It's Greek To Me

Why is the New Testament written in Greek? Is it just by coincidence? I don’t think so.

I read something that was I thought was fascinating the other day. ( I know that many things I think are fascinating others think are boring or weird. That’s o.k. You can get your own blog:)) It was from a book by F.F. Bruce called “The Books and Parchments”.

Why was the NT written in Greek? During the era of Christ’s life on earth up and through the times of the apostles, most writing was done in Greek. There are many reasons for this that I find not only fascinating but evidence of the amazing, providential, hand of God.

Historically, this time period was dominated by the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire ruled the world in that day and that rule extended all the way throughout Israel. The common language of the Roman empire was Greek. The military and some officials used Latin, but the language of the people was Greek. When the Romans ruled over another land, they brought to that area their language. The conquered people would be required to adopt the Romans language.

The conquered nations did not have to give up their language, and most nations spoke a variety of languages. They were multilingual. Much like a lot of Europe today. Most Europeans speak more than one language and can probably speak more than two. That is very similar to the case of the Israelite people in the times of the New Testament.

The common language for Jesus and the apostles was Aramaic. Aramaic is a cousin of ancient Hebrew. They still understood and occasionally spoke Hebrew as their scriptures were written in that language. But, the Israelites also spoke and new Greek. To conduct business, pay taxes, and not get in trouble with the Roman authorities required a knowledge of Greek.

As this was true for Israel, it was also true for the known world at that time. All the known world from the time of about 30 A.D. to 150 A.D. (which covers the life of Christ and the writing of the New Testament, give or take a few) knew the common Greek language.

Here is where it get’s providential. In Luke 24:45-47 Jesus says "Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to ALL NATIONS, beginning from Jerusalem."

F.F. Bruce writes this, “The language most appropriate for the propagation of this message would naturally be one that was most widely known throughout all the nations, and this language lay ready to hand. It was the Greek language, which at that time when the Gospel began to be proclaimed among all nations, was a thoroughly international language, spoken not only around the Aegean shores but all over the Eastern Mediterranean and in other areas too.” (p. 57)

The message of Christ was intended to go to all nations, and God, in his His supreme wisdom, arranged for the situation to be such that the language for the spread of that wonderful message was thoroughly international. It is not a coincidence that the New Testament scriptures are written in Greek