Jehovah the God of Communication

GOD'S WORD TO HUMANS

Jehovah communicated with Adam in the garden of Eden, using human language. God likely dd so in an ancient form of Hebrew.  He later made his thoughts known to Hebrew-speaking Bible writers, such as Moses, Samuel, and David, and they expressed these thoughts in their own words and style.  Besides recording direct statements from God, they told of his dealings with his people, including accounts of their faith and love as well as those that revealed their failings and unfaithfulness. All this information is of great value today. -Romans 15:4.

As circumstances changed, God did not restrict his communication with humans to Hebrew. After the Babylonian exile, Aramaic became the everyday language of some of God's people. Perhaps to indicate what was to come, Jehovah inspired the prophets Daniel and Jeremiah and the priest Ezra to record  portions of their Bible books in Aramaic. -Ezra 4:8; 7:12; Jeremiah 10:11; and Daniel 2:4.

Alexander the Great later conquered much of the ancient world, and common, or Koine, Greek became an international language.   Many Jews began to speak that language, leading to the translation of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek. This translation, thought to have been done by 72 translators, became known as the Septuagint. It was the first translation of the Bible and one of the most important.  The word of so many translators resulted in varied translation styles, from literal to rather free. Nevertheless,  the Septuagint was viewed as God's Word by Greek-speaking Jews and later by Christians.

When God's first-born cam to earth, he likely spoke and taught in what the Bible calls Hebrew.  (John 19:20; 20:16; Acts 26:14)  First-century Hebrew was evidently influence by Aramaic, so Jesus may have used some Aramaic expressions. However, he also knew the ancient Hebrew of Moses and the prophets, which was read each week in the synagogues.  (Luke 4:17-19; 24:44-45; Acts 15:21)  In addition, Greek and Latin were spoken in Israel. The Scriptures are silent about whether Jesus also spoke those languages.

Next time: Jehovah the God of Communication/ Conclusion of GOD'S WORD TO HUMANS

From The Watchtower magazine