jesus

bible July 14, 2018

John 12:3 why would Mary wipe Jesus’ feet with her hair?

John 12:3 Mary then took a pound of very costly perfume of pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

I understand the significance of Mary letting her hair down – Jewish women seldom ever did this. What I don’t get is why she used her hair to wipe his feet. Hair is not absorbent nor is it useful for wiping anything.
Why wouldn’t she use her dress or scarf?
QUESTION: Why hair and not the cloth of her dress, even her forearm would have been more useful for this task if a towel was not available.

bible May 17, 2018

Does Mark’s and Matthew’s use of Aramaic indicate Jesus spoke more than one language?

Mark and Matthew record Jesus speaking Aramiac from the cross:

And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34 ESV)

And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46 ESV)

All other times they record Jesus words using the Greek language. It is accepted that Aramaic was the language Jesus spoke. However, it is obvious that many, if not all of the Apostles were able to communicate in both Aramaic and Greek (and probably knew Latin). So it seems likely that Jesus also was able to speak in both Aramaic and Greek.

Mark and Matthew are purposeful to make the point that when Jesus quoted Psalm 22 He used Aramaic. Consequently they are purposeful to exclude any possible confusion or claim that Jesus quoted the Greek translation of the Psalm, which in the Septuagint is significantly different at that point: ὁ θεὸς ὁ θεός μου πρόσχες μοι (O God, my God, take heed to me). Quoting the Greek lacks the personal pronoun at the beginning and would also have Jesus asking God to take heed of Him, something the Aramaic precludes.

While the use of the Aramaic quotation can be seen as purposeful to ensure Jesus correctly quotes the Psalm, it also gives reason to question the assertion that all of the other sayings of Jesus were exclusively spoken in Aramaic and translated into Greek.

What is the evidence Jesus spoke exclusively in Aramaic and never used the Greek language?