Letters and Communication from the Biblical World

In the ancient world, communications were sent by messenger. In many cases, the messenger was given an oral message to repeat to the recipient and would then carry back the oral reply; in other cases, for greater accuracy and reliability, he carried a written message that he might read aloud to the recipient or hand over for a literate recipient to read himself. Letters permitted the transmission of messages over distance (and also over time, although that was not their main purpose). Proper communication was essential, and miscommunication was to be avoided. Thus Proverbs 13:17 cautions: “Harm befalls a wicked messenger; a faithful courier brings healing.”

Written messages were commonly used throughout the ancient Near East for diplomatic correspondence—between independent states or empires and between the central government or royal court and its provincial officers; for communications to and from battlefields and outposts; for legal purposes such as petitions, summonses, and evidence; and for personal matters. The Persian Empire was known for its well-developed communication system; a network of couriers on fast horses delivered messages, including royal decrees, throughout the empire.

Letters were even used for religious purposes; prayers and prophecies could be written in the form of a letter. In the Hebrew Bible, letters could be created for literary purposes (e.g., David’s Letter to Joab in 2 Samuel 11:14–15), just as other real-life genres could. Although letters commonly open with the name of the recipient and the sender as well as a blessing or greeting, many letters within the biblical narrative lack these elements and give only the body of the letter or part of it or a summary of its contents. In biblical books from the Persian period, like Ezra-Nehemiah, letters play a prominent role. By Greco-Roman times, letters, or epistles (e.g., those in the New Testament), had become a recognized literary genre, which continues into modern times (see, e.g., the epistolary novel, which is composed of letters).

Hebrew and Aramaic letters were written on papyrus and on ostraca. Because papyrus does not survive in moist climates, the only letters from the land of Israel that remain from ancient times are those that were written on ostraca. Numerous letters in Aramaic have survived in Egypt because of its dry climate. The letters are difficult to decipher because they are often in fragmentary condition or their ink has faded. They have syntactic difficulties and, in addition, sometimes allude to matters known to the recipient but not to us.