If you want to better understand what language did Jesus speak when he lived on earth, then this wonderful article will help you better understand this question that we have ever asked ourselves.
Jesus preaching to his disciples
The language during the biblical writings
The languages of the biblical lands
Without a doubt, we have all asked ourselves the following questions: What language did Jesus speak? How did he communicate with people? The answer can be found by locating his birthplace, his stay, his travels, his message, his legacy and evaluating the language that predominated in those times where Jesus was.
Although we know that Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, we can take as a reference the statements of some evangelists who mention it in the Bible: (the holy book of the Jews and Christians), in the book of Matthew 2:1- 2: “When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod…”. And we can also find an allusion in the book of Luke 2:4-7: "When they were in Bethlehem, they (Mary and Joseph) received their firstborn...".
There are other evangelists who maintain that Jesus was born in Nazareth, including Mark 6:1-2: "Jesus left Nazareth and now returns to his homeland...". Certainly, all this generates a dilemma, understanding that over time, the sacred scriptures have been altered either for convenience or due to errors in their writing.
Taking into account that both places mentioned were notably key in the life of Jesus and that they are located in Israel, we can assure that the natives of these lands spoke Hebrew. This language was born in ancient times and has almost three millennia of existence.
However, the language that Jesus spoke is not mentioned in the Bible and the word "Hebrew" does not appear until the Assyrian period was established; which was a stage of one of the greatest empires that existed long before the arrival of Jesus and that marked almost a millennium of wars, art, fear and oppression in the peoples of ancient Mesopotamia. The language they used mainly was Sumerian, which was the first written language that we know of in history, of which there is a record.
The rise of the language of Jesus
The Sumerian people were the oldest organized civilization that is known and they had their own religion and language. The reason for their sudden disappearance is not clear, but it is known that many of them were emigrants and that had a great impact on other cultures, so that over time Sumerian was replaced by the Akkadian language.
The first data obtained from the Akkadian language was in northern Mesopotamia, where names were found in Sumerian, which affirms that the cultural penetration of the latter was elemental in the evolution of the Akkadian language. And also an essential part not only for writing, but for arithmetic, geometry, algebra, astronomy, architecture and more.
The Akkadian language was used for a long time in the Mesopotamian period, until the Persian empire defeated them and the language was used by the people. For this reason, during the Assyrian period there was a great influence between the Sumerian and Akkadian languages, which were used daily in Canaan: a region in the Mediterranean Sea.
It is there in Canaan (also known as Canaan, which means "merchant"), where there is a reference to the language spoken by the Jews and it is mentioned in the Bible, specifically, in the book Second Kings 18:28: " And Rabshakeh stood up and cried out in the language of Judah…” This place has also been named as the land of Israel, Judah and Syria. The Canaanites spoke in Aramaic, which is a language that is related to Hebrew.
Also in the same book Second Kings, but in chapter 18:26 the following is mentioned: "We ask you to speak to your servants in Aramaic, because we understand it...". So, that leads us to understand why there is so much confusion when we ask ourselves: What language did Jesus speak?
Aramaic belongs to the East Semitic languages; there are records of its beginnings in Syria since it later spread from the areas of present-day Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon to Egypt. And it covered a large territory of the Near East where it had great relevance until the arrival of Islam later.
Its link with religion begins with its appearance in the Bible, in the book of Daniel, which was originally written in Aramaic, and the book of Ezra, both in the Old Testament. Aramaic is not a single language, it is part of a group of related languages and unlike Sumerian and Akkadian that disappeared, Aramaic is still in force in some parts of Syria.
Now, Israel was known as Judea and later named by the Romans as Palestine; it was comprised of three areas: Galilee, Samaria, and Judea. Following the historical data, we can understand the following: Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, he lived almost his entire life in Galilee and Jesus' parents lived in Nazareth, so we can deduce that Jesus spoke the Aramaic language.
Era of profound transformations
At that time, there was a great influence of the Greeks on the Middle East because Alexander the Great, the King of Macedonia and Greece in his quest for power had managed to conquer all the regions of Syria and Palestine on his trip to Egypt, later annexed India to his mighty empire.
His rule began with his father's legacy in Greece and extended as far as India; he built six Greek cities called Alexandria, of which only one remains today in Egypt. His reign marked a great era in the peoples of ancient Mesopotamia, who had previously been dominated by the Persians, who also left traces in the history of that region.
