Hebrew language Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ==History== Hebrew belongs to the [[Canaanite languages|Canaanite group of languages]]. Canaanite languages are a branch of the [[Northwest Semitic languages|Northwest Semitic]] family of languages.<ref>Ross, Allen P. ''Introducing Biblical Hebrew'', Baker Academic, 2001.</ref> According to Avraham Ben-Yosef, Hebrew flourished as a spoken language in the [[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|Kingdoms of Israel]] and [[Kingdom of Judah|Judah]] during the period from about 1200 to 586 BCE.<ref> אברהם בן יוסף ,מבוא לתולדות הלשון העברית (Avraham ben-Yosef, Introduction to the History of the Hebrew Language), page 38, אור-עם, Tel-Aviv, 1981.</ref> Scholars debate the degree to which Hebrew was a spoken vernacular in ancient times following the [[Babylonian exile]] when the predominant international language in the region was [[Old Aramaic]]. Hebrew was extinct as a colloquial language by [[late antiquity]], but it continued to be used as a literary language, especially in Spain, as the language of commerce between Jews of different native languages, and as the liturgical language of Judaism, evolving various dialects of literary [[Medieval Hebrew]], until its [[Revival of the Hebrew language|revival as a spoken language]] in the late 19th century.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Share |first1=David L. |year=2017 |chapter=Learning to Read Hebrew |editor1-last=Verhoeven |editor1-first=Ludo |editor2-last=Perfetti |editor2-first=Charles |editor2-link=Charles Perfetti |title=Learning to Read Across Languages and Writing Systems |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t-w0DwAAQBAJ&q=%22colloquial%20usage%20ceased%20for%20some%22&pg=PA156 |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=156 |isbn=978-1-107-09588-5 |access-date=1 November 2017 |archive-date=8 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408152917/https://books.google.com/books?id=t-w0DwAAQBAJ&q=%22colloquial%20usage%20ceased%20for%20some%22&pg=PA156 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Fellman |first1=Jack |year=1973 |title=The Revival of a Classical Tongue: Eliezer Ben Yehuda and the Modern Hebrew Language |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eH_6deaHk8IC&q=%22hebrew%20died%20as%20a%20spoken%22&pg=PA12 |location=The Hague |publisher=Mouton |page=12 |isbn=978-90-279-2495-7 |access-date=1 November 2017 |archive-date=8 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408152918/https://books.google.com/books?id=eH_6deaHk8IC&q=%22hebrew%20died%20as%20a%20spoken%22&pg=PA12 |url-status=live }}</ref> ===Oldest Hebrew inscriptions=== {{Further|Paleo-Hebrew alphabet|Ancient Hebrew writings}} [[File:Silwan-inscr.jpg|thumb|The [[Royal Steward inscription|Shebna Inscription]], from the tomb of a royal steward found in [[Siloam]], dates to the 7th century BCE.]] In May 2023, Scott Stripling published the finding of what he claims to be the oldest known Hebrew inscription, a [[Mount Ebal curse tablet|curse tablet found at Mount Ebal]], dated from around 3200 years ago. The presence of the Hebrew [[Names of God in Judaism|name of god]], Yahweh, as three letters, ''Yod-Heh-Vav'' (YHV), according to the author and his team meant that the tablet is Hebrew and not Canaanite.<ref>{{cite journal | doi=10.1186/s40494-023-00920-9 | title="You are Cursed by the God YHW:" an early Hebrew inscription from Mt. Ebal | year=2023 | last1=Stripling | first1=Scott | last2=Galil | first2=Gershon | last3=Kumpova | first3=Ivana | last4=Valach | first4=Jaroslav | last5=Van Der Veen | first5=Pieter Gert | last6=Vavrik | first6=Daniel | journal=Heritage Science | volume=11 | s2cid=258620459 | doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.jpost.com/archaeology/article-743039 | title=Ancient tablet found on Mount Ebal predates known Hebrew inscriptions | date=14 May 2023 }}</ref> However, practically all professional archeologists and epigraphers apart from Stripling's team claim that there is no text on this object.<ref>{{Citation |title=See For Yourself: Analyzing the Ebal "Inscription" {{!}} Bible & Archaeology |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0Scp85Nlnk |access-date=2023-09-09 |language=en}}</ref> In July 2008, Israeli archaeologist [[Yosef Garfinkel|Yossi Garfinkel]] discovered [[Khirbet Qeiyafa ostracon|a ceramic shard]] at [[Khirbet Qeiyafa]] that he claimed may be the earliest Hebrew writing yet discovered, dating from around 3,000 years ago.<ref>{{cite news |work=BBC News |date=30 October 2008 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7700037.stm |title='Oldest Hebrew script' is found |access-date=3 March 2010 |archive-date=24 October 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101024053116/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7700037.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Hebrew University of Jerusalem|Hebrew University]] archaeologist [[Amihai Mazar]] said that the inscription was "proto-Canaanite" but cautioned that {{nowrap|"[t]he}} differentiation between the scripts, and between the languages themselves in that period, remains unclear", and suggested that calling the text Hebrew might be going too far.