Speaking of Jesus: The Art of Not-Evangelism

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We can conclude it is certain that Jesus spoke Aramaic. Mel Gibson therefore made the right decision in having Jesus speak Aramaic in Gibsons film The Passion of the Christ (2004). Learned Hebrew I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations. He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own? No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

Jesus - DailyVerses.net 181 Bible Verses about Jesus - DailyVerses.net

Many who saw this movie wondered about its antique languages. What is Aramaic, anyway? Was this really the language spoken by Jesus? Didn’t he speak Hebrew, the primary language of the Hebrew Scriptures? And, since the New Testament Gospels are preserved in Greek manuscripts, is it possible that Jesus also spoke Greek? The place of Judas Iscariot's death is clearly named Field of Blood in Greek. However, the manuscript tradition gives a number of different spellings of the Aramaic. The Majority Text reads Ἀκελδαμά ( Akeldama); other manuscript versions give Ἀχελδαμάχ ( Acheldamach), Ἁκελδαμά ( Hakeldama), Ἁχελδαμά ( Hacheldama) and Ἁκελδαμάχ ( Hakeldamach). Despite these variant spellings the Aramaic is most probably ḥqēl dmā, 'field of blood'. While the seemingly gratuitous Greek sound of kh [x] at the end of the word is difficult to explain, the Septuagint similarly adds this sound to the end of the Semitic name Ben Sira to form the Greek name for the Book of Sirakh ( Latin: Sirach). The sound may be a dialectic feature of either the Greek speakers or the original Semitic language speakers.

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Overall, both versions appear to be Aramaic rather than Hebrew because of the verb שבק‎ ( šbq) "abandon", which is originally Aramaic. [32] [35] The "pure" Biblical Hebrew counterpart to this word, עזב‎ ( ‘zb) is seen in the second line of Psalm 22, which the saying appears to quote. Thus, Jesus is not quoting the canonical Hebrew version ( ēlī ēlī lāmā ‘azabtānī) attributed in some Jewish interpretations to King David cited as Jesus' ancestor in Matthew's Genealogy of Jesus if the Eli, Eli version of Jesus' outcry is taken; he may be quoting the version given in an Aramaic Targum (surviving Aramaic Targums do use šbq in their translations of the Psalm 22 [36]). No one can serve two masters: for either they will hate the one, and love the other; or else they will hold to the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. The Aramaic word form šəḇaqtanī is based on the verb šǝḇaq/ šāḇaq, 'to allow, to permit, to forgive, and to forsake', with the perfect tense ending -t (2nd person singular: 'you'), and the object suffix -anī (1st person singular: 'me'). But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother [without a cause] shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

Language of Jesus - Wikipedia Language of Jesus - Wikipedia

But given the multi-lingual context in which Jesus lived, it’s not surprising that he would have been reasonably fluent in Greek and Hebrew, in addition to Aramaic. People in the United States often have a hard time understanding this. But if you’ve known people who have grown up in Europe, for example, they often can get by in several languages, including English, German, Spanish, and French, even if their first language is Italian. Finally, I should mention again that I have no particular bias in this conversation about the language(s) of Jesus. Yes, I have gone on record saying that I think Aramaic was his first language. But it wouldn’t trouble me to be wrong about this. In fact, my opinion is a little more nuanced now than it was six years ago. No matter which language or languages Jesus spoke, I have confidence in the historical authenticity of the Gospels and believe about Jesus everything contained in the Nicene Creed and the Symbol of Chalcedon. That’s a technical way of saying that I am an orthodox Christian.

What about Hebrew?

Every now and then, I have run into commentators who argue that some of the sayings of Jesus imply that he knew Greek. If, for example, there is a play on words that works in Greek but not in Aramaic or Hebrew, this points to a Greek original. At this moment I can’t remember any specific examples. Perhaps a commenter can fill us in. But, to this point, I have not been convinced that any of the sayings must have had a Greek origin. I have been more convinced by those who propose a Semitic (Aramaic or Hebrew) original for the sayings of Jesus. This should give reassurance to Christians who fear that the argument that Jesus spoke Aramaic somehow undermines the authority of Scripture. In fact, it does nothing of the kind. Whether Jesus spoke Aramaic or Hebrew, or, as I believe, a combination of the two depending on his context, either option concords with a fully authoritative Bible. In sum, the argument that Jesus must have spoke Hebrew because of Acts 26:14 fails on several counts. Not only does this verse not tell us what language Jesus spoke in other contexts, but also the phrase te Hebraidi dialekto, which looks to us like “in the Hebrew dialectic” turns out to mean, in all likelihood, in the Aramaic dialect. Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting, Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! In the last couple of years, I have run into a new reason why some people dispute the notion that Jesus spoke Aramaic. It has to do with the passion among some Muslims for an Aramaic-speaking Jesus. Presumably, and I have not followed these arguments carefully, certain Muslims use the idea that Jesus spoke Aramaic as a support for the truth of Islam. In response, some Christians have taken up arms in favor of the Hebrew-speaking Jesus. Those who fight this battle have accused me of giving aid and comfort to the “opponents of Christianity” by suggesting that Jesus probably spoke Aramaic. (Note: If you are aware of other reasons why the language(s) of Jesus matter so much to some people, please let me know by leaving a comment below.)