Why Was the New Testament Written in Greek?

Why was the New Testament originally written in Greek?
Recommended Reading:
“How We Got the Bible” by Neil Lightfoot (affiliate): amzn.to/3Rn90wO
The revelation of the Hebrew Bible was completed by about the year 400 B.C. (before Christ). By this time, Israel had been scattered by the Assyrian empire a few centuries earlier. In addition, many Jewish people were also still living in Babylon (Judah having been exiled to Babylon about 100 years after the Assyrians destroyed the kingdom of Israel). At the time the canon of the Hebrew Bible was completed, the Persian empire was at its largest and many Jews never returned to the land of Israel.
Almost a century after the Hebrew Bible was completed, the Persian empire was conquered by Alexander the Great. Alexander was from Macedonia, a province to the north of the Greek city-states. His native language was Greek. As he expanded his empire into Persian territory, he brought Greek language & culture along with him.
Alexander died in the year 323 B.C. when he was 33 years old. At the time of his death, his empire stretched from Greece in the west, Egypt in the south, to Assyria in the north, and India in the east. In most of the territory that he conquered, people began to speak Greek instead of/in addition to their native language. (This process is known by historians as “hellenization”, deriving from the Greek word for a Greek person, Ἕλλην.)
As a result, many Jews who lived outside of Jerusalem spoke Greek instead of Hebrew. They weren’t able to read their scriptures anymore because their Bible was written in Hebrew. With many Greek-speaking Jews unable to read their Bible, the Hebrew scriptures were eventually translated into Greek. Around the year 250 B.C. in Alexandria, Egypt, a collection of scribes came together and translated the Hebrew Bible into the Greek language. We know this translation today as the Septuagint, often referred to as the LXX (70). Jews who didn’t understand Hebrew used the Septuagint version of the Bible instead.
During New Testament times, when Gentiles were joining the church, many of them also didn’t understand Hebrew. With that in mind, these Gentile believers would use the Septuagint translation during their church gatherings. It was because of the prevalence of both Gentiles & Greek-speaking Jews in the church that the New Testament was originally written down in Greek - so that everyone would be able to understand it.

[@AChristianGuy]

Do you think there was an Aramaic or Hebrew version of some of the New Testament books before it was written in Greek?

[@kevindmontedmonte5596]

True and interesting

[@Highspergamy]

Matthew was originally written in Hebrew I believe.

[@Highspergamy]

@@josephpendleton4927 Very informative of you. 👏 I appreciate it.

[@pavelkolp]

@@Highspergamyplease provide evidence, the original was written in Greek and it didn’t have an author

[@BRUDERHERZ]

​@@pavelkolpEusebius writes, that Papias has written, that the Gospel of Matthew was originally written in Hebrew.

[@zaciroth]

Persian and Greek Empires, both doing more for advancements of the world and achieving more than Judaea or Israel ever has. One could argue the New Testament is as Greek as it is Hebrew, if not more so.

[@SpartanLeonidas1821]

Big FACTS !!! 💯

[@askywithanalibi4948]

The New Testament was written in Koine Greek for the common people just who the Savior intended it for. I feel much more comfortable with a language that uses Theos, always consistent , one name for a monotheistic God and not the confusion of the Elohim-god-GOD-God-Lord-Lord God and so forth and so on with the Hebrew OT. If God is consistent, then we should refer to Him that way . Personally, I do not feel the God in the OT is the same spirit through out. Maybe this is why Jesus instructed us to spread The Gospel, not The Bible. That is what is authorized as His Word, The Word of The Father whom He is one with.

[@ijansk]

If Jesus was supposed to speak Aramaic and the events are asserted to have happened in the Middle East then the NT should have been written in Aramaic, Hebrew at least. It makes no sense it was written in Greek.

