Greek word · G1446

Ἑβραΐς

hebrais

Aramaic

An adjective meaning "Hebrew", used for the language of the Hebrews/Jews. In the first century the word could cover Hebrew proper and also Aramaic, the closely related language most Jews in Judea and Galilee spoke every day.

Appears 3 times in 3 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

Ἑβραΐς (WH, Ἐβ-), -ίδος (Aram. עִבְרַי), peculiar form of Ἑβραϊκός,

[in LXX, ἡ Ἑ. φωνή, 4Ma.12:7 16:15 * ;]

in NT, ἡ Ἑ. διάλεκτος, Hebrew, i.e. the Aramaic vernacular of Palestine: Acts 21:40 22:2 26:14.†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Acts 21:40

Range of meaning

An adjective meaning "Hebrew", used for the language of the Hebrews/Jews. In the first century the word could cover Hebrew proper and also Aramaic, the closely related language most Jews in Judea and Galilee spoke every day. Greek writers often did not tell the two apart; to them both were simply "the language of the Jews".

Against the English

KJV, WEB, BSB and ESV say "Hebrew". NIV and NLT say "Aramaic", and NLT adds "their own language". NASB and YLT say "the Hebrew dialect". The translations are not disagreeing about the Greek. They are disagreeing about which real language Luke meant.

How it drifted

A modern reader hears "Hebrew" as the language of the Old Testament or of modern Israel. Luke's word is less precise than that. It names the ancestral language of the Jews as opposed to Greek, and in practice that may have been Aramaic.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the NT the word appears only in Acts 21:40, 22:2 and 26:14 (the risen Jesus speaks to Paul "in the Hebrew language"). In 4 Maccabees 12:7 and 16:15 the martyr-mother speaks to her sons "in the Hebrew voice", meaning the language of home and of loyalty to the ancestral faith. The related adverb Hebraisti in John introduces words that are Aramaic in form (Gabbatha, Golgotha, John 19:13, 17; Rabbouni, 20:16). Revelation uses it for Hebrew words (Abaddon, 9:11; Harmagedōn, 16:16). Josephus calls the Aramaic-form word asartha (Pentecost) "Hebrew" (Antiquities 3.252). The Dead Sea Scrolls, Bar Kokhba letters and Mishnah show that Hebrew was also still in living use alongside Aramaic.

Similar words

Where it appears

Acts · 3

  1. Acts 21:40 Ἑβραΐδι Hebrew

    Having received permission, Paul stood on the steps and motioned to the crowd. A great hush came over the crowd, and he addressed them in Hebrew:

    Here: "Hebrew": the ancestral language of the Jews of the land, as opposed to Greek. Whether Luke means Aramaic (the everyday language of Judea) or Hebrew itself is debated (see debates). Either way, the point is that Paul speaks their own language, not the occupiers' Greek.

  2. Acts 22:2 Ἑβραΐδι Hebrew

    When they heard him speak to them in Hebrew, they became even more quiet. Then Paul declared,

  3. Acts 26:14 Ἑβραΐδι Hebrew

    We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice say to me in Hebrew, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.