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According to Mark 15:34 (ESV):
And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Jesus spoke Aramaic in his final moments. Was this his usual language? If so, why are the rest of his words quoted in Greek?
Jon gives a good answer as to why Jesus would have been able to speak Greek, Aramaic, and Hebrew. He also asked for more information regarding the existence of Hebrew in the Land at the time of Jesus. Mishnaic Hebrew was very well known in the first century and was distinguished from Aramaic in such works as the Letter of Aristeas and Josephus. See below for more details.
Based on old research, some claim that Hebrew was not a living language in use among the common people of the Land. Instead, they claim it was a scholarly or liturgical language. However, more and more evidence is coming to light that this is not so.
New Testament scholars have for years translated the Greek Ebraios into "Aramaic" when it appears in the NT instead of "Hebrew." They do this because the prevailing theory for many years was that Hebrew was only used by religious people and scholars. However, the weight of evidence says otherwise.
From the return from Exile onward, there was a concerted effort to restore Hebrew as the national language. It had been lost among most of the people during the Exile. Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi are all written exclusively in Hebrew (Ezra has a few Aramaic sections, but these are correspondence with a foreign King). Daniel's middle section is in flawless, Imperial Aramaic (from 2:4a to the end of ch 7), but the rest of the book is in Biblical Hebrew (and it's good Hebrew). Those middle sections needed to be in Aramaic to reflect the original language of the decrees and events.
During the Hasmonean/Maccabean Revolt, even more emphasis was placed on Hebrew. Coins from this period (and other bilingual periods) are Greek/Hebrew and not Greek/Aramaic (with one exception in the middle of the period). Literature from the period and place is almost never Greek or Aramaic but Hebrew.
That literature includes: 1 Maccabees (originally in Hebrew), the Dead Sea Scrolls (almost exclusively Hebrew), all of the Palestinian apocrypha and pseudepigrapha, all Palestinian rabbinic literature (the Mishnah, the Tosefta, the Jerusalem Talmud, all the Midrash). The Midrash can be compared to sermon illustrations that would be used in a preaching environment. Note that they were to be told to the common people and were in Hebrew.
The only collections of rabbinic literature in Aramaic is the Babylonian Talmud. This should not be surprising because it was compiled in Babylon where Aramaic was spoken. However, even the Babylonian Talmud preserves its Mishnah portion in Hebrew. The commentary on the Mishnah (called Gemerah) is in Aramaic, but the Mishanh remains in Hebrew. In addition, whenever a later, Palestinian rabbi is quoted in the Gemerah, the quote will be in Hebrew while the discussion of the quote is in Aramaic. Parables are also preserved in the Babylonian Gemerah in Hebrew. Parables were intended to be taught to the common people. They were far from academic exercises. Even though thousands of parables have been found in Hebrew (or Greek as recorded in the New Testament), not one parable in the Talmud or anywhere else has been found in Aramaic.
The Targumim (Aramaic paraphrases of the Hebrew Bible) date to the second and third centuries after Christ and came about because of an Aramaic-speaking Jewish immigration from Babylon to Israel.
The early rabbis forbade the teaching of Greek to one's sons and insisted that only Hebrew be used for religious instruction. The forbidden nature of Greek applied only to religious matters as commerce with the west required Greek.
The New Testament includes Hebrew idioms that do not exist in Aramaic and makes wordplays that only work when a Hebrew source is considered. A good example of this is the "son from stones" word play Jesus makes in Matthew 3:9. It also never uses the word Suristi to describe the language used. It only uses Ebraios.
Even though modern scholarship is admitting that Hebrew existed in the academies and temple, the rabbinic literature says that even children and women (who were not allowed to obtain formal, rabbinic instruction) spoke Hebrew.
A very important piece of evidence here is the Letter of Aristeas 11, "The Jews are supposed to use Syrian [Aramaic] language, but this is not so, for it is another form [of language]." The author of the letter clearly states that the Jews do not use Aramaic. While some claim that he is speaking of the script used, this cannot be. Mishnaic Hebrew shared a script with Aramaic. Both languages used the Aramaic Square Script for writing. Paleo Hebrew writing had fallen into disuse during and after the Exile.
The Bar Cochva Letters proved conclusively that Hebrew was still a living language and was used as the primary means of communication among Jews in Israel a century after Jesus. Scholars do not divide the letters into Early and Late. They all came from the same period. There were 26 letters uncovered: 2 are in Greek, 8 are in Aramaic, 3 could be either Aramaic or Hebrew (the text is too short too conclude), and 13 are unambiguously Hebrew. These letters are not all religious (some discuss items needed for religious observance) but are of military conquests and other non-religious matters.
