org/bd/a/109

The official language of the Persian Empire, spoken widely throughout the Near East. Certain portions of the Old Testament are written in Aramaic (Gen. 31: 46; Ezra 4: 8 - 6: 18; Ezra 7: 12-26; Jer. 10: 11; Dan. 2: 4 - 7: 28). Aramaic words are also found in Job, Song of Solomon, Jonah, Esther, the Hebrew parts of Daniel, and some of the Psalms. The common language of the Jews after the return from Babylon was Aramaic, and it is most probable that Jesus and the Twelve spoke Galilean Aramaic, rather than the Hebrew of earlier times.

now what is your evidence?

Answer 1

Although there is some ambiguity over Hebrew and Aramaic terms, I would have to say, in my professional opinion (yes I can actually say this as an Aramaic translator, it's my vocation :-) ) that he primarily spoke a variant of Galillean Aramaic with some knowledge of Hebrew, and just about enough Greek to buy a loaf of bread at the marketplace or ask where the bathroom was.

Let's take a look at what is preserved of this language in the New Testament:

In Mark 5:41 we see in the Greek "Ταλιθα κουμ(ι)" (Talitha qum[y]). "Talitha" is distinctly the Aramaic word טליתא ("talitha" = "young girl") which is Aramaic, not Hebrew.

In Mark 7:34 we see in the Greek "Εφφαθα" (Effatha) this is distinctly the Aramaic word אתפתח "Ethfathakh" which in Galilean Aramaic would have been pronounced something closer to "Ethfatha", due to how Galileans softened final gutterals. This word could not be Hebrew.

In Mark 14:36 (and many other places) we see in the Greek "Αββα" (Abba) which is the Aramaic form of the word "Father" (contrary to popular belief it -does not- mean "daddy"). The Hebrew form would have been "Av" or "Avi".

In Matthew 5:22 we see in the Greek Ρακα (raca) which is a strong insult ריקא (raqa) in Aramaic that means "empty one" (i.e. ignoramus).

In Mark 15:34 and Matthew 27:46 we see ελοι ελοι λεμα σαβαχθανει (eloi eloi lema sabakhthani) which requires some explaination:

"Eloi" comes from the Aramaic/Hebrew אלוהי (Elahi) which means "My God." Greek can only have an "h" sound at the beginning of a word (known as "rough breathing") so the "h" of the ה (he) was dropped in transliteration.

"lema" means "For what?" or "For why?" in Aramaic and Hebrew.

"sabakhthani" can only be the Aramaic word שבקתני (shabaqthani). Greek has no equivalent to the letter sheen ש (sh) so it was transcribed as a sigma σ (s), and also has no equivalent of qoof ק (a hard Q) so it was transcribed as a chi χ (kh). The whole word comes from the distinctly Aramaic root shvaq שבק which means "to allow, to permit, to leave, or to forsake." No such root exists in Hebrew except much later as a loan-word from Aramaic.

And finally a small piece of evidence from the letters of Paul in reference to Jesus. In 1st Corinthians 16:22 and chapter 10 of the Didache (an old book of Christian tradition) we see in the Greek μαραναθα (maranatha). It comes from the Aramaic phrase מרנא תא (marana tha) which means "Our Lord, come!" Specifically the word "mara" or "Lord" which is specifically Aramaic and the "na" ending (which means "our") is a suffix that exists in Palestinian Aramaic dialects (of which includes Galilean). In Hebrew it would have been "nu". As such, this could only be in Aramaic, not Hebrew.

Answer 2

In the book of Acts the Apostle Paul beagn to speak in the Hebrew tongue Acts 21:40 22:2 and when those around him heard him they stopped and listened, proving that hebrew was not a dead language as some suggest and that enough people mut have known the language or it would have been pointless for him to start speaking in that language. Im not sure where that passage is but it is in acts. Can look it up for you if you need. It is most likely that both these languages were inuse as well as the language the Romans used. In Acts 26:14 Paul tells how he heard a voice speak in the Hebrew tongue when he asks who is it .Jesus answers I am Jesus whom you persecute. So here Jesus spoke in Hebrew tongue to Paul. ACTS 26:14&15 JESUS SPOKE TO PAUL IN HEBREW TONGUE. Sorry for caps folks but as this is an add on I was afraid it would be missed. One fo the things that helped scholars understand how Hebrew was used was the finding of the dead sea scrolls. The language of the sages was Hebrew, and the word I looked up was said the words in new testament was Hebraic. The is a similarity between the two languages so it does stand to reason that anyone living in that regin would use languages that were in use. Clearly both these languages were still in use. I thik the problem of understanding comes from the fact that certain Aramaic words are sprinkled through the new testament well this doesn't really prove much as the Englinsh language does much the same thing. We utilize french and a whole host of languages. Now the presence of those words doesn't mean we speak French fluently it simply means we utilize those words.
It was once widely believed the new testament was written in Aramaic because of these few words but it has recntly been shown that the Gree more accurately translates back inot Hebrew.

Answer 3

BOTH

The scriptures WHICH HE READ were maintained in their mostly Hebrew original form. It is PROBABLE that he knew some Greek, since it was used as a common second language, allowing people from different regions to communicate. It is also likely that he was at least minimally conversant in Coptic (from his childhood in Egypt) and the regional languages near Galilee.

This was a time and a land of many regional languages. Greek as a "world language" was still pretty new and Latin had not really started its eventual takeover of that position. MOST people who traveled or did business at all knew several languages.

Edward J: "Hebrew" in the New Testament is commonly considered to refer to Aramaic. My Greek dictionary defines the word "Hebrais" (used in Acts 21:40 and 22:2) as "Aramaic, Hebrew dialect."

Answer 4

Jesus almost certain spoke Aramaic for everyday usage, and Hebrew when in the temple. It was the language of the people of the day; if he was well-educated, he probably spoke at least some Latin as well, given that his country was occupied by the Roman army.

Answer 5

Matt. 16:17 -Jesus says Simon "Bar-Jona." The use of "Bar-Jona" proves that Jesus was speaking Aramaic. In Aramaic, "Bar" means son, and "Jonah" means John or dove (Holy Spirit). See Matt. 27:46 and Mark 15:34 which give another example of Jesus speaking Aramaic as He utters in rabbinical fashion the first verse of Psalm 22 declaring that He is the Christ, the Messiah. (as He was dying on the cross) This shows that Jesus was indeed speaking Aramaic, as the Jewish people did at that time.

Answer 6

Aramaic

Note: Aramaic was spoken in the movie, Passion of the Christ because it is believed this was His main language. That doesn't mean He didn't know Hebrew also, which has many similarities.

Our concordances help us to translate our Holy Bibles back to their original Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek words.

Answer 7

Aramaic

Answer 8

I would then say that he studied the scriptures in all languages and spoke all three, but it is my understanding that at the time he lived they spoke Hebrew and Greek as the common language.

Answer 9

He spoke Aramaic. The language of the district.

Answer 10

Aramaic and probably a little Hebrew in prayer--the prayers were in Hebrew. Still are.