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/news/have-israeli-archaeologists-found-world-s-oldest-hebrew-inscription-1.256305 |title=Have Israeli Archaeologists Found World's Oldest Hebrew Inscription? |work=Haaretz |agency=AP |date=30 October 2008 |access-date=8 November 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110806071612/http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/news/have-israeli-archaeologists-found-world-s-oldest-hebrew-inscription-1.256305 |archive-date=6 August 2011 }}</ref> The [[Gezer calendar]] also dates back to the 10th century BCE at the beginning of the [[Monarchic period]], the traditional time of the reign of [[David]] and [[Solomon]]. Classified as [[Biblical Hebrew|Archaic Biblical Hebrew]], the calendar presents a list of seasons and related agricultural activities. The Gezer calendar (named after [[Gezer|the city]] in whose proximity it was found) is written in an old Semitic script, akin to the [[Phoenician alphabet|Phoenician]] one that, through the [[ancient Greece|Greeks]] and [[Etruscan civilization|Etruscans]], later became the [[Latin alphabet]] of [[ancient Rome]]. The Gezer calendar is written without any [[vowel]]s, and it does not use [[Mater lectionis|consonants to imply vowels]] even in the places in which later Hebrew spelling requires them. Numerous older tablets have been found in the region with similar scripts written in other Semitic languages, for example, [[Proto-Sinaitic script|Proto-Sinaitic]]. It is believed that the original shapes of the script go back to [[Egyptian hieroglyphs]], though the phonetic values are instead inspired by the [[acrophonic]] principle. The common ancestor of Hebrew and Phoenician is called [[Canaanite languages|Canaanite]], and was the first to use a Semitic alphabet distinct from that of Egyptian. One ancient document is the famous [[Mesha Stele|Moabite Stone]], written in the Moabite dialect; the [[Siloam inscription]], found near [[Jerusalem]], is an early example of Hebrew. Less ancient samples of Archaic Hebrew include the [[Lachish letters|ostraca found near Lachish]], which describe events preceding the final capture of Jerusalem by [[Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon|Nebuchadnezzar]] and the Babylonian captivity of 586 BCE. ===Classical Hebrew=== ====Biblical Hebrew==== {{main|Biblical Hebrew}} In its widest sense, Biblical Hebrew refers to the spoken language of ancient Israel flourishing between {{circa|1000 BCE}} and {{circa|400 CE}}.<ref name=dvbrbw>{{Cite web|url=http://www.arts.ualberta.ca/JHS/Articles/article_36.pdf|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204035409/http://www.arts.ualberta.ca/JHS/Articles/article_36.pdf|url-status=dead|title=William M. Schniedewind, "Prolegomena for the Sociolinguistics of Classical Hebrew", The Journal of Hebrew Scriptures vol. 5 article 6|archivedate=4 February 2012}}</ref> It comprises several evolving and overlapping dialects. The phases of Classical Hebrew are often named after important literary works associated with them. * Archaic Biblical Hebrew, also called Old Hebrew or Paleo-Hebrew, from the 10th to the 6th century BCE, corresponding to the Monarchic Period until the [[Babylonian captivity|Babylonian exile]] and represented by certain texts in the Hebrew Bible ([[Tanakh]]), notably the [[Song of Moses]] (Exodus 15) and the [[Song of Deborah]] (Judges 5). It was written in the [[Paleo-Hebrew alphabet]]. A script descended from this, the [[Samaritan alphabet]], is still used by the [[Samaritans]]. * [[File:Sefer-torah-vayehi-binsoa.jpg|thumb|right|Hebrew script used in [[Ktav Stam|writing a Torah scroll]]. Note ornamental "[[Ktav Stam#Serifs (tagin)|crowns]]" on tops of certain letters.]] Standard Biblical Hebrew, also called Biblical Hebrew, Early Biblical Hebrew, Classical Biblical Hebrew or Classical Hebrew (in the narrowest sense), around the 8th to 6th centuries BCE, corresponding to the late Monarchic period and the Babylonian exile. It is represented by the bulk of the Hebrew Bible that attains much of its present form around this time. * Late Biblical Hebrew, from the 5th to the 3rd centuries BCE, corresponding to the [[Persian period]] and represented by certain texts in the Hebrew Bible, notably the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. Basically similar to Classical Biblical Hebrew, apart from a few foreign words adopted for mainly governmental terms, and some syntactical innovations such as the use of the particle ''she-'' (alternative of "asher", meaning "that, which, who"). It adopted the [[Aramaic alphabet|Imperial Aramaic script]] (from which the modern Hebrew script descends). * [[Israelian Hebrew]] is a proposed northern dialect of biblical Hebrew, believed to have existed in all eras of the language, in some cases competing with late biblical Hebrew as an explanation for non-standard linguistic features of biblical texts. ====Early post-Biblical Hebrew==== * [[Dead Sea Scrolls|Dead Sea Scroll]] Hebrew from the 3rd century BCE to the 1st century CE, corresponding to the Hellenistic and Roman Periods before the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, and represented by the Qumran Scrolls that form most (but not all) of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Commonly abbreviated as DSS Hebrew, also called Qumran Hebrew. The Imperial Aramaic script of the earlier scrolls in the 3rd century BCE evolved into the [[Hebrew square script]] of the later scrolls in the 1st century CE, also known as ''ketav Ashuri'' (Assyrian script), still in use today. * [[Mishnaic Hebrew]] from the 1st to the 3rd or 4th century CE, corresponding to the Roman Period after the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem and represented by the bulk of the [[Mishnah]] and [[Tosefta]] within the [[Talmud]] and by the Dead Sea Scrolls, notably the [[Bar Kokhba revolt|Bar Kokhba]] letters and the [[Copper Scroll]]. Also called Tannaitic Hebrew or Early Rabbinic Hebrew. Sometimes the above phases of spoken Classical Hebrew are simplified into "Biblical Hebrew" (including several dialects from the 10th century BCE to 2nd century BCE and extant in certain Dead Sea Scrolls) and "Mishnaic Hebrew" (including several dialects from the 3rd century BCE to the 3rd century CE and extant in certain other Dead Sea Scrolls).<ref name=Segal>M. Segal, ''A Grammar of Mishnaic Hebrew'' (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1927).</ref> However, today most Hebrew linguists classify Dead Sea Scroll Hebrew as a set of dialects evolving out of Late Biblical Hebrew and into Mishnaic Hebrew, thus including elements from both but remaining distinct from either.<ref name=Qimron>[[Elisha Qimron|Qimron, Elisha]] (1986). ''The Hebrew of the Dead Sea Scrolls''. Harvard Semitic Studies 29. (Atlanta: Scholars Press).