Wisdom is passed on to the common people in Hebrew. Shmuel Safrai writes:
The parable was one of the most common tools of rabbinic instruction from the second century B.C.E. until the close of the amoraic period at the end of the fifth century C.E. Thousands of parables have been preserved in complete or fragmentary form, and are found in all types of literary compositions of the rabbinic period, both halachic and aggadic, early and late. All of the parables are in Hebrew. Amoraic literature often contains stories in Aramaic, and a parable may be woven into the story; however the parable itself is always in Hebrew (b. Baba Qam. 60b; or b. Sotah 40a). There are instances of popular sayings in Aramaic, but every single parable is in Hebrew.
“Spoken and Literary Languages in the Time of Jesus,” in Jesus’ Last Week: Jerusalem Studies in the Synoptic Gospels, Vol. 1 [ed. R. S. Notley, M. Turnage and B. Becker; Leiden: E. J. Brill, 2005], 238; see also Randall Buth and Brian Kvasnica, “Temple Authorities and Tithe Evasion: The Linguistic Background and Impact of the Parable of the Vineyard, the Tenants and the Son,” in Jesus’ Last Week, 58, n. 17. Emphasis added.
Epigraphical material from the Second Temple Period is more often in Hebrew than Aramaic. A recent sarcophagus contained these words: ben hacohen hagadol, that is, "son of the high priest." While some may say that this shows it was a religious language (being on a priest's son's tomb), it should be noted that this was on a tomb and meant for the common person to know who was interred within.
Josephus (War 5:269-272) points out that Jewish soldiers used a play on words that only makes sense in Hebrew. In 272, whenever a stone was on its way (being thrown from ballistea), the watchmen would shout "in their native language, 'The Son Cometh!'" While translators are confused by the Greek text, the answer makes sense in Hebrew. The translator even admits how the words could be confused in Hebrew but not Aramaic. The watchmen would have shouted, in Hebrew, Ha-even ba’ah ("the stone is coming!"). However, because of urgency, the words would be clipped to ben ba ("son comes!"). They reduced the syllables due to time constraints. This pun is known in Hebrew and even appears in the NT (Matthew 3:9 and Luke 3:8) "God is able from these avanim [stones] to raise up banim [sons] to Abraham."
This wordplay is unambiguously Hebrew. In Aramaic, the phrase would be kefa ate ("the stone is coming") or the more literary avna ata. Neither sounds like bara ate ("the son is coming"). Another option for Aramaic would be to use the word aven, which is related to the Hebrew. However, aven would change the gender of the verb and still not work to make a pun on "son," bar/a.
Obviously, a warning of dire straits needs to be quick and in the common language. (American soldiers would yell, "INCOMING!" to warn of mortar fire.) That the pun works in Hebrew but not Aramaic means the soldiers (who were not scholars or priests) spoke in Hebrew.
Josephus also refers to words that exist in Hebrew but not Aramaic as Ebraion. For example, in * Antiquities of the Jews* I 33, he states:
For which reason we also pass this day in repose from toil and call it the Sabbata, a word which in the Hebrew language means "rest."
The verb SHBT does not exist in Aramaic. Aramaic translations, such as the targums, use NCH.
Likewise, in Antiquities I 34
Now this man was called Adam which in the Hebrew tongue signifies "red."
Josephus derives adam from adom (red). In Aramaic "red" is expressed by sumka, there is no root ADM in Aramaic.
Coins from the period are in Hebrew. They did not have Aramaic writing on them with one exception. As money requires a common language of the people, Hebrew must have been known.
During the Hasmonean period, Alexander Jannai (78 BC) minted one set of coins that had Aramaic on them (oddly enough, in the Paleo Hebrew script). However, at other times (before and after) he minted coins in Hebrew.
The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan were once thought to reflect the language used in the time of Jesus. However, we now know these targums are centuries later than Jesus.
Both Aramaic and Hebrew were in use in the Land at the time of Jesus. However, while we cannot say one predominated, we can say that Mishnaic Hebrew was very much a living language used by people of all walks of life in Judea and Galilee.
David Biven, Hebrew as a Spoken Language in First-century Israel, posted November 18, 2008.
