The Language of the New Testament Part One

With the exception of the Gospel of Matthew, the majority of scholars today believe that the New Testament was primarily written in Koine Greek. Some, however, actually believe that the New Testament was written in Hebrew. Today, I would like to discuss the basics of this debate. For my previous post, see the following link: 

https://newtestamentchristianityat.blogspot.com/2022/04/an-introduction-to-language-of-new.html

                                                                        1. Hebrew or Greek? 

While not infallible on theological teachings, the early church fathers are great witnesses to the events of their time. Of course, sometimes they did err on matters of history. However, their insight concerning the early centuries of the church is ever valuable to us. As many of them lived much closer to the time of Christ than we do (and some of them lived in the places where He had lived), we can learn from their accounts about what was going on in the first century, how the Jews perceived Christ, who was ruling in certain dioceses of the Roman Empire, and what it meant to be an early Christian. 

With all that said, I would like to examine the evidence for the New Testament's language having been Hebrew, rather than Greek, as based off of evidence from the writings of the church fathers. Then, I wish to proceed to arguments made by scholars for it having been composed in the historic language of the Jewish people. 

       1. Evidence of the New Testament having been written in Hebrew according to the church fathers: 

Irenaeus of Lyons was a second church father. While not a direct witness of the apostles, he was instructed by Polycarp, who in turn, was a disciple of the apostle John. Because of this, it would be foolish to avoid his writings as he is one of many important witnesses to the second-century growth of Christianity throughout the Roman world. 

To Irenaeus, The Gospel of Matthew was not written in Greek, but in Hebrew*1. His view is now the consensus of Biblical scholars and church historians. He said the following: 

''Matthew also issued a written Gospel among the Hebrews in their own dialect, while Peter and Paul were preaching at Rome, and laying the foundations of the church...Luke also, the companion of Paul, recorded in a book the gospel preached by Paul.'' -Irenaeus (Bercot, 502). 

Irenaeus's view did not seem to go unnoticed in the early church. Even if it did though, others likely held a similar sentiment. To Origin of Alexandria, a third-century Christian writer, The Gospel of Matthew was intended for a Hebrew audience: 

''Matthew wrote for the Hebrews, who looked for the [Messiah] to come from the line of Abraham and David. Therefore, he says, ''the book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham.'' -Origin (Bercot, 442). 

Both Origin and Irenaeus agree that the Gospel of Matthew was written for the Hebrews. What if they are wrong, however? Even if they are right, what about the rest of the New Testament? Were they the only people in the ancient church that taught that this gospel was intended for a Hebrew audience? 

Saint Jerome was one of the great church fathers of the ancient church. Perhaps joyless at times, Jerome was nevertheless, a rigid Biblical scholar who spent over twenty years working on the Latin Vulgate. He proves further insight into the language of the gospel of Matthew: 

''Matthew, who is also a Levi, and who from a publican came to be an apostle, first of all, composed a gospel of Christ in Judaea in the Hebrew language and characters for the benefit of those of the circumcision who had believed. Who translated it after that is not sufficiently ascertained. Moreover, the Hebrew itself is preserved to this day in the library at Caesarea, which the martyr Pamphilus so diligently collected. I was also allowed by the Nazarenes who use this volume in the Syrian city of Beroea to copy it.'' - Jerome, On Illustrious Men, Chapter Three. 

So, Jerome believed that the Gospel of Matthew was written in Hebrew! Did any church fathers though, believe that other books in the New Testament were written in Hebrew? Once again, Jerome remains a valuable source to us as to the language of the first-century scriptures: 

''He (Shaul being a Hebrew wrote in Hebrew, that is, his own tongue and most fluently; while things which were eloquently written in Hebrew were more eloquently written turned into Greek.'' -Saint Jerome, On Illustrious Men, Book V. 

In short, Jerome, Origin, and Irenaeus, believed that the Gospel of Matthew was intended for Jewish believers. Jerome went even farther than the other two as he claimed that Paul's writings were composed in Hebrew. To me, the unity of these three ancient fathers on this strongly attests to the Hebrew language having backed at least some of the New Testament. While some may bark at my reasons by claiming that Origin was a heretic and a terrible theologian, that is not the point here. Whatever we think of Origin's theology, he was an important witness to the practices of the early church. 

Another witness to the gospel of Matthew having been written originally in Hebrew was that the first through second-century church father, Papias of Hierapolis, claimed that it was(Bromiley, 281). This is also interesting considering that Papias was born in the second half of the first century and historically proceeded the other church fathers that I have mentioned. 

Hearing my arguments out, you may feel that the church fathers are not enough though. What about scholars? Are there reasons to believe that the New Testament was not written in Greek for any other reason besides the claims of a few church fathers? To these questions, I answer an astounding, yes! Presently, I would like to now discuss arguments that Matthew was written in Hebrew according to the views of scholars. 

                              2. Evidence that parts of the New Testament were written in Hebrew

Some scholars believe that the Gospel of Matthew was taken from a previous gospel. However, many reject this view as the majority feel that the Greek texts of this gospel show no evidence of it being a translation from another work. In spite of this, however, a minority of Biblical scholars do believe that there is evidence that the New Testament (or at least some of it) was originally written in another language other than Greek. Their arguments rely largely upon the church fathers. However, many of these scholars also appeal to textual and historical reasons to why they believe that the New Testament was originally written in Hebrew or Aramaic.  

Partially relying upon the writings of the church fathers, the German theologian, Hermann Olshausen, believed that an earlier Gospel of Matthew had been written which preceded the Greek text. Likewise, conservative German theologian, Theodor Zahn, believed that an Aramaic version of Matthew had preceded the Greek text. Princeton graduate and theologian, James R. Edwards has proposed the controversial Hebrew Gospel Hypotheses. According to him, the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke), were originally drawn from another gospel that had been written in Hebrew. 

                                                                       3. Conclusion: 

Today, I have only evaluated the arguments for the New Testament (or at least some of it), having been written in another language other than Koine Greek (most likely, either Hebrew or Aramaic). I feel that I have presented strong arguments to challenge the consensus view of it having all been written in Greek (even Jerome, believed that Paul wrote in Hebrew!). That said, it has not been my position that the New Testament was not written in Greek. New Testament scholars such as N. T. Wright, and Michael F. Bird believe that it was written in Greek. While some Biblical scholars do believe that Matthew was written originally written in Hebrew, most do not hold that the Pauline letters were. John Macarthur, an evangelical pastor, believes that Matthew was written for Jewish believers*2. As I continue to discuss the language of the New Testament, I can say that so far it has not been my agenda to prove what language the New Testament was written in. Rather, I wish to stimulate discussion over this. 

In my next post, I will counter this post with another that will reply to arguments that the New Testament was written in Koine Greek. As always, let us open our hearts to wisdom and truth. 

1*Of course, some scholars believe that Irenaeus meant that Paul wrote in Aramaic rather than in Hebrew. Regardless though, he did not believe that Paul wrote Matthew in Greek. 

2*http://www.malankaraworld.com/library/BibleStudy/Bible_Study_introduction-to-mathew-mcarthur.htm

References and Further Sources: 

Bercot, David. W. A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs. (1998). 

Bromiley. Geoffrey. W. International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. (1995).