Language atlas of 1st Century Palestine

From: Brian E. Wilson (brian@twonh.demon.co.uk)
Date: Wed Dec 17 1997 - 09:51:58 EST


Steven wrote:
>Hello Does anyone know where one can find a language atlas showing the
>different languages / dialects and overlaps for 1st Century Palestine?
>If a map form doesn't exist (likely) then an article would be fine.
>For example I've heard it said that Greek was spoken more in Galilee
>than Judea, that Samaritans spoke less a different Aramaic to Jews,
>etc. etc., What about rich and poor? Pharisees, Saducees, Herodians,
>Scribes, Centurions, schools, synagogues...? Where can one get a
>reliable overview of the subject? Thanks.

Professor Shmuel Safrai of the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, has written
a two-part article 'Spoken Lanugages in the Time of Jesus' and 'Literary
Languages in the Time of Jesus'. This was printed in the journal
Jerusalem Perspective 4.1 (1991) and 4.2 (1991), published by the
Jerusalem School of Synoptic Research. I understand that the Jerusalem
School considers that its "work confirms that Jesus was a Jewish sage
who taught in Hebrew and used uniquely rabbinic teaching methods," and
that they hold that Mishnaic Hebrew (not Aramaic) was the language
spoken by most of the people of Galilee in the time of Jesus. I believe
that part of the evidence for this view is that it is possible to back-
translate some parts of the synoptic gospels into Mishnaic Hebrew much
more easily than into Aramaic, as exemplified in, for instance, R. L.
Lindsey's **A Hebrew Translation of the Gospel of Mark** - 2nd edition,
Jerusalem, 1973.

I do not speak or read Hebrew quite as fluently as Professor Safrai, to
make the understatement of the year, and my knowledge of Mishnaic Hebrew
and Aramaic is vanishingly small. But my own view is that the whole
question of what languages were spoken (as distinct from written) in 1st
Century Palestine is still very much in the melting pot.

I do think, however, that we should take seriously the Papias tradition
concerning a man named Matthew, that - ** Matthew compiled the LOGIA in
the Hebrew/Aramaic tongue and everyone translated them as best he
could**. I think this shows that Jesus and his disciples spoke either
Mishnaic Hebrew or Aramaic or both, and that probably during the
ministry of Jesus, the disciple Matthew compiled notes in Hebrew/Aramaic
of what Jesus said and did and what happened to him. On this basis, I
would say it is likely that either Mishnaic Hebrew or Aramaic or both
was spoken by most of the population of Galilee in the 1st Century.

Beyond this, I would suggest that what we read in commentaries and
articles on this topic is mostly based on guesswork, and that a reliable
overview will not be available to us for quite a few years to come.
BRIAN WILSON



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