Hebrew in New Testament Times

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The last few books of the Hebrew Scriptures were completed several centuries B.C.E., and on our journey through time we soon come to the days of Yeshua of Nazareth. There is great disagreement amongst scholars as to which language was the most prevalent at the time, with Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic and Latin being the potential candidates. It seems certain, though, that all of these languages were spoken to some extent by one group of people or another, with different ones being more common in different parts of the country among different groups. To illustrate this, consider the following verse from the New Testament:

Luke 23:38; “And a superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew, THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

This verse shows which languages were the ones that Pontius Pilate felt were important enough to write on the sign above Yeshua’s head when he was crucified.

Similarly, there are a number of times in the New Testament where the words which Yeshua and other people spoke are recorded in Hebrew. In all of such places, however, these phrases could equally well be understood as being Aramaic or Mishnaic Hebrew. Let's look at a few examples:

Matthew 27:46; “And about the ninth hour Yeshua cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”

[It is usually assumed that Yeshua is quoting from Psalm 22:1 in this verse. In the Hebrew of Psalm 22:1, however, the verb  (azav) is used, which is a commonly used word meaning to abandon, to forsake. Yeshua, however, is subtly using the verb (sabach) which is related to the noun meaning a thicket. This particular word is used only 4 times in the Tanakh and is, very significantly, the word used in Genesis 22:13 for the ram caught in the thicket, which Abraham offers up to God as a burnt offering instead of his son Isaac. By not using David’s exact words, therefore, Yeshua may have been trying to draw a parallel between his death and that of the sacrificial lamb in Genesis 22. Against this view, however, the word is always used as a noun, not a verb. The word could equally be the Aramaic verb , meaning to abandon, to leave.

Mark 5:41; “And he took the damsel by the hand, and said unto her, Talitha cumi; which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise.”

[Talitha is from the Hebrew meaning a lamb; is a feminine form of the word. Equally, (with Alef at the end instead of Heh) means maid or little girl in Aramaic. But Hebrew, too, sometimes spells meaning a lamb with Alef at the end instead of Heh; see for example the beautiful description of God acting as a shepherd in Isaiah 40:11].

Mark 7:11; “But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; he shall be free.”

 [ means a voluntary offering, and is commonly found in Leviticus and Numbers].

John 19:13; “When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Yeshua forth, and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha.”

[ is from the common Hebrew word meaning a hill (as in Gibeah); in the form quoted it occurs in Judges 20:31; 1Samuel 10:26 and Isaiah 31:4. The area where Pilate would have made his judgement sits on one of the three small hills that form part of Jerusalem’s Old City].

John 19:17; “And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha:”

[The Hebrew word pronounced gool-go-leth, means head or skull. It is used in passages such as Exodus 16:16; 38:26; Numbers 1:2,18,20,22; 3:47; Judges 9:53; 2Kings 9:35, and 1Chronicles 10:10; 23:3,24, where the meaning is clear. In Judges 9:53, for example, the woman who cast a piece of millstone on Abimelech’s head is described as breaking his skull, while in 2Kings 9:35 it is described of Jezebel that “they found no more of her than the skull, and the feet, and the palms of her hands.” The word skull in both verses is
 

The influence of Hebrew on the New Testament is clear from other passages where Hebrew is mentioned. Consider the following verses, for example:

John 5:2; “Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches.”

Revelation 9:11; “And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.”

[The Hebrew Abaddon or comes from the verb which means to destroy. Abaddon means destruction, and is used in Job 28:22 and 31:12].

Revelation 16:16; “And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.”

[Armageddon is popularly understood to come from the phrase or Har (mount of) Megiddon. Megiddo, or Megiddon, is mentioned several times in Scripture. It was an important walled city in Solomon’s time, in the Esdraelon valley, close to Mount Tabor where Deborah defeated Sisera in Judges 4 and 5. Megiddon is mentioned in the latter day prophecy of Zechariah 12:11].

As well as these passages from the New Testament, Hebrew was still spoken and used by religious Jewish communities in Israel. For example, most of the non-Biblical Dead Sea Scrolls, describing their beliefs and how the community should conduct themselves, are written in Hebrew.

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