One of the three original languages of the Bible. Aramaic is found in parts of Daniel (2:4b–7:28) and Ezra (4:8–6:18; 7:12–26). Aramaic phrases and expressions also appear in Genesis (31:47), Jeremiah (10:11), and the New Testament.
Old Testament Use
Aramaic is similar to Hebrew in structure and written in the same script. In contrast to Hebrew, Aramaic has a larger vocabulary with many loan words and a greater variety of connective words. It also contains many more tenses, using participles with pronouns or with various forms of the verb “to be.” Although Aramaic is less pleasant sounding and lyrical than Hebrew, it is most likely better to communicate effectively.
Aramaic might have the longest history of any current language. It was spoken during the Bible’s patriarchal period (during the lives of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) and is still used today. Aramaic and the related language, Syriac, developed into many dialects (words and expressions unique to a region or social group) in different times and places. It is simple, clear, and precise. It adapted easily to daily needs. It was equally useful for scholars, pupils, lawyers, and merchants. Some have described it as the Semitic equivalent of English.
The origin of Aramaic is unknown, but it seems to have been closely related to Amorite and maybe other lost dialects of Northwest Semitic (a family of languages that include Hebrew, Ugaritic, and Canaanite). Although an Aramean kingdom never existed, some Aramean “states” were influential. A few short writings in Aramean from the tenth to eighth centuries BC have been found and studied.
In the eighth century BC, King Hezekiah’s representatives asked the spokesmen of the Assyrian king Sennacherib to “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, since we understand it. Do not speak with us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people on the wall” (2 Kings 18:26). By the Persian period, Aramaic was the language of international trade. The Jewish people probably began using it in exile for convenience (at least in commerce) while Hebrew became mostly used by the educated elite and religious leaders.
Slowly, beginning after the exile in Babylon, Aramaic became widely spoken in the land of Palestine. Nehemiah complained that children from mixed marriages (with one parent who was not Jewish) could not speak Hebrew (Nehemiah 13:24). The Jewish people continued to use Aramaic widely during the Persian, Greek, and Roman periods. The Old Testament was eventually translated into Aramaic paraphrases. These translations are called Targums, and some were found with the Dead Sea Scrolls.
New Testament Use
It is believed that Aramaic was the common language of Palestine during the time of Jesus. However, this might be an oversimplification. Names used in the New Testament are written in several languages:
Greek (for example, Andrew, Philip)
Latin (for example, Mark)
Hebrew
Aramaic was widely used alongside Greek and Hebrew. Latin was probably limited to military and political groups. The everyday Hebrew dialect, Mishnaic Hebrew, was also used in Jesus’s day. Mishnaic Hebrew documents have been found with the Dead Sea Scrolls.
What was the “Hebrew” mentioned in certain New Testament passages (John 5:2; 19:13, 17, 20; 20:16; Revelation 9:11; 16:16)? The languages in the inscription on Jesus’s cross were written in “Hebrew, Latin, and Greek” (John 19:19–20). Later, the apostle Paul was said to speak “Hebrew” (Acts 22:2; 26:14). The exact dialect he spoke is unclear, but he was a Pharisee and would have been able to read the Hebrew of the Old Testament. The Greek word for Hebrew is sometimes translated as Aramaic. It may be a general term for Semitic or for a blend of Hebrew-Aramaic (as Yiddish is German mixed with Hebrew). In any case, Aramaic served as a way to connect Hebrew to Greek as the language spoken by Jewish people in Jesus’s day. In that sense, Aramaic connects Old Testament Hebrew with New Testament Greek.