Editing Language of Jesus (section)

{{More citations needed|date=August 2019}}
{{Short description|Language(s) spoken by Jesus of Nazareth}}
{{Jesus}}
There exists a consensus among scholars that [[Jesus|Jesus of Nazareth]] spoke the [[Aramaic|Aramaic language]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Aramaic-language|title=Aramaic language {{!}} Description, History, & Facts|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|access-date=2019-11-06|quote=Jesus and the Apostles are believed to have spoken Aramaic.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://zondervanacademic.com/blog/what-language-did-jesus-speak|title=What Language Did Jesus Speak?|website=Zondervan Academic|language=en|access-date=2019-11-06|quote=There is wide consensus among scholars that Aramaic was the primary language spoken by the Jews of first century Palestine.}}</ref> Aramaic was the common language of [[Judaea (Roman province)|Roman Judaea]], and was thus also spoken by [[Jesus' disciples]].  The villages of [[Nazareth]] and [[Capernaum]] in [[Galilee]], where he spent most of his time, were populated by Aramaic-speaking communities.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Aramaic-language|title=Aramaic language &#124; Description, History, & Facts|website=Encyclopedia Britannica}}</ref> Jesus probably spoke the [[Galilean dialect]], distinguishable from that which was spoken in [[History of Jerusalem#Early Roman period|Roman-era Jerusalem]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |year=1987 |title=Aramaic |encyclopedia=The Eerdmans Bible Dictionary |publisher=William B. Eerdmans |location=Grand Rapids, MI |editor=Allen C. Myers |page=72 |isbn=0-8028-2402-1 |quote=It is generally agreed that Aramaic was the common language of Israel in the first century AD. Jesus and his disciples spoke the Galilean dialect, which was distinguished from that of Jerusalem (Matt. 26:73)}}</ref> Based on the symbolic renaming or nicknaming of some of his [[Apostles of Jesus|apostles]], it is also likely that Jesus or at least one of his apostles knew enough [[Koine Greek]] to converse with non-Judaeans. It is reasonable to assume that Jesus was well versed in [[Biblical Hebrew|Hebrew]] for religious purposes, as it is the liturgical language of [[Second Temple Judaism|Judaism]].<ref name="Barr-1970" >{{Cite journal | last=Barr | first=James | author-link=James Barr (biblical scholar) | title=Which language did Jesus speak? – some remarks of a Semitist | journal=Bulletin of the John Rylands University Library of Manchester | url=https://www.escholar.manchester.ac.uk/uk-ac-man-scw:1m2973 | year=1970 | volume=53 | number=1 | pages=9–29 | doi=10.7227/BJRL.53.1.2 | url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name="Porter-1997" >{{Cite book | last=Porter | first=Stanley E. | author-link=Stanley E. Porter | title=Handbook to exegesis of the New Testament | publisher=Brill | year=1997 | isbn=90-04-09921-2 | pages=110–112 }}</ref><ref name="Hoffman-1986">{{Cite book | last=Hoffmann | first=R. Joseph | title=Jesus in history and myth | publisher=Prometheus Books | year=1986 | isbn=0-87975-332-3 | page=98 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |first=G. Scott |last=Gleaves |date=October 2015 |title=Did Jesus Speak Greek? |url=https://www.asor.org/anetoday/2015/10/did-jesus-speak-greek/ |journal=[[American Society of Overseas Research]] |volume=3 |issue=10}}</ref>