Did Jesus Speak Hebrew?

There seems to be some debate as to whether Jesus spoke Hebrew or Aramaic. On the contrary to what some may say, No he did not speak in King James English! But we MUST consider the Culture of the Time to consider this argument. Israel was a country under military rule by Rome, it had for about 100 years before, been under Greek rule, and had only shortly before being overrun by the Roman Army, had a short period of self rule. Most of the Roman Army spoke either Latin, or Greek, and there were many Greek speaking gentiles around. So we can assume that Jesus at least had a working knowledge of both languages. Hebrew was considered Lashon Ha-Kodesh the ‘Sacred Language of the Jewish People’ and the language of the Torah was written in; and the Words of the Torah sacrosanct. Hebrew was therefore regularly studied and preserved in the words of the Torah and various commentaries. Living close to the Sea of Galilee, he would have surely known Aramaic, which was the language of the neighboring country Assyria. Here again, we can assume that Jesus surely had a knowledge of the Aramaic language.

So, did He or did He not speak Hebrew? Let’s look at the scriptural evidence. Jesus was born into a modest income family; dad had a carpentry business. Though not rich, Joseph and Mary strove to be observant Jews. On the eighth day after His birth, Joseph took Jesus to the synagogue for circumcision, as was according to the Law (Gen 17:10-12). After Mary’s’ time of purification was complete (1 month) (Leviticus 12:3-5) Mary and Joseph took Jesus to Jerusalem to present and consecrate Him to the Lord at the Temple for the sacrifices “in keeping with the Law” (Exodus 13:1-3) (Luke 2:24). Now the trip from Nazareth to Jerusalem was somewhat arduous at that time; it was just at 100 miles. Now-a-days it would take some of us around 1 ½ hours to drive (some a little less), but at Jesus time, it would take at least 5 days to walk. Plus the time spent in the Temple and Jerusalem, and the trip back home, we can deduce that Joseph would have been away from his business close to a month. For a businessman this would be of considerable determination, but for an observant Jew; necessary.

Without a doubt, Jesus would have had good Jewish education as a boy, as his parents were devoutly observant Jews (Luke 2:39-42). He would have learned to read the Hebrew texts of the Bible and was adept at reasoning with the Torah sages of his day. Luke further records that “every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover” (Luke 2:41). This would mark this family as strongly observant Jews. So, here we could comfortably say that they were at least passing adept with the Hebrew language. Also we observe the report of when Jesus was 12 years old, He stayed behind “in the Temple Courts, sitting among the teachers, listening and asking questions, (Luke 2:41-48). Here the conversation surely would have been only in Hebrew. As He was ‘listening and asking questions’ and the teachers would be only speaking in Hebrew. Luke later records that 16He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. 17The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
18"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
19to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." (Luke 4: 16-19) Jesus HAD to be fluent not only in speaking, but also in reading the language. From this examination of the scriptures and the culture of the time, Yes Jesus spoke Hebrew.

Do we have scriptural evidence that He spoke other languages? Matthew records that Jesus spoke with the Roman centurion (Matthew 8: 15-13) and was so impressed with the centurions faith, the He healed his servant. Later, the Disciple John records that Jesus spoke with Pontius Pilate (John 18:28-38) before he sentenced Jesus to crucifixion. Since it is unlikely that either of these Gentiles understood Aramaic or Hebrew, they most likely spoke in Greek or Latin.

So, from the examination of the culture of the time, and scriptural record, we can see that Jesus was a multicultural, multilingual Jew of His time. Not all that unusual, looking at the culture of the time. Jesus was a successful carpenter (Matt. 6:3) of the area (probably started out working with his father, then took over the family business). As a businessman he would have had to communicate with his customers. Remember, chaverim, Jesus lived among his family, friends, community as just a human for 33 years before he began His ministry. Makes me wonder, what was it that signaled Him to begin? Another thought, for another blog.



Barukh Moshi’einu – Blessed is our Savior