--- description: The Pontiff set Benjamin Netanyahu straight on Jesus' language title: Pope Francis Corrects Benjamin Netanyahu on Jesus Speaking Hebrew image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6138e34b322d3aff/698690ea35ba6f189fc02247/pope-francis4.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Pope Corrects Israeli Leader: Actually, Jesus Did Not Speak Hebrew by [Elizabeth Dias](/author/elizabeth-dias/) ## Elizabeth Dias Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 27, 2014 12:58 PM CUT  26 May 2014, Jerusalem, Israel --- Pope Francis walks in front of the Dome of the Rock as he visits the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, in Jerusalem's Old City on May 25, 2014\. The pontiff was welcomed by Prince Ghazi bin Mohamed of Jordan, the Jordanian King's personal representative and special adviser on religious matters, whose country is overseeing all Muslim and Christian religious sites in Al-Quds since the 1950s. (Photo by Haim Zach / GPO/ Pool /NurPhoto) --- Image by © GPO/ Pool/NurPhoto/Corbis 26 May 2014, Jerusalem, Israel --- Pope Francis walks in front of the Dome of the Rock as he visits the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, in Jerusalem's Old City on May 25, 2014\. The pontiff was welcomed by Prince Ghazi bin Mohamed of Jordan, the Jordanian King's personal representative and special adviser on religious matters, whose country is overseeing all Muslim and Christian religious sites in Al-Quds since the 1950s. (Photo by Haim Zach / GPO/ Pool /NurPhoto) --- Image by © GPO/ Pool/NurPhoto/CorbisGPO/Pool/NurPhoto/Corbis by [Elizabeth Dias](/author/elizabeth-dias/) ## Elizabeth Dias Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 27, 2014 12:58 PM CUT Oops. One minute into [Benjamin Netanyahu’s sit down with Pope Francis](http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/1.595477 "undefined") on Monday, the Israeli prime minster found himself eating his words—words about Jesus, no less. “Jesus was here, in this land. He spoke Hebrew,” Netanyahu said, discussing the strong connection between Judaism and Christianity. Pope Francis looked up and slightly pointed his finger. “Aramaic,” he corrected. Netanyahu quickly recovered: “He spoke Aramaic, but he knew Hebrew.” The correction was gentle, even playful—typical Pope Francis style. Everyone smiled and laughed. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/118522/pope-corrects-israeli-leader-actually-jesus-did-not-speak-hebrew/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/118522/pope-corrects-israeli-leader-actually-jesus-did-not-speak-hebrew/"},"headline":"Pope Corrects Israeli Leader: Actually, Jesus Did Not Speak Hebrew","datePublished":"2014-05-27T12:58:13.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-21T07:15:10.697Z","description":"The Pontiff set Benjamin Netanyahu straight on Jesus' language","url":"https://time.com/118522/pope-corrects-israeli-leader-actually-jesus-did-not-speak-hebrew/","keywords":["Israel","Religion","Pope Francis topic","Benjamin Netanyahu","Bible","Jesus","faith","pope","TIME 100"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6138e34b322d3aff/698690ea35ba6f189fc02247/pope-francis4.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Elizabeth Dias","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/elizabeth-dias/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6138e34b322d3aff/698690ea35ba6f189fc02247/pope-francis4.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Pope Francis in Israel","caption":"Pope Francis in Israel","creditText":"GPO/Pool/NurPhoto/Corbis","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/118522/pope-corrects-israeli-leader-actually-jesus-did-not-speak-hebrew/","name":"Pope Corrects Israeli Leader: Actually, Jesus Did Not Speak Hebrew"}}]}] ```