</ref> By the start of the Byzantine Period in the 4th century CE, Classical Hebrew ceased as a regularly spoken language, roughly a century after the publication of the Mishnah, apparently declining since the aftermath of the catastrophic [[Bar Kokhba revolt]] around 135 CE. ===Displacement by Aramaic=== {{See also|Aramaic language}} [[File:Rashiscript.PNG|thumb|[[Rashi script]]]] [[File:Шабатна кибритна кутија - Shabbat matchbox holder.jpg|thumb|A silver matchbox holder with inscription in Hebrew]] In the early 6th century BCE, the [[Neo-Babylonian Empire]] conquered the ancient [[Kingdom of Judah]], destroying much of [[Jerusalem]] and exiling its population far to the east in [[Babylon]]. During the [[Babylonian captivity]], many [[Israelites]] learned Aramaic, the closely related Semitic language of their captors. Thus, for a significant period, the [[Jewish]] elite became influenced by Aramaic.<ref>Nicholas Ostler, ''Empires of the Word: A Language History of the World'', Harper Perennial, London, New York, Toronto, Sydney 2006 p80</ref> After [[Cyrus the Great]] conquered Babylon, he allowed the Jewish people to return from captivity.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-05-06|title=Cyrus the Great: History's most merciful conqueror?|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/people/reference/cyrus-the-great/|access-date=2020-09-07|website=Culture|language=en|archive-date=8 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200908063251/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/people/reference/cyrus-the-great/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |author=Andrew Silow-Carroll |title=Who is King Cyrus, and why did Netanyahu compare him to Trump? |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/who-is-king-cyrus-and-why-is-netanyahu-comparing-him-to-trump/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200907190744/https://www.timesofisrael.com/who-is-king-cyrus-and-why-is-netanyahu-comparing-him-to-trump/ |archive-date=7 September 2020 |access-date=2020-09-07 |website=The Times of Israel |language=en-US}}</ref> As a result, {{synthesis inline|date=September 2015}} a local version of Aramaic came to be spoken in Israel alongside Hebrew. By the beginning of the [[Common Era]], Aramaic was the primary colloquial language of [[Samaria]]n, [[Babylonia]]n and [[Galilee]]an Jews, and western and intellectual Jews spoke [[Greek language|Greek]],{{Citation needed|date=July 2011}} but a form of so-called [[Rabbinic Hebrew]] continued to be used as a vernacular in Judea until it was displaced by Aramaic, probably in the 3rd century CE. Certain [[Sadducees|Sadducee]], [[Pharisees|Pharisee]], [[Scribe#Judaism|Scribe]], Hermit, Zealot and Priest classes maintained an insistence on Hebrew, and all Jews maintained their identity with Hebrew songs and simple quotations from Hebrew texts.<ref name=ASB170/><ref name=Spolsky99>{{cite book |last1= Spolsky |first1= Bernard |last2= Shohamy |first2= Elana |title= The Languages of Israel: Policy, Ideology and Practice |page= 9 |publisher= Multilingual Matters Ltd. |series= Bilingual Education and Bilingualism |volume= 17 |year= 1999 |isbn= 978-1-85359-451-9 |access-date= }}</ref><ref name=Fernandez/> While there is no doubt that at a certain point, Hebrew was displaced as the everyday spoken language of most Jews, and that its chief successor in the Middle East was the closely related Aramaic language, then [[Greek language|Greek]],<ref name=Spolsky99/>{{refn|name="Sáenz-BadillosRH"|group="note"}} scholarly opinions on the exact dating of that shift have changed very much.<ref name=OxfordDictionaryChristianChurch>"Hebrew" in ''The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church'', edit. F.L. Cross, first edition (Oxford, 1958), 3rd edition (Oxford 1997). ''The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church'' which once said, in 1958 in its first edition, that Hebrew "ceased to be a spoken language around the fourth century BCE", now says, in its 1997 (third) edition, that Hebrew "continued to be used as a spoken and written language in the New Testament period".</ref> In the first half of the 20th century, most scholars followed [[Abraham Geiger]] and [[Gustaf Dalman]] in thinking that Aramaic became a spoken language in the land of Israel as early as the beginning of Israel's [[History of Palestine#Hellenistic period|Hellenistic period]] in the 4th century BCE, and that as a corollary Hebrew ceased to function as a spoken language around the same time. [[Moshe Zvi Segal]], [[Joseph Klausner]] and Ben Yehuda are notable exceptions to this view. During the latter half of the 20th century, accumulating archaeological evidence and especially linguistic analysis of the Dead Sea Scrolls has disproven that view. The Dead Sea Scrolls, uncovered in 1946–1948 near [[Qumran]] revealed ancient Jewish texts overwhelmingly in Hebrew, not Aramaic. The Qumran scrolls indicate that Hebrew texts were readily understandable to the average Jew, and that the language had evolved since Biblical times as spoken languages do.{{refn|Fernández & Elwolde: "It is generally believed that the Dead Sea Scrolls, specifically the Copper Scroll and also the Bar Kokhba letters, have furnished clear evidence of the popular character of MH [Mishnaic Hebrew]."<ref>''An Introductory Grammar of Rabbinic Hebrew'' (Fernández & Elwolde 1999, p.2)</ref>|group="note"}} Recent scholarship recognizes that reports of Jews speaking in Aramaic indicate a multilingual society, not necessarily the primary language spoken. Alongside Aramaic, Hebrew co-existed within Israel as a spoken language.<ref name=Judaism460>The Cambridge History of Judaism: The late Roman-Rabbinic period. 2006. P.460</ref><!--the quote refers to the last sentence--> Most scholars now date the demise of Hebrew as a spoken language to the end of the [[Judea (Roman province)|Roman period]], or about 200 CE.