Question about Jesus' language and life.?

Question

In depth, what language did Jesus speak? Wasn't he Jewish? Why were the New Testament Gospels wrote in Greek if the apostles were Jewish as well? I am just having a hard time piecing it all together.

Answer 1

Jesus was an observant Jew, and spoke Aramaic, which was what most people spoke who were not Roman citizens (they would have also spoken in Latin and possibly Greek).  The NT was started after the death and resurrection of Jesus, and was written in Greek because that's where much of the faith spread.  The apostles were also Jewish, as was Paul.  They also initially thought that the Savior was only for Jews rather than for all of us.  

Answer 2

Jesus spoke largely in Aramaic. Probably some Greek as well. The NT was written in Greek because more people knew and spoke it. Hebrew was the language of the Jews but the gospel went to the Gentiles as well.

Answer 3

Jesus' native language was Aramaic, a Semitic tongue.

But for the first couple of decades of Christianity, very little was actually written down because they expected the end of the world was imminent.  By the time reality set in, the faith had spread to Greece and to Rome.  The earliest writings were addressed to Greek-speaking Christians in these areas.  It wasn't until centuries later the scriptures were made available in Latin.

Answer 4

Jesus spoke Aramaic, the language of the region.  The gospels were all written in Greek because they were written by other converts at least 2 generations after Jesus.  These were disciples of the disciples of the apostles of Jesus, for all they bore the names of the apostles.  We know for certain, for example, that Luke was a converted Greek physician and that is was very likely that John was also a Greek convert.  Matthew and Mark could have been Jewish converts, but it is hard to know for sure.