In what language was the Bible first written?
Almost all of the Old Testament books were written in Hebrew. However, parts of the books of Daniel and Ezra were written in Aramaic. The New Testament books were written in Koine Greek, the common language of the street and marketplace in the first century (as opposed to Classical Greek, the more formal language of philosophy and legal matters). By the time the New Testament was written, however, there was already a translation of the Old Testament into Greek. This translation is called the Septuagint, from the Greek word for seventy. Tradition has it that 72 scholars completed the translation in 72 days. Sometimes the Septuagint is abbreviated as LXX.
