Claims to Greek from "From Jesus to Christ"

[Paul Younan]

Shlama Akhi Dave,

Language of the Hebrews could be Hebrew or Aramaic as your aware they are sister languages.

You make a good point in that it could be either Hebrew or Aramaic. Let me explain why I feel that it was Aramaic that was meant by Papias.

Firstly, The Greek words used by Papias are MATQAIOS MEN OUN hEBRAIDI DIALEKTWi TA LOGIA SUNETAXATO, hHRMHNEUSEN D AUTA hWS HN DUNATOS hEKASTOS

The word highlighted in red, DIALEKTWi, means "dialect" and not "language." Obviously, as it would be redundant to have a "Hebrew dialect" of the Hebrew language, the only thing that can be meant is a "Hebrew Dialect" of Aramaic....in other words, the dialect of Aramaic that was common to the Judeans, as opposed to the myriad of other dialects in the area.

Secondly, who would have been Matthew's intended audience? That the common Jewish folk no longer spoke Hebrew, but Aramaic, after their return from Babylon is well documented hundreds of years before Meshikha ( Neh. 8:8 ). Who would benefit from, or be able to understand, a Hebrew Gospel?

Finally, if Matthew really composed his Gospel in Hebrew and not Aramaic, then his Gospel is merely a translation of the Aramaic words of Meshikha, and not a first-hand account of the actual words Meshikha spoke - not much better than the Greek translations.