The writings of the New Testament were originally written in which language?

• A. Latin
• B. Greek
• C. Hebrew
• D. Aramaic

Answer: (B)

The writings of the New Testament were originally written in Koine Greek, the common written language of the eastern Mediterranean in the first century. This choice allowed the early Christian texts to be read across a wide audience in a culturally connected world where Greek served as the lingua franca for trade, philosophy, and administration.

Even though Jesus likely spoke Aramaic in daily life and some sayings in the Gospels preserve Aramaic words, the Gospel and epistle texts themselves were composed in Greek, not Aramaic. The Old Testament, by contrast, was written primarily in Hebrew, with some portions in Aramaic, which can add to confusion if one assumes the entire Bible started in a single language.

Latin later became a dominant language in Western Christianity, but that was after the original writings had already been produced. So Greek stands as the language of the original New Testament, with Aramaic influences present as embedded phrases rather than the primary language of composition.