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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Christ Sometimes Taught in Greek | Mark 12:30 | DocTrinsograce | 126328 | ||
There is a difference, Ed, between proof and evidence. Proof is conclusive. This is only pointing to the possibility. It is unlikely, however, that John Mark would have put words into Jesus mouth. He wrote based on Peter's eye-witness account (and we know that Peter frequently spoke and wrote in Greek). The Gospels are explicit when Christ spoke Aramaic and even Hebrew. (See Mark 5:41, 15:22, for the Aramaic and Mark 15:34 for the Hebrew example.) Since Hebrew had primarily become a language of the temple and synogogues. Aramaic was what conversational Hebrew had evolved into. Hebrew was learned by every young Jewish boy. It was read as well. Thus, we know that Christ read and spoke Hebrew from the verse mentioned above as well as Luke 4:17-20. Greek was the terra lingua of the day. The diaspora made it necessary for Jews to use it. Because of Helenism even the Romans used Greek in dealing with their subjugated peoples. |
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2 | Christ Sometimes Taught in Greek | Mark 12:30 | EdB | 126331 | ||
DocTrinsograce Most Jewish boys were not taught Hebrew. Hebrew by this time was a like Latin in the Catholic church used for ceremony but most didn't understand it. What we call the Hebrew script is actually Aramaic, as an example of how blended the two had become. While a lot of the Talmud is written in Hebrew much of it is Aramaic. Greek was common but not popular in the area. Jews always related this to this occupation. Remember the Centurion was amazed that Paul could speak Greek in Acts 21 it then said Paul poke to the crowd in the Hebrew language which is not to say Hebrew but the language the Hebrews talked Aramaic. Jesus probably never spoke Hebrew but rather Aramaic exclusively although He may have used Greek but we have no proof or any real indication of that. EdB |
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3 | Christ Sometimes Taught in Greek | Mark 12:30 | DocTrinsograce | 126365 | ||
Although the bar mitzvah was formalized less than a thousand years ago, its roots (along with the 613 mitzvot) have their roots in the Mishna, the oral tradition of the 70 elders of Moses. At the time of Christ the Mishna was not written, but was passed as an oral tradition. You can verify this from various Jewish sites on the web. A prejudice that finds its roots in the last couple of hundred years assumed that literacy was uncommon among the ancients. The fact of the matter is that many ancient civilizations prized literacy. Even as far back as ancient Sumer, literacy rates probably exceeded that of our own culture today. In fact, some estimates of Greek literacy 2,500 years ago were as high as 90 percent. Although the educational emphasis for Hebrew boys in ancient Palestine differed from the Pharisee to the Sadducee, both groups were almost universally literate. (You can find discussion of this by Josephus in his "Contra Apion.") Vast amounts -- especially by today's standards -- of memorization was common in ancient times. Even here in the American Colonies the average six-year-old child had the Westminster Shorter Catechism (over 170 questions) memorized. There is a variety of indirect evidence that Jesus' family had roots more influenced by the Pharisee than the Saducee. For example, Mary's Magnificat clearly demonstrates her intimate knowledge of scripture. Joseph and Mary's careful compliance with the Mosaic Law in terms of sacrifices, etc. The honor of reading of Torah in the synagogue is a tradition that stretches back well before the time of Christ. It is no surprise, then, that we see Jesus being passed the book of Isaiah in Luke chapter 4. This book was written in Hebrew. Without any hesitation, Christ reads a specific passage for the book. No one is surprised that a son of a carpenter can read. As was pointed out, Christ could read Hebrew and speak both Hebrew and Aramaic. For the purposes of doing business throughout Palestine, a grasp of Greek would have been quite useful. I doubt very much Latin was spoken except by the Roman officials and in their correspondence with Rome, etc. In fact, we find all kinds of papyri with grocery lists, family mail, and contracts written in Greek all up and down the middle East, even as far South as Egypt. (Please see, for example, William Barclay's commentary on the epistle of Romans for an extensive discussion of common ancient correspondence.) At the time of Christ, Jewish communities existed all over the known world, in every direction of the compass. At the time of the feasts, Jews would converge on Jerusalem. The number of Jews coming to the feast would number in the millions. Aramaic was spoken predominantly in Palestine. The dispersed Jews did not speak it. The only language that was truly everywhere -- thanks to Hellenism -- was Greek. It was during Passover that Christ was crucified. The fact that many of His hearers thought he was calling to Elijah was because of their ignorance of spoken Hebrew with the local accent. Although I am sure that Christ frequently spoke Aramaic, it is equally evident that He could speak Hebrew. It is not beyond the realm of credulity to envision Him also speaking Greek. There is no proof of this, as EdB reminds us, but there are hints to that effect. While I am pontificating (I wonder if anyone ever really reads this stuff?) I might as well add that I find it odd that people assume that primitive technology automatically assumes ignorance or -- perhaps worse -- a primitive mind set. If Moses or Paul or even Peter were alive today, I could well imagine them reasoning circles around today's intellectually elite. The preponderance of evidence paints a different ancient world than what you are describing. (Or, for that matter, than what was portrayed in "The Passion.") |
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4 | Christ Sometimes Taught in Greek | Mark 12:30 | Emmaus | 126369 | ||
Doc, "While I am pontificating (I wonder if anyone ever really reads this stuff?) I might as well add that I find it odd that people assume that primitive technology automatically assumes ignorance or -- perhaps worse -- a primitive mind set. If Moses or Paul or even Peter were alive today, I could well imagine them reasoning circles around today's intellectually elite." Amen! I don't know who has time to read everything posted here, but some of us read a lot and we develop a sense for what to skip over. I wonder how many lurkers there are who just like to read and prefer not to do any input. Emmaus |
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