Bible commentators and academics are in the habit of describing the native language spoken by Jesus and His contemporaries as Aramaic or Syro-Chaldaic.  Those who wish to show their academic credentials will do the same.  This is servile copying of academia.

The New Testament repeatedly calls it Hebrew Lk 23:38, Jn 5:2, Jn 19:13,17,20, Act 21:40, Act 22:2, Act 26:14, Rev 9:11 and Rev 16:16.  So why do biblical scholars and preachers not do the same?

Synonyms are words that describe almost the same thing. Some English synonyms use words derived from French or Latin or Greek, but they mean the same thing. After the Norman victory over the English at the Battle of Hastings in 1066AD, French words appeared in Britain alongside the Anglo-Saxon words, French ‘mutton’ being the new French settlers’ word for ‘lamb’. Similarly, the Romans used Latin names for the same gods and goddesses for which the Greeks used Greek names. The Greek god Zeus was called Jupiter by the Romans. There are various words for the same thing in different cultures. Some biblical critics, in their attempt to discredit the biblical Gospels, draw attention to the different terms used for the Sea of Galilee and its surrounding cities in Roman writings, as if Roman authors have more authority than local usage, overlooking the simple fact that different people use different terms for the same thing. The Roman ‘academics’ called it by one term and the locals by another. Who should we follow? Roman academia or biblical usage?

Thus there is no need for biblical terminology to succumb to academic terminology, and biblical exegesis will be more accurate by using biblical terminology.

Jesus said: “You are deceived, not knowing the scriptures.”

Matthew 22:29

Scripture is quite clear that Jesus and the Jews in His time spoke Hebrew, although academics copy each other and call it Aramaic.

Aramaic was the language used in the vast Assyrian empire which lasted for about two millennia. Abraham probably spoke it in Ur of the Chaldees and when he moved to the land of Canaan he was known there as Abraham the Hebrew Gen 14:13, as were his descendants Gen 39:14,17, not because of the language he spoke, but this term was derived from his being an immigrant from the land of his nativity. However, Scripture repeatedy draws attention to the Aramaean ancestry of the Hebrews Deu 26:5, Hos 12:12. After more than 400 years in Egypt, the language of the Hebrews changed sufficiently from Aramaic that by the time they returned to the land of Canaan after their Exodus from Egypt, it became known as the Jews’ language 2K 18:26 and by the time of Christ it was called Hebrew Lk 23:38 and Jn 5:2. The similarities and differences between Hebrew and Aramaic are illustrated by their conjoint use in the biblical books of Daniel and Ezra. Thus the Hebrew language is, in effect, an Aramaic dialect developed among the Hebrews in the land of Israel, just as Yiddish is a Hebrew dialect developed among European Jews outside the land of Israel in more recent centuries. In biblical times, Hebrew traders and the Jewish nobility seem to have retained or re-learned Aramaic in order to communicate with the Assyrians 2K 18:26 in foreign lands, and it is found in various places in the Old Testament, in king Solomon’s time and in the prophecy of Jeremiah, but the Hebrews used it more extensively during their captivity in Babylon and it is used particularly in those biblical books relating to the Jews in the Babylonian exile, such as the book of Daniel and the book of Ezra, when the translation of the Hebrew Bible into Aramaic (the Targum) began for those unable to read Hebrew.

In Jesus’ time, three languages were in common use in the land of Israel, illustrated by the superscription Pontius Pilate put above the Cross on which Jesus was crucified. He wrote “This is the King of the Jews” Lk 23:38 in three languages: 1. the local language Hebrew, 2. the language of commerce, Greek and 3. the official Roman language, Latin Jn 19:20. It was not Aramaic, although the New International Version, the English Standard Version and several other English versions wrongly translate the Greek word Hebraisti as Aramaic. It was Hebrew, not Aramaic. Similarly, the King James translates the Hebrew word ̕Aramiyth ‘Aramaic’ wrongly as ‘the Syrian tongue’ in Ezr 4:7. The English reader is left confused if translations are not accurate.

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