Biblical Hebrew language
This article refers to the Biblical Hebrew dialect,
* the
Hebrew dialect that flourished between the 12th and 6th centuries BCE and comprises much of the
Hebrew BibleThe term
Biblical Hebrew can also refer to other dialects of Hebrew,
* all dialects found in the Hebrew Bible, including Archaic Biblical, Biblical and Late Biblical
Hebrew dialects
* only the corpus of the Hebrew Bible itself, not including other texts that use the Biblical Hebrew dialect, such as inscriptions
* the medieval dialect of
Tiberian Hebrew, also called Masoretic Hebrew, used to vocalize the Hebrew Bible
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.
*
Samaritan Hebrew language (liturgical)*
Mishnaic Hebrew language (
Jews)
*
Tiberian Hebrew language (liturgical)*
Yemenite Hebrew language (liturgical)*
Sephardi Hebrew language (liturgical)*
Ashkenazi Hebrew language (liturgical)*
Modern Hebrew (
State of Israel)
The phonology as reconstructed for Biblical Hebrew is as follows (from Lambdin, with modifications):
| Name | Letter | Phoneme(s) (IPA) | | ' | | |
| ' | | |
| gîmel | | |
| ' | | |
| h" | | , zero |
| wāw | | , zero |
| zayin | | |
| ' | | |
| ' | | |
| ' | | , zero |
| ' | , | |
| ' | | |
| m"m | , | |
| nûn | , | |
| ' | | |
| | |
| p"h | , | |
| ' | , | |
| | (or possibly ) |
| r"š | | |
| śîn/šîn | | |
| tāw | | |
Biblical Hebrew had a vowel system based on the cardinal vowels , 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",
extra-short ones, ə
, ă
, ĕ
, and ŏ'' (all but the
schwa, seem to have been
allophonic).
Consonantism
As
Biblical Hebrew (BH) evolved from
Proto-Semitic (PS) it underwent a number of mergers,:
* PS * and * merged as BH
* PS * and * merged as BH
* PS *, *, and * merged as BH
* PS * and * merged as BH (but were spelled with different letters,
samekh and
sin respectively)
* PS * and * merged as BH
1)* PS * and * merged as BH
1)* PS * and * merged as BH in word-initial position; > Ø between vowels
* PS * > BH Ø (with
compensatory lengthening) in the
syllable coda (e.g. PS * "head" > BH רֹאס .
* PS * > BH in the ending of the feminine; not in the
status constructus).
* PS * > BH Ø between vowels in the pronominal suffix (with
contraction, see below).
1) Greek transcriptions (see also
"Various names in Hebrew and Greek".) provide evidence that
Biblical Hebrew maintained the proto-Semitic consonants , for longer than the writing system might suggest. Thus
' (עֲמוֹרָ") is transcribed as ' () in Greek, whereas
' (עֵבֶר) is transcribed as ' () with no intrusive
g; since comparative Semitic evidence shows that proto-Semitic * and * both became
`ayin (ע) in later Hebrew, this suggests that the distinction was still maintained in Classical times. Similarly
' (רָחֵל) is transcribed as ' (), whereas
' (יִצְחָק) becomes ' ().
Vocalism
* PS * > BH ; in word-final position >
* PS * > BH
* PS * > BH or, before " ח ע, (
); : in word-final position regularly >
* PS * > BH or, before " ח ע, (
)
* PS * > BH
* PS * > BH ; : in an open syllable before a following * > BH
* PS * > Ø in word-final position
* PS * in open unstressed syllables > Ø ("
") two or more syllables before the stressed syllable;: before or after א " ח ע > ("") or, if the adjacent syllable has or , ("") and ("") respectively;:in verbs also in the second syllable of the word if the following syllable is stressed;:in nouns in the second syllable of status constructus > (the consonant carrying the
is marked with "" or the following consonant is fricative, indicating that it was preceded by a vowel).
* PS * > BH in open syllables (sometimes , )
* PS * > BH Ø; : immediately before the stress > (""); : in closed syllables >
* PS * > BH or, before " ח ע, ("");: in closed syllables in verbal forms > or, before " ח ע, ;: in syllables that were closed already in Proto-Semitic > ("Philippi's law")
* PS * > BH or, before or after " ח ע, ; : immediately before the stress > ("")
* PS * > BH Ø ("") or ("");: in closed syllables > ("") or, before a geminated consonant,
* PS * > BH
* PS * > BH
* PS * > BH or in an open syllable, or, in word-final position,
* PS * > BH
* Contractions after loss of PS * in the pronominal suffix:: * > : * > : * > : * > : * > : * > : * > : * >
*Kautzsch, E. (ed.)
Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar. Eng. ed. A. E. Cowley. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1910.
*Lambdin, Thomas O.
Introduction to Biblical Hebrew. London: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1971.
*Würthwein, Ernst.
The Text of the Old Testament. (trans. Erroll F. Rhodes) Grand Rapids: Wm.B.Eardmans Publishing. 1995. ISBN 0802807887.
# # G. Bergsträsser. (
1983).
Introduction to the Semitic Languages. Translated by
Peter T. Daniels.
Winona Lake, Indiana: Eisenbrauns.# ISBN 1565632060 Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon by Francis Brown, S. Driver, C. Briggs
*History of the Hebrew Language
**
History of the Hebrew Language, David Steinberg
**
Reconstructing the Pronunciation of Biblical Hebrew - A simplified Guide to the Main Points**
Short History of the Hebrew Language,
Chaim Rabin**
Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar*Grammar
**
Basic Biblical Hebrew Grammar (introductory)**
Basic Biblical Hebrew **
What's All This Hubbub About Hebrew? 
