Informant38

Aramaic, an ancient Semitic language, was the lingua franca of the Middle East for many centuries. At the time of Jesus' life, Aramaic was the common language of the Jews. Hebrew was the language of government, religion and the upper classes.

{not that Jesus was killed by the Jews, that's like saying he was killed by humans. he was killed, executed, by "government, religion, and the upper classes"}