_______, Roy Blizzard, Jr., Understanding the Difficult Words of Jesus: New Insight from a Hebraic Perspective (Revised Edition), Destiny Image Publishers: Shippensburg, PA.
Waverly Nunnally, Hebrew as the Primary Language of Jesus, an email exchange.
________. Peshitta Primacy, an email exchange.
Baltes, Guido. "Hebrew or Aramaic? Some Evidence from Inscriptions," Jerusalem Perspective Online, November 28, 2008.
Palestine at the time of Jesus was something of a crossroads for culture and language. It's entirely possible a young man growing up in the region would have been exposed to at least four different languages: Greek, Aramaic, Latin, and Hebrew.
Far and away the most common language that Jesus is quoted in is Greek. But that seems largely due to the New Testament being written to a predominately Greek-speaking audience.1 In Mark especially, we see quotations that include Aramaic words and phrases:
Mark 5:41 (ESV)
Taking her by the hand he said to her, “Talitha cumi,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.”
Mark 7:10-13 (ESV)
For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban ”’ (that is, given to God)—then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.”
Mark 7:34 (ESV)
And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.”
Mark 14:36 (ESV)
And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”
Mark 15:34 (ESV)
And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Some of these words are common between Aramaic and Hebrew (Corban for instance), but some were specifically Aramaic to the exclusion of Hebrew. Therefore, it's possible to argue that Jesus spoke Aramaic and Hebrew or just Aramaic. But it's not possible to argue that he spoke only Hebrew.
The argument for Jesus speaking Hebrew hinges on how much the language was still in use in and around Jerusalem. In the Galilean region, where Jesus was raised, Aramaic seemed to be the common language of the day. But we see Jesus interacting with a variety of religious leaders in Jerusalem and it's likely they would have used Hebrew to quote and discuss the Hebrew Tanakh. It's possible on the other hand that they would have used Aramaic. One clue is the crowd's response to Jesus' final words in Mark 15:35 (ESV)
And some of the bystanders hearing it said, “Behold, he is calling Elijah.”
Apparently, some people misheard "Eloi" and thought Jesus was calling to Elijah. (The difference is between "elāhî" or "êlî", and "Ēlīyā" or "Ēlīyāhū" according to Wikipedia.) If the hearers were expecting Jesus to speak Hebrew when he fell back into Aramaic, that might explain their confusion. Assuming that's the proper reading of this passage (and its parallel in Matthew 27:46), it strongly indicates Jesus also spoke Hebrew at times. (But not at this particular moment.)
References to Jesus reading and teaching in synagogue (Mark 1:21-22 for instance), suggest he was trained in Hebrew though we need to know more about 1st Century Jewish practice to know for sure. There existed translations of the Tanakh in both Aramaic (Targum) and Greek (Septuagint).
Evidence for Jesus speaking Greek seems limited and is clouded by the fact that he is quoted in Greek documents. Since Greek would have been the bridge language between Jews and Romans, Jesus' interactions with Roman officials (the centurion in Matthew 8 and Pilate in Mark 15 and parallels) suggests Jesus spoke some Greek. However, these conversations could easily have been through interpreters.2 A more compelling case could be made for Jesus needing to speak Greek in order to navigate the commercial realm, which would probably be primarily conducted in Greek. In any case, the level of Greek required would be fairly low.3
On the other hand, Koine (literally "common") Greek was the linga franca of the Mediterranean following the conquests of Alexander. The precise extent of Hellenization isn't clear, but we do see evidence of it in the Gospels. Jesus spent some time in the Decapolis, where Greek had displaced Aramaic. We can speculate that as a young man, Jesus might have had business in the nearby city of Sepphoris where he would have had contact with many Greek speakers. His family probably worked as carpenters for the well-to-do Jews building fairly upscale homes. He certainly had opportunities to become conversant in Greek, but we don't know if he took them.
While Latin was certainly spoken by Roman soldiers and other officials, the odds that Jesus would have needed, or even been able to acquire, a working knowledge of the language seems very low. Anyone living in the region who knew only Latin would likely need to pick up Greek in short order to get by.
Jesus certainly spoke Aramaic as a native tongue, probably Hebrew in religious settings, certainly a bit of Greek (perhaps fluently), and almost certainly no Latin. In this particular case, Mark quoted Jesus directly because of the confusion his words created in the crowd. In general, Aramaic is used only when Jesus' original words can't easily be translated into Greek.
