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I'm wondering which parts of the bible were written in Aramaic? I believe certain parts of Daniel were written in Aramaic. Which parts exactly and is there anywhere else in the bible that were written in Aramaic?

I'm also wondering if the parts of the bible which were written in the Aramaic language also make use of Aramaic script in the original manuscripts, or do they use Hebrew script instead? (So as to fit in with the rest of the scriptures) If this is the case, it would be possible for someone who doesn't understand Hebrew or Aramaic to read the original manuscripts and not realise that the language had changed, because the script is the same.

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  • Most of what you've asked is answered in Wikipedia - perhaps give that a read and then edit this to just ask the follow up questions?
    – curiousdannii ♦
    Commented Mar 13, 2017 at 7:13
  • To the best of my knowledge, there are few "oiginal manuscripts" of books of the Bible available to be read, in either Hebrew or Aramaic.
    – brasshat
    Commented Mar 13, 2017 at 7:57
  • Note that the current Hebrew alphabet is derived from a specific hand of the Aramaic alphabet, picked up by the Jews during the Babylonian Captivity — in fact, the previous paleo-Hebrew alphabet (or a script derived from it) is still used by the Samaritans, who remained in Judaea during the exile in Babylonia.
    – Wtrmute
    Commented Mar 13, 2017 at 13:51

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Daniel Chapter 2 from the second part of verse 4 through the end of Chapter 7 is in written in the Aramaic language and with same script as the Hebrew scriptures. There are several less substantial occurences of Aramaic in the Hebrew scriptures detailed here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblical_Aramaic. All of the Hebrew scriptures are written with the same script.

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There are two versions of the Aramaic Scriptures - the Targumim and the Peshitta. There are probably many here more knowledgeable than I here, but I think that the Targumim were completed about a century before Christ, and the Peshitta about a century or so afterwards. The Targumim are written in a Hebrew script and includes only the Old Testament, whereas the Peshitta was written in Syriac script and includes both Old and New Testaments.

I don't think that there is consensus among scholars about which of the books of the Old Testament were originally written in Aramaic, but there seems to be some evidence that the Book of Daniel was written originally in Aramaic and not Hebrew (If I am wrong, I am sure I will be swiftly corrected).

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    The Targumim and Peshitta are translations, not versions of the original.
    – Dov F
    Commented Mar 30, 2018 at 1:38

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