Languages of the Bible

Updated July 24, 2020 | Infoplease Staff

The Question:

What language was the Bible originally written in?

The Answer:

The Jewish Bible, known to Christians as the Old Testament (not including the Apocrypha), is primarily written in Hebrew. A few passages are in a related Semitic language, Aramaic.

The apocryphal books placed by some Christians in the Old Testament are often held to have been written in Hebrew or Aramaic, but many now exist only in translation, the originals having been lost.

The New Testament is written in Greek, with the occasional bit of Aramaic.

See also our list of the Books of the Bible.

-The Editors

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