Biblical Context: Languages

“Talitha kum!” which translates to, “Little girl, I tell you, get up!”

— The Story of Jesus 4.1 

[adapted from Mt 3:4]

The original Jewish language was Hebrew, but after Israel’s fall to Assyria and Judah’s fall to Babylon, Aramaic began to dominate, especially in the northern lands of Samaria and Galilee. This Aramaic became a western dialect called Syriac, which included various Hebrew and Persian words. However, because much of the Old Testament was written in Hebrew, many Jews still spoke a version of it, especially in rural Judea. Then around the second century BC, Alexander the Great’s Hellenization of the Mediterranean brought Greek language and culture to Judea, which quickly became the international language of trade. The earliest available copies of the New Testament were written in Greek and even quotations from the Hebrew Old Testament were translated into Greek. Some Hebrew or Aramaic words were used in the New Testament, but often with a translation included in the text. This heavy Greek influence effectively displaced Latin (Rome’s language) in Judea, although some terms related to Roman rule persisted, such as monetary amounts. Thus, most literate Jews likely knew Aramaic, Hebrew, and marketplace Greek. 

The Gospels, which were originally written in Greek, include various Aramaic and Hebrew terms. Sometimes a translation is included within the text itself, as there is in Mark’s account (above).

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