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Monday, May 26, 2014

Jesus Spoke and Taught in Greek


JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Pope Francis and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traded words on Monday over the language spoken by Jesus two millennia ago.
"Jesus was here, in this land. He spoke Hebrew," Netanyahu told Francis, at a public meeting in Jerusalem in which the Israeli leader cited a strong connection between Judaism and Christianity. 

"Aramaic," the pope interjected. 
"He spoke Aramaic, but he knew Hebrew," Netanyahu shot back.

What is often not given enough attention is that Jesus would had also been competent in Greek and likely taught in Greek in certain contexts. See Stanley Porter's argumentation on these two points:



8 comments:

  1. Jesus was a communicator. An itinerant preacher among Jews. Different segments of the Jewish populace would have differing attitudes about speaking Greek and few Jews would have spoken Hebrew, but many would have spoken Greek since it was the universal language of commerce at the time. Greek was the first true lingua franca due to Alexander the Great's conquering and unifying of the known world. If Jesus wanted to communicate to as many Jews as possible (the lost sheep of the House of Israel) He wouldn't have restricted Himself to Aramaic (or Hebrew which I suspect He also spoke). Otherwise He would constantly be dependent on translators.

    Joseph was a carpenter. Some have argued that the Greek term for "carpenter" may have included masonry and construction. But even if Joseph only worked with wood, he was a businessman and would have taught his sons the family business. This probably included preparing them for business by teaching them Greek sometime in their youth. What serious businessman wouldn't have wanted to learn Greek? Refusing to do so would limit one's commercial prospects. In Luke 2:24 Joseph and Mary offered a sacrifice of "a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons." This might indicate their initial poverty as a family. In which case Joseph would have been motivated to learn Greek. How much more would he have been motivated later on when Joseph had 4 sons and at least 2 daughters to feed along with himself and his wife? Mary and Joseph knowing Jesus was special (due to a miraculous conception, divinely given dreams and angelic visitations), would have taken extra pains to provide Him the best education they could, poor as they might have been initially or (throughout Joseph's life as Mary's husband). Joseph probably dying soon after Jesus' 12 birthday. In which case Jesus would have been forced to be the "man of the house" and so take care of His mother and a minimum of six brothers and sisters. This too would motivate Jesus to take up or (more likely) become fluent in Greek.

    While Joseph was alive, "Joseph & Sons Inc." would have had to deal with Roman Law. Joseph had to deal with the Roman census (at least once) and with Roman taxes. Not being able to speak any of the occupying government's languages (primarily Latin and secondarily Greek) would have been a serious disadvantage. It can literally get you and your family killed (physically and/or economically).

    Joseph was forced to move his family from place to place (e.g. Bethlehem, Egypt, Nazareth). It's difficult to believe that Joseph traveled to Egypt by caravan not knowing or learning Greek. He would encountered both pagans and Hellenized Jews who spoke Koine.

    Knowing Greek would have been so practical that only people who lived in secluded rural areas or who had religious compunctions to learning Greek wouldn't have known it.

    Jesus didn't limit Himself to preaching to Jews who lived in Palestine even if He Himself probably never left Palestine. Jesus preached to Jews who came from other parts of the world and arrived in Jerusalem to celebrate the Biblical feasts. These Hellenized Jews would have spoken Greek and therefore would have sometimes asked Jesus questions in Greek. I have no doubt that Jesus understood Koine Greek. The question is whether He was fluent enough to answer and even to teach in Greek.

    20 Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks.21 So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus."22 Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.- John 12:20-22

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    1. Assuming Jesus had, at the very least, average intelligence, then He would have had some natural itch to learn multiple languages. While it's politically incorrect to point it out, it's a statistical fact that Jews (as an ethnic group) have a higher intelligence as compared to other ethnic groups.

      More importantly, in light of the fact that Jesus was God's divine Messiah who was specially and uniquely conceived genetically/physically, and who was the eternal Logos (or Word of God) spiritually; one would think that Jesus would be especially brighter than the average Jew and would have had a talent for learning languages (being the eternal Logos/Word/Debar/Memra). For all we know, in His human nature, Jesus may have had the highest I.Q. of any human to have ever or will ever live. But even if He didn't, it's likely He had an I.Q. higher than the average Jew of the time.

      It seems to me therefore than anyone who doubts that Jesus could understand Greek is starting from an unbelieving position. Surely He understood it, and in my opinion He probably spoke it and was probably fluent in it. He may have even been able to read and write Koine. Though, understanding/speaking/reading Attic, Ionic, Doric and other ancient Greek dialects is another matter.

      With regard to Jesus speaking Hebrew, I found this video thought provoking:

      The Language of Jesus: Hebrew or Aramaic?
      http://youtu.be/L5IGUmK4670

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    2. typo correction:

      "...due to Alexander the Great's conquering and unifying [MOST] of the known world."

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    3. I wrote:
      Knowing Greek would have been so practical that only people who lived in secluded rural areas or who had religious compunctions to learning Greek wouldn't have known it.

      The fact that Jesus had no problem touching, holding or doing business using pagan currency (Matt. 22:19-21) would imply that Jesus would have had no moral problem with speaking in Greek or Latin.

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    4. I wrote:
      Knowing Greek would have been so practical that only people who lived in secluded rural areas or who had religious compunctions to learning Greek wouldn't have known it.

      At least most Jews who didn't have a religious compunction would have wanted to learn it and at least wanted/wished to become fluent in it if they could. Obviously, in some areas it wouldn't have been possible to become fluent in it (even if one wanted to be). Similar to how in modern America people living in Polish town or Chinatown would like to learn English even if it's difficult. Or think of Mexican illegal aliens who are economically limited because they don't know English. They're all at the mercy of English speakers. First century Jews would be at the mercy of Greek speakers if they didn't learn rudimentary Koine.

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    5. Knowing Jesus was special, Mary and Joseph probably made sure that Jesus was able to read the Scriptures. If not in their original Hebrew, then in the Greek of the Septuagint. How else could Jesus have impressed the Jewish teachers in Luke 2:46-47. Muslims might be right that Jesus preached the Injil (i.e. the Gospel) immediately after he was born, but it's unlikely true. There's no historical reason to think so and Luke tells us that Jesus had to progressively grow "in wisdom and stature" (Luke 2:52).

      It's difficult to believe that Jesus was able to quote/cite/allude to the Old Testament Scriptures without having read them. Are we really to believe that Jesus could do so based solely on what He heard and could recall the rabbis say about Scripture or quoted from Scripture? How could He know what was paraphrase, essential quotation, misquotation, exegesis and eisegesis?

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  2. In Luke 4:14-20, Jesus reads from the "book" of Isaiah in the synagogue. Were Aramaic versions of the Old Testament books prevalent in 1 c. Palestine? Also, earlier in Luke, Jesus is discussing the Scriptures with the teachers in the Temple. It would seem plausible if the teachers wanted to assess the depth and breadth of his knowledge, that they might pose some questions to him in Hebrew. Obviously, this is speculation. But was Aramaic the language of choice even in the Temple? That seems unlikely.

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    1. I could be wrong but, it's my understanding is that the various Aramaic Targumim didn't become popular until after the time of Christ (beginning of the 2nd century). Also, they weren't so much translations than explanations/paraphrases of the Hebrew Scriptures. Similar to what the Living Bible did in English decades ago. So, I suspect that Jesus either reading the Scriptures in Hebrew or Greek in Luke 4.

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