<P> Biblical Aramaic is the form of Aramaic that is used in the books of Daniel, Ezra and a few other places in the Hebrew Bible . It should not be confused with the Aramaic paraphrases, explanations and expansions of the Jewish scriptures, which are known as targumim . </P> <P> As Old Aramaic had served as a lingua franca in the Neo-Assyrian Empire from the 8th century BCE, linguistic contact with even the oldest stages of Biblical Hebrew is easily accounted for . </P>

Which books of the bible are written in aramaic