Aramaic Peshitta
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page XV
JOSEPHUS
is a witness of very great importance on this subject also. He was so perfectly
familiar with the state of things in Palestine, in the first century, and took
such care to give correct information, that his testimony has great weight. At
the end of his Antiquities, (written in Greek,) he said, "I am bold to say
that no other person, whether a Jew, or of another race, would have been able,
had he wished, to produce this work for Greeks, so accurately; for I am admitted
by my own countrymen to excel them far in the learning of our country, and I
have applied myself with diligence to obtain a knowledge of Greek
literature......For among us those are not esteemed who learn the languages of
many nations;....but testimony for wisdom is given to those only who understand
well our laws, and are able to explain the meaning of the sacred writings. For
this reason, out of the many who have toiled at this endeavour, scarcely some
two or three have succeeded well." This testimony of the most learned and
reliable of unconverted Jews, is proof how few Jews had much knowledge of the
Greek language.
Another proof of this, is what he relates of the time when he was a captive in
the Roman army on the outside of Jerusalem. In defending himself against Apion
(Book I), he says that he presented his Greek history of the Jewish war "to
the chief commanders Vespasian and Titus, and to many Romans who were in the
war," and that these all bore testimony to his truthfulness. They all
therefore knew Greek, and would have understood what those Jews who came out of
the city, and surrendered themselves, said, if these could have spoken only a
few words of Greek. But Josephus says,-- "The things told by those who
surrendered themselves, only I understood." It is impossible therefore that
the Jews of Palestine and Jerusalem could have understood either the Redeemer or
his apostles, if they had spoken to them in Greek, or in any other language but
that which Josephus calls the language of his own country at that time--a
dialect of the widely spread Syriac language.