Aramaic and the Making of the GospelsThe elusive Aramaic Jesus remains an object of fascination.Recent discoveries of first-century Aramaic texts and advances in linguistic analysis have revolutionized the study of the New Testament. By tracing transliterations, reconstructing possible Aramaic antecedents, and comparing themes with contemporary Jewish Aramaic literature, we see that the Gospels reflect diverse oral traditions shaped by both Aramaic and Greek cultural contexts. Rather than pointing to a single “Aramaic Jesus,” the evidence reveals multiple streams of memory and identity that influenced how Jesus was remembered and written into history.
See also Aramaic Jesus: Tradition, Identity, and Christianity’s Mother Tongue (Baylor University Press, 2025; use promo code 17PROMO for a discount).
See also Writings of Bruce Chilton.
By Bruce Chilton
Bernard Iddings Bell Professor of Religion
Bard College
August 2025
Cross-file under Forthcoming Book and Aramaic Watch.
There are many relevant PaleoJudaica posts. Some highlights are here, here (and links), here, here, here, and here. Some of the embedded links have evaporated, but there are lots of others to follow.
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