The Language of Instruction in the Corinthian Church

A look at the ancient Jewish rite of instruction in Hebrew with an immediate translation into Aramaic or local vernacular. How it potentially impacted the earliest Corinthian assembly and how this rite evolved in the church.

The tradition of Jewish instructors speaking in Hebrew lasted for centuries. It is no longer practiced in synagogues today but was an important function in Judaism around the first-century. This little-known practice had an important part to play in the Jewish identity, and as will be shown, was a factor in the tongues conflict in Corinth.

In order to better explain this practice and make an association with the Corinthian gathering, we must go into ancient Jewish literature and examine citations from a number of prominent Jewish authorities. For those not familiar with Jewish writings outside the Bible, their observations are obscure on the first read and takes some contemplation.

The premise of this article is built on the foundation of Epiphanius, Bishop of Salamis. He asserted that the problem tongues of Corinth started with the instruction in Hebrew. The problem conflated when the dominantly Greek speaking audience argued which Greek language be standard for the interpretation. It was a conflict between Attic, Doric, and Aeolic speakers.¹

The Rite of Speaking and Interpreting in the Jewish Babylonian World

Any discussion on the role of Hebrew as a sacred language of instruction will inevitably land on the passage from the Talmud Babli Yoma 20b. This passage refers to two Rabbis who lived in the third-century: Rav Shela and Abba Arika. The narrative is about Rabbi Shela wanting to give a lecture in Hebrew which was demonstrated here as the language of Jewish religion and polity — a sacerdotal tongue. In order to perform such a task, a third-party was required to translate it into Aramaic. Abba Arika, often referred to as Rav, offered to provide the translation. While Shela was lecturing, he mentioned call of the rooster and Rav translated it as call of the man. These words call of the rooster and call of the man are almost identical in Hebrew. The words go back into an academic dispute between Jewish scholars on when the priests in the Temple were to wake up and begin their duties. Shela admonished Rav for taking too much liberty in translating. Rav parlayed back that he couldn’t translate it that way because Shela was entirely wrong on this point and demonstrated the thoughts of an uneducated man.

The text makes Hebrew instruction with an immediate translation into Aramaic a standard procedure during this time and also the problems associated with this custom.

Here is the actual Talmudic text in English with a link to the original source in the footnote:

Rab came to the place of R. Shila, when there happened to be no interpreter to stand next to R. Shila, so Rab took the stand next to him and interpreted, ‘keriath hageber’ as ‘the call for the man’. R. Shila said to him Would you, Sir, interpret it as: Cockrow! Rab replied: ‘A flute is musical to nobles, but give it to weavers, they will not accept it’.²

This passage used two different words to define the concept of interpreter. The first one was אמורא Amora. The Jewish Encyclopedia explains that this term had two functions. The first one represented all the Rabbinic teachers that flourished during a period of about three hundred years, from the time of the death of the patriarch R. Judah I. (219) to the completion of the Babylonian Talmud (about 500)³ The second definition applies here. “While the lecturer generally pronounced his sentences in the academic language, which was chiefly Hebrew, the Amora gave his explanations in Aramaic. . .”⁴ The article states that the term Amora as an interpreter or translator was a later usage to that of the word meturgeman and often was interchanged with it.

The second word used for interpreter is פרש peresh — to interpret, expound, clarify.

Understanding the word interpret in I Corinthians 14 is one of the keys to unlocking what Paul meant. The Syriac version of this passage is especially helpful which is ܦܫܩ pashek. J. Payne Smith’s Dictionary describes at as to explain, expound, to write commentaries, to translate. The dictionary demonstrated how the word ܦܫܩ was used in the Syrian Church: “he expounds the Six Days of Creation to the congregation,” which exemplifies the fact that Paul wasn’t meaning interpreter to be a literal word for word translation from one language to another but it could be dynamic, or amplified.⁵

The Syriac presents the idea that whatever translation was given, just like the incident mentioned with Rav Shela above, wasn’t necessarily a literal word-for-word translation, but an amplified version given by the interpreter that the people could understand. If the concept is taken a step further, peresh could allow an interpreter become too stylistic, or promoting his own oratorical skills at the expense of the original speaker. This may have been a contributor to the Corinthian saga as well.

Rashi on Hebrew Instruction and Interpretation

Almost any analysis on the Talmud will take the researcher to the eleventh-century French medieval Rabbi Rashi. His concise commentary and analysis gives him the classification of one the great writers of the Jewish world. His critiques and analysis are on the same high level as Maimonides and Thomas Aquinas. He chose to explain further the mechanics between the teacher and the interpreter:

The one who interprets stands beside a sage who gives the homily and the sage whispers the Hebrew language to him and he translates to the common language they hear in.⁶

Where Rashi got the idea of the Sage whispering to the translator is not known. This may be a much later tradition than Paul’s time.

