The languages which the old and New Testaments were written in?

Answer 1

Most of the Old Testament was written in Hebrew, a slight variation of which is still spoken today. Parts of it (notably in the book of Daniel) are written Aramaic. Most of the New Testament is written in Koine Greek (which is not quite like ancient Greek from Homer or Aristotle but is also not like the Greek spoken today in Greece.) Some words in the New Testament are given in Aramaic, like "Talitha koum!" in Mark 5:41. The Aramaic language dates back a long ways and has undergone some changes, particularly because it was a widespread language at one time. However, the primary languages of The Bible are Hebrew and Koine Greek.

Answer 2

Most of the Old Testament was written in Hebrew, but some of the latest books also used Aramaic, a very closely related language. Books like Ecclesiastes contain a few words of Persian, which have been used to help date them after the Babylonian Exile.
The Bible was written in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek.

Answer 3

Until probably late in the tenth century BCE, the people of Judah and Israel spoke a dialect of Canaanite, the language of their forebears, However, this belongs to a period before the Bible was written, so no part of the Bible reflects this language. Hebrew developed out of Canaanite, probably from the Jerusalem dialect, although there is some evidence of the language's origin being farther to the north-west of Jerusalem. Hebrew remained the spoken and written language of the Hebrews until the babylonian Exile.

During the time of the Babylonian Exile, the Persians adopted Aramaic as the common language of empire, in preference to their own language because Aramaic was already used extensively for trade throughout much of the empire. This then became the day-to-day language of the Jews.

After the Alexandrian conquests, the entire Near East adopted Greek as its day-to-day language: except Judah, which continued to use Aramaic, the language given to them by their benefactors.

Hebrew remained the language of the scriptures, although some later books do contain Aramaic and a few words of Persian origin.

Jews of the diaspora spoke Greek and the Hebrew scriptures were translated into Greek for their benefit.

Answer 4

A:The language in which most of the Old Testament was written is Hebrew, although Aramaic was used for some of the late material. Archaeological evidence shows that the Hebrew language emerged from a dialect of the Canaanite language in the tenth century BCE. Other evidence shows that the people of the northern kingdom of Israel had a dialect distinctively different from that of the southern kingdom of Judah.

The Old Testament depicts the biblical characters as speaking Hebrew long before the tenth century BCE, but this reflects the realities of a much later time, when the biblical authors knew nothing of the origins of their language. Any of the pre-monarchic people who were real, historical people could not have really spoken Hebrew.

Answer 5

Classical Hebrew - "During the thousand years of its composition, almost the entire Old Testament was written in Hebrew. But a few chapters in the prophecies of Ezra and Daniel and one verse in Jeremiah were written in a language called Aramaic."

"In What Language Was the Bible first written?" Biblica.com. Friday, December 27, 2013 Web Tuesday, August 4, 2014

Answer 6

Its original language is that of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible), which is Hebrew. A few chapters (in Ezra and Daniel) are in Aramaic. In its various translations (the first of which was into Greek), the Old Testament can be found in hundreds of languages.

Answer 7

The Hebrew Bible ("O.T.") was and is written in Hebrew, while a few chapters in Ezra and Daniel are in Aramaic. Translations invariably lose some of the meaning.See also:

Torah-scroll facts

Hebrew Bible history

How was the Torah written?

Answer 8

Most of the Old Testament was written in Hebrew, but some of the latest books also used Aramaic, a very closely related language. Books like Ecclesiastes contain a few words of Persian, which have been used to help date them after the Babylonian Exile.

Answer 9

The Book of Proverbs was written entirely in Hebrew.

All of the books of the Old Testament were written in Hebrew, except for about 250 verses out of a total of over 23,000, which were written in Aramaic.

Answer 10

The Old Testament was primarily written in Hebrew, with a few sections in Aramaic. The New Testament was written in Greek.