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Summary
- Hebrew and Aramaic are separate but closely related languages in the northwestern group of the Semitic family.
- Historians widely agree that Jesus spoke Aramaic as his everyday language, read the Scriptures in Hebrew, and probably knew some Greek; in the synagogues of the Second Temple period Scripture was read in Hebrew and translated into Aramaic for the people.
- The Gospels keep several of Jesus’s Aramaic words and translate them, among them talitha cumi, ephphatha, abba and Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani.
- The Aramaic parts of the Old Testament are Daniel 2:4 to 7:28, Ezra 4:8 to 6:18 and 7:12 to 26, Jeremiah 10:11, and two words in Genesis 31:47.
- The square letters Hebrew is written in today were adapted from the Aramaic alphabet after the Jews came home from Babylon.
- Aramaic is still spoken in a few villages in Syria and by small Christian communities, while Hebrew was revived as a spoken language and is now the official language of Israel.
Bibliography (Click to show)
- King James Version: Genesis 31:47–48; Deuteronomy 26:5; 2 Kings 18:26; Ezra 4:7; 7:12; Nehemiah 8:7–8; 13:23–24; Psalm 22:1; Jeremiah 10:11; Daniel 2:4; Matthew 16:17; 27:46; Mark 5:41–42; 7:26, 32–34; 14:32–36; 15:34; Luke 4:16–17; John 1:42; 19:13, 19–20; 20:16; Acts 1:16–19; Romans 8:15, BibleGateway.
- “What Language Did Jesus Speak?”, “Aramaic language” and “Hebrew language”, Encyclopaedia Britannica, What Language Did Jesus Speak?, Aramaic language and Hebrew language.
- Richard Gottheil and Wilhelm Bacher, “Aramaic Language Among the Jews”, Jewish Encyclopedia (1906), jewishencyclopedia.com.
- Hughson T. Ong, “The Multilingualism of Ancient Palestine and the Multilingual Jesus”, The Bible and Interpretation, bibleinterp.arizona.edu.
- “Sanhedrin 22” (Daf Yomi, on the change from Paleo-Hebrew to the Ashurit script), My Jewish Learning, myjewishlearning.com.
- Jerome, Preface to Daniel, translated by Kevin P. Edgecomb, CCEL.
- Jerome, Preface to the Books of Samuel and Kings (the “Helmeted Preface”), translated by Kevin P. Edgecomb, tertullian.org.
- Ignatius Zakka I Iwas, “The Syrian Orthodox Church At a Glance”, and “The Syriac Bible”, Syriac Orthodox Resources, At a Glance and The Syriac Bible.
- Charles John Ellicott (ed.), Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers, on Daniel 2:4, Daniel 8:1, Ezra 6:19 and Jeremiah 10:11, Daniel 2, Daniel 8, Ezra 6 and Jeremiah 10, Bible Hub.
- Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges and The Pulpit Commentary, on Ezra 7, Cambridge and Pulpit, Bible Hub.
- Strong’s and Thayer’s lexicon entries for talitha, koum, ephphatha, abba, eloi, eli, sabachthani, Kephas, rabboni, Akeldama and Gabbatha, and for the Hebrew ben and Aramaic bar, Bible Hub (sabachthani), eloi, eli, talitha, ephphatha and bar.
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