Footnotes:
1 I'm reminded of the joke I've heard about why we should use the King James Version: "If it was good enough for Jesus, it's good enough for me."
2 The same argument is not as easily made about interactions with Hebrew speakers as many of Jesus' conflicts with religious leaders turned on careful reading of the Scriptures. The conversations with Romans did not require very fine linguistic distinctions.
3 Consider the difference in language mastery required to order food in a French restaurant versus debating Rousseau.
What Language did Jesus commonly speak?
... Summaries from expert historical authorities :
It is more than plausible that multiple languages were spoken colloquially, in Israel, during Jesus' lifetime : Aramaic, Greek, and Mishnaic Hebrew (at the very least by religious scholars).
However - outside of Jerusalem - there is far more evidence that Aramaic was used Colloquially - especially in Galilee, (See the Galilean Dialect of Aramaic, Wikipedia). Jesus, whose father was a carpenter, and who had even lived in Egypt, was likely able - and most probably - spoke in the dialects of the people he spoke to.
However - By the time of the Bar Kokhba revolt (132-135 AD) - Mishnaic Hebrew had to be revived in Israel - presumably because Greek and Aramaic had been embraced :
But Yadin mentions that it was Bar Kokhba who revived Hebrew language and made Hebrew the official language of the state during Bar Kokhba revolt (132-135 AD). Yigael Yadin also noticed the shift from Aramaic to Hebrew during the time of Bar Kokhba revolt, (Wikipedia, Mishnaic Hebrew, Historical Occurrences).
The Academy of the Hebrew Language (link expired), Mishnaic Hebrew - There are two layers of Mishnaic Hebrew. MH1 is the older linguistic stratum of the Mishna, Tosefta [~2 CE], and the Baraytot in the Talmudim; MH1 was the spoken language of the Tannaim [10-220 CE]. MH2, on the other hand, no longer was spoken naturally, but was used as the language of literary and religious discourse by the Amoraim [200-500 CE] in the Talmudim.
The only plausible form of Hebrew spoken "Colloquially" during the time of Jesus - is actually "Tannaitic Mishnaic Hebrew" rather than "Amoraim Mishnaic Hebrew".
Regardless, Mishnaic Hebrew IS NOT Biblical Hebrew, but incorporates significant "semantic or morphological changes, and foreign words from Akkadian, Persian, Greek, Latin and especially Aramaic, ([see Hebrew Academy][3])".
For all intents and purposes - Biblical Hebrew was a dead language and not spoken colloquially at the time of Jesus.
Jewish Encyclopedia, Hebrew Language, Biblical Hebrew - The correctness of the view that Aramaic was the international language of anterior Asia as early as the eighth century B.C. is not certain (comp. A. Ehrlich's commentary to II Kings xviii. 26), but there is no doubt that this was the fact after the Babylonian exile.
Gradually Aramaic gained predominance in the Persian empire, displacing local forms of speech, and Hebrew, like other languages, had to succumb to its influence and ceased to be spoken. As was to be expected from such close relationship between the two languages, one borrowed from the other during the entire period that Hebrew and later Aramaic were together alive in Palestine. Even the oldest Biblical writings, as the Book of Judges, the Elohistic document, and Isaiah, show Aramaisms ...
Regarding Mishnaic Hebrew :
Jewish Encyclopedia, Hebrew Language, Mishnaic Hebrew - But as time went on the circle of the Hebrew-speaking population narrowed down, in spite of that language having sole control of the school, the synagogue, and the literature, until Hebrew became exclusively the language of literature and prayer. In the house of the patriarch Judah I [135 CE-220 CE]. the maid servant still spoke Hebrew (Meg. 18a). The literary monuments of this last phase of living Hebrew have been preserved in tannaitic literature, the chief work of which is the Mishnah.
Of fifteen letters, most were written in Aramaic and Hebrew, and two in Greek, (Wikipedia, Bar Kokhba Letters); 2. When Sennacherib confronted Hezekiah - (715-686 BCE) - this was before the Deportations to Babylon, (597+ BCE) - and certainly, Judeans likely didn't know Aramaic at the time. 3.
