Biblical Hebrew - History

History

The archeological record for the prehistory of Biblical Hebrew is far more complete than the record of Biblical Hebrew itself. Early Northwest Semitic (ENWS) materials are attested from 2350 BC to 1200 BC, the end of the Bronze Age. The Northwest Semitic languages, including Hebrew, differentiated noticeably during the Iron Age (1200–540 BC), although in its earliest stages Biblical Hebrew was not highly differentiated from Ugaritic and Amarna Canaanite.

Hebrew developed during the latter half of the second millennium BC between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, an area known as Canaan. The Israelite tribes established a kingdom in Canaan at the beginning of the first millennium BC, which later split into the kingdom of Israel in the north and the kingdom of Judah in the south after a dispute of succession. The earliest Hebrew writing yet discovered was found at Khirbet Qeiyafa and dates to the 10th century BC.

The kingdom of Israel was destroyed by the Assyrians in 722 BC. The kingdom of Judah was conquered by the Babylonians in 586 BC, its higher classes exiled and the first Temple destroyed. Later the Persians made Judah a province and permitted Jewish exiles to return and rebuild the Temple. In this period of turmoil, the Hebrews were greatly influenced by Aramaic. Aramaic became the common language in the north, in Galilee and Samaria. Hebrew remained in use in Judah; however the returning exiles brought back Aramaic influence, and Aramaic was used for communicating with other ethnic groups during the Persian period. Alexander conquered Judah in 332 BC, beginning the period of Hellenistic (Greek) domination. During the Hellenistic period Judea became independent under the Hasmoneans, but later the Romans ended their independence, making Herod the Great their governor. One Jewish revolt against the Romans led to the destruction of the Second Temple in AD 70, and the second Bar-Kochba revolt in AD 132–135 led to a large departure of the Jewish population of Judea.

Biblical Hebrew after the Second Temple period evolved into Mishnaic Hebrew, which ceased being spoken and developed into a literary language around AD 200. Hebrew continued to be used as a literary and liturgical language in the form of Medieval Hebrew, and Hebrew began a revival process in the 19th century, culminating in Modern Hebrew becoming the official language of the State of Israel. Currently, Classical Hebrew is generally taught in public schools in Israel, and Biblical Hebrew forms are sometimes used in Modern Hebrew literature, much as archaic and Biblical constructions are used in Modern English literature. Since Modern Hebrew contains many Biblical elements, Biblical Hebrew is fairly intelligible to Modern Hebrew speakers.

The primary source of Biblical Hebrew material is the Hebrew Bible. Biblical Hebrew is meagerly attested from epigraphic materials, and the Hebrew in these materials differs little from the variety of Hebrew in the Hebrew Bible. The damp climate of Palestine caused the rapid deterioration of papyrus and parchment documents, in contrast to the dry environment of Egypt, and the survival of the Hebrew Bible may be attributed to scribal determination in preserving the text through copying. No manuscript of the Hebrew Bible dates to before 400 BC, although two silver rolls (the Ketef Hinnom scrolls) from the 7th or 6th century BC show a version of the priestly blessing. Vowel and cantillation marks were added to the older consonantal layer of the Bible between 600 AD and the beginning of the 10th century. The scholars who preserved the pronunciation of the Bibles were known as the Masoretes. The most well-preserved system that developed, and the only still used is the Tiberian vocalization, but both Babylonian and Palestinian vocalizations are also attested. The Palestinian system was preserved mainly in piyyutim, which contain Biblical quotations.