The Bible you read today — whether in English, Telugu, Hindi or Tamil — is a translation. Its books were first written in three ancient languages: Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. Knowing a little about them helps you appreciate both the Bible and the work of translators.
Hebrew: the language of the Old Testament
Almost all of the Old Testament was written in Hebrew, the language of ancient Israel. Biblical Hebrew:
- is written from right to left;
- was originally written with consonants only — vowel marks were added centuries later by Jewish scribes known as the Masoretes;
- is rich in vivid, concrete pictures. Words for emotions are often tied to the body: anger can be described with the word for "nose", and deep compassion with words connected to the inner parts.
Hebrew poetry, found in the Psalms and Proverbs, relies less on rhyme and more on parallelism — saying something and then echoing or contrasting it in the next line:
"The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?" (Psalm 27:1, KJV)
Aramaic: a few chapters
Aramaic is a sister language of Hebrew that became the common language of the Near East after the Babylonian exile. A few sections of the Old Testament are in Aramaic, including:
- Daniel 2:4 – 7:28
- Ezra 4:8 – 6:18 and 7:12–26
- Jeremiah 10:11
By the time of Jesus, Aramaic was the everyday language of many Jews in Galilee and Judea. The Gospels preserve some of Jesus' Aramaic words, such as:
- "Talitha cumi" — "Damsel, I say unto thee, arise" (Mark 5:41)
- "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani" — "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Mark 15:34)
- "Abba" — Father (Mark 14:36)
Greek: the language of the New Testament
The New Testament was written in Koine Greek — "common" Greek, the everyday language of trade and travel across the Roman Empire. Writing in Greek allowed the message about Jesus to spread quickly among many nations.
Greek is precise, with detailed verb tenses and several words where English has only one. For example, Greek has different words often translated "love", including agapē, the self-giving love described in 1 Corinthians 13.
Long before the New Testament, the Hebrew scriptures had been translated into Greek. This translation, the Septuagint, was widely used by Greek-speaking Jews and early Christians, and New Testament writers often quote from it.
Why the original languages matter
- Accuracy: translators work from the best Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek manuscripts to make sure translations are faithful.
- Depth: some words carry meanings that one English word cannot capture. A study Bible or Bible dictionary often explains these.
- Wordplay and poetry: some features, such as acrostic psalms (Psalm 119, where each section begins with a successive Hebrew letter), are visible only in the original.
Do I need to learn Hebrew or Greek?
No. Good translations allow anyone to read and understand the Bible. Pastors and students sometimes learn the original languages to study more deeply, but tools such as Strong's Concordance, interlinear Bibles and Bible dictionaries give ordinary readers access to the meaning of key words. See our guide to Bible reference books.
From the original languages to yours
Every Bible translation — English, Telugu, Hindi or any other — is the result of translators carefully moving meaning from these ancient languages into a modern one. Read more in how the Bible came to English and how the Bible came to India.