- HEBREW LANGUAGE the language of the Hebrew nation, and that in
which the Old Testament is written, with the exception of a few portions
in Chaldee. In the Old Testament it is only spoken of as “Jewish” (2 Kings
18:26, 28; Isaiah 36:11, 13; 2 Chr 32:18). This name is first used by the
Jews in times subsequent to the close of the Old Testament.
It is one of the class of languages called Semitic, because they were chiefly
spoken among the descendants of Shem.
When Abraham entered Canaan it is obvious that he found the language of
its inhabitants closely allied to his own. Isaiah (19:18) calls it “the language
of Canaan.” Whether this language, as seen in the earliest books of the Old
Testament, was the very dialect which Abraham brought with him into
Canaan, or whether it was the common tongue of the Canaanitish nations
which he only adopted, is uncertain; probably the latter opinion is the
correct one. For the thousand years between Moses and the Babylonian
exile the Hebrew language underwent little or no modification. It preserves
all through a remarkable uniformity of structure. From the first it appears
in its full maturity of development. But through intercourse with
Damascus, Assyria, and Babylon, from the time of David, and more
particularly from the period of the Exile, it comes under the influence of
the Aramaic idiom, and this is seen in the writings which date from this
period. It was never spoken in its purity by the Jews after their return
from Babylon. They now spoke Hebrew with a large admixture of Aramaic
or Chaldee, which latterly became the predominant element in the national
language.
The Hebrew of the Old Testament has only about six thousand words, all
derived from about five hundred roots. Hence the same word has
sometimes a great variety of meanings. So long as it was a living language,
and for ages after, only the consonants of the words were written. This
also has been a source of difficulty in interpreting certain words, for the
meaning varies according to the vowels which may be supplied. The
Hebrew is one of the oldest languages of which we have any knowledge. It
is essentially identical with the Phoenician language. (See MOABITE
STONE.) The Semitic languages, to which class the Hebrew and
Phoenician belonged, were spoken over a very wide area: in Babylonia,
Mesopotamia, Syria, Palestine and Arabia, in all the countries from the
Mediterranean to the borders of Assyria, and from the mountains of
Armenia to the Indian Ocean. The rounded form of the letters, as seen in