question

0
Votes

1
Answer

M$0.25

redfind | May 19, 2009 08:02 PM | in Society & Culture | via Twitter

Was all of the New Testament written in Greek?

Report

| Email to a friend | RSS

| Share

The asker of this question selected no best answer.

Did you ask this question via Twitter?
We create a Mahalo account for everyone who asks a question via Twitter. Claim your Mahalo account

answers (1)

0
Votes

morriss003 | May 19, 2009 08:09 PM | view on twitter

I think that would have been impossible since the gospels were written by men who were Jews and spoke Hebrew.

Tip morriss003 for this answer | Permalink | Report

Comment

philipy | May 23, 2009 10:11 PM

I'm afraid this is wrong. While Jews of the time spoke Aramaic, they also spoke a Greek dialect which was the shared language of the eastern Roman empire.

The New Testament was orginially written in Greek, much as modern Israelis might choose to write in English.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koine_Greek#Biblical_Koine
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aramaic

I have this book somewhere:

http://www.innvista.com/culture/religion/bible/versions/ont.htm

Tip philipy for this comment | Report

morriss003 | May 23, 2009 11:24 PM

There are arguments on both sides. To me it makes more sense that since there is not much evidence outside of the bible, concerning the apostles, that these men were not the most highly educated men, and they were not of the upper class.. My guess is that, just as in other eras, it was mostly the upper elite who spoke and wrote the language of their conquerors. So I suspect that they wrote and spoke the language that they were born with.
http://www.aramaicpes--tta.com/Pes--tta%20FAQs/pes--tta_manuscripts_older.htm

Tip morriss003 for this comment | Report

philipy | May 23, 2009 11:37 PM

I can't open the link.

In those days being able to read and write would have amounted to being highly educated. Anyway most scholars think the accounts were first written down maybe 70 years after the events.

Tip philipy for this comment | Report

morriss003 | May 23, 2009 11:51 PM

That is strange because I can't open it either, yet I have a different tab opened to the page. I don't know that I have ever seen that before.

Tip morriss003 for this comment | Report

Voted "No best answer": philipy,