Chaldee Language

The Chaldee (or Aramaic) language is the term historically applied to the biblical portions written in Aramaic rather than Hebrew. These include Daniel 2:4b–7:28 and Ezra 4:8–6:18 and 7:12–26, along with a single verse in Jeremiah (10:11) and two words in Genesis 31:47. The designation Chaldee reflects the historical association of Aramaic with the Babylonian court, where it functioned as the diplomatic and administrative lingua franca of the ancient Near East from the seventh century BC onward. Modern scholarship prefers the term Biblical Aramaic. Its presence in the Hebrew Bible documents Israel's contact with the dominant international language of the exile period.