The Absence of Naming Hebrew in the Pauline Text

Paul was purposely being vague because of the ethnic tensions between the traditional Aramaic Jews, the Hellenized Jews who were eager not to lose their ancient Jewish language and customs, and Greek adherents who came from different Doric, Aeolic, and Attic linguistic backgrounds. If he took a side with any of them by naming a certain language, or showing a preference for one over the other, he would have potentially started a split; alienating one group from another. He was in a very difficult position. His reply showed that he was interested in establishing an effective teaching methodology within the parameters of traditional Judaism that assisted both the Greek and Aramaic Jewish layperson, along with Greek converts in learning. He was emphatic that education was the priority, language was secondary to this goal.

The Possibility of Aramaic as the Language of Instruction

Saul Lieberman outlines in his book, Greek In Jewish Palestine, that certain practices within the third-century could discount the Hebrew theory and replace it with Aramaic. He stated that when Jewish preachers went into Greek towns, they preached in Aramaic.⁷

This comment by Lieberman is along the same line of reasoning with a Latin work called the Ambrosiastor text. If we link these two pieces, then Aramaic was the central problem. This conclusion provides a compelling alternative to the Hebrew instruction theory. However, Hebrew instruction has a little bit more substantiation, but not decisively. I put it at 55-45% for Hebrew.

It is a confusing triangle of languages. The reader must be aware of this.

The Changing Office of the Interpreter

The Epiphanius text believed the practice of instruction and reading in Hebrew was still being performed in the earliest Corinthian Church. Yet there is one difference between Paul’s exhortation and two hundred years or so later to the time of Rav Shila–during Paul’s time a teacher instructing in Hebrew could provide his own translation.

Therefore, one who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret.⁸

Rabbinic tradition during Rav Shila’s time did not allow for a person to translate their own speech. Someone else was obligated to do the translation.

On the other hand as one reads on in the I Corinthians letter, Paul prefers that when someone speaks in a foreign language before the assembly of believers that a third-party interpreter/expositor be utilized.

If any speak in a tongue, let there be only two or at most three, and each in turn, and let someone interpret. But if there is no one to interpret, let each of them keep silent in church and speak to himself and to God.⁹

As to Hebrew being the language of instruction, it probably died within the first forty years after the founding of the assembly of Corinth—maybe even earlier. The Jewish revolt and Rome’s sacking of the Temple in Jerusalem in 70 AD led to a widespread distrust of anything relating to anyone belonging to the Jewish race. Any symbols or practices would have been less apparent or even removed for fear of anti-Jewish sentiments especially in a major Roman-ruled city such as Corinth. This was even more apparent under the emperorship of Domitian (81–96 AD), “where there was scarcely a Jew to be seen (in the Roman Empire) during his reign.”¹⁰ He also sought to destroy all the family members of the Davidic line in order to maintain perpetual control.¹¹

The fateful decision to excommunicate the entire Jewish-Christian movement by the decree called the Birkat ha-Minim¹² from the Jewish world somewhere around 90 AD also may have accelerated the loss of the Hebrew language and Jewish identity in the fledgling movement.

The changing demographic influenced the removal of Hebrew as well. The common Greek adherents began to outnumber the Jewish ones in all the assemblies. II Clement, a text written somewhere between 95 and 140 AD by an unknown author, hints about the occurrence within this 45-year window.

And about this, it is said; that the many children of the desolate are more than the woman who has the virtuous man. Seeing that the desolate was supposed to be those of us people distant from God, yet now, having come to an active state of belief, we have become more numerous than those supposedly that have God.^13 14

Greek Overtakes Hebrew as the Sacred Language in the Church

Afterwards, Greek took over Hebrew as the primary language in the church. Saul Lieberman asserted this in his findings. He referred to a church in Scythopolis and focused on a man named Procopius to assert this claim. Procopius lived during the late 200s (AD). Scythopolis was a populated Greek city slightly below the Sea of Galilee and a little west of the Jordan River. Today it is known as Bet She’an. He explains that speakers and interpreters’ roles continued in the church, albeit in a slightly different form.