<ref>Borrás, Judit Targarona and Ángel Sáenz-Badillos (1999). Jewish Studies at the Turn of the Twentieth Century. P.3</ref> It continued on as a literary language down through the [[History of Palestine#Byzantine period|Byzantine period]] from the 4th century CE. The exact roles of Aramaic and Hebrew remain hotly debated. A trilingual scenario has been proposed for the land of Israel. Hebrew functioned as the local [[mother tongue]] with powerful ties to Israel's history, origins and golden age and as the language of Israel's religion; Aramaic functioned as the international language with the rest of the Middle East; and eventually Greek functioned as another international language with the eastern areas of the Roman Empire.{{Citation needed|date=April 2010}}<!--Refers to the entire "role distribution" indicated above.--> [[William Schniedewind]] argues that after waning in the Persian period, the religious importance of Hebrew grew in the Hellenistic and Roman periods, and cites epigraphical evidence that Hebrew survived as a vernacular language – though both its grammar and its writing system had been substantially influenced by Aramaic.<ref name=Schniedewind>{{cite conference |author= Schniedewind, William M. |author-link= William Schniedewind |title= Aramaic, the Death of Written Hebrew, and Language Shift in the Persian Period |editor= Seth L. Sanders |conference= Margins of Writing, Origins of Cultures |publisher= University of Chicago |year= 2006 |pages= 137–147 |isbn= 978-1-885923-39-4 |conference-url= https://oi.uchicago.edu/research/publications/ois/ois-2-margins-writing-origins-cultures |url= https://www.academia.edu/download/8369723/ois2.pdf#page=149 }}{{dead link|date=July 2022|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> According to another summary, Greek was the language of government, Hebrew the language of prayer, study and religious texts, and Aramaic was the language of legal contracts and trade.<ref name=spolsky85/> There was also a geographic pattern: according to [[Bernard Spolsky]], by the beginning of the Common Era, "[[Judeo-Aramaic]] was mainly used in Galilee in the north, Greek was concentrated in the former colonies and around governmental centers, and Hebrew monolingualism continued mainly in the southern villages of Judea."<ref name=Spolsky99/> In other words, "in terms of dialect geography, at the time of the [[tannaim]] Palestine could be divided into the Aramaic-speaking regions of Galilee and Samaria and a smaller area, Judaea, in which [[Mishnaic Hebrew|Rabbinic Hebrew]] was used among the descendants of returning exiles."<ref name=ASB170/><ref name=Fernandez>Fernandez, Miguel Perez (1997). ''An Introductory Grammar of Rabbinic Hebrew''. BRILL.</ref> In addition, it has been surmised that [[Koine Greek]] was the primary vehicle of communication in coastal cities and among the upper class of [[Jerusalem]], while Aramaic was prevalent in the lower class of Jerusalem, but not in the surrounding countryside.<ref name=spolsky85>Spolsky, B. (1985). "Jewish Multilingualism in the First century: An Essay in Historical Sociolinguistics", Joshua A. Fishman (ed.), ''Readings in The Sociology of Jewish Languages'', Leiden: E. J. Brill, pp. 35–50. Also adopted by Smelik, Willem F. 1996. The Targum of Judges. P.9</ref> After the suppression of the [[Bar Kokhba revolt]] in the 2nd century CE, Judaeans were forced to disperse. Many relocated to Galilee, so most remaining native speakers of Hebrew at that last stage would have been found in the north.<ref name=spolsky85b>Spolsky, B. (1985), p. 40. and ''passim''</ref> The Christian [[New Testament]] contains some Semitic place names and quotes.<ref>Huehnergard, John and [[Jo Ann Hackett]]. The Hebrew and Aramaic languages. In The Biblical World (2002), Volume 2 (John Barton, ed.). P.19</ref> The language of such Semitic glosses (and in general the language spoken by Jews in scenes from the New Testament) is often referred to as "Hebrew" in the text,<ref>E.g. Acts 21:40; 22:2; 26:14: ''têi hebraḯdi dialéktôi'', lit. 'in the Hebrew dialect/language'</ref> although this term is often re-interpreted as referring to Aramaic instead{{refn|The Cambridge History of Judaism: "Thus in certain sources Aramaic words are termed 'Hebrew,' ... For example: η επιλεγομενη εβραιστι βηθεσδα 'which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda' (John 5.2). This is not a Hebrew name but rather an Aramaic one: בית חסדא, 'the house of Hisda'."<ref name=Judaism460/>|group="note"}}{{refn|Fitzmyer, Joseph A.: "The adverb {{lang|grc|Ἑβραϊστί}} (and its related expressions) seems to mean 'in Hebrew', and it has often been argued that it means this and nothing more. As is well known, it is used at times with words and expressions that are clearly Aramaic. Thus in John 19:13, {{lang|grc|Ἑβραιστὶ δὲ Γαββαθᾶ}} is given as an explanation of the Lithostrotos, and {{lang|grc|Γαββαθᾶ}} is a Grecized form of the Aramaic word gabbětā, 'raised place.'"<ref>Fitzmyer, Joseph A. 1979. A Wandering Armenian: Collected Aramaic Essays. P.43</ref>|group="note"}} and is rendered accordingly in recent translations.<ref>Geoffrey W. Bromley (ed.) ''The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia'', W.B. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, Michigan 1979, 4 vols. vol.1 sub.'Aramaic' p.233: 'in the Aramaic vernacular of Palestine'</ref> Nonetheless, these glosses can be interpreted as Hebrew as well.<ref>Randall Buth and Chad Pierce "EBRAISTI in Ancient Texts, Does ἑβραιστί ever Mean 'Aramaic'?" in Buth and Notley eds., Language Environment of First Century Judaea, Brill, 2014:66–109. p. 109 "no, Ἑβραιστί does not ever appear to mean Aramaic in attested texts during the Second Temple and Graeco-Roman periods."; p. 107 "John did not mention what either βεθεσδα or γαββαθα meant. They may both have been loanwords from Greek and Latin respectively." p103 "βεθεσδα ... (בית-אסטא(ן ... house of portico ... 3Q15 אסטאן הדרומית southern portico," and Latin gabata (p. 106) "means platter, dish... perhaps a mosaic design in the pavement ... " The Latin loanword is attested as "bowl" in later [[Christian Palestinian Aramaic]] and גבתא is (p106) "unattested in other Aramaic dialects" [contra the allegations of many].