Jesus was born in Bethlehem and raised in Nazareth. He would have spoken a variant of Aramaic as well as being cognizant of other languages such as Greek, Hebrew and Latin.

When approaching scripture, it is worthwhile studying the sayings of Jesus through the lens of Galilean culture and language. It is also important to understand the development of Aramaic historically and geographically so that you are not coming to the wrong conclusions.

For example, the Aramaic that Daniel spoke is different to that spoken in the later Babylonian academies and targums (Onkelos and Aquila). This Aramaic is also different to that spoken in Palestine or Samaria. Syriac has different manifestations of Aramaic depending on whether it is early, late, western or eastern.

Finding and applying the correct dialect will help to explain not only what he said but why he said it. Palestinian Jewish Aramaic speakers of Jesus era were notable for the simple story-telling style of teaching

The booklet below will help you take an important step to understanding the language of Jesus

BOOKLET ‘ 10 CHAPTERS – Eli Lama Sabacthani’ A Guide to understanding the language of Jesus