“Then Eliyakim son of Hikiah and Shebna and Joan said to Rabshakeh,…speak to your servants in the Aramaic language, for we understand it; and do not speak to us in Yehudit (the Jews’ language) in the hearing of the people on the wall.” (II Kings 18:26)
Last week was “Hebrew Day” in honor of the revival of the Hebrew language.
The Shebna Inscription (ancient Hebrew,) from the tomb of a royal steward found in Siloam, dates to the 7th century BCE
Some interesting facts about the Hebrew language:
Hebrew belongs to the West Semitic family of languages. The Hebrew language is the only Canaanite language in use today.
In Hebrew the language is called Ivrit, from the word Avar which means crossed over. Abraham was called a Hebrew because he crossed over (Avar) from his native land of the Chaldean to the land of Canaan. However it was called Yehudit (Jewish) in the Bible after the tribe of Judah (Yehuda) and the kingdom of Judah. The language started to be known as Hebrew from the time of the Second Temple. At the time of the Roman occupation, Jews in Judah also spoke the international languages of Aramaic and Greek.
After the expulsion of the Jews from the land of Israel by the Roman Empire, Hebrew slowly ceased to be the everyday spoken language of the Jews. It survived in the Middle ages mainly as part of the Jewish liturgy, rabbinic literature, writings and poetry.
Pictured: 1st kindergarten Hebrew teacher in Palestina (Israel in the 19th century)
Hebrew as a common language was revived in the 19th century and is still being developed with the help of the Hebrew Academy of the Hebrew language in Israel. Hebrew is spoken by more than 6 million people worldwide, the largest number in Israel followed by the United States.
Present day Hebrew consists of a mixture from several eras. Biblical Hebrew, the Hebrew of Rabbinical writings, languages from the Middle Ages, and modern languages (mainly English). The highest percentage comes from Biblical Hebrew, more than 60%, but some modern words are derivatives of biblical words. The most common words in Hebrew are lo (no) and kol (all)
The days of the week are named according to their number in the days of creations: Sunday is Rishon meaning first, Monday is Sheni – second, Tuesday is Shlishi – third, Wednesday is Revii – fourth, Thursday is Hamishi – fifth, Friday is Shishi – sixth, and only Saturday the seventh day has a special word – Shabbat which means cease from work, because God finished His work of creation and rested or ceased from all His work.
The original Tanakh, (Old Testament) was written in Hebrew, with the exception of some chapters in Daniel and Ezra who lived in Babylon. God spoke in Hebrew to men and women in the Bible, many times using “plays on words” that cannot be translated, and can only be understood in Hebrew. The angel Gabriel spoke in Hebrew to Mary (Miriam) and told her the baby will be called Yeshua which means Salvation in Hebrew. The letters JESUS are transliterated from the letters YESHUA, but in English the word Jesus has no meaning.
Some English words that have their origin in Hebrew:
- Amen – certainly, verily, comes from the Hebrew word emuna – faith
- Bath or bathtub – 10 gallons liquid measure, from bath in Hebrew
- Cinnamon – Kinamon in Biblical and Modern Hebrew
- Cider – Shekhar in Hebrew – strong drink
- Hallelujah, Halleluya in Hebrew – praise the Lord
- Macabre – In French macabre, probably from the Hebrew word makevet – hammer or naqab – perforate
- Satanic – from the Hebrew satan – adversary, devil
- Camel – in Hebrew gamal