What language did Jesus speak?

What Language Did Jesus Speak?

Answer

Aramaic was his mother tongue, judging by the incidents in the gospels where he uses it ("Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani"). Aramaic is a form of Arabic and is still spoken today in an area of the middle east north of Israel and south of Syria - in other words, near where Jesus grew up. Despite being technologically backward in those days, we must never underestimate the intelligence of those people, and therefore we know that many people in those days were multilingual. It is therefore almost certain that Jesus would have also spoken Hebrew (as the scriptures were written in Hebrew and Jesus was well versed in these) , and probably some Greek, as this latter language was regarded as the universal language, especially of the educated classes. Let's not forget that the New Testament was originally written in Greek by various authors (Paul, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, James, Peter etc), and therefore if these people could speak Greek, then it is likely that Jesus could too. Jesus was also likely to speak Latin, picked up from the Roman occupation during the whole of Jesus' life on earth. Romans were notoriously reticent in trying to speak local languages - insisting on speaking Latin even if they could speak another language (much like the French today!), and so Jesus would also have a little Latin - enough to communicate with Pilate at his trial.

Many people say that Jesus spoke Aramaic. I personally believe that he spoke Hebrew. His ministries dealt with many Jewish people and it seems to be only natural that he would speak to them in their native tongue. I am not a theologian but I am a devout Christian. During this Easter Season Jesus was questioned by his captors about "If he was King of the Jews"? I would think even then his answers would have been spoken in Hebrew. The aforementioned are my personal opinions only.

Answer

Matthew: "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani, that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (xxvii, 46).

Mark: "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani, which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (xv, 34.)

In what language were his last words uttered?

Matthew: In Hebrew.

Mark: In Aramaic and Hebrew.

The language spoken by Jesus and by the people of Palestine at this time was the Aramaic. Mark attempts to give the words of Jesus in this language. But while the first two words are Aramaic, the last two are Hebrew. The words Mark attempts to give are "Elohi, Elohi, metul mah shabaktani?"

Answer

Jesus Christ, being a citizen of Judea, would have spoken Hebrew, Greek, and possibly Aramaic. Hebrew is the written and spoken language of Judea and the Old Testament is mainly written in this language.

Because the Greeks had conquered Judea about 200 years prior to Jesus' birth, Greek was the trade language of the region. The New Testament is written in Koine Greek, and is a good indication that there were two languages active in that time frame in that region. Aramaic is/was a variation of Hebrew that has many words in common, so the dialect Aramaic is an excellent possibility for the language spoken by Jesus.

Archaeological evidence in burial sites shows that Hebrew was an active language of the time.

First answer by Jerrythesportspro. Last edit by JohnWelsh. Contributor trust: 79 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 21 [recommend question]