On the other hand, Eusebius informs us that Procopius was (around 286) a Reader and Interpreter from Greek into Aramaic in the church of Scythopolis. In the Hellenized town of Scythopolis it was necessary to render a Greek passage in Aramaic before the people could understand it! But Zahn is quite right in his remark that whereas the Biblical lessons, the liturgy and the sermons in the church of Scythopolis were in Greek, there was need of an Aramaic translator for the benefit of the peasants who attended the church. Probably even the peasants knew the limited practical everyday vocabulary of Greek, but explanations by an interpreter (תרגומן) in the mother-tongue of the masses were quite welcome.¹⁵

Lieberman refers to an author named Zahn on this topic. The original quote and text from Zahn has not been located. Fortunately, and more important, the actual Eusebius text is available and narrates about Procopius:

His family was from Baishan; and he ministered in the orders of the Church in three things :–First, he had been a Reader; and in the second order he translated from Greek into Aramaic; and in the last, which is even more excellent than the preceding, he opposed the powers of the evil one, and the devils trembled before him.¹⁶

It is not clear whether Procopius translated homilies given in Greek into Aramaic during the service, or performed this function for other needs. However, the overall structure appears to support that he was a translator for the homily done in Greek.

A female traveller named Egeria provides an important piece to the puzzle. She lived in the late 300s AD and made a pilgrimage to Israel and surrounding areas. She came from Europe, but it is unknown exactly where. Neither does anyone know who she came with, or how she was funded. All that exists today is a portion of her letters which contains important information about early christian worship in Israel. Her work is called Peregrinatio or Itinerarium Egeriae. In it she wrote:

3. Now, forasmuch as in that province some of the people know both Greek and Syriac, while some know Greek alone and others only Syriac; and because the bishop, although he knows Syriac, yet always speaks Greek, and never Syriac, there is always a priest standing by who, when the bishop speaks Greek, interprets into Syriac, that all may understand what is being taught.

4. And because all the lessons that are read in the church must be read in Greek, he always stands by and interprets them into Syriac, for the people’s sake, that they may always be edified. Moreover, the Latins here, who understand neither Syriac nor Greek, in order that they be not disappointed, have (all things) explained to them, for there are other brothers and sisters knowing both Greek and Latin, who translate into Latin for them.¹⁷

She clearly demonstrated that the church indeed had inherited the ancient practice of speakers/interpreters. She also reinforced that Greek was the primary language. Aramaic (called Syriac in her text) was secondary while Hebrew had no place in this paradigm. Egeria’s description also substantiates Procopius as an official interpreter in this rite.

Do the Jews still Practice Speaking/Interpreting in Synagogues Today?

The public reading of Hebrew is still practised and, furthermore, is part of the traditional rite of Jewish children moving into adulthood.

The interpreter has a different trajectory. The interpreter, known in Hebrew as the Meturgamen later became an odious name. Those who held such an office took too much liberty for their own gain. A Jewish work called, Ecclesiastes Rabbah compiled somewhere between the sixth-to-eighth centuries of earlier sources, remarked about the abuse of the interpreter’s office.

“It is better to hear the rebuke of a wise man,” —these are the expositors [darshanim] “than for a man to hear the song of the fools,” —these are the interpreters [meturgemanin] who raise their voices in song for the people to be entertained.^18 19 20

Jonathon Magonet, a British rabbi theologian,²¹ gives some context to the quote:

This is hardly a generous view of either the translators or the congregation they address. Unlike the darshanim who seek, together with their small circle of disciples, to explore the depths of meaning within a text, the translators must simplify their interpretation so as to make it accessible to a congregation of differing levels of knowledge and ability to comprehend.²²

Magonet was unsure about why the meturgemanin (plural for meturgeman) was denigrated²³ but the text clearly spells out the problem. The office was more out for personal ambition and entertainment of the audience than teaching them any substance. The act of properly interpreting a text had a secondary or even tertiary function.

The meturgeman office was phased out, but it is not known exactly when, though it is assumed somewhere around the sixth-century.

Conclusion

If one takes face-value the information provided, Paul was referencing the the one who speaks in a tongue as one teaching or lecturing in Hebrew. The interpreter was the speaker or another person familiar with both Hebrew and the target language, translating it on the fly. Paul mentioned in I Corinthians 14:13 that a person who speaks in a foreign unnamed tongue should himself interpret it. I Corinthians 14:28 outlines two conditions that govern whether a teacher should refrain from teaching. We will assume once again he is thinking about Hebrew here, though it is not listed in his actual text. Firstly, if the teacher speaking in Hebrew is not familiar with the local language and cannot translate it himself. The second is when a third party familiar with both Hebrew and the local language is not available to translate. The teacher should remain silent.

This was the environment Paul was up against in writing his letter to the Corinthians. It was a church composed of Jewish-Hebrew, Jewish-Aramaic, Jewish-Greek, and non-Jewish Greek members. It was a time where all things of religious faith were allowed to be reexamined, especially in the context of Jewish tradition; what rituals were to be included from previous liturgical traditions, what were to be removed, and what new traditions should be started. The Jewish tradition was the underlying base. The Church was both restorative to the ancient Jewish identity but forward looking at the same time. It was more inclusive of many different ethnic groups and practices. Paul seemed unconcerned about the language issue itself but wanted to maintain some type of order so that all these different language speaking groups could operate cohesively together.