</ref> It has been argued that Hebrew, rather than Aramaic or Koine Greek, lay behind the composition of the [[Gospel of Matthew]].<ref>Grintz, Jehoshua M., "Hebrew as the Spoken and Written Language in the Last Days of the Second Temple", Journal of Biblical Literature (1960) 79 (1): pp. 32–47. https://doi.org/10.2307/3264497</ref> (See the [[Hebrew Gospel hypothesis]] or [[Language of Jesus]] for more details on Hebrew and Aramaic in the gospels.) ===Mishnah and Talmud=== {{Main|Mishnaic Hebrew}} The term "Mishnaic Hebrew" generally refers to the Hebrew dialects found in the [[Talmud]], excepting quotations from the Hebrew Bible. The dialects organize into Mishnaic Hebrew (also called [[Tannaim|Tannaitic]] Hebrew, Early Rabbinic Hebrew, or [[Mishnah|Mishnaic]] Hebrew I), which was a [[spoken language]], and [[Amoraim|Amoraic]] Hebrew (also called Late Rabbinic Hebrew or Mishnaic Hebrew II), which was a [[literary language]]. The earlier section of the Talmud is the Mishnah that was published around 200 CE, although many of the stories take place much earlier, and were written in the earlier Mishnaic dialect. The dialect is also found in certain Dead Sea Scrolls. Mishnaic Hebrew is considered to be one of the dialects of Classical Hebrew that functioned as a living language in the land of Israel. A transitional form of the language occurs in the other works of Tannaitic literature dating from the century beginning with the completion of the Mishnah. These include the [[Midrash halakha|halachic]] [[Midrash]]im ([[Sifra]], [[Sifre]], [[Mekhilta of Rabbi Ishmael|Mekhilta]] etc.) and the expanded collection of Mishnah-related material known as the [[Tosefta]]. The Talmud contains excerpts from these works, as well as further Tannaitic material not attested elsewhere; the generic term for these passages is ''[[Baraita|Baraitot]]''. The dialect of all these works is very similar to Mishnaic Hebrew. About a century after the publication of the Mishnah, Mishnaic Hebrew fell into disuse as a spoken language. The later section of the Talmud, the [[Gemara]], generally comments on the Mishnah and Baraitot in two forms of Aramaic. Nevertheless, Hebrew survived as a liturgical and literary language in the form of later Amoraic Hebrew, which sometimes occurs in the text of the Gemara. Hebrew was always regarded as the language of Israel's religion, history and national pride, and after it faded as a spoken language, it continued to be used as a ''[[lingua franca]]'' among scholars and Jews traveling in foreign countries.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.fbi.gov/about/leadership-and-structure/intelligence-branch/national-virtual-translation-center|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090117194849/http://www.nvtc.gov/lotw/months/august/Hebrew.html|url-status=dead|title=National Virtual Translation Center|archivedate=17 January 2009|website=Federal Bureau of Investigation}}</ref> After the 2nd century CE when the [[Roman Empire]] exiled most of the Jewish population of Jerusalem following the [[Bar Kokhba revolt]], they adapted to the societies in which they found themselves, yet letters, contracts, commerce, science, philosophy, medicine, poetry and laws continued to be written mostly in Hebrew, which adapted by borrowing and inventing terms. ===Medieval Hebrew=== {{Main|Medieval Hebrew}} [[File:Aleppo Codex Joshua 1 1.jpg|thumb|[[Aleppo Codex]]: 10th century [[Hebrew Bible]] with [[Masoretes|Masoretic]] pointing (Joshua 1:1).]] [[File:Cochin Jewish Inscription.JPG|thumb|[[Kochangadi Synagogue]] in [[Kochi]], India dated to 1344.]] After the Talmud, various regional literary dialects of [[Medieval Hebrew]] evolved. The most important is [[Tiberian Hebrew]] or Masoretic Hebrew, a local dialect of [[Tiberias]] in [[Galilee]] that became the standard for vocalizing the [[Hebrew Bible]] and thus still influences all other regional dialects of Hebrew. This Tiberian Hebrew from the 7th to 10th century CE is sometimes called "Biblical Hebrew" because it is used to pronounce the Hebrew Bible; however, properly it should be distinguished from the historical Biblical Hebrew of the 6th century BCE, whose original pronunciation must be reconstructed. Tiberian Hebrew incorporates the scholarship of the [[Masoretes]] (from ''masoret'' meaning "tradition"), who added [[niqqud|vowel points]] and [[Hebrew cantillation|grammar points]] to the Hebrew letters to preserve much earlier features of Hebrew, for use in chanting the Hebrew Bible. The Masoretes inherited a biblical text whose letters were considered too sacred to be altered, so their markings were in the form of pointing in and around the letters. The [[Syriac alphabet]], precursor to the [[Arabic alphabet]], also developed vowel pointing systems around this time. The [[Aleppo Codex]], a Hebrew Bible with the Masoretic pointing, was written in the 10th century, likely in Tiberias, and survives into the present day. It is perhaps the most important Hebrew manuscript in existence. During the [[Golden age of Jewish culture in Spain]], important work was done by grammarians in explaining the grammar and vocabulary of Biblical Hebrew; much of this was based on the work of the [[Islamic grammatical tradition|grammarians]] of [[Classical Arabic]]. Important Hebrew grammarians were {{Lang|he-latn|[[Judah ben David Hayyuj]]|italic=no}}, [[Jonah ibn Janah]], [[Abraham ibn Ezra]]<ref>Abraham ibn Ezra, [https://www.hebrewbooks.org/19685 ''Hebrew Grammar''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210701091916/https://www.hebrewbooks.org/19685 |date=1 July 2021 }}, Venice 1546 (Hebrew)</ref> and later (in [[Provence]]), {{Lang|he-latn|[[David Kimhi]]|italic=no}}. A great deal of poetry was written, by poets such as {{Lang|he-latn|[[Dunash ben Labrat]]|italic=no}}, [[Solomon ibn Gabirol]], [[Judah ha-Levi]], [[Moses ibn Ezra]] and [[Abraham ibn Ezra]], in a "purified" Hebrew based on the work of these grammarians, and in Arabic quantitative or strophic meters. This literary Hebrew was later used by Italian Jewish poets.