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Jesus Likely Spoke Three Languages (Including Greek)
And why you’ve always been told otherwise
Most people know that Jesus Christ spoke Aramaic. Aramaic was the common language of the Jewish people during his lifetime, and it was the language spoken by the religious elite, with whom Jesus frequently sparred. However, many people erroneously believe that Jesus only spoke Aramaic and was not familiar with any other language. But nothing could be further from the truth. Scholars and historians recognize that Jesus understood Hebrew and Greek in addition to Aramaic. And the Biblical texts bear this out.
Jesus is often described as teaching in the temples and the synagogues of Palestine during his life. The scrolls from which he read from would have been kept in Hebrew. This means that Jesus could read Hebrew at a minimum but could also likely speak it. Jesus is described as standing up and reading the texts at various times. Even as a child, Jesus is found teaching in the temple with great wisdom and understanding. Jesus likely knew Hebrew from a young age and used his knowledge to teach and preach from the ancient scriptures.
Most people don’t have a problem with attributing knowledge of Hebrew to Jesus as it is closely related to his native Aramaic. People do, however, seem to have a problem with accepting the fact that Jesus…
