Multi-Lingual Palestine
In the time of the New Testament, Judea was a multi-lingual region. Aramaic was the common speech among Jews; but most had at least a smattering of Greek, could hear Latin spoken all over Jerusalem, not to mention Hebrew in certain settings. Linguistically, first-century Palestine was far more like Switzerland than like the US.
Now, in this situation, the normal thing is to become a comparative linguist. It doesn’t require any formal training; becoming multi-lingual was a demand of survival, and once you know a few languages the natural thing to do is to play them off each other: The Aramaic is X; what’s the Latin equivalent? Or Greek?
Interest in cross-linguistic puns, translations, word derivations in one or the other direction, seems inherent in the situation. And the textual evidence is there, at least a bit: John translates Cephas, Rabbi, Messiah, and other terms into Greek equivalents.
Peter Leithart
Peter J. Leithart is President of Theopolis Institute. He is the author of numerous books on theology, literature, and culture, including Theopolitan, Defending Constantine, and Baptized Body.
In Medias Res
Your weekly digest for all things Theopolis.