We should not allow a few Aramaisms to cloud the case of the many Hebraisms that appear in the New Testament- In fact, it is the many, many, Aramaisms in Hebrew Scripture, that Israeli Historians rely on. See Jewish Encyclopedia, Biblical Hebrew : Even the oldest Biblical writings, as the Book of Judges, the Elohistic document, and Isaiah, show Aramaisms (, etc.). 4. Jewish Names : "Alongside the Aramaic names in the New Testament are many Hebrew names such as Judah (preserved as Jude and Judas), Jacob (preserved as James), Yehushua (preserved as Jesus)". But in fact - even modern languages preserve ancient names; And, Jesus' own name "Yeshua" appears to be a later Aramaicism of the older Hebrew, "Yehoshua", (See Christianity.SE "What is the origin of the name of Jesus?". 5. Oldest Israeli Coins in Aramaic - ... collection of 1,200 silver Persian coins, including 4th century BCE drachm with earliest mention of Judea ... Chief among the rare artifacts is a silver drachm, an ancient coin based upon the Greek drachma, which, in clearly legible Aramaic script, bears the word yehud, or Judea. (See Israel Museum obtains world’s ‘first Jewish coin’; 6. Liturgical use of Aramaic Translations : Targum Jonathan, 50 BCE. 7. Thousands of Aramaic Manuscripts, Representing Colloquial Syriac : See the Armenian Church Archives (link expired). There seems to be no repository for "colloquial Mishnaic Hebrew" - during that period. 8. Architectural use of Hebrew / Syriac : Any such arguments would be "moot/unknowable" - as it is a common practice - even today, to use Latin, Greek, etc, on modern buildings.
It is incontrovertible that multiple languages were spoken "colloquially" during Jesus' lifetime.
It is also incontrovertible that Biblical Hebrew became a "Dead Language", and that Mishnaic Hebrew was largely used by scholars, in Jerusalem, in liturgy and legal documentation; but - Aramaic had risen to dominate colloquial speech.
When did this transition occur? It did not happen all at once, but from a period of time starting with the deportations from Israel to Babylon, (~597 CE) - until Bar Kokhba's, and Judah I's attempts to revive Mishnaic Hebrew, (~132 CE to ~200 CE).
It is simple to understand why the Gospels were written in Greek. Most of the communities of early Christians were Greek-speaking; this was certainly true of most Gentiles taking on Christianity, but even many Jews were likely bilingual during this period. Gentile or Jewish Christian, Greek was the easiest way for one community to communicate to another, or for a movement to spread its message and win followers. Hebrew, Aramaic, or Latin was simply not understood on a wide level in the Eastern Mediterranean. In fact, outside of Palestine, only Greek cities in the East had Christian communities.
Source
The historical record is consistent on this point - the gospels were originally written in Greek. This database of early manuscript fragments shows just how consistent the record is. All our earliest fragments of NT texts are written in Greek.
This is primarily a result of the fact that the educated classes in Ancient Rome used the lingua franca of the Empire, which was Greek.
Although Latin remained the main written language of the Roman Empire, Greek came to be the language spoken by the well-educated elite, as most of the literature studied by Romans was written in Greek. In the eastern half of the Roman Empire, which became the Byzantine Empire; Greek was the main lingua franca as it had been since the time of Alexander the Great, while Latin was mostly used by the Roman administration and its soldiers. Eventually Greek would supplant Latin as both the official written and spoken language of the Eastern Roman Empire, while the various dialects of Vulgar Latin used in the Western Roman Empire evolved into the modern Romance languages still used today.
WikipediaDuring the time of the Hellenistic civilization and Roman Empire, the lingua francas were Koine Greek and Latin. During the Middle Ages, the lingua franca was Greek in the parts of Europe, Middle East and Northern Africa where the Byzantine Empire held hegemony, and Latin was primarily used in the rest of Europe.
Wikipedia
It was also related to the dismally low rates of literacy in the Roman Empire - the best estimates generally find that the average literacy rate was around 5-10% at best.
The most favorable estimate I have found claims that the literacy rate was a bit higher than the general consensus view, but still only 15% under the best possible circumstances:
"Literacy in the Roman Empire was confined to about 15% of the population, with a far lower rate in rural areas. Contrary to older assumptions about "the Jews" being a "people of the book", the literacy rate in Judea and Galilee was far less, perhaps less than 10% or 5%."
Handbook for the Study of the Historical JesusIt has been argued that literacy rates in the Greco-Roman world averaged perhaps not much above 10 percent in the Roman empire, though with wide regional variations, probably never rising above 5 percent in the western provinces, and that the literate in classical Greece did not much exceed 5 percent of the population.
Harris W.V. "Ancient literacy", 1989, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass."Literacy in the Roman empire, by very rough estimate, did not exceed 10 percent on average."
