Three?!
I usually get a look of astonishment from people when I ask them to name the three languages the Bible was written in. Although many can recall Hebrew and Greek, few seem to have a clue about the third language. What else could be expected?
Most mainstream sources never get tired of repeating ad nauseam that Hebrew and Greek are God’s languages of choice. Although they aren’t wrong, they don’t tell the complete truth either.
Nearly all of the Old Testament is written in Hebrew and the language of the New Testament is Koine, a form of Greek that was widely understood in the Mediterranean 2,000 years ago.
However, neither of these two languages was Jesus’ mother tongue. He spoke in a third language which was used in the writing of some books of the Hebrew Bible.
The language we’re talking about is Aramaic.
Long ago, when Hebrew was a regional language spoken by only a few people around Jerusalem and Greek hadn’t come to dominate the Mediterranean world, Aramaic reigned supreme. It was the region’s lingua franca from 600 B.C. until 200 A.D. It was the language most people around Jesus spoke in. And it was the language in which the Book of Daniel in the Old Testament was authored.
So the diligent study of these three languages is an essential part of the curriculum for anyone who wants to study the Bible in its entirely. Thankfully, it isn’t as difficult as it sounds.
Hebrew and Aramaic are sister languages. They are like Spanish and Italian or English and Afrikaans. If you know one, learning the other becomes easier.
Consider this verse from the Afrikaans Bible: “In die begin het God die hemel en die aarde geskep.” (Genesis 1.1)
Even someone who has never heard of Afrikaans will immediately recognize “in,” “begin” and “God.” Those with a linguistic bent may discern “die” (the), “het” (has) and “en” (and). That leaves us only three unknown words in the 11-word sentence, namely “himmel” (heavens), “aarde” (the earth) and “geskep” (created).
Impressive!
If you can understand 72 percent of a text without any prior study, imagine what you’ll be able to achieve with some effort. You can learn Afrikaans and figure out the verse’s meaning rather easily.
The relationship between Hebrew and Aramaic is similar. It’s one reason many books on the Bible encourage readers to first master Hebrew and Greek, and only later recommend a study of Aramaic.
My own work, Stop Reading, Start Studying: Inductive Bible Study Method Explained, is part of this long tradition. In my book, you’ll find notes on Hebrew and Greek word study which will form a solid foundation for the diligent study of the Biblical languages.
Interested? You can have the book and start studying right now. The book is available as a paperback, an ebook on your Kindle and an audiobook from Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B018WGXK4Q
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