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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Was NT Written in Greek or Hebrew? 1 | NT general Archive 1 | kalos | 130752 | ||
2 Was NT Written in Greek or Hebrew? Part Two: More REASONS and RESPONSES Following are the top reasons given to prove the NT was originally written in Greek. Each reason is then followed by a RESPONSE intended to disprove the argument and prove the NT was originally written in Hebrew. What I am asking for is that you tell whether you agree or disagree with the RESPONSEs and the reason(s) why you do or do not agree. Supporting factual evidence is what I seek. Thanks to all who reply. Grace to you, kalos ____________________ 'Many have asked why we should believe the Hebrew and Aramaic are the original NT languages rather than the Greek.' TOP 10 REASONS GIVEN BY GREEK PRIMACISTS FOR MAINTAINING A GREEK ORIGIN FOR THE NEW TESTAMENT (and the 10 reasons they are wrong on each account) ******* '2. The NT quotes the Greek LXX "Old Testament". 'RESPONSE: '1) Actually this is mainly a tendency of the Greek NT. The Hebrew and Aramaic mss. tend to find agreement with the Masoretic Text and the Peshitta Aramaic Tanak. 2) Agreements with the LXX do not prove the LXX is being quoted. Hebrew copies of Tanak books have been found among the Dead Sea Scrolls that agree with the LXX. Such agreements may be the result of these types of Hebrew manuscripts rather than any dependence on the Greek LXX. '3. Testimonials "Such-and-such scholar said so". 'RESPONSE: 'These do not prove anything. In fact once can also quote various scholars which have declared that parts or all of the NT were written in Hebrew or Aramaic. '4. Luke was a Greek who would have written in Greek. 'RESPONSE: 'Actually Luke was a Syrian of Antioch (Eusebius; Eccl. Hist. 3:4) so his native language would have been Syriac, an Aramaic dialect. '5. Luke and Acts were written to a Greek named "Theophilus". 'RESPONSE: 'Actually Theophilus was a Jew who had been High Priest from 37-41 CE (Josephus; Ant. 18:5:3). A Syrian convert to Judaism such as Luke would likely have written the High Priest in Aramaic. '6. Greek was the common language of Jews at the time. 'RESPONSE: 'The first century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus (37-c.100 C.E.) testifies to the fact that Hebrew was the language of first century Jews. Moreover, he testifies that Hebrew, and not Greek, was the language of his place and time. Josephus gives us the only first hand account of the destruction of the Temple in 70 C.E. According to Josephus, the Romans had to have him translate the call to the Jews to surrender into "their own language" (Wars 5:9:2). Josephus gives us a point-blank statement regarding the language of his people during his time: 'I have also taken a great deal of pains to obtain the learning of the Greeks, and understanding the elements of the Greek language although I have so long accustomed myself to speak our own language, that I cannot pronounce Greek with sufficient exactness: for our nation does not encourage those that learn the languages of many nations. (Ant. 20:11:2) 'Thus, Josephus makes it clear that first century Jews could not even speak or understand Greek, but spoke "their own language." 'Confirmation of Josephus's claims has been found by Archaeologists. The Bar Kokhba coins are one example. These coins were struck by Jews during the Bar Kokhba revolt (c. 132 C.E.). All of these coins bear only Hebrew inscriptions. Countless other inscriptions found at excavations of the Temple Mount, Masada and various Jewish tombs, have revealed first century Hebrew inscriptions Even more profound evidence that Hebrew was a living language during the first century may be found in ancient Documents from about that time, which have been discovered in Israel. These include the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the Bar Kokhba letters. The Dead Sea Scolls consist of over 40,000 fragments of more than 500 scrolls dating from 250 B.C.E . to 70 C.E.. Theses Scrolls are primarily in Hebrew and Aramaic. A large number of the "secular scrolls" (those which are not Bible manuscripts) are in Hebrew. The Bar Kokhba letters are letters beteween Simon Bar Kokhba and his army, written during the Jewish revolt of 132 C.E.. These letters were discovered by Yigdale Yadin in 1961 and are almost all written in Hebrew and Aramaic. Two of the letters are written in Greek, both were written by men with Greek names to Bar Kokhba. One of the two Greek letters actually apologizes for writing to Bar Kokhba in Greek, saying "the letter is written in Greek, as we have no one who knows Hebrew here." (...) 'But regarding Paul's letters to the diaporia, Aramaic is the issue. 'It is known that Aramaic remained a language of Jews living in the diasporia, and in fact Jewish Aramaic inscriptions have been found at Rome, Pompei and even England.' ____________________ (http://www.hebraicrootsversion.com) |
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2 | Was NT Written in Greek or Hebrew? 1 | NT general Archive 1 | Morant61 | 130771 | ||
Greetings Kalos! By no means am I an expert on this subject, but I will try to express my thoughts on these points. 2) This point is an example of 'begging the question'. We don't have any original 'Hebrew' New Testament documents, so who knows what they may have or would have quoted. :-) 3) This point could be applied to most of the other points in this article! :-) 4) Whatever Luke's native language may or may not have been, most of the known world was at least conversent in Greek. 5) There are several known 'Theophilus's' in history. It is another 'assumption' to connect the priest of Josephus with the Theophilus of Luke. 6) The extent to which Hebrew was known and used among the Jews is not really the issue. The New Testament was intended for a wider audience than the Jews, thus is was written in the one language that almost everyone could understand - the langue of the marketplace (Greek). Thus far, this article mostly argues from silence and speculation. I would certainly not by impressed by it's arguements. Your Brother in Christ, Tim Moran |
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