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b-hebrew - RE: James: Hebrew or Aramaic?

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  • From: Trevor Peterson <06PETERSON AT cua.edu>
  • To: Biblical Hebrew <b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: RE: James: Hebrew or Aramaic?
  • Date: Tue, 24 Dec 2002 10:23:13 -0500


>===== Original Message From Sergio Saavedra <sesamox AT hotmail.com> =====
>The Watchtower literature endorses the hypothesis that in the first
>century, Jews spoke Hebrew instead of Aramaic.

They're not the only ones. There is quite a bit of debate regarding the
language of first-century Jewish speakers.

>Recently, the ossuary belonging to Jesus's brother, James, has come out to
>light. It's been stated in the media that there is an Aramaic inscription
>on it. Is it true?

It's true that the inscription is Aramaic. I'm not going to touch the
question
of the inscription's authenticity :-)

>If so, how does it affect the hypothesis of Hebrew
>speaking Jews?

If it's authentically first-c., I think you would have to say that it shows
at
least limited use of Aramaic. In this respect, it doesn't contribute much to
our knowledge, since we already had similar inscriptions in Aramaic from that
period. One common theory is that Hebrew was more common in Judea and Aramaic
in Galilee, which I suppose would fit with Jesus's brother.

Trevor Peterson
CUA/Semitics





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