Is the Gospel of Mark Unreliable?

[Bithynian]

Umm… “publish[ing] imperial decrees” and ‘conducting oral trial proceedings’ are two distinct things, aren’t they?

I quoted the excerpt in response to the claim that all official communication (legal, administrative, civil, etc.) in Roman Judaea was conducted in Latin. Smelik’s chapter doesn’t otherwise specifically address the languages used in the provincial courts.

Other articles have more information, but are still somewhat unclear. The Cotton (1999) article that I indicated above shows that Aramaic featured significantly in internal Jewish legal affairs: papyri of marriage contracts are predominantly in Aramaic (with a bit of Hebrew).

It’s unclear if Jesus was even fluent in Koine to the effect that he could converse effectively in a legal setting. Koine wasn’t a homogenous language, there were many registers and many dialects, and its status as lingua franca does not suggest that everybody knew it and was fluent in it.

Likewise, it’s unclear if Pilate himself was even fluent in Greek. Roman governors weren’t appointed on the basis that they would be rubbing shoulders with the hoi polloi at the Sunday market. Their governorship was a quasi-military office, and inter-provicial communication and military communiques were still conducted in Latin regardless of it being Roman Judaea or Roman Hispania.

In any case, it was a very complex linguistic landscape and there’s insufficient evidence to claim a specific answer with any certainty. At its most extreme, Jesus’ trial perhaps involved translation across three languages: Latin, Greek and Aramaic.

 

[irenaeuslyons]

irenaeuslyons:

C.Longinus:

Gorgias:

Imagine a modern context: in what language do trials in the U.S. take place? Are interpreters available for those for whom their native language is not English?

It’s known that Greek was the language of the Roman courts. Those who were in the court of Pilate were chief priests, scribes, Temple guards, and other employees.

All administrative, legislative, and military communication was in latin within the Roman Empire. The legacy of which is still with us today in legal, military and administrative terms. The byzantine east did eventually replace it with greek, but that was centuries after Constantine.

To be fair, the question was whether Jesus could participate in His own trial. Whether it was conducted in Latin, Greek, Aramaic, or the Queen’s English, are we really saying that either (1) Jesus didn’t understand it at all or (2) someone wouldn’t have interpreted for him?

I assume there were plenty of interpreters when any need arose because it was in Rome’s interest to maintain the peace.

 

[Gorgias]

I assume there were plenty of interpreters when any need arose because it was in Rome’s interest to maintain the peace.

There we go! We have our answer! To the question of whether Jesus would have been able to participate in his own trial, the answer is “yes!”.