Saadia Gaon

[Paul Younan]

Shlama Akhi bar-Khela,

I am sure that Abraham, living in Mesopotamia, was well versed in Akkadian. But you have to remember that the tribes he came from were the Chaldean tribes. The Chaldeans were 5 tribes who invaded southern Mesopotamia from Aram. They spoke Aramaic. They were not natives to Mesopotamia (like the Sumerians, Babylonian and Assyrians.)

The Chaldeans were late-comers. They were invaders from the deserts of Aram. They spoke Aramaic.

Abraham was probably bi-lingual in both Akkadian and his native Chaldee (Aramaic.)

This is why Jacob is called a "wandering Aramean" in the Old Testament. If Jacob was an "Aramean", then his father Isaac was also an Aramean. If Isaac was an "Aramean", then his father Abraham was an Aramean - and his half-brother Ishmael was 50% Aramean and 50% Egyptian.

That's why Hebrew and Arabic share 80-90% of their vocabulary with Aramaic - they both descend from "wandering Arameans."