Aramaic (Ancient Form of Hebrew Spoken During Time of Jesus)
Meaning
Aramaic is an old Semitic language which closely resembles ancient Hebrew. It has been in continuous use for approximately 3,500 years and was widely used in the Old Testament and New Testament times. It was used primarily in the Near East and Mediterranean regions and underwent some transformation over time. For a while it served as the official language of the Babylonian and Assyrian empires. The language did undergo slight changes over time and can be broken out into periods of time recognized by these changes. There is the Old Aramaic period. The Imperial or Official Aramaic period, referring to the time when Aramaic was the official language of the Babylonian and Assyrian Empires. As well as the Middle Aramaic and Later Aramaic periods.
The language of the “Late Aramaic” period was also referred to as Syriac. This was a later form or dialect of the Aramaic language. In addition, under the Assyrians Aramaic saw common usage. Aramaic was very popular in the ancient world of the New Testament and was commonly spoken during the life of Jesus. What’s interesting is, even though it was a popular language during New Testament times. Greek culture had already permeated most of society and as a result the New Testament is written in Greek. And the Biblical Greek used was not a sophisticated or complicated form of the Greek language. Instead the New Testament was written using the common form of Greek called “Koine Greek.” This was a form of the Greek language that could be easily understood by almost anyone, educated or not.