I was puzzled by David Bivin’s January/February column (“Understanding the Roots of the Bible”) [in Ministries Today (Strang Communications, Lake Mary, Florida)] inasmuch as Bivin makes a case against spelling the name Y’shua with an apostrophe.
Doesn’t the Bible Call Jesus a Rabbi?
From the Gospel accounts, Jesus clearly appears as a typical first-century Jewish sage, and was famous enough to draw students to himself.
What language did Jesus speak?
The following two articles by Shmuel Safrai are the most essential reading on this question: “Spoken Languages in the Time of Jesus” and “Literary Languages in the Time of Jesus.”
