JESUS, GOSPEL AND LANGUAGES

One of the most unique and interesting of the gospel is the fact that since the beginning, the preaching of Jesus had begun in the midst of the world truly multiethnical and multilingual, which is in the Galilee region in the first century AD. The prophet Isaiah once called the ministry of Jesus as: "... but in the future he will honor Galilee of the Gentiles, by the way of the sea, along the Jordan." (Isaiah 9:1, NIV). With a unique background is Christianity begins. Jesus himself, according to the experts are also able to speak in three languages: Hebrew, Aramaic and some Greek.

Hebrew and Aramaic has a close connection because it is a cognate language. There are a lot of the same word in both languages, as well as grammar, and syntax.

If seen from the history of the Bible, at the time of Abraham (± 1900 BC) could be said that both languages (Hebrew-Aramaic) are identical. In Deuteronomy 26:5, tells about Abraham: אֲרַמִּי אִבֵד אָבִי Arami obed Avî , “ My father was a wandering Aramean, ...". In its development (± 1100-722 BC) appears both languages separately. In the area of Jews in Palestine developed into Hebrew, while in the Aramaic kingdoms in Mesopotamia, as in Damascus, Zobah and Hamath appears Aramaic.

Hebrew (Classical) is used as an official language of the Kingdom of Israel until the fall of Jerusalem in 587 BC. While Aramaic continued to develop when the Assyrians back to controlled Mesopotamia territory(883-606 BC) that Aramaic became the official language of the kingdom. Aramaic is also used in the neighborhood of Babylon (606-539 BC) and continued later by the Persians (539-333 BC). The use of Aramaic became widespread so became the lingua franca of the Middle Eastern community (including the region of Galilee and Samaria), in addition to Greek and Latin used by the Roman Empire.

Unlike the Aramaic flourished, in the Hebrew language was so frozen decline to a mere "language of the sacred" or "language of liturgy" in the temple and also in the synagogues. Even at the time of Jesus, Aramaic was equated with the Hebrew language, regarded as a dialect of Hebrew of the Galilee. Aramaic language usage is more common in everyday social relationship with the distinguished from Hebrew (classical) which is used as a "rabbinical literary language" (otherwise known as the Mishnah Hebrew).

In the Aramaic language that Jesus spoke every day and teach His disciples. But when Jesus was about to read the Torah (Qeri'a ha-Torah) and the prophets (Nevi'im) in the synagogue, Jesus will read in Hebrew (Luke 4:18-20). As with the call of Jesus, Ελωι, Ελωι, λαμμα σαβαχθανι "Eloi, Eloi, lamma sabachthani?" (Mark 15:34) on the cross. The call comes from Psalm 22:1 which reads in Hebrew: Eli, Eli, lamah azabthani אלי אלי למה עזבתני, but spoken by Jesus does not take the Hebrew text, but comes from the Targum (the comments on the books of the Old Testament) in Aramaic. The call of Jesus in the Gospel of Mark itself is very close to the Syriac: Alohi, Alohi, l'mono shebachtheni. It is worthy of note, that a Hebrew MS. of the twelfth century, instead of עזבתני azabthani , Forsaken me, reads שכחתני shechachthani , Forgotten me.

The difficulty that comes later is that the canonical Gospels were written in Greek (not in Hebrew or Aramaic), a wider use throughout the Roman Empire, although there are data from the Fragment of Papias who said that Matthew wrote his gospel in the "Hebrew" . The Hebrew here is meant not the classical-rabbinical Hebrew language but "Hebrew dialect" which means Aramaic (cf. Matthew 26:73). And if this opinion is true, then more or less similar results with the Peshitta text, the Aramaic Gospels dating from the 2nd century AD, older than any existing Codex and used as the basis for the translation of modern Bibles.