Percent of Bible in Hebrew

Alan

Anyone know of a resource that lists the percentage of the Bible that is written in Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic? 

I know there would be a couple of ways to calculate that, I just can't figure out a way to search for that kind of information that give me good results. (even on google)

Alan

Scott E. Mahle

That information can be found in many good Bible dictionaries, study bibles, and encyclopedias like the ESV Study Bible and the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. These should allow you to calculate the percentages on your own.

In case you do not own the either of the highlighted resources, I’ve included the ISBE information below:

 

The OT, it is well known, is written mostly in Hebrew; the NT is written in Greek. The parts of the OT not in Hebrew, viz., Ezr. 4:8–6:18; 7:12–26; Jer. 10:11; Dnl. 2:4–7:28, are in Aramaic (formerly called Chaldean), a related dialect which after the Exile gradually displaced Hebrew as the spoken language of the Jews (see ARAMAIC; HEBREW LANGUAGE). The ancient Hebrew text was “unpointed,” i.e., without the vowelmarks that came into use as a result of the labors of the Masoretic scholars (after 6th cent. A.D.).

The Greek of the NT, on which so much light was thrown by the labors of Deissmann and others from the Egyptian papyri, showing it to be a form of the “common” or koinḗ (Hellenistic) speech of the time (see GREEK LANGUAGE), still remains—from its penetration by Hebrew ideas, the influence of the LXX, peculiarities of training and culture in the writers, and above all the vitalizing and transforming power of Christian conceptions in vocabulary and expression—a study by itself. “We impart this,” the apostle says, “in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit” (1 Cor. 2:13). This is not always remembered in the search for parallels in the papyri. (For translations into other languages, see VERSIONS.)

Harrison, R. K. (1979–1988). Bible. In G. W. Bromiley (Ed.), The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Revised (Vol. 1, p. 483). Wm. B. Eerdmans.