Acts

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NASB	Acts 26:14 "And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew dialect, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.'
AMPLIFIED 2015	Acts 26:14 "And when we all had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice in the Hebrew dialect (Jewish Aramaic) saying to me, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick [repeatedly] against the goads [offering pointless resistance].'

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Bible Question: I had someone ask me what the primary language was that Jesus spoke and I thought Hebrew, however upon some research via the web, I discovered that most believe it was aramaic, as that was the primary language spoke throughout that region at the time jesus was growing up. Anyone have anything to add to that? Also, how closely is aramaic to arabic? (besides it sounds similar)

Thanks!

Clayton

Bible Answer: Without trying to stir up needless debate, I believe strongly that Jesus spoke Hebrew, though it is an ongoing debate.

1) The earliest sources (referred to as secondary) say Hebrew.
2) Archeology is more and more leaning toward Hebrew for the common tongue.
3) The dead sea scrolls give more evidence for Hebrew than Aramaic.
4) It's the language of the Bible and the Jews were only gone 70 years in an Aramaic speaking land. But since the late second century they were gone for more than 1800 years and when the got their land back they went back to Hebrew as the common tongue. Why wouldn’t they have done so after only 70 years. Everything I know about the Jewish people of the first century tells me that they would cling to their native language and teach it to their children from birth. This argument is base solely on inferences.
5) Jesus would have spoken Aramaic because many Jews coming into the area for the festivals would be Aramaic and Greek speakers. It would be reasonable to assume Jesus knew Aramaic very well and Greek enough to get by.

These are my assumptions, but the majority of "scholars" still say Aramaic, though they are wrong :-)

MJH

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