Talmud zu Daniel 2:4

Rebbi Samuel bar Naḥman in the name of Rebbi Joḥanan: The Syriac language should not be unimportant in your eyes, for it is mentioned in the Torah, the Prophets, and the Hagiographs. In the Torah, it is written: “Laban called it the heap of testimony⁴⁸Gen. 31:47. Since Laban had to translate Jacob’s גַלְעֵד into Aramaic, it follows that he did not speak Hebrew.”. In Prophets, it is written: “So you shall say to them.⁵¹Jer. 10:11.” In Hagiographs, it is written: “The Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic.⁵²Dan. 2:4.” Rebbi Jonathan from Bet Gubrin said, four languages are good for use: The foreign language⁵³Greek. for song, Latin for war, Syriac for elegies, Hebrew for speech. Some people say, also Assyrian⁵⁴“Hebrew” square script, which originally is an Aramaic development of paleo-Hebrew. for writing. Assyrian has a script but no language⁵⁵Since it is used for Hebrew, Aramaic, Mandaic etc., Hebrew has a language but no script⁵⁶Once paleo-Hebrew script was abandoned.. They chose for them Assyrian script and Hebrew language⁵⁷This is a shortened version of a Babylonian tradition (by the “Heads of the Diaspora”) that Moses wrote the Torah in Hebrew script and language, Ezra wrote the Torah in Aramaic translation and Assyrian script, but the people chose Hebrew text and Assyrian (Aramaic) letters: Sanhedrin 21b; also cf. Megillah 1:11 (fol. 71b, line 67).. Why is its name called אֲשׁוּרִי? Because one is made happy in writing it⁵⁸The meaning of the sentence is not clear. One could translate: Because its writing is plain.. Rebbi Levi said, because they brought it with them from Assyria⁵⁹Square script is not found before the return from Mesopotamia, where the exiles lived mostly in the Aramaic-speaking Northern parts..