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• For example, while Paul, Silas and Barnabas are known for being the apostles to the Gentiles because they went west into Asia Minor and Europe, Peter and many of the other disciples were the apostles to the Jews. They went east, preaching the Gospel to communities of Jews scattered in the diaspora, scattered far and wide after the Babylonian exile and other events. Because those Jewish communities had Aramaic as the language that united them historically over time, because the disciples themselves in Israel spoke Aramaic, and because those scattered Jews now spoke Aramaic as a result of the Babylonian exile, it was entirely natural for Aramaic to be the language for the preaching to be done. The Gospels were first written in Aramaic, and Aramaic was the language used for Paul’s epistles and the other New Testament writings.