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Biblical Hebrew language

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This article refers to the Biblical Hebrew dialect,

The term Biblical Hebrew can also refer to other dialects of Hebrew, As Biblical-Hebrew vocalization is derived from the Masoretic system applied to ancient texts, Biblical Hebrew is somewhat a mixture of these elements. It is the mixed language that is discussed in this article.

Biblical Hebrew, sometimes called Classical Hebrew, is the original form of the Hebrew language, in which the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh was written, and which the ancient Israelites spoke.

It is not spoken in its pure form today, although it is studied by religious Jews – as well as Christian theologians, linguists and Israeli archaeologists – for practical application and deeper understanding in their studies of the Torah and its commentaries. Jews usually learn it when studying ancient scriptures. Although it can mostly be read and is taught in all public schools in Israel.

Modern evolutions, or adaptions, of Classical Hebrew are in active use today, mostly in the form of various modern Jewish dialects of Hebrew, as well as Samaritan Hebrew language, which is used primarily by the Samaritans.

From a linguistic point of view, the Classical Hebrew language is usually divided into two periods: Biblical Hebrew, and Roman Era Hebrew, having very distinct grammatical patterns.

Biblical Hebrew is further divided into the so called 'Golden Age' Hebrew (1200 BCE to 500 BCE) and 'Silver Age' Hebrew (500 BCE to 60 BCE). Silver Age Hebrew has many borrowings from Aramaic, for example the use of the conditional particle illu (אִלוּ) replacing lū (לוּ). Another shibboleth between the two, is the use of the relative pronoun ʾšr (אשר) (introducing a Restrictive clause, 'that') in the earlier period, being replaced with the prefix š- (-ש) in the later, both being used in Mishnaic and Modern Hebrew.

Roman Era Hebrew, or Mishnaic Hebrew, was further influenced by the Greek and the Parsi, mainly through the dialect of Aramaic which was the Lingua franca of the area at the time.

Biblical Hebrew is easily read by anyone familiar enough with modern day Hebrew. The differences come mainly through grammar and the Biblical Hebrew's distinct writing style, which sometimes make it a difficult task interpreting its meaning. Although by modern Hebrew's grammar laws and standards, Biblical Hebrew does everything wrong, it is sometimes considered as a higher level of writing when incorporated wisely into a text. Because it is unchanging, it remains a symbol of certain nostalgia for ancient times in Modern Hebrew. Elements of biblical Hebrew are often used in conversation and the Israeli media.

Contents

Descendant languages

Phonology

Note: This page contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. See IPA chart for English for a pronunciation key.
The phonology as reconstructed for Biblical Hebrew is as follows (from Lambdin, with modifications):

Name Letter Phoneme(s) (IPA)
gîmel
hē
wāw
zayin
ך
mēm ם
nûn ן
pēh ף
ץ
qōp /q/)
rēš
śîn/šîn
tāw

Biblical Hebrew had a vowel system based on the cardinal vowels /i u e o a/, which occurred in short, long, and extra-long forms. Some follow Lambdin's use of macrons to mark long vowels and circumflexes to mark extra-long ones. Aside from these vowels, there were also four "reduced" ones, ə, ă, ĕ, and ŏ (all but the schwa, /ə/ seem to have been allophonic).

Historical sound changes

Consonantism

As Biblical Hebrew (BH) evolved from Proto-Semitic (PS) it underwent a number of mergers[#endnote_Moscati],[#endnote_Bergsträsser]:
1) Greek transcriptions (see also ["Various names in Hebrew and Greek"].) provide evidence that Biblical Hebrew maintained the proto-Semitic consonants /ɣ/, /x/ for longer than the writing system might suggest. Thus ʿǍmōrāh (עֲמוֹרָה) is transcribed as Gómorrha (Γόμορρα) in Greek, whereas ʿĒḇer (עֵבֶר) is transcribed as Éber (Ἔβερ) with no intrusive g; since comparative Semitic evidence shows that proto-Semitic */ɣ/ and */ʕ/ both became `ayin (ע) in later Hebrew, this suggests that the distinction was still maintained in Classical times. Similarly Raħēl (רָחֵל) is transcribed as Rhakhḗl (Ῥαχήλ), whereas Yisˁħāq (יִצְחָק) becomes Isaák (Ἰσαάκ).

Vocalism

in word-final position regularly > /ɛ:/
  • PS */ú:/ > BH /u:/ or, before ה ח ע, /u:a/(páṯaḥ furtivum)
  • PS */ó:/ > BH /o:/
  • PS */o:, u:/ > BH /u:/;
    • in an open syllable before a following */o:/ > BH /i:/
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