Joseph's travels with his family to Egypt and Bethlehem were probably via caravan. People in those caravans likely spoke Greek and Latin to get from place to place. Why would it be implausible that Joseph would be among them, or that he [as a Jew!] would teach his children the importance of education and languages? Many cultures that are polylingual often switch smoothly from language to language in order to better express their meaning, all in a single conversation. I don't see why Jesus couldn't have done the same thing. If Jesus really is the Logos [i.e. reason and word] of God, then it would make sense that He would have had a natural gift for acquiring and mastering languages. Besides that, He grew up in a situation that would encourage it.
William Barclay wrote in chapter 2 of his book The Mind of Jesus the following:
QUOTE
//Throughout the silent years Jesus was learning to dream. Nazareth itself is tucked away in a hollow of the hills, a secluded little town. But the extraordinary thing about Nazareth was that the world passed almost by its door. It has been said that Judaea was on the way to nowhere and Galilee was on the way to everywhere, for the great roads of the East passed through Galilee. Jesus had only to climb the hilltop above the cup-like hollow of Nazareth and the passing world was at his feet. From there he could look down on the great Road of the Sea, the road which went from Damascus to Egypt, one of the greatest highways in the world with its merchantmen and its caravans. From there he could see the strategic Road of the East which went out from the Mediterranean coast to Parthia and to the eastern bounds of the Roman Empire with its Arab traders and its Roman legions clanking on their way. From there, if he looked westwards, he could see the blue waters of the Mediterranean, with the sails of the ships and the cargoes of those who do business in great waters.
So Jesus could climb the hilltop behind Nazareth, and from there he could see the roads coming and going to the ends of the earth. It was there that he must have dreamed his dreams, and it may be that it was there that something first said to him: 'I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself' (John 12:32).//
END QUOTE [bold added by me - AP]
F.F. Bruce wrote in chapter 4 of his The New Testament Documents: Are they Reliable?:
QUOTE
//Another interesting fact which comes to light when we try to reconstruct the original Aramaic in which our Lord's sayings in all the Gospels were spoken is that very many of these sayings exhibit poetical features. Even in a translation we can see how full they are of parallelism, which is so constant a mark of Old Testament poetry. When they are turned into Aramaic, however, they are seen to be marked by regular poetical rhythm, and even, at times, rhyme. This has been demonstrated in particular by the late Professor C. F. Burney in The Poetry of our Lord (1925). A discourse that follows a recognisable pattern is more easily memorised, and if Jesus wished His teaching to be memorised His use of poetry is easily explained. Besides, Jesus was recognised by His contemporaries as a prophet, and prophets in Old Testament days were accustomed to utter their oracles in poetical form. Where this form has been preserved, we have a further assurance that His teaching has been handed down to us as it was originally given.//
END QUOTE
Seeing
that Jesus used poetry, rhyme and puns in Aramaic, why would Jesus pass
up opportunities of making clever puns or play on words in Greek as in
the case of John 3? I don't see why He couldn't or wouldn't do so. We know that the conversation in John 3 with Nicodemus occurred under the cover of night (John 3:2).
Likely because he was trying to avoid people finding out that he wanted
to talk to Jesus. He was after all a Pharisee and a ruler of the Jews.
He might have spoken to Jesus in Greek in order to try to maintain his
anonymity, lest prying ears recognize his voice in Aramaic. While Jesus
may have accommodated him by responding in Greek as well. So, the
claim by some scholars that the conversation with Nicodemus couldn't
have been historical because it only works in Greek doesn't necessarily
follow. Lydia McGrew reminded me that Nicodemus is a Greek name and that might have some significance as to whether the conversation was in Greek.
See this fascinating lecture by D. Peter J. Williams where he presents a cumulative case for why it's likely Jesus (at times) publicly taught in Koine Greek:
"The Surprising Language of Jesus" by Peter J. Williams
https://youtu.be/wsx4r_1pigY
Did Jesus Speak Greek
by InspiringPhilosophy/Michael Jones
https://youtu.be/V1zVI5wuM8g?si=o5SC3dWMogamTnSG
Did Jesus Speak Greek? by Wesley Huff
See also my blogpost: Was Jesus Literate?
Also:
It's Greek to me by Steve Hays
Did Jesus Ever Teach in Greek? by Stanley E. Porter
Jesus and the Use of Greek: A Response to Maurice Casey by Stanley E. Porter
The Use of Greek in First-Century Palestine: A Diachronic and Syncrhronic Examination by Stanley E. Porter
Peter, Greek, and Ehrman
