What language did Jesus speak?

In first-century Galilee and Judea, the everyday language of Jewish people was Aramaic, a close relative of Hebrew that had spread across the Near East and was widely used by Jews after the Babylonian exile. The Gospels, though written in Greek, preserve several of Jesus' actual Aramaic words, usually followed by a translation. Raising Jairus's daughter, he said, "Talitha cumi; which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise" (Mark 5:41). Healing a deaf man, he said, "Ephphatha, that is, Be opened" (Mark 7:34). In Gethsemane he prayed, "Abba, Father" (Mark 14:36), and on the cross he cried, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" (Mark 15:34). He gave Simon the Aramaic name Cephas, "which is by interpretation, A stone" (John 1:42), and Mary Magdalene called him "Rabboni" (John 20:16). Jesus also knew Hebrew, the language of the Scriptures, since he read from the scroll of Isaiah in the Nazareth synagogue (Luke 4:16-17). Greek was the common trade language of the Roman East, and many scholars think Jesus may have used some Greek, perhaps with Gentiles or with Pilate, though the Gospels do not say so directly. The sign on his cross was written "in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin" (John 19:20), a snapshot of the languages heard in Jerusalem at the time. When the New Testament mentions "the Hebrew tongue" (as in Acts 21:40), many scholars think it may sometimes mean Aramaic, the everyday speech of the Hebrew people in that era.

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