Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Mark Spitsbergen <awakesd AT mac.com>]

Dear list please bear with me and help me address the subject of Hebrew and 
its precedence over other ancient languages.  I believe that the Torah is the 
highest level of authority and most accurate document of the history of 
man.Therefore, it stands to reason that there was only one language at the 
onset of creation and preserved until bavel, )ehad ve-safah (Genesis 11:6). 
Now if the division of language took place miraculously at 'bavel' (Genesis 
11:2), before each nation was divided according to their language (Genesis 
10:5) then shouldn't we assume that there would not necessarily be any 
evidence of a linguistic evolution from the singular language of bavel into 
the diverse tongues of the nations? If we then assume that the oral tradition 
of scripture was preserved in the language of the Torah then Hebrew would be 
that language, correct? If the Torah then is a preserved autograph of 
scripture shouldn't the five books also be a preserved transcript of that 
language?  Are there any truly linguistic facts (not hypothesis misnomered as 
theories) to the contrary (other than the script/font)? 

Finally, should we even be attempting to define Hebrew with the Ugarit 
language as Dahood and others have done with the Ras Shamra text? Is it wise 
to attempt to define the most ancient Hebrew words through the definitions 
given to Akkadian words? Who defines how we set precedence and where we gain 
a sensible balance in this quest to truly define a meaning of any particular 
word in the Torah?  

Thanks,

Mark Spitsbergen