Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Peter Kirk <peter.r.kirk AT ntlworld.com>]

Liz Fried wrote:

> Dear Trevor,
> You wrote:
>  
>
> > You might want to do some reading on this subject. It has been
> > extensively discussed, and I think there's quite a bit of evidence
> > suggesting that Hebrew actually was a spoken language, side-by-side with
> > Aramaic.
> >    
>
> What seems to belie this are the Aramaic papyri from Elephantine.
> I"ve been trying to understand why Jews writing private letters to each
> other
> would be in Aramaic. One reason may be that the scribes they used only wrote
> Aramaic, not Hebrew. Another reason tho may be that the people themselves
> did
> not speak Hebrew. Would we be able to tell the difference do you think?
>
> Liz
>
>
>  
The Jews living at Elephantine i.e. Aswan may well have lost their 
Hebrew language just like many migrant communities lose theirs in a 
melting pot. That doesn't mean that the people back home lost their 
language. Italian Americans may have to write letters in English, even 
to relatives in Italy; in America they have lost their language, but 
that doesn't mean it is no longer spoken in Italy.

--
Peter Kirk
peter.r.kirk AT ntlworld.com
http://web.onetel.net.uk/~peterkirk/