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Re: CHAT dating the Gospels (was: Languages in Gibson's Passion)

From:Ph. D. <phild@...>
Date:Saturday, March 13, 2004, 23:41
Ray Brown wrote:
> > [snip] > > But to return to where this thread started (and matters linguistic :) I > think it is: > - beyond all reasonable doubt that we'd have heard Koine Greek spoken; > - the Sadducees and Pilate would almost certainly have communicated in > Koine Greek; > - any Latin we might have heard spoken in this hellenized part of the > Empire would certainly not be in the later, ecclesiastical pronunciation; > - it is not likely that Pilate would've bothered himself to learn Aramaic > or even have been interested in doing so; > - it is not at all likely that Jesus would have conversed with Pilate in > Latin (and certainly not in a pronunciation not current at the time); > - when Pilate addressed the crowd he would've done so in Greek and either > used an interpreter or relied upon sufficient people in the crowd > understanding Greek and thus doing whatever interpreting was necessary for > those who didn't understand; > - it is possible that Jesus growing up in this part of the Empire might > have acquired enough Koine Greek in his 30 years to be able to converse > directly Pilate - if this wasn't so, Pilate would've used an Greek-Aramaic > interpreter. > > As for dating the Gospels, we both seem to be in agreement, so perhaps > it's time to return to conlanging :)
I agree completely with all the points expressed above. Thank you, Ray. --Ph. D.