<ref>T. Carmi, ''Penguin Book of Hebrew Verse''.</ref> The need to express scientific and philosophical concepts from [[Classical Greek language|Classical Greek]] and [[Arabic language|Medieval Arabic]] motivated Medieval Hebrew to borrow terminology and grammar from these other languages, or to coin equivalent terms from existing Hebrew roots, giving rise to a distinct style of philosophical Hebrew. This is used in the translations made by the {{Lang|he-latn|[[Ibn Tibbon]]|italic=no}} family. (Original Jewish philosophical works were usually written in Arabic.{{citation needed|date=December 2019}}) Another important influence was [[Maimonides]], who developed a simple style based on [[Mishnaic Hebrew]] for use in his law code, the {{Lang|he-latn|[[Mishneh Torah]]|italic=no}}. Subsequent rabbinic literature is written in a blend between this style and the Aramaized Rabbinic Hebrew of the Talmud. Hebrew persevered through the ages as the main language for written purposes by all Jewish communities around the world for a large range of uses—not only liturgy, but also poetry, philosophy, science and medicine, commerce, daily correspondence and contracts. There have been many deviations from this generalization such as [[Simon bar Kokhba|Bar Kokhba]]'s letters to his lieutenants, which were mostly in Aramaic,<ref>Safrai, Shmuel, Shemuel Safrai, M. Stern. 1976. The Jewish people in the first century. P.1036</ref> and Maimonides' writings, which were mostly in Arabic;<ref>Fox, Marvin. 1995. Interpreting Maimonides. P.326</ref> but overall, Hebrew did not cease to be used for such purposes. For example, the first Middle East printing press, in Safed (modern Israel), produced a small number of books in Hebrew in 1577, which were then sold to the nearby Jewish world.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://cojs.org/1577-first-printing-press-middle-east-safed/|title=1577 The First Printing Press in the Middle East – Safed – Center for Online Judaic Studies|date=2017-09-07|work=Center for Online Judaic Studies|access-date=2018-08-03|language=en-US|archive-date=4 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180804013842/http://cojs.org/1577-first-printing-press-middle-east-safed/|url-status=live}}</ref> This meant not only that well-educated Jews in all parts of the world could correspond in a [[mutually intelligible]] language, and that books and legal documents published or written in any part of the world could be read by Jews in all other parts, but that an educated Jew could travel and converse with Jews in distant places, just as priests and other educated Christians could converse in Latin. For example, Rabbi [[Avraham Danzig]] wrote the ''{{Lang|he-latn|[[Chayei Adam]]}}'' in Hebrew, as opposed to [[Yiddish language|Yiddish]], as a guide to ''[[Halacha]]'' for the "''average'' 17-year-old" (Ibid. Introduction 1). Similarly, Rabbi [[Yisrael Meir Kagan]]'s purpose in writing the ''{{Lang|he-latn|[[Mishnah Berurah]]}}'' was to "produce a work that could be studied daily so that Jews might know the proper procedures to follow minute by minute". The work was nevertheless written in Talmudic Hebrew and Aramaic, since, "the ordinary Jew [of Eastern Europe] of a century ago, was fluent enough in this idiom to be able to follow the Mishna Berurah without any trouble."<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=onNwsw0akyoC&pg=PR14 |title=Mishnah B'rurah – Israel Meir (ha-Kohen), Aharon Feldman, Aviel Orenstein – Google Books |access-date=3 May 2013 |isbn=978-0-87306-198-8 |year=1980 |last1=(Ha-Kohen) |first1=Israel Meir |publisher=Feldheim Publishers |archive-date=8 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408152917/https://books.google.com/books?id=onNwsw0akyoC&pg=PR14 |url-status=live }}</ref> ===Revival=== {{Main|Revival of the Hebrew language}} [[File:Eliezer Ben-Yehuda at his desk in Jerusalem - c1912.jpg|thumb|Eliezer Ben-Yehuda]] Hebrew has been [[Language revitalization|revived]] several times as a literary language, most significantly by the [[Haskalah]] (Enlightenment) movement of early and mid-19th-century Germany. In the early 19th century, a form of spoken Hebrew had emerged in the markets of Jerusalem between Jews of different linguistic backgrounds to communicate for commercial purposes. This Hebrew dialect was to a certain extent a [[pidgin]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bensadoun |first=Daniel |date=15 Oct 2010 |title=This week in history: Revival of the Hebrew language – Jewish World – Jerusalem Post |url=http://www.jpost.com/Jewish-World/Jewish-News/This-week-in-history-Revival-of-the-Hebrew-language |access-date=6 April 2018 |archive-date=1 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401111442/https://www.jpost.com/Jewish-World/Jewish-News/This-week-in-history-Revival-of-the-Hebrew-language |url-status=live }}</ref> Near the end of that century the Jewish activist [[Eliezer Ben-Yehuda]], owing to the ideology of the [[Romantic nationalism|national revival]] ({{lang|he|שיבת ציון|italic=no}}, {{lang|he|Shivat Tziyon}}, later [[Zionism]]), began reviving Hebrew as a modern spoken language. Eventually, as a result of the local movement he created, but more significantly as a result of the new groups of immigrants known under the name of the [[Second Aliyah]], it replaced a score of languages spoken by Jews at that time. Those languages were Jewish dialects of local languages, including [[Judaeo-Spanish]] (also called "Judezmo" and "Ladino"), [[Yiddish]], [[Judeo-Arabic languages|Judeo-Arabic]] and [[Bukhori dialect|Bukhori]] (Tajiki), or local languages spoken in the [[Jewish diaspora]] such as [[Russian language|Russian]], [[Persian language|Persian]] and [[Arabic language|Arabic]]. The major result of the literary work of the Hebrew intellectuals along the 19th century was a lexical modernization