(/)
READER QUESTION Kaique Rossoni, Colatina, ES
ILLUSTRATES Mauricio Planel
Aramaic. This is consensus among historians and defended by the Church. But every now and then a controversy arises.
In 2014, Pope Francis and Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, discussed the issue in Jerusalem. “Jesus was here, on this earth. He spoke Hebrew,” said the Israeli leader. Francisco interrupted: “Aramaic”. Netanyahu retorted: “he spoke Aramaic, but he knew Hebrew”.
He has a point. Jewish leaders at the time spoke Hebrew. As Jesus lived with them, he understood the language.
– + What men were considered messiahs before Jesus?
– + How was Jesus crucified?
Indeed, possibly Jesus was a polyglot. He must have had knowledge of Greek, because these people left their mark on the region at the time of the Macedonian occupation, and of Latin, the language of the Roman conquerors.
But, on a daily basis, he really spoke Aramaic, which was the language of the Jewish people. Arabic, no way – the language only became dominant in the region from the 7th century onwards.
What is written on the balloon? “Lord, give us faith and wisdom.”