Biblical Hebrew Forum

[peter_kirk AT sil.org]

While looking at Josephus in answer to the other division of this 
thread, I came across the following in Josephus AJ book 20 chapter 11 
section 2:

"our nation does not encourage those that learn the languages of many 
nations, and so adorn their discourses with the smoothness of their 
periods; because they look upon this sort of accomplishment as common, 
not only to all sorts of free-men, but to as many of the servants as 
please to learn them."

Thus Josephus is saying that some knowledge of Greek was common among 
the Jews of his period, in fact more so among the common people than 
among the intellectual elite. Clear evidence for bilingualism, with a 
rather interesting slant to it.

Peter Kirk