Jews from Judea spoke Aramaic as their mother tongue. I don’t think there’s any argument there.
Jews (as well as anyone else) from the Western Diaspora spoke Greek – all those lands had been Hellenized for centuries and Greek had long displaced indigenous languages. Jews adopted Koiné Greek thus their native language was more or less uniform no matter where in the Western Diaspora they came from.
The Eastern Diaspora was different – no Hellenization, and countries had their own languages. Though people in Jewish communities in these lands spoke the local languages in varying degrees of fluency, it was never their ‘mother tongue’. For Jews in the Eastern Diaspora, the language of ‘hearth and home’, the language “wherein they were born” was Aramaic. This language was one of the things that set them apart as being Jewish; it gave them their cultural and religious identity. Think of the Jews during the Babylonian Captivity/Exile – they did not abandon their language in favor of Babylonian; they held onto it and preserved it as part of their Jewish identity.
To try and use a more modern analogy – think of the Jewish Diaspora in Central and Eastern Europe prior to WWII. Many countries, many languages, and Jewish people living in these places spoke the local language in varying degrees of fluency. But it was never their native language, the language of hearth and home, the language 'wherein they were born' – that language was Yiddish. The one language that defined them as Jews no matter where they were from. Same situation in the 1st century Eastern Diaspora, the defining language (the equivalent of my analogy’s Yiddish) was Aramaic. Yiddish today, almost 1.000 years later, is still the first language of many European as well as American Jews.
Many lands, many places and people, but only two languages; Aramaic and Greek. The apostles spoke both (though perhaps not all 12 spoke Greek)
At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit gave the 12 apostles (yes, only 12, not 120 - but that's a story for another day) what in the Greek text is “apophtheggesthai” – usually translated as “to give utterance”. Unfortunately, this is not the best or most accurate translation of this Greek word, but it’s the one that has come to be the more or less ‘de facto’ rendering.
This word is from “apophtheggomai” which is best translated as “to give bold, authoritative, inspired speech to” (don’t go to Strong’s and look it up – “Strong’s” is a concordance , not a lexicon; there’s a huge difference).
It refers not to the content/means of the speech (i.e., the language used), but rather to the manner of speaking. In each instance where this word occurs in scripture, the person's speech is bold, authoritative, and inspired, and it is always, by the way, in the speaker’s native language.
In short, the Holy Spirit did not give the language (i.e. the means/content), it gave the manner in which it was spoken.
Jews (as well as anyone else) from the Western Diaspora spoke Greek – all those lands had been Hellenized for centuries and Greek had long displaced indigenous languages. Jews adopted Koiné Greek thus their native language was more or less uniform no matter where in the Western Diaspora they came from.
The Eastern Diaspora was different – no Hellenization, and countries had their own languages. Though people in Jewish communities in these lands spoke the local languages in varying degrees of fluency, it was never their ‘mother tongue’. For Jews in the Eastern Diaspora, the language of ‘hearth and home’, the language “wherein they were born” was Aramaic. This language was one of the things that set them apart as being Jewish; it gave them their cultural and religious identity. Think of the Jews during the Babylonian Captivity/Exile – they did not abandon their language in favor of Babylonian; they held onto it and preserved it as part of their Jewish identity.
To try and use a more modern analogy – think of the Jewish Diaspora in Central and Eastern Europe prior to WWII. Many countries, many languages, and Jewish people living in these places spoke the local language in varying degrees of fluency. But it was never their native language, the language of hearth and home, the language 'wherein they were born' – that language was Yiddish. The one language that defined them as Jews no matter where they were from. Same situation in the 1st century Eastern Diaspora, the defining language (the equivalent of my analogy’s Yiddish) was Aramaic. Yiddish today, almost 1.000 years later, is still the first language of many European as well as American Jews.
Many lands, many places and people, but only two languages; Aramaic and Greek. The apostles spoke both (though perhaps not all 12 spoke Greek)
At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit gave the 12 apostles (yes, only 12, not 120 - but that's a story for another day) what in the Greek text is “apophtheggesthai” – usually translated as “to give utterance”. Unfortunately, this is not the best or most accurate translation of this Greek word, but it’s the one that has come to be the more or less ‘de facto’ rendering.
This word is from “apophtheggomai” which is best translated as “to give bold, authoritative, inspired speech to” (don’t go to Strong’s and look it up – “Strong’s” is a concordance , not a lexicon; there’s a huge difference).
It refers not to the content/means of the speech (i.e., the language used), but rather to the manner of speaking. In each instance where this word occurs in scripture, the person's speech is bold, authoritative, and inspired, and it is always, by the way, in the speaker’s native language.
In short, the Holy Spirit did not give the language (i.e. the means/content), it gave the manner in which it was spoken.
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