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re: Re: The Language Question
The Greek substantive, "(H)ebrais" only occurs three times in the NT, all in
Acts (21:40; 22:2; 26:14) and always in conjunction with the adjective
"dialekto(i)" i.e. "in the Hebrew dialect." The adverbial "(H)ebraisti" ("in
the Hebrew language") occurs five times in the Fourth Gospel (5:2;
19:3,17,20; 20:16) and twice in the Apocalypse (9:11; 16:16).
Judith Wegner is correct in identifying Mark 5:41 (Talitha Cum) as Aramiac.
But Hellenistic Magical Papyri witness cultic rituals, e.g., magical healing
ritual, that Jesus' words and actions conform to in Mark 5. Sanders and
Davies (_Studying the Synoptic Gospels_, 267) have identified five elements
common to the magical ritual, including speaking in a foreign language. If
Aramaic were not the common language of Jesus, he may still have employed it
in ritual incantation such as the Marcan context reveals. What his reasons
would have been to imitate magical procedures remains satisfactorily
unexplained.
Dennis Stoutenburg, Providence