How knoweth this man letters, having never learned? — John, 7:15.
AT the time Jesus the Christ was teaching the way of life, "letters," that is, the books of the Law and of the Prophets, accompanied by explanations and amplifications of the text, were the summary of learning among the Jews. This would seem, at first sight, simple enough and easy of achievement, but the text of the Scriptures was written in the Hebrew tongue, which had already become a dead language to the mass of the people, and was intelligible only to scholars, being made the groundwork of so many commentaries that a long period of study with noted teachers, or doctors, of the Law, like that of Paul at the feet of Gamaliel, was thought necessary before a man could be considered learned and be recognized as a teacher.
The Gospels give no indications of Jesus having had such a course of instruction. He remained subject to his parents, in 'his own home apparently, for, as Mark tells us, he was known to his townsfolk as "the carpenter." His language was that of the people whom he would teach, for biblical scholars find in it the tokens of a knowledge of the various tongues spoken in Palestine; "Greek and Aramaic, as well as slight indications that he was acquainted with Latin and with Hebrew" (F. W. Farrar, "Life of Christ"). Whether Jesus spoke Aramaic to the country people, or Greek to the mixed populations of the cities, his language was simple, strong, and always befitting the subject, calling forth admiration from the simple and from the learned; to this day an example of perfect expression. As Archdeacon Farrar, quoted above, says. "His teachers, humanly speaking, were the books of Scripture, of nature, and of life, and the voice of God within his soul."