Wayne Meeks, The Moral World of the First Christians
In reality, a very loose definition of "literacy" was used to reach the more optimistic estimates. What we would consider true literacy was relegated to a tiny fraction of the population, and these people make up the 5% who were truly literate. The rest of the so-called "literate" people were not so lucky; they are only categorized as literate by virtue of the fact that they were able to write their own names. This does not meet the modern definition of literacy. Even among the bona fide literate minority, in most cases, the standards of proficiency in reading and writing would probably be far below our expectations. This is not to say that Ancient Rome was devoid of brilliant writers - that is obviously not the case; it is a broad assessment of the population as a whole.
The vast majority of people who spoke Aramaic as their first language were, as we have seen, illiterate peasants; the Handbook for the Study of the Historical Jesus suggests that the literacy rate in Galilee was even lower than in the rest of the Empire, "perhaps less than 10% or 5%". Even for the lucky 5% who knew Aramaic and were able to read and write, writing a book in their native language would be almost pointless - the vast majority of Aramaic speakers couldn't read the book anyway.
The people who needed the texts were literate and educated. They were most comfortable reading and writing in Greek. Texts were copied by the local scribe, who might not be as literate as one might hope. The only people who could even use the texts were the few upper class individuals who had some degree of education. These people were primarily Roman pagans, but there were also a few Hellenized Jews.
All of these people would have known how to read and write Greek. A much smaller number of people would know Latin, which was more common in the Western Empire, and was mainly reserved for official functions. A tiny number would have known Hebrew, and an even smaller number might know Aramaic.
The best way to spread an idea, therefore, would be to write your books in the language most frequently used by the literate classes. This means that you want to publish your books in Greek.
The linguistic analysis of the gospels suggests that Jesus' sayings were spoken in Aramaic, but recorded (significantly later) in Greek. For instance, the passage in John in which Jesus is speaking to Nicodemus displays clear indications that the conversation didn't happen, at least not in the way John describes it. By way of a play on words, Jesus tells Nicodemus that in order to enter the kingdom of God, he must be born from above/born again. This double entendre only makes sense in Greek, because the words for "born from above" and "born again" are the same in Greek: "ἄνωθεν" (anōthen). In Aramaic, however, the words have nothing in common. A few verses later, a similar situation unfolds, this time with a double entendre using the Greek word for both "spirit" and "wind" - "πνεῦμα" (pneuma). The fact that John is the only gospel which has Jesus using double entendres, the fact that John is the only gospel which has Jesus saying things that only make sense in Greek ( the Synoptics are usually language-neutral or provide hints of Aramaic roots), and all the other factors that make John so different from the Synoptics, it seems likely that John is telling a story that never really happened.
Contrast this with the passage in Matthew in which Jesus is debating the Pharisees about picking heads of wheat on the Sabbath. Jesus' argument is:
"The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath, therefore the son of man is lord of the sabbath." The word "therefore is a non sequitur in English and Greek - the fact that sabbath was made for man doesn't necessarily mean that the son of man is lord of the sabbath. But in Aramaic, it logically follows, because the terms for "man" and "son of man" are colloquially the same - i.e., "bar enash".
The cases in which Jesus speaks Aramaic are almost certainly a reflection of his native tongue; cases in which he speaks Greek are likely to be written this way for sheer convenience.
Jesus was smart. Jerusalem was international.
John 19:20
Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek.
Many locals spoke different languages. Jesus probably spoke multiple languages.
John 12:20 Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the festival. 21They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.” 22Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.
Most of the time, Jesus interacted with Jews. He spoke the common Aramaic.
In the end, the gospels were written in Greek whose authority cannot be denied.
2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.
Here are a few quotes I have found:-
Professor Wright says: “The language spoken by Jesus has been much debated. We have no certain way of knowing whether he could speak Greek or Latin, but in his teaching ministry he regularly used either Aramaic or the highly Aramaized popular Hebrew. When Paul addressed the mob in the Temple, it is said that he spoke Hebrew (Acts 21:40). Scholars generally have taken this to mean Aramaic, but it is quite possible that a popular Hebrew was then the common tongue among the Jews.”—Biblical Archaeology, 1962, p. 243.
Alan Millard in his book Discoveries From the Time of Jesus says: “In the course of their daily duties the Roman governors certainly spoke Greek, and Jesus may have answered Pilate’s questions at his trial in Greek.”
