According to Peter G. Bour:

‘Given his environment, it is certainly possible that Jesus had some ability in Aramaic, Greek and Hebrew, and was able to use each in the appropriate setting.’

Pate cites Stanley Porter:

‘Jesus would probably be best described as productively multilingual in Greek and Aramaic, and possibly Hebrew, though only Aramaic would have been his first language, and Greek and Hebrew being second or acquired languages.’

Taking each of these three languages in turn:

1. Did Jesus know and speak Hebrew?

As recorded in Mk 7:1-23, Jesus speaks about ritual purity to three different audiences (the scribes and Pharisees, the crowd, and the disciples).  The question arises: Which language(s) did he use?  In particular, did he use Hebrew in his debates with the Jewish leaders?

Hebrew was the language of the scribal schools, and there is prima facie evidence that Jesus knew and used it.  Consider:

‘His extensive knowledge of the Old Testament, his recognition as a rabbi, his exposition in the synagogues (see especially Luke 4:16–20), and the probable eighteen-year-long continuation of the superior questioning he demonstrated when he was twelve.’

In vv6-13, Jesus:

‘uses three quotations from the Old Testament, numerous technical terms and one transliterated word, qorban – the exact term used by the Mishnah – and he then clearly (7:14) re-emerges to a more general setting.’

According to T.W. Manson, this indicates that Jesus used the language (Rabbinic Hebrew), terminology, and exegetical methods of the scribal schools.

2. Did Jesus know and speak Aramaic?

It is generally agreed that some form of Aramaic was the main language spoken by 1st-century Palestinian Jews, and therefore by Jesus himself.

The Gospels, although written in Greek, contain impressive evidence of an Aramaic substratum.

Jeremias notes that complete Aramaic clauses have sometimes survived in the record of Jesus’ sayings.  For example:

• talitha koum, ‘little girl, arise’ (Mark 5:41)
• eloi, eloi, lama sabachthani, ‘my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ (Mark 15:34)

Additionally, Jeremias has identified some 26 Aramaic words in Jesus’ teaching, including:

• abba (Mark 14:36);
• bar (Matt 16:17);
• satana (Mark 3:23, 26; etc.);
• mamona (Matt 6:24);
• rabbi (Matt 23:7f);
• sabbeta (Mark 3:4).
• gehinnam, Mark 9:43, 45, 47; etc.);
• Passover/Paschal (pascha, Mark 14:14).

Further: many expressions occur that are idiomatic in Aramaic, but foreign to Greek and Hebrew.  For example:

ὀϕείλημα for guilt, sin, not just for a money debt (Matt 6:12);

the use of εἰς/ἐυ before cardinal numbers (Mark 4:8).

Then again:

‘scholars have also detected Aramaic style in the sayings, such as Semitic rhythms, alliteration and assonance, and parallelism.’

3. Did Jesus know and speak Greek?

Circumstantial evidence suggests that Jesus would have been able to converse in Greek:

• Greek [was] the lingua franca of the Roman world, and [there is] evidence for its presence in Palestine;
• Galilee was highly influenced by Greek culture;
• Nazareth was near Sepphoris and the Decapolis, where Hellenisation was strong;
• he was involved in a trade which brought him into contact with Greek speakers, as would his itinerant ministry;
• some of his disciples had Greek names and so could have been Greek speakers.

(Bulleting added)

Marvin Pate (40 Questions about the Historical Jesus) writes:

‘Stanley E. Porter has convincingly argued that Jesus was conversant in Greek, which he used in dialogue with Gentiles in Palestine. Porter identifies seven episodes in the Gospels where Jesus used Greek in speaking with non-Jews or upper class Jews:

 

1. Jesus’ conversation with the centurion or commander (but the Johannine account diverges in terms of wording; Matt. 8:5–13 = John 4:46–54).
2. Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan woman (John 4:4–26).
3. Jesus’ calling of Levi/Matthew (Mark 2:13–14 = Matt. 9:9 = Luke 5:27–28).
4. Jesus’ conversation with the Syrophoenician or Canaanite woman (Mark 7:25–30 = Matt. 15:21–28).
5. Jesus’ conversation with the Pharisees and Herodians over the Roman coin of Caesar (Mark 12:13–17 = Matt. 22:16–22 = Luke 20:20–26).
6. Jesus’ conversation with his disciples at Caesarea Philippi (Mark 8:27–30 = Matt. 16:13–20 = Luke 9:18–21).
7. Jesus’ trial before Pilate (Mark 15:2–5 = Matt. 27:11–14 = Luke 23:2–4 = John 18:29–38).

 

This stands to reason since Jesus was a craftsman who did business in Galilee with Gentiles.’

Pate concludes:

‘We are on firm ground when we say, with many New Testament scholars and classicists, that three languages were spoken in Palestine: Aramaic mostly, but also some Hebrew and Greek. Jesus too was conversant with the same three. He probably read and taught in Aramaic as his first language, but he could also understand and speak in Hebrew and Greek. (We should also note that Jesus may have known Latin due to the presence of the Roman occupation of Israel). So could the inspired authors of the four Gospels, who translated Jesus’ Aramaic and Hebrew words into Greek, although sometimes they decided to leave some Aramaic and Hebrew words of Jesus in those original languages along with some conversations he had in Greek. Interestingly enough, many modern day Israelis and Palestinian Arabs also understand three languages, which are placed on all road signs: modern Hebrew (which is European in derivation), Arabic, and English.’

See The Routledge Encyclopedia of the Historical Jesus, art. ‘Aramaic and the Ipsissima Verba Jesu’ Peter G. Bour)[/su_box]