After the death of Alexander the Great, there was a series of successions in power until the Roman Empire led by the powerful and triumphant Pompey, who converted Syria and Judea into a Roman province after having fought against King Antiochus. Soon after, there was an assassination attempt against the person in charge of the Syrian province: Hyrcanus II, for which the Roman Senate called on Pompey to restore order.
That is when Pompey takes advantage to enter Jerusalem, restores order, appoints Hyrcanus II as high priest and places Herod as king of Judea.
Evidently, the growing and powerful Greek and Roman cultural penetration were notable in Palestine and apart from military power, it stood out in architecture, art, lifestyle, traditions and of course, in language, with Greek coexisting with Hebrew and Aramaic.
In Palestine, agriculture predominated, which was varied due to its low rainfall climate and desert areas, but in the north, dates, wheat, barley, grapes, figs, olives, among others, were produced. In addition, livestock was another key factor in the economy; the herd of sheep, goats, cattle (which supplied merchants with milk, leather and wool), also had birds and deer. Camels, rabbits and pigs saw them as unclean and were not eaten.
People worked as merchants, teachers, fishermen (a very important activity in the trade of the region), transported fragrances, balms, dyes and seeds between different towns. The economy was booming.
Crafting was basic at that time and it was a very sustainable business. Jesus was a craftsman just like Joseph, who dedicated himself to this trade for many years. Daily life was basically; the study of religion, household chores, the work carried out by each family.
Education focused on reading the Torah: the most precious work for the Jews, the writing of their law and their identity. This contains the Pentateuch of Moses; also, the study of the shema, the main prayer of the Jews, was included: "Shema Israel Hashem Elo-einu Hashem Ejad" "Listen Israel Hashem is our God, Hashem is One."
Writing and word study
Due to the influence of the Greeks in Palestine, people could communicate with the Greek language. They used it for commercial use with other peoples. Although the main language was Aramaic, Hebrew was also used in schools to translate the sacred word. It is important to mention that the writing in the schools was reduced to a few people because they focused on learning the prayers for the synagogue.
Prayers were held in homes and in synagogues. Children from the age of 12 were obliged to comply with these practices; while women, girls and even slaves had to perform them at home. Jesus did not escape from them, since his family was very religious and fervently fulfilled his prayers and blessings and shema could not be lacking in his daily life.
All these habits were made in the Hebrew language, hence its importance in schools. The most famous and significant school of those times was that of Jerusalem, where after completing a study regimen for several years, the scribes enjoyed a great knowledge of the Old Testament, which was undoubtedly essential in the Jewish religion.
The scribes were the experts of the Jewish Law, they understood it perfectly and explained it to their pupils. They were specialists in this aspect and worked as teachers in schools, where they in turn had opportunities to work in areas such as administration and justice, which was highly coveted in those days.
The understanding of the Old Testament was very important in judicial cases, since the pentateuch was the law for all. As the Hebrew was written by a few scribes, over time they did not want to translate it into Aramaic, because that was the language of the people and in this way they did not want to lose for any reason the prestige they had before the people.
The prayer for Jesus:
With the passage of time, Jesus loved to pray and felt very good about it, but he wanted the sacred scripture to reach more people, for everyone to have access to it and to be able to do it through the Aramaic language, because there was still a certain exclusion to time to divulge your writing.
For this reason, Jesus prayed to his Father in his original language, Aramaic. He wanted to promote the meaning of prayer, but doing it from a new perspective and thus make people feel this connection with the Father. In this way; we can take as a reference in the book of Luke 11:1-4:
“And when Jesus finished praying, one of his disciples approached him and said: Lord, teach us to pray as John the Baptist taught his followers.
And Jesus answered:
When you pray you should say the following:
-Oh Father, everyone must recognize that you are the true God.
Come and be our great and only king
Give us our daily bread
Forgive our sins and mistakes
Just as we do with those who wish us harm
And when the final day comes, we will be confident in you.”
This prayer would change the perspective of approaching the Father, because it is a more direct way of connecting with Him, without any obstacles in between, emphasizing that the language would not be an impediment to fulfilling the prayers.
In this way, we can say that Jesus began a new stage in Jewish doctrine, since without the need to learn another language to be able to have a rapprochement with the Father, he opened a new path that would allow them to give way to new knowledge in the study of the sacred word, through its native language, Aramaic.
