The language Jesus spoke

Jesus spoke Aramaic, the everyday language of Galilee. He also knew Hebrew, the language of the Scriptures: in the synagogue at Nazareth he read aloud from Isaiah. He may also have spoken some Greek, the language of trade in his day.

The Gospels were written in Greek. So what we read are already translated words. But here and there the Aramaic has been preserved, mostly in Mark. Talitha cumi, damsel, arise. Ephphatha, be opened. Abba, Father. And the cry from the cross: Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani. On this site they appear in the spelling of the King James.

Traces like these are precious. Someone remembered these very sounds and passed them on word for word, even when the story was being told in another language. For researchers that is a sign that these words are very old.

On this site you will find them at Talitha cumi, Ephphatha, the Lord's Prayer and the prayer of the forsaken, among other places.