Chapter 5: The Chaldee Language

The Chaldee language, sometimes called Aramaic or Syriac, is found in a few portions of the OT Scriptures. We find this dialect in Jeremiah, Daniel, and Ezra. The Chaldean tongue was in common use during the time of the Babylonian captivity of the Jews. It was during this time of captivity Hebrew gradually ceased to be spoken as the common tongue and the Jews came to adopt the Chaldean as their own. This language would have been learned by such men as Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah who were chosen by Nebuchadnezzar to be taught “the tongue of the Chaldeans.” Daniel 1:4.

It may be inquired as to why God chose to have certain portions of the OT Scriptures put into the language of the Babylonians. The answer begins to be apparent as we look at the instances of Aramaic in the Bible. In Daniel 2:4 we read, “Then spake the Chaldeans to the king in Syriack, O King, live forever…” The Aramaic begins at the words “O King, live forever..” and follows through the discourse. Daniel stood as a prophet in the courts of the king of Babylon to prophesy both of his own people and that of the Babylonians and of many world empires in the future. It was fitting that God chose to put this prophecy into the language of the people with whom it had to do. Furthermore, the very fact that we find this ancient tongue in the midst of the Hebrew Scriptures serves as monumental evidence of the validity of the facts being presented in the text.

Ezra is also a book of the Bible where we find the Aramaic language. Ezra lived about one hundred years after Daniel and was an exile during the reign of Artaxerxes Longimanus in 457 B. C. Ezra was a highly educated priest and scribe and it is believed that he is responsible for the collection of the sacred texts of the Hebrews into a canon essentially the same as possessed today in the Old Testament. In Nehemiah 8:1 it is Ezra that brought the “…the book of the Law of Moses” and read it to the people that they might understand it. In Ezra 4:7 we read that a letter written by Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and their companions “…was written in the Syrian tongue, and interpreted in the Syrian tongue.” Ezra gives 4:8 through 6:18 in Aramaic and like Daniel, serves as a testament to the authenticity of the life of Ezra and God’s wisdom in speaking to a nation in their language.

In many ways the language is similar to Hebrew being a Semitic language but as in all languages it contains its own peculiarities. Babylonian-Aramaic became the language of the Hebrews while they were in exile and remained their common tongue through the New Testament period. The use of Aramaic in the New Testament is evident by many words such as Raca, Gogotha, Rabboni, Abba, and Maranatha to name a few. As the fulfillment of the Old Covenant in Christ steadfastly approached we witness the Providence of God transitioning His people to the language in which He chose to speak to the world. From the beginning God spoke to the nation of Israel by the prophets in their Hebrew tongue. As prophecy began to speak to the nations around them the language of the sacred text spoke to them that they may understand. And as the fullness of times approached for the Gospel to be preached to all nations beginning in Jerusalem, so too did the language of Scripture change in order to speak to the world in the Greek language.