Languages of The New Testament
The books of the Christian New Testament are widely agreed to have originally been written in Greek, specifically Koine Greek, even though some authors often included translations from Hebrew and Aramaic texts. Certainly the Pauline Epistles were written in Greek for Greek-speaking audiences. See Greek primacy for further details. Koine Greek was the popular form of Greek which emerged in post-classical antiquity (c.300 BC – AD 300), and marks the third period in the history of the Greek language. It is also called Alexandrian, Hellenistic, Common, or New Testament Greek.
Some scholars believe that some books of the Greek New Testament (in particular, the Gospel of Matthew) are actually translations of a Hebrew or Aramaic original. A famous example of this is the opening to the Gospel of John, which some scholars argue to be a Greek translation of an Aramaic hymn. Of these, a small number accept the Syriac Peshitta as representative of the original. See Aramaic primacy.
However, the received text of the New Testament is Greek, and nearly all translations are based upon the Greek text.
Read more about this topic: Biblical Languages
Famous quotes containing the words languages and/or testament:
“No doubt, to a man of sense, travel offers advantages. As many languages as he has, as many friends, as many arts and trades, so many times is he a man. A foreign country is a point of comparison, wherefrom to judge his own.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
—Bible: New Testament Jesus, in Matthew, 8:12.
Referring to “the children of the kingdom ... cast out into outer darkness.” The words are also used in the parable of the talents, in Matthew 25:30, said of the “unprofitable servant.”