In the 1st century A.D., the official language of Israel—at least in its written, administrative, and intellectual spheres—was Greek. This may surprise those who assume Aramaic, Hebrew, or even Latin held that role, but the evidence points decisively to Greek as the dominant medium of law, commerce, and literature. Local laws were drafted in Greek under Roman administration, following the Hellenistic legacy of the region. Trade, facilitated by the interconnected Mediterranean world, relied heavily on Greek as the lingua franca. Jewish authors, including Philo of Alexandria and Flavius Josephus, penned their works in Greek, not Aramaic or Hebrew. Contrary to popular belief, the notion that Aramaic was the primary written language of Israel lacks historical grounding.