Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Jim West <jwest AT highland.net>]

At 01:18 PM 12/22/2004, you wrote:

> Paul, being a Roman citizen from Asia Minor, probably spoke Greek as his
> mother toungue, and probably thought in Greek as well. Chances are that he
> "imported" Greek expressions into his Hebrew or Aramaic, not the other way
> around. Certainly, when writing Greek, he thought like a Greek.
>
> Yigal

Paul in 99% likelihood was not the author of Hebrews.  Whoever did write 
it, wrote excellent greek, excelled in the New Testament only by the author 
of 1 Peter.  Nonetheless you are correct in observing that when writing 
Greek one thinks in Greek and including a loan word or two from Hebrew or 
Aramaic doesn't change that fact any more than someone occasionally 
inserting "vis-a-vis" makes them a fluent thinker in French.

Jim


++++++++++++++++++++
Jim West, ThD
Adjunct Professor of Biblical Studies
Quartz Hill School of Theology

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