Bible Catechism - Lesson 8

Lesson 8: The Languages Of The Bible

1. Were all the books of the Bible originally written in one language?No, besides Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic were used.

2. What books were written in Hebrew?
Almost all the books of the Old Testament.

3. What books were written in Greek?

In the Old Testament, the Second Book of Machabees and the Book of Wisdom; in the New Testament, all books except the Gospel of St. Matthew.

4. What books were written in Aramaic?

The Gospel of St. Matthew.

5. When were the books of the Old Testament, that were originally written in Hebrew, translated into Greek?

About 220 years before Christ.

6. Why was the translation from Hebrew into Greek made?

Because the Jewish people was dispersed into countries where the Greek tongue predominated, and so it gradually forgot the mother tongue, speaking only Greek. Hence the wish to have the Bible in the Greek tongue.