Jesus didn’t speak English
On several of my trips back and forth on I-35, I have listened to a podcast interview on “Sounds True” by Tami Simon—she was speaking with Dr. Neal Douglas-Klotz of the University of Edinburgh, in Scotland. He is a teacher and writer specializing in Sufism and Christian thought and belief. Much of his focus has been on the use in Jesus time of the ancient pre-Arabic language, Aramaic.The podcast is called, “The Aramaic Jesus”. It is an hour long and is quite enlightening. Aramaic as a language originated in the ancient civilization known as Aram. In Genesis 11, the city of Haran, where Abraham and his father Terah settled after leaving Ur of the Chaldees, while en route to Canaan, was located in Paddan Aram, that part of Aram Naharaim that lay along the Euphrates. After Isaac was born and of an appropriate age to marry, Abraham sent his head-servant back to this place to find a wife for him. The steward found Rebekah, who satisfied and exceeded the requirements set forth by Abraham.