Languages before the exile
During the time of the Patriarchs of the Old Testament, multiple languages must have been in use, but
they are not commented on. Stories tell of Abraham talking to Pharaoh (Genesis 12), Melchizedek and
the King of Sodom (Gen. 14), Abimelech, King of Gerar (Gen. 20), and Hittites (Gen. 23). Who was
speaking what language? We don’t know. Someone was at least bilingual in each of those situations
and other similar situations.
We gain one insight into how these interactions may have taken place in the experience of Joseph and
his brothers in Egypt. Genesis 42 tells the story of the first visit Joseph’s brothers made to Egypt. The
scene is presented as a conversation between Joseph and his brothers without saying what language
was being used. Then in 42:23 we read, “They did not know that Joseph understood them, for there
was an interpreter between them.”
1
Joseph was bilingual, as was his interpreter, but his brothers were
not. Joseph only spoke in Egyptian, and his brothers only spoke in Hebrew. (That clearly changed in
Genesis 45, when Joseph spoke directly to his brothers without an interpreter.) It is likely that many of
the conversations we read about in the early books of the Bible between Jews and people of other
nations involved interpreters.
Moses, having grown up as an Egyptian in Pharaoh’s court, was presumably bilingual, but there is no
indication of what language was used when he and Aaron spoke to Pharaoh. There is little indication
that Jews were bi- or multilingual until the time of the Kings. Unique individuals such as Joseph and
Moses appear to be exceptions to Jewish monolingualism.
Languages, the Assyrians, and the Jews
Aramaic was the language of the Assyrians when they besieged Jerusalem in 701 B.C., but the
commander of the Assyrian forces (the Rabshakeh
) taunted the inhabitants of the city, speaking in
Hebrew (“the language of Judah”). We learn that the rulers of the city were bilingual in Hebrew and
Aramaic: “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it” (2 Kings 18:26). (At that
time, it seems likely that the social and political elite were able to use languages of wider
communication in addition to Hebrew.) They did not want the people to understand what he was
saying, but the Rabshakeh
knew that if he wanted to convince the people to give up, he would need to
communicate in their language, “to frighten and terrify them” (2 Chronicles 32:18). We see
monolingual Jews (those “sitting on the wall”) confronted by a multilingual enemy. At that time, only
the rulers in Jerusalem were bilingual, knowing both Hebrew and Aramaic.
2
After the exile, the Jewish
people as a whole were bilingual in the two languages, and by the time of the New Testament,
Aramaic was a common language for the people of Israel, along with Hebrew and, for some, Greek
also. This story in 2 Kings 18 and 2 Chronicles 32 foreshadows the change the Israelites would
experience from a monolingual to a multilingual nation.
1
These and all other quotations are from the English Standard Version.
2
It is possible, of course, that they may have known other languages as well, but Aramaic was the language of
wider communication at that time, so their knowledge of Aramaic makes sense.
Multilingualism in the Old Testament 2