Biblical Hebrew Forum

[K Randolph <kwrandolph AT gmail.com>]

Randall:

On Sun, Jun 14, 2009 at 5:39 AM, Randall Buth<randallbuth AT gmail.com> wrote:
>
> My question for this list:
> When did Classical Hebrew cease to be understood correctly?
>
>
> Randall Buth
>
> --
> Randall Buth, PhD
> www.biblicalulpan.org
> randallbuth AT gmail.com
> Biblical Language Center
> Learn Easily - Progress Further - Remember for Life

I don’t think anyone on this list claims that Biblical Hebrew ever
ceased to be understood correctly. Just as Latin continued to be
understood correctly long after it stopped being used as anyone’s
native tongue, yet in the main continued to be understood correctly (a
few words and expressions excepting), so Hebrew, the “Latin” of the
Jewish people, continued in the main to be correctly understood, up to
today.

But just as Latin changed in subtle ways over the centuries, so
Hebrew, over a longer time, changed more. Just as Latin was studied by
all even in high school and was an expected skill among all college
students up until fairly recently, so Hebrew was expected to be
understood by all educated people, and it was to a greater or lesser
degree.

I suspect your real question is, did Hebrew continue to be spoken,
only gradually changing, or was there a more precipitous change, a
complete break?

Some of the people on this list insist that Hebrew continued being
spoken as a native language, learned at one’s mother’s knee up until
sometime during the Talmudic age, while others say there is evidence
that those who returned from Babylon already spoke Aramaic as their
native tongue, and various positions between.

Can a modern Israeli speaker understand Biblical Hebrew correctly? I
would say that it is probably like a modern English speaker reading
Elizabethan English. While the broad outline is more or less correctly
understood, many details are not. Part of that is because modern
Israeli speakers are exposed to Biblical Hebrew in school, if not also
through religious training, the same as many modern English speakers
are exposed to Shakespeare. But with modern Israeli Hebrew being so
different, that will lead to misunderstandings, the same as a modern
English speaker trying to read Elizabethan English.

Karl W. Randolph.