If one reads the Pauline passage with the idea of Hebrew or Aramaic as the language of instruction and understands the Jewish structure of speaking and interpretation in Jewish tradition as outlined in this series, the text is clearly understood. It is not a mystical out-of-this-world experience but the re-imaging of Jewish structure in a newly established branch of Judaism.■

This is part of a series on Corinth which attempts to correlate the mystery rite of tongues outlined in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians with the standard Jewish liturgy of the time.

For more information on this series go to Introduction to the tongues of Corinth

NEXT ➡ Lightfoot on the Problem Tongues of Corinth.

1. For more information see Epiphanius on the Problem Tongues of Corinth
2. Talmud Babli Yoma 20b. As found as a pdf at halakhah.com There are no page numbers. The pdf is attributed to Tarmo Jeskanen as the author. See also Yoma 20b in the original
3. Amora as found in the Jewish Encylopedia.
4. Amora as found in the Jewish Encylopedia.
5. J. Payne Smith’s (Mrs. Margoliouth) A Compendious Syriac Dictionary. Pg 468 as found at Dukhrana’s website.
6. My translation Yoma 20b לא היה אמורא – מתורגמן העומד לפני חכם הדרשן והחכם לוחש לו לשון עברית והוא מתרגם לרבים לשון שהן שומעין:
7. Saul Lieberman. Greek in Jewish Palestine. Philadelphia: Press of the Jewish Publication Society. 1942. Pg. 2
8. https://biblia.com/bible/1Corinthians14. (ESV) There are many English translations that lose this nuance. However, the above translation best reflects the Greek text. διὸ ὁ λαλῶν γλώσσῃ προσευχέσθω ἵνα διερμηνεύῃ.
9. https://biblia.com/bible/1Corinthians14. (ESV)
10. Gedaliah Alon. The Jews in their Land in the Talmudic Age. Vol. I Jerusalem: The Magnes Press. 1980. Pg. 128
11. Gedaliah Alon. The Jews in their Land in the Talmudic Age. Vol. I Jerusalem: The Magnes Press. 1980.Pg. 156
12. Gedaliah Alon. The Jews in their Land in the Talmudic Age. Vol. I Jerusalem: The Magnes Press. 1980. Pg. 307
13. My translation from MPG. Vol. 1. Clement. *Epistola II Ad Corinthios.* Chapter II. Col. 333. MPG incorrectly identified this as a legitimate text of Clement of Rome. Later research has indicated this is not the case. It is uncertain about the original author.
14. Ὅ δὲ εἷπεν, ὅτι πολλὰ τὰ τέκνα τῆς ἐρήμου, μᾶλλον ἤ τῆς ἐχούσης τὸν ἄνδρα· ἐπεὶ ἔρημος ἐδόκει εἶναι ἀπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ ὁ λαὸς ἡμῶν, νυνὶ δὲ πιστεύσαντες, πλείονες ἐγνόμεθα τῶν δοκούντων ἔχειν Θεόν. MPG. Vol. 1. Clement. *Epistola II Ad Corinthios.* Chapter II. Col. 333. For alternative translations see, earlychristianwritings.com
15. Saul Lieberman. Greek In Jewish Palestine. Philadelphia: Press of the Jewish Publication Society. 1942. Pg. 2
16. Eusebius of Caesarea: The History of the Martyrs in Palestine (1861). Translated by William Cureton. http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/eusebius_martyrs.htm
17. http://users.ox.ac.uk/~mikef/durham/egetra.html. Based on the translation reproduced in Louis Duchesme’s Christian Worship (London, 1923)
18. My translation adapted from Jonathon Magonet, “The Jewish Sermon,” as found in Die Predigt Des Alten Testaments. Beiträge des Symposiums « Das Alte Testament und die Kultur der Moderne. » Wallace J. Alston, Christian Möller editors. Münster—Hamburg—London: LIT Verlag. 2003. Pg. 85.
19. The source text is found at https://www.sefaria.org/Kohelet_Rabbah.7.5.1?lang=bi.
20. This is a play on the Book of Ecclesiastes 7:5 found in the Bible. Here is the original source text: http://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/16468/jewish/Chapter-7.htm
21. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Magonet
22. Jonathon Magonet, “The Jewish Sermon,” as found in Die Predigt Des Alten Testaments. Beiträge des Symposiums « Das Alte Testament und die Kultur der Moderne. » Wallace J. Alston, Christian Möller editors. Münster—Hamburg—London: LIT Verlag. 2003. Pg. 85.
23. “It is not altogether clear what is the precise fault committed by the meturgamanin, those who provided the congregation with the Aramaic translation of the Biblical passage being read in the synagogue, and also gave explanatory additions.” “The Jewish Sermon,” Pg. 85