Timothy's Scriptures

[Steven Avery]

Hi Folks,

Originally Posted by Psander

Even if it can be shown that the reference to "Hebrew" is indeed about "Hebrew," this does not mean Hebrew was a lingua franka. Many sacrosanct languages are used to convey meaning not because they are common but because are sacred.

Since Paul spoke to a crowd in Jersusalem in Hebrew, and archaeology has confirmed etymology and common sense, there is no doubt that Hebrew was a common language for the times (although not the lingua franca since it would be restricted mostly to those with Hebraic background). And we also know this was a literate society, largely because of the Hebrew Bible and the Aramaic Targumim. (Alan Millard has written on this and even the better informed skeptics agree on the literacy issue.)

As for Timothy, with his mother Jewish and the wide dissemination of the Hebrew Bible and with Paul the Hebraist talking of the scriptures, we can conclude that his scriptures of his youth were Hebrew.

And as shown by the Josephus Antiquities preface it is quite doubtful whether there were full copies of Greek scripture even in circulation.

Please keep in mind that Greek names were not uncommon among those proficient in Hebrew. At the time that Luke wrote his gospel account the Jewish high priest was named Theophilus. And that does not mean that Luke wrote the gospel in Hebrew . Even if Luke himself was a temple priest (per the book by Rick Strelan) writing in Greek would be simply common for wide dissemination (also good for language precision) much like Europeans and Asians and others today often write in English for maximum scholarship and dissemination. With English being today's lingua franca.

Shalom,
Steven Avery