[@avinashchandramisra3334]

There must be a HUGE reason for the Creator to write the NT in Greek. *Hint -- check out Greek history, they may have an abnormally large imprint on the globe.*

[@SSB_ZLG]

Huh? Can u explain it to me pls

[@SpartanLeonidas1821]

@@SSB_ZLG Whats there to explain? Do you know about Greek History???

[@Firebreath56]

Great video! But I would like to mention that not only are Macedonians Greek, but that the region of Macedonia had several Greek city states as well, such as Pella (where Alexander the Great was born).

[@joeymayorga2544]

That was good and to the point!

[@niceguy1891]

Thank you!

[@kvelez]

Definitely, this was the best video on the subject. Brother, God bless you.

[@AChristianGuy]

Thank you for all of your feedback!

[@wjckc79]

Only 185 subscribers? Make that 186.

[@csjmb6193]

wow thank you for explaining that. finally solved my puzzle

[@MV-qd3dv]

Cool quick video but I'll point out that the Jews debated their canon well into the 2nd century AD

[@AChristianGuy]

Yes, but the books that were recognized as canon were authored by 400BC. Thanks for the comment!

[@putzgadol]

It's the years C.E. not AD

[@chandlersleziak6416]

There were no Jews who used the Septuagint. The Original Septuagint was only of the 5 books of Moses (The Torah), but that Septuagint was destroyed in a fire during the Fire of Alexandria.

[@MainPointMinistries]

Very good, simple, succinct explanation. Thank you. My other question is as follows, During the majority of Jesus' discourse in the Gospels, was he speaking to his audience in Greek or Hebrew. Considering that the majority of his audience were Jews who resided in the land of Israel, I would assume he was speaking to them in Hebrew and not Greek.

[@AChristianGuy]

Aramaic was most likely the language they would have dialogued in. Greek would have been a relatively common second language for trade reasons (not too different from English in non-English-speaking areas today - a lot of people know at least a little bit of it).

[@MainPointMinistries]

@@AChristianGuy okay, so basically Jesus more than likely was speaking primarily in his native Aramaic or the sister language of Hebrew. And when the oral stories of Jesus' interactions were written down as what we know as the gospels, it was originally transcribed in Greek?

[@DejanFilipovski-no4yp]

Man what about Romans???

[@maxmaximum-sh4bx]

For the algorithm

[@larrybedouin2921]

One of the reasons was to turn the Jew to jealousy and therefore to seek the Lord.

[@MrOliver1444]

thats not correct the hebrew bible was not completed by 400 AD. Daniel was written clearly at the 200s

[@MrOliver1444]

@@davidmathews9633 no 2nd century. Scholars argue that the dude who wrote it, got many things wrong before and afterwards but the things he got writing is the second century

[@larrybedouin2921]

​@@MrOliver1444 Those are lies that can be proven by the scriptures themselves.

[@user-jg8eh8fw5z]

That's too much mess just embrace Islam

[@khaledahmed1313]

Then woe to those who write the Book with their own hands and then say, "This is from Allah," to purchase with it a little price! Woe to them for what their hands have written and woe to them for that they earn thereby...….Great Quran O People of the Scripture, do not commit excess in your religion or say about Allah except the truth. The Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, was but a messenger of Allah and His word which He directed to Mary and a soul [created at a command] from Him. So believe in Allah and His messengers. And do not say, "Three"; desist - it is better for you. Indeed, Allah is but one God. Exalted is He above having a son. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. And sufficient is Allah as Disposer of affairs. Great Quran

[@Nocturnous]

Nope. Historians agree that Jesus existed and was crucified. Tacitus is all you really need as an outside source. But you can use Josephus as well. Your religion has worse retcons than the Star Wars Prequels.

[@zyoliexan7452]

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[@darkeye7472]

No one believes in your conspiracy theories

[@user-zm8nb8pk4n]

🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️

[@zyoliexan7452]

Albania🌼-ShkupAlbania-Langue --Po✔🌠🌼↔

[@SpartanLeonidas1821]

🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