Brief history

8.2. Brief history
8.2.1. Hebrew
Due to the similarities of the Semitic languages scholars believe that they all originated from a common language. That common language is called Proto-Semitic. There is, however, no record that such a language ever existed. But the widespread similarities between the languages justify such an assumption. It is clear that Hebrew developed from a Canaanite language. The Israelites probably learned that language when they conquered Canaan. The early Hebrew documents were written in a script that is similar to that of the Canaanites or Phoenicians. Aramaic or a dialect of that language may have been the previous language of the Israelites (see Gen. 25:20; Deut. 26:5).
A wandering Aramean was my ancestor, and he went down to Egypt (Deut. 26:5).
When Isaac was forty years old, he married Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram and sister of Laban the Aramean (Gen. 25:20).
The Hebrew language in Canaan had different dialects. The book of Judges gives evidence for this, at least as far as the pronunciation is concerned.
Then they said to him, Say ‘Shibboleth!’If he said, ‘Sibboleth’ (and could not pronounce the word correctly), they grabbed him and executed him right there at the fords of the Jordan (Judg. 12:6).
The history of the Hebrew language is divided into four phases.
(1) Classical Hebrew. Biblical Hebrew belongs to the classical period of the language. Besides the Hebrew bible there are a number of epigraphical materials and ostraca in Classical Hebrew, from the 10th to the 6th century BC. At the end of this period the Jews started to speak Aramaic.
(2) Rabbinic Hebrew (2nd century BC – 9th century AD). During this period some of the important rabbinical documents were written, such as the Mishnah (a collection of existing oral rules based on the Jewish law), the Talmud (commentaries on the Mishnah), and the Midrash (commentaries on the Old Testament). This was the period during which the Dead Sea Scrolls were written.
(3) Mediaeval Hebrew (9th century AD – 18th century AD). During the mediaeval period, Hebrew was the language of scholarly writing and no longer a spoken language. Scholars published many biblical commentaries and other writings during this period. One of these well-known scholars was Rashi. With the Reformation in the church during the 16th century, Hebrew again became an important language for the church. The Reformers studied Hebrew under the Jews. Beginning with Johannes Reuchlin (circa 1522) Christian scholars started to write their own Hebrew grammars for the study of the Hebrew Bible.
(4) Modern Hebrew (Ivrit/Israeli). Towards the end of the 19th century, Hebrew was revived and became a living language. Eliëzer Ben Jehuda, played a significant role in this, by preparing a major dictionary of the language. The revived language became one of the three official languages of Palestine in 1922, alongside English and Arabic. During the 19th century, Christian theologians wrote many Hebrew grammars. Their grammars were often based on a comparative study of other Semitic languages. That era also produced a number of grammars on other Semitic languages.
The German theologian Wilhelm Heinrich Friedrich Gesenius (1786-1842) can be seen among theologians as the father of the modern study of Biblical Hebrew. Gesenius contributed a grammar and a lexicon to the study of the language, in which he often referred to other Semitic languages. His grammar first appeared in 1807, written in German. This grammar has had 28 editions; the last seven were edited by Emile Kautzsch. In 1910 Arthur Cowley produced an English version, which is available as an ES and TW module.
Modern studies of Biblical Hebrew have been heavily influenced by new studies in linguistics. The language is on the move, and beginner students will not be able to contribute anything to the new direction that the language is taking.
8.2.2. Aramaic
[See image11]
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Figure 2: Overview of the Aramaic language family
Aramaic developed as a language spoken by Syrian (Aramean) tribes in Mesopotamia, present-day Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan. We do not have details about this phase of the Aramaic language, commonly known as Ancient Aramaic. It was the language of Rebecca and Laban (Gen. 25:20). Jacob, and probably Abram, spoke the same language (see Deut. 26:5).
During its time in the Promised Land, Israel fought several times against the Arameans. David defeated king Hadadezer of Damascus (2 Sam. 8:3-8). When the Assyrians conquered the Arameans, they incorporated the latter’s language into their own. Assyrians were able to speak Aramaic, which the leaders of the Israelite army also understood.
Eliakim son of Hilkiah, Shebna, and Joah said to the chief adviser, ‘Speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it. Don't speak with us in the Judahite dialect in the hearing of the people who are on the wall’ (2 Kgs 18:26 NET).
The influence of Aramaic grew steadily. Aramaic became the official language of the Persian Empire. It dominated from around 331 BC until 200 BC. All important documents of the Persian Empire were written in it. The language was therefore called Imperial or Official Aramaic.
The Aramaic passages of the Old Testament were all written in Imperial Aramaic.
During the time of Alexander, Greek replaced Aramaic as the lingua franca. But Aramaic’s influence did not die out. From 200 BC to AD 250 Middle Aramaic developed a number of dialects that were used by, among others, Jews and Christians (Syriac) in Palestine.
During the rise of Islam, Arabic replaced many Aramaic dialects as the spoken language. Christians and Jews continued to use Aramaic. This phase of the language is known as the Late Aramaic. It lasted until the 13th century AD.
Aramaic is considered to be a dead language by some scholars. However, Modern Aramaic is still the mother tongue of hundreds of thousands of speakers in present-day Iraq, Iran, Syria, Lebanon and Turkey.