Did the Gospels give to us the exact words of Jesus, or are they a "paraphrased" recording of them?

[JesusFan]

Were the Gospel recording for us exact verbatim, or were they more summarizing His main points to us?

 

[David Lamb]

Were the Gospel recording for us exact verbatim, or were they more summarizing His main points to us?

Well, as I understand it, the New Testament was written mainly in Greek, with a few words of Aramaic. Jesus spoke in Aramaic, so most of his words at least were in translation, not the exact words he said.

 

[JesusFan]

Well, as I understand it, the New Testament was written mainly in Greek, with a few words of Aramaic. Jesus spoke in Aramaic, so most of his words at least were in translation, not the exact words he said.

So we are getting the gist, the summary, of what he spoke then, correct?

 

[Deacon]

So we are getting the gist, the summary, of what he spoke then, correct?

...the inspired gist.

 

[David Lamb]

So we are getting the gist, the summary, of what he spoke then, correct?

Not necessarily a summary, but a translation. However, if what John wrote about what Jesus did is true, I am sure the same applies to what He said:

“And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen.” (Joh 21:25 NKJV)

 

[JesusFan]

Not necessarily a summary, but a translation. However, if what John wrote about what Jesus did is true, I am sure the same applies to what He said:

“And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen.” (Joh 21:25 NKJV)

So while not the exact wording of Jesus, would be enough to know what he was attempting to teach to us then?

 

[David Lamb]

So while not the exact wording of Jesus, would be enough to know what he was attempting to teach to us then?

Yes, I believe so.