Language and Culture
Theology and Christian Faith

Question:
What language did Jesus teach in?

Answer:
It is thought Jesus taught in Aramaic, since no mention is made of the language used, and the common language of the whole region, and native tongue of resident Jews, was Aramaic.  It appears to me that most common people in Judea would not speak Greek as a mother tongue. On the other hand, Greek had been the common language of business, as well as government before the Romans, for about three centuries.  

The Judean Language Situation
In Jerusalem, Greek might have been common, but might have been less so in the countryside.  Hebrew was used only in formal settings, and not a language of common communication.  Hebrew was well on its way to a similar status as Latin in Europe in the Middle Ages.

Some Hellenistic Jews apparently still spoke Aramaic, but their native tongue was Greek, and some probably did not speak Aramaic.  They most likely would have spoken some Latin, but would not have had to be fluent, as Greek was more widely spoken than Latin.

Greek
I have wondered what language he used with Pilate.  It likely was Greek, since no indication is given of any interpretation being conducted.  It is posisble interpretation would simply have been assumed, and thus not remarked upon by any gospel writer, since interpretation was most likely commonly used in legal proceedings.  So it is a surmise.

But Jesus likely spoke Greek, since he was apparently educated as a Rabbi.  It is not clear what specific training Jesus would have had as a rabbi.  I would think there would be fewer formal opportunities in Nazareth than in Jerusalem.

Aramaic
It seems most likely that his common teachings out in society were in Aramaic.  Likely this was also the common language of his disciples.  On the other hand, there are indications now that Galilee had remained a Greek-speaking area, even under the Macabees, who rebelled against the Greco-Persian empire.  So perhaps they were bilingual.

Aramaic would likely be the language used in the synagogues, thought the Torah would be read in Hebrew.  It seems likely from recent studies that Hebrew was still being used by the priestly class (the Sadducees).  It had not been a common spoken language of the people for several centuries, definitely since before the Babylonian Exile.

The Shift to Aramaic
Indications in the stories of the Hebrews under the Assyrians indicates that Aramaic was the common language used by leaders of the House of Israel (northern kingdom) directly with the Assyrian authorities before the Assyrian desolation of Israel, though Hebrew was still spoken by the people among themsleves.  After two generations in Babylon, the re-established nation of Judah was an Aramaic-speaking people, as well as the northern territories formerly called Israel.

The Pharisees of Jesus time surely spoke both Aramaic and Greek, with Aramaic mother tongue.  Sadducees likely used Greek in communication with the Roman authorities, who also used Greek among themselves.

In summary, I would say Jesus' teachings, and his personal times with his core disciples, were conducted in Aramaic.  He likely also spoke Greek, which he would use while in Jerusalem, for business, and in the occasional contact with the Roman authorities.  He surely could read the Hebrew of the Torah, but this was not a conversational language in his day.

Related Articles:
  Christians Started with a Greek Old Testament
Hebrew Usage in the First Century
Literacy Training in 1st Century Palestine
Was the New Testament Written in Aramaic?
What Was Koine Greek?

OBJ

Written 12 August 2002
Updated and posted 21 November 2004
Last updated 14 August 2007

Orville Boyd Jenkins, Ed.D., Ph.D.

Copyright © 2004, 2006 Orville Boyd Jenkins
Permission granted for free download and transmission for personal or educational use.  Other rights reserved.

Email: orville@jenkins.nu

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