* His Jewish background: Paul was born into a Jewish family in Tarsus, a city with a large Jewish population. It was common for Jews at that time to be bilingual, speaking both Hebrew (the language of scripture and religious practice) and Aramaic (the everyday language of the region).
* His education: Paul received a Jewish education, likely including study of the Hebrew scriptures, which would have required knowledge of Hebrew.
* His interactions with Jewish communities: Paul's missionary work frequently involved interacting with Jewish communities, making fluency in Hebrew and Aramaic essential for communication and debate.
However, there is no evidence that St. Paul wrote any manuscripts in either Hebrew or Aramaic. All of his writings, which are contained in the New Testament, are in Greek. This was the common language of the Roman Empire and the lingua franca of intellectual discourse at the time.
There are several reasons why Paul may have written in Greek:
* Wider audience: Greek allowed Paul to reach a broader audience across the Roman world.
* Existing traditions: The tradition of writing about religious matters in Greek was well-established by the time Paul wrote.
* Scholarly discourse: Greek was the language of philosophy and intellectual debate, which would have been crucial for Paul's theological arguments.
While there's no evidence of Paul writing in Hebrew or Aramaic, his background and activities suggest a strong fluency in these languages. This fluency would have been essential for his life and ministry.