Choosing the right language
You remember, I’m sure. Paul, the apostle, had been warned many times that he should not go back to Jerusalem. There were even prophets who warned him. He was so well known as the man who was defiling the Jewish faith, that his life was in danger. Stubborn, he went anyway – and almost got killed. In fact he would have been killed if he didn’t choose to speak the right language to the right individuals. Remember?
As Paul was about to be taken inside, he said to the commander, εἰ ἔξεστιν μοι εἶπειν τι πρὸς σέ; (“May I have a word with you?”) “Do you know Greek?” the commander asked, surprised.
So surprised, in fact, that the commander began to treat him with respect.
Just a few moments later, Paul needed to make a defense to the mob that had tried to kill him. The crowd had been acting just like that – a mindless mob driven by rumor and instinct. Paul turned to them, “Brethren and fathers,” he said, “listen to my defense which I now make before you.” And on hearing him address them in Hebrew, they kept all the more quiet…”