Languages in the Jewish Diaspora during the New Testament Period
The first-century Jewish and early Christian worlds were linguistically dynamic. While English Bibles and modern theology can sometimes give the impression of just two (or sometimes three!) "biblical languages," the reality was far more complex.
From the streets of Jerusalem to the synagogues of Alexandria and the marketplaces of Corinth, people navigated multiple languages, each carrying cultural, theological, and political weight.
1. Koine Greek – The Common Tongue of the Empire
Koine Greek was the dominant lingua franca across the eastern Roman Empire by the first century CE, used in commerce, education, and literature. It was not classical Greek, but an accessible dialect that emerged after the conquests of Alexander the Great in the 4th century BCE and was spread by Hellenistic governance and culture.
For Jewish communities outside Judea, Greek often became the primary language. The Septuagint (LXX) was a Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures which begun in the 3rd century BCE in Alexandria and was widely used in the Diaspora and quoted extensively in the New Testament (e.g., Rom. 3:10–1; Heb. 1:5–13).
Paul's epistles, the Gospels, Acts, and Revelation were all composed in Greek, making it the foundational literary language of early Christianity. Paul's missionary strategy in cities like Corinth, Ephesus, and Philippi presupposes Greek-speaking urban audiences (Acts 17–19).
2. Aramaic – The Vernacular of Jesus and His Peers
Aramaic had replaced Hebrew as the primary spoken language among Jews in Judea and Galilee by the Persian period (5th century BCE). It continued to be the everyday language in many Jewish communities, both within the land and in eastern Diaspora areas such as Babylon.
Jesus likely spoke Aramaic as his first language, as evidenced by several Aramaic expressions preserved in the Gospels (e.g., talitha koum, Mk. 5:41; Ephphatha, 7:34; and Abba, 14:36). These may indicate either direct preservation of Jesus' words or a deliberate evocation of his original voice by later authors.
Eastern Jewish communities, such as those in Babylon, also continued to use dialects of Aramaic for religious and everyday purposes. This eventually influenced the language of the Targums (Aramaic paraphrases of Scripture) and the Babylonian Talmud.
3. Hebrew – A Sacred and Literary Language
By the time of the New Testament, Hebrew was no longer the vernacular language of most Jews, but it retained an important role in liturgical settings. Scrolls found at Qumran (Dead Sea Scrolls) show that Hebrew remained a living literary and spiritual language alongside Aramaic.
In the synagogues and Temple, Hebrew was likely used for reading Scripture and certain prayers. Jesus’ familiarity with the Scriptures and his participation in synagogue worship (Lk. 4:16-21) suggest at least some ability in Hebrew, though his preaching was likely in Aramaic.
The distinction between Aramaic and Hebrew also had identity implications: Hebrew was the language of covenant and tradition, anchoring Jewish identity in Torah even for Greek- or Aramaic-speaking Jews.
4. Latin – The Language of Imperial Power
Though Latin was the official language of Roman law, and military, it had minimal influence in the eastern provinces. In Judea and surrounding areas, most local officials, including Romans like Pilate, would likely have used Greek for day-to-day communication.
The use of Latin in the Gospels is limited to a few terms related to Roman institutions (centurion, denarius, legion, etc.). One example is Jn. 19:20, where the inscription over Jesus' cross is written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek.
5. Local and Indigenous Languages in the Diaspora
Beyond the main four languages above, many regional languages and dialects persisted, especially in more rural parts of the Empire:
In Egypt, Egyptian (later Coptic) was spoken alongside Greek.
In Syria and Mesopotamia, various Aramaic dialects remained prevalent.
In Asia Minor, local Anatolian languages (e.g., Phrygian, Lydian) coexisted with Greek, particularly outside major cities.
Jewish communities in these regions were often multilingual—able to move between local vernaculars, Greek for trade and administration, and Hebrew or Aramaic for religious life.
Implications for Biblical Studies: Language, Culture, and Power
1. Language as a Theological Filter
Language is never neutral. It carries cultural assumptions, worldview implications, and power dynamics. In biblical studies, understanding the linguistic contexts of the New Testament is crucial for recognising how theological concepts were shaped, refracted, or even contested in translation.
Take, for example, the translation of Hebrew ḥesed (covenantal loyalty) into Greek terms like eleos (mercy) or agapē (love). These are not mere linguistic equivalents; they introduce semantic shifts that may subtly alter how God's character and covenantal faithfulness are conceptualised.
The shift from Semitic categories rooted in covenant, land, and kinship toward more abstract Hellenistic ethical concepts (e.g., logos, dikaiosynē) signals not a betrayal of the Hebrew tradition but a contextual re-framing to communicate in new cultural idioms.
2. Sociolinguistics and Cultural Exegesis
Sociolinguistic theory helps us move beyond seeing language as mere communication, recognising instead that language is a bearer of identity and belonging. In the ancient world, linguistic choices could signal education, class, ethnicity, religious loyalty, and political alignment.
