# Did Paul also speak Latin?



## Pergamum

Robert Reymond in "Paul: Missionary Theologian", page 47 seems to suggest that perhaps he did.


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## jogri17

I've been to a bible study where I was told I was wrong for saying Romans was written in greek and not Latin.


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## fredtgreco

I think it very likely that Paul spoke Latin. Most highly educated Roman citizens would speak Latin, Greek, and the language of their own "tribe." (in this case Hebrew)


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## bookslover

jogri17 said:


> I've been to a bible study where I was told I was wrong for saying Romans was written in greek and not Latin.



If they don't change their minds, sounds like a good Bible study to get out of...


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## Pergamum

fredtgreco said:


> I think it very likely that Paul spoke Latin. Most highly educated Roman citizens would speak Latin, Greek, and the language of their own "tribe." (in this case Hebrew)



Can you give any evidences? Does Paul use any Latinisms in his speeches, is there any tradition or other evidence for this possibility? Would this regimen (of learning Latin too) be a part of sitting at the feet of Gamelial?


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## Christusregnat

Pergamum said:


> fredtgreco said:
> 
> 
> 
> I think it very likely that Paul spoke Latin. Most highly educated Roman citizens would speak Latin, Greek, and the language of their own "tribe." (in this case Hebrew)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Can you give any evidences? Does Paul use any Latinisms in his speeches, is there any tradition or other evidence for this possibility? Would this regimen (of learning Latin too) be a part of sitting at the feet of Gamelial?
Click to expand...


One evidence is that Paul is a Latin word, if memory serves. Thus, since his name is a Latinism, it is very likely he learned Latin. Since Christ specifically chose that he would preach the gospel to kings, it is without doubt that he would have known or had to learn the magisterial language of the Roman Empire.

Cheers,


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## wordmaster3

*Did Paul also speak Latin*

Though I can't be dogmatic about it, I would assume that Paul would be very familier with Latin (and any other common language within his missionary trips).


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## TimV

> Act 28:30 He lived there two whole years at his own expense, and welcomed all who came to him,
> Act 28:31 proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.



If a highly educated American citizen born overseas who was a buisnessman and scholar lived for a minimum of two years in Washington, there'd not be much question as to whether he could speak English.


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## SolaScriptura

fredtgreco said:


> ... and the language of their own "tribe." (in this case Hebrew)



Not to quibble... but wasn't Aramaic the vernacular of the 1st Century Jews?


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## TimV

> Not to quibble... but wasn't Aramaic the vernacular of the 1st Century Jews?



Aramaic in the Palestine and surrounding areas, Persian farther east and Greek in Egypt and Anatolia. So Paul's upbringing would have been Hebrew (religious education) and Greek in daily life. I've read the Celtic and other vernaculars were mostly dead in eastern Anatolia at that time, so Paul's letters to, say, the Galatians would have been in Greek rather than Galatian.


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## bookslover

Paul could have learned Latin while growing up in Tarsus since his father, if memory serves, was a Roman citizen (implying having relationships and dealings with non-Jews in the Empire) as well as Paul.


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## glorifyinggodinwv

William Hendriksen discusses Paul's use of Latinisms in First Timothy in his introduction to that book in his New Testament Commentary (p. 10-12). I do not have the electronic version of Hendriksen, but someone who does may be able to post his comments and conclusions regarding Paul and Latin in the context of First Timothy. 

Discussing Paul's use of Latinism has led some to conclude a different author of First Timothy than Paul. Hendriksen affirms the traditional authorship, which I submit to, and counters: "Is it not entirely natural that a man who had at last reached the world's metropolis, where very recently he had spent not less than two years, a man, moreover, who was highly susceptible to environmental influences and eagerly desirous of becoming all things to all men, would now begin to make fuller use of "Roman" diction and phraseology than he had done heretofore?" (p.11)

Hendriksen, at least in this section, does not address directly Paul's ability to speak Latin, but focuses instead on the Latinisms in the letter, which lends some credibility to the idea of Paul speaking Latin.


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