To: "Peter Kirk" <peterkirk AT qaya.org>, "Harold R. Holmyard III" <hholmyard AT ont.com>
Cc: b-hebrew <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Linguists hope for Aramaic revival
Date: Tue, 24 Feb 2004 16:36:22 -0600
What can we make of the NT witness about the inscription that was written
about Jesus? The synoptics simply record that "an inscription" was placed
above him, while John adds the specifics that (A) "Pilate wrote an
inscription and put it on the cross" [19.19] and (B) the inscription was
trilingual: Hebrew, Latin and Greek [19.20].
A second question. If Latin was so pervasive in the Roman Empire at this
time, why was the entire NT composed in Koine Greek?