of Hebrew. New words and expressions were adapted as [[neologism]]s from the large corpus of Hebrew writings since the Hebrew Bible, or borrowed from Arabic (mainly by Ben-Yehuda) and older Aramaic and Latin. Many new words were either borrowed from or coined after European languages, especially English, Russian, German, and French. Modern Hebrew became an official language in British-ruled Palestine in 1921 (along with English and Arabic), and then in 1948 became an official language of the newly declared [[Israel|State of Israel]]. Hebrew is the most widely spoken language in Israel today. In the Modern Period, from the 19th century onward, the literary Hebrew tradition revived as the spoken language of modern Israel, called variously ''Israeli Hebrew'', ''Modern Israeli Hebrew'', ''Modern Hebrew'', ''New Hebrew'', ''Israeli Standard Hebrew'', ''Standard Hebrew'' and so on. Israeli Hebrew exhibits some features of [[Sephardic Hebrew]] from its local Jerusalemite tradition but adapts it with numerous neologisms, borrowed terms (often technical) from European languages and adopted terms (often colloquial) from Arabic. The literary and narrative use of Hebrew was revived beginning with the Haskalah movement. The first secular periodical in Hebrew, {{Lang|he-latn|[[Ha-Me'assef]]}} (The Gatherer), was published by [[maskil]]im in [[Königsberg]] (today's [[Kaliningrad]]) from 1783 onwards.<ref>Spiegel, Shalom. ''Hebrew Reborn'' (1930), Meridian Books reprint 1962, New York p. 56.</ref> In the mid-19th century, publications of several Eastern European Hebrew-language newspapers (e.g. {{Lang|he-latn|[[Hamagid]]}}, founded in [[Ełk]] in 1856) multiplied. Prominent poets were [[Hayim Nahman Bialik]] and [[Shaul Tchernichovsky]]; there were also novels written in the language. The [[revival of the Hebrew language]] as a [[first language|mother tongue]] was initiated in the late 19th century by the efforts of Ben-Yehuda. He joined the [[Zionism|Jewish national movement]] and in 1881 immigrated to [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]], then a part of the [[Ottoman Empire]]. Motivated by the surrounding ideals of renovation and rejection of the diaspora "[[shtetl]]" lifestyle, Ben-Yehuda set out to develop tools for making the [[literary language|literary]] and [[sacred language|liturgical language]] into everyday [[spoken language]]. However, his brand of Hebrew followed norms that had been replaced in [[Eastern Europe]] by different grammar and style, in the writings of people like [[Ahad Ha'am]] and others. His organizational efforts and involvement with the establishment of schools and the writing of textbooks pushed the [[vernacular]]ization activity into a gradually accepted movement. It was not, however, until the 1904–1914 Second Aliyah that Hebrew had caught real momentum in Ottoman Palestine with the more highly organized enterprises set forth by the new group of immigrants. When the [[Mandatory Palestine|British Mandate of Palestine]] recognized Hebrew as one of the country's three official languages (English, Arabic, and Hebrew, in 1922), its new formal status contributed to its diffusion. A constructed modern language with a truly Semitic vocabulary and written appearance, although often European in [[phonology]], was to take its place among the current languages of the nations. While many saw his work as fanciful or even [[blasphemy|blasphemous]]<ref>[http://www.jewishmag.com/43mag/ben-yehuda/ben-yehuda.htm Eliezer Ben Yehuda and the Resurgence of the Hebrew Language] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100115054257/http://jewishmag.com/43mag/ben-yehuda/ben-yehuda.htm |date=15 January 2010 }} by Libby Kantorwitz</ref> (because Hebrew was the holy language of the Torah and therefore some thought that it should not be used to discuss everyday matters), many soon understood the need for a common language amongst Jews of the British Mandate who at the turn of the 20th century were arriving in large numbers from diverse countries and speaking different languages. A Committee of the Hebrew Language was established. After the establishment of Israel, it became the [[Academy of the Hebrew Language]]. The results of Ben-Yehuda's lexicographical work were published in a dictionary (''The Complete Dictionary of Ancient and Modern Hebrew'', [[Ben-Yehuda Dictionary]]). The seeds of Ben-Yehuda's work fell on fertile ground, and by the beginning of the 20th century, Hebrew was well on its way to becoming the main language of the Jewish population of both Ottoman and British Palestine. At the time, members of the [[Yishuv|Old Yishuv]] and a very few [[Hasidic Judaism|Hasidic]] sects, most notably those under the auspices of [[Satmar (Hasidic dynasty)|Satmar]], refused to speak Hebrew and spoke only Yiddish. In the Soviet Union, the use of Hebrew, along with other Jewish cultural and religious activities, was suppressed. Soviet authorities considered the use of Hebrew "reactionary" since it was associated with Zionism, and the teaching of Hebrew at primary and secondary schools was officially banned by the [[People's Commissariat for Education]] as early as 1919, as part of an overall agenda aiming to [[secularization|secularize]] education (the language itself did not cease to be studied at universities for historical and linguistic purposes<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jewish-heritage.org/prep26.htm |title=The Transformation of Jewish Culture in the USSR from 1930 to the Present (in Russian) |publisher=Jewish-heritage.org |access-date=25 April 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121222024723/http://www.jewish-heritage.org/prep26.htm |archive-date=22 December 2012 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>). The official ordinance stated that Yiddish, being the spoken language of the Russian Jews, should be treated as their only national language, while Hebrew was to be treated as a foreign language.