Koine Greek Becomes the Common Language

By the first century BCE, Koine (common) Greek had been the Mediterranean world's shared language for over two hundred years, a legacy of Alexander the Great's conquests. Roman elites spoke it, merchants traded in it, and Jewish communities across the diaspora used it daily. The Septuagint had already translated the Hebrew scriptures into Greek. When the New Testament authors sat down to write, they chose the language that would reach the widest possible audience.