Drawing on theorists like Pierre Bourdieu, we can speak of “linguistic capital”—the idea that some languages or dialects confer prestige and access to authority, while others are markers of marginality. Koine Greek, for instance, functioned as the language of empire, mobility, and intellectual legitimacy, whereas Aramaic may have marked a speaker as provincial or traditional, yet also authentically Jewish or prophetic in certain circles.
In this sense, cultural exegesis must attend to how language works as a social performance. When Paul writes in refined Greek to a cosmopolitan audience but also quotes the Septuagint heavily and alludes to Hebrew Scripture, he is code-switching and navigating multiple cultural and linguistic worlds to establish theological credibility across boundaries.
3. Multilingualism and the Complexity of the Jesus Tradition
The fact that Jesus likely spoke Aramaic, yet his words are preserved in Greek (sometimes via Hebrew formulations), introduces a triangulation of meaning. What we have in the Gospels is not direct transcription but the result of layered memory, translation, and cultural framing.
For example, when Jesus calls God Abba (Mk. 14:36), the word is transliterated into Greek rather than translated. Early Christians preserved this Aramaic term as a marker of intimacy and authenticity, perhaps resisting a total Hellenization of Jesus' voice. It may also reflect a social-theological strategy: Abba bypasses Greek philosophical categories in favour of a familial Semitic idiom.
Understanding this interplay challenges simplistic notions of ‘the plain meaning of the text.’ Instead, we must attend to the layers of mediation (including oral tradition, linguistic translation, theological adaptation, and cultural filtering) that stand between Jesus and the written Gospels.
4. Language, Class, and Religious Authority
Language in the New Testament period was not evenly distributed across social classes. Greek was more likely spoken fluently by urban dwellers, merchants, Roman citizens, and educated elites – those with access to trade, education, and political networks. Aramaic remained more common in rural and lower-class Judean and Galilean settings, while Hebrew persisted in scribal, priestly, and liturgical contexts.
This stratification matters. When Acts portrays “uneducated” disciples speaking in tongues (2:7), the miracle is not just linguistic but socially subversive. The Spirit gives ordinary Galileans the capacity to speak in the languages of empire, diaspora, and power. Pentecost, then, is a reversal of linguistic and social hierarchies: divine truth is no longer bound to class or culture but is democratised across languages and peoples.
Similarly, Paul's bilingualism (and perhaps trilingualism) allows him to navigate Roman citizenship, Greek philosophy, and Jewish Scripture. His ability to quote Epimenides (Tit. 1:12) or engage Stoics in Athens (Acts 17) alongside citing Moses and Isaiah reveals a linguistic agility that mirrors his theological bridge-building.
5. Scripture in a Multilingual World
Early Christian communities often read Scripture in translation—primarily the Greek Septuagint, which itself was a dynamic and sometimes controversial rendering of the Hebrew Bible. This means that early Christian theology grew out of interpreting translations, not just original texts.
This challenges the idea that exegesis should always prioritise a return to the “original Hebrew” or “original Greek.” In the New Testament period, authority was often attributed to the version that was known and read, including versions that subtly altered or reframed meanings (e.g., LXX Isaiah 7:14, using parthenos “virgin” instead of “young woman”).
Moreover, Paul’s arguments in Rom. and Gal. often use Greek renderings of Hebrew texts. Understanding how he uses the Septuagint not only shines a light on his theology but also shows that theological meaning was already in motion through the translation process.
Reading the New Testament Multilingually
Biblical studies must recognise that the New Testament world was a linguistic tapestry where language carried more than meaning. It carried identity, power, theology, and social location. Language was a tool of empire and resistance, inclusion and exclusion, revelation and reinterpretation.
To read the New Testament faithfully, we must attune ourselves to the echoes of multiple voices and idioms resonating throughout its pages. Interpreting its theology with wisdom requires us to grapple seriously with the ways in which translation (between languages, cultures, and contexts) inevitably shapes meaning.
Select Bibliography
Collins, John J. Between Athens and Jerusalem: Jewish Identity in the Hellenistic Diaspora. Eerdmans, 2000.
Fitzmyer, Joseph A. A Wandering Aramean: Collected Aramaic Essays. Scholars Press, 1979.
Hezser, Catherine. Jewish Literacy in Roman Palestine. Mohr Siebeck, 2001.
Horsley, Richard A., ed. Paul and Empire: Religion and Power in Roman Imperial Society. Trinity Press, 1997.
Porter, Stanley E. The Language of the New Testament: Context, History, and Development. Brill, 2015.
Silva, Moisés. Biblical Words and Their Meaning: An Introduction to Lexical Semantics. Zondervan, 1994.
Wright, N. T. Paul: A Biography. SPCK, 2018.