<ref>{{cite web |author=Nosonovsky, Michael |title=ЕВРЕЙСКАЯ СОВЕТСКАЯ КУЛЬТУРА БЫЛА ПРИГОВОРЕНА К УНИЧТОЖЕНИЮ В 1930–Е ГОДЫ |trans-title=Jewish Soviet Culture Was Sentenced to Destruction in the 1930s |lang=ru |publisher=Berkovich-zametki.com |date=25 August 1997 |url=http://berkovich-zametki.com/Nomer16/MN31.htm |access-date=25 April 2013 |archive-date=7 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707225500/http://berkovich-zametki.com/Nomer16/MN31.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> Hebrew books and periodicals ceased to be published and were seized from the libraries, although liturgical texts were still published until the 1930s. Despite numerous protests,<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20120517002646/http://www.zionistarchives.org.il/ZA/SiteE/pShowView.aspx?GM=Y&ID=48&Teur=Protest%20against%20the%20suppression%20of%20Hebrew%20in%20the%20Soviet%20Union%20%201930-1931 Protest against the suppression of Hebrew in the Soviet Union 1930–1931] signed by [[Albert Einstein]], among others.</ref> a policy of suppression of the teaching of Hebrew operated from the 1930s on. Later in the 1980s in the [[Soviet Union|USSR]], Hebrew studies reappeared due to people struggling for permission to go to Israel ([[refusenik]]s). Several of the teachers were imprisoned, e.g. [[Iosif Begun|Yosef Begun]], [[Ephraim Kholmyansky]], [[Yevgeny Korostyshevsky]] and others responsible for a Hebrew learning network connecting many cities of the USSR. ===Modern Hebrew=== {{Main|Modern Hebrew}} [[File:Annava165.jpg|thumb|upright=1.59|Hebrew, [[Arabic]] and English multilingual signs on an Israeli highway]] [[File:Hebkeyboard.JPG|thumb|Dual language [[Hebrew keyboard|Hebrew]] and English keyboard]] Standard Hebrew, as developed by Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, was based on [[Mishnaic Hebrew|Mishnaic]] spelling and [[Sephardi Hebrew]] pronunciation. However, the earliest speakers of Modern Hebrew had Yiddish as their native language and often introduced [[calque]]s from Yiddish and [[phono-semantic matching]]s of international words. Despite using Sephardic Hebrew pronunciation as its primary basis, modern Israeli Hebrew has adapted to [[Ashkenazi Hebrew]] [[phonology]] in some respects, mainly the following: * the elimination of [[pharyngeal consonant|pharyngeal articulation]] in the letters ''chet'' (<big>{{Script/Hebrew|[[ח]]}}</big>) and ''ayin'' ({{nbsp}}<big>{{Script/Hebrew|[[ע]]}}</big>) by most Hebrew speakers. * the conversion of (<big>[[Resh|{{Script/Hebrew|ר}}]]</big>) {{IPA|/r/}} from an [[alveolar flap]] {{IPA|[ɾ]}} to a [[voiced uvular fricative]] {{IPA|[ʁ]}} or [[uvular trill]] {{IPA|[ʀ]}}, by most of the speakers, like in most varieties of standard German or Yiddish. ''see [[Guttural R]]'' * the pronunciation (by many speakers) of ''[[Zeire|tzere]]'' <{{Script/Hebrew| ֵ }}> as {{IPA|[eɪ]}} in some contexts (''sifréj'' and ''téjša'' instead of Sephardic ''sifré'' and ''tésha'') * the partial elimination of vocal ''[[Shva]]'' <{{Script/Hebrew| ְ }}> (''zmán'' instead of Sephardic ''zĕman'')<ref>{{cite book|last=Rosén|first=Haiim B.|title=A Textbook of Israeli Hebrew|year=1966|publisher=The University of Chicago Press|location=Chicago & London|isbn=978-0-226-72603-8|pages=[https://archive.org/details/textbookofisrael0000rose/page/0 0.161]|url=https://archive.org/details/textbookofisrael0000rose/page/0}}</ref> * in popular speech, penultimate stress in proper names (''Dvóra'' instead of ''Dĕvorá''; ''Yehúda'' instead of ''Yĕhudá'') and some other words<ref>{{cite book|last=Shisha Halevy|first=Ariel|title=The Proper Name: Structural Prolegomena to its Syntax – a Case Study in Coptic|year=1989|publisher=VWGÖ|location=Vienna|page=33|url=http://ling.huji.ac.il/Staff/Ariel_Shisha-Halevy/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721134619/http://ling.huji.ac.il/Staff/Ariel_Shisha-Halevy/|archive-date=21 July 2011|df=dmy-all}}</ref><!-- It's not a mistake—the book is about Coptic, but that note is about Hebrew and it's relevant. --> * similarly in popular speech, penultimate stress in verb forms with a second person plural suffix (''katávtem'' "you wrote" instead of ''kĕtavtém'').{{refn|These pronunciations may have originated in learners' mistakes formed on the analogy of other suffixed forms (''katávta'', ''alénu''), rather than being examples of residual Ashkenazi influence.|group="note"}} The vocabulary of Israeli Hebrew is much larger than that of earlier periods. According to [[Ghil'ad Zuckermann]]: {{Blockquote|The number of attested Biblical Hebrew words is 8198, of which some 2000 are [[hapax legomenon|hapax legomena]] (the number of Biblical Hebrew roots, on which many of these words are based, is 2099). The number of attested Rabbinic Hebrew words is less than 20,000, of which (i) 7879 are Rabbinic par excellence, i.e. they did not appear in the Old Testament (the number of new Rabbinic Hebrew roots is 805); (ii) around 6000 are a subset of Biblical Hebrew; and (iii) several thousand are Aramaic words which can have a Hebrew form. Medieval Hebrew added 6421 words to (Modern) Hebrew. The approximate number of new lexical items in Israeli is 17,000 (cf. 14,762 in Even-Shoshan 1970 [...]). With the inclusion of foreign and technical terms [...], the total number of Israeli words, including words of biblical, rabbinic and medieval descent, is more than 60,000.<ref name=Zuckermann>[[Ghil'ad Zuckermann|Zuckermann, Ghil'ad]] (2003), [[Language Contact and Lexical Enrichment in Israeli Hebrew]]. [[Palgrave Macmillan]]. {{ISBN|978-1-4039-1723-2}} [http://www.palgrave.com/br/book/9781403917232] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190613220549/https://www.palgrave.com/br/book/9781403917232 |date=13 June 2019 }}</ref>{{rp|64–65}}}} In Israel, Modern Hebrew is currently taught in institutions called [[Ulpan]]im (singular: Ulpan). There are government-owned, as well as private, Ulpanim offering online courses and face-to-face programs. Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. 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