What language did Jesus speak?
Spirituality and its message
Being that Aramaic would not be a difficulty when praying, each family began to change their way of seeing religion, but without changing the basic principles of Jewish law. There is no doubt that Jesus marked a milestone in history and in religion up to the present time.
However, we can already elucidate how Jesus communicated in his times; his native language would be Aramaic, he could speak and understand Hebrew, and probably had a little bit of Greek. All this we can glimpse due to the historical and religious data that have been investigated and studied over many years.
The story of Jesus is fascinating and leads us all to question many things in our lives, but without a doubt through the Bible, we can get an idea of his life and his legacy, as well as his interest in bringing sacred knowledge to many people.
By virtue of the above, dear reader, we invite you to read this great article that will most likely make you understand the word of God better: gift of tongues.
To all of us who are passionate about history and the study of religion and regardless of what beliefs we have, I think we would love the opportunity to go back in time and meet Jesus. Just as the wonderful writer JJ Benítez reflected; in his great masterpiece "The Trojan Horse", in which an American officer, through an experiment by the US Army, managed to travel back in time and meet Jesus of Nazareth.
It was an incredible journey where he was able to visualize first-hand each and every one of the events that today we simply have to imagine; everything that happened and that made a big difference, not only for history over many centuries, but also for us.
The meaning of life will always be a mystery to us, but in the scriptures we can feel a refuge that allows us to rest easy knowing that we can communicate with our Father without fear of not being understood or not being heard.
A leap in history
With the union of so much culture in Palestine, over time, the Romans were accepting and adopting Jewish beliefs. All this happened long after Jesus, and because of this the Christian era began.
After this, a long struggle began in Europe to try to penetrate some peoples who refused to leave paganism. If you are interested in knowing more about this important part of history, you can take a look at this incredible article that details the Christian movement through Europe and its dark side: Christian persecutions.
Whether or not you believe in Jesus, it is possible that we have heard about him at some time, because Judaism and Christianity were and are a fundamental part of the lives of many people throughout history, and in schools Jesus is always mentioned. Jesus, in such a way that it is possible that we have questioned some journeys and situations described in the Bible.
One of the most frequent questions is: What language did Jesus speak?, and it is valid to ask ourselves these types of questions because we want to understand everything in order to have a more concise and clear idea about the Jesus that is mentioned so much and that many people in the world love so much. the world.
Spirituality, beyond the dogmas with which we have grown or accepted during our lives, plays a very important role and I would say that it is primordial, in our day to day life, because our social and emotional behavior derives from it, such aspects define us as person, describe us and create the foundations of modern societies. Therefore, it never hurts to investigate, learn and learn about this exciting topic.
The universal language of Jesus
We can summarize that Jesus did not intend to change the doctrines contemplated in the sacred text; on the contrary, he wanted him to reach all people, without excluding anyone. And from this perspective, it is acceptable. What would become of us if we had never received the knowledge of the Judeo-Christian religion?
Jesus made us understand that the Father can understand us, and that his word can be communicated in any language. Currently, this has been fundamental in biblical teaching, and allows us to be in tune with other people, who together and thanks to current digital books and texts can have a much broader idea about our knowledge of the word of God.
It is very exciting to read the sacred texts and realize that we can be part of a whole and that there is also a creative being who loves us and understands us whenever we speak to him, whether in prayer, singing, fasting, in the vigil or in the temple. In this way Jesus made us understand and accept that more than words, actions also play an important role when communicating with God and through his actions he showed us this.
In this way, spirituality has always been part of us since the time of Jesus. So it is wonderful to know that it is something that we share with him, even though he lived a long time ago, his message was very clear to the people and peoples of his time, as well as to us in our times.
Let us remember that to communicate we can use many tools such as: (texts, audios, drawings, gestures), and even our beliefs play a key role in the daily actions that we carry out both with our family, friends and even unknown people. And that is why, in order to understand what language Jesus spoke, it is necessary to learn his history well, his beginnings, his life as a young man from Palestine, as a student, as a curious person, in addition to his legacy, his message, his journey around the world and its influence on religions.
If you have found this extensive but very informative article interesting and you want to have a much more summarized vision of Jesus and his message, I invite you to watch the following video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cB_GZ6YefeI