The Language Environment of First Century Judaea: Jerusalem Studies in the Synoptic Gospels, Volume Two

The articles in this collection demonstrate that a change is taking place in New Testament studies. Throughout the twentieth century, New Testament scholarship primarily worked under the assumption that only two languages, Aramaic and Greek, were in common use in the land of Israel in the first century. The current contributors investigate various areas where increasing linguistic data and changing perspectives have moved Hebrew out of a restricted, marginal status within first-century language use and the impact on New Testament studies. Five articles relate to the general sociolinguistic situation in the land of Israel during the first century, while three articles present literary studies that interact with the language background. The final three contributions demonstrate the impact this new understanding has on the reading of Gospel texts.

Randall Buth is director of the Biblical Language Center and chairman of the Jerusalem School of Synoptic Research, Israel. From 1977 to 1996 he lived in Africa and served as a translator and translation consultant with Wycliffe Bible Translators, and as a translation consultant with the United Bible Societies. Buth is the author of Living Biblical Hebrew and Living Koine Greek.

R. Steven Notley is Distinguished Professor of New Testament and Christian Origins at the New York City Campus of Nyack College. He has published many books and articles, including with Anson F. Rainey, The Sacred Bridge: Carta's Atlas of the Biblical World (Carta 2005), with David Flusser, The Sage from Galilee (Eerdmans, 2007), with Ze'ev Safrai, Parables of the Sages (Carta, 2011).