From: "George M. Terry" <gmterry@ucdavis.edu>
Subject: RE: (urth) Re: Digest urth.v022.n002
Date: Wed, 2 Dec 1998 16:25:38 

Hello,
this is my first post to the list--this is the first time I actually have
had anything meaningful to contribute to any discussion.

Alga wrote:
> Jesus may well have spoken some or even a fair amount of
> Greek, from the
> evidence that the next town over from Nazareth (the name of
> which escapes
> me, naturally) was a highly Hellenicized trading
> town---before you pounce to
> point out that the occupation was Roman, not Greek, the
> author made the
> point that the lingua franca was at that time Greek (you take my
> meaning--the English of today, heh, heh).

The town in question was Sephorris.  It was a fairly large (relative to the
other places in the area like Nazareth, only five miles away) town, and was
apparently on some trade road.  Lots of construction went on there in the
early part of the first century CE, including a large amphitheater.  If
Jesus were a carpenter (or craftsman of some description--I believe the
Greek NT uses the word 'teknon') he would of probably needed some Greek to
gain employment in this city and communicate.
And truly the language of the Roman Empire was Greek for the common people.
Latin was used administratively.  Even early church services in Rome were
held in Greek.

That's all.

George Terry


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