Biblical Hebrew | |
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Classical Hebrew | |
שְֹפַת כְּנַעַן, יְהוּדִית, (לָשׁוֹן) עִבְרִית, לְשׁוֹן הַקֹּדֶשׁ | |
Region |
Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy) Kingdom of Judah Kingdom of Israel (Samaria) Hasmonean dynasty Global (as a liturgical language for Judaism) |
Era | attested from the 10th century BCE; developed into Mishnaic Hebrew after the Jewish–Roman wars in the first century CE |
Afro-Asiatic
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Proto-Canaanite / Phoenician alphabet Paleo-Hebrew alphabet Hebrew alphabet Samaritan alphabet |
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Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | Either: hbo smp – Samaritan Hebrew |
Linguist list
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hbo |
smp |
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Glottolog |
anci1244 (Ancient Hebrew)sama1313 (Samaritan)
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Biblical Hebrew (Hebrew: עִבְרִית מִקְרָאִית Ivrit Miqra'it or לְשׁוֹן הַמִּקְרָא Leshon ha-Miqra), also called Classical Hebrew, is an archaic form of Hebrew, a Canaanite Semitic language spoken by the Israelites in the area known as Israel, roughly west of the Jordan River and east of the Mediterranean Sea. The term "Hebrew" was not used for the language in the Bible, which was referred to as Canaanite or Judahite, but the name was used in Greek and Mishnaic Hebrew texts. Biblical Hebrew is attested from about the 10th century BCE, and persisted through and beyond the Second Temple period, which ended in the siege of Jerusalem (AD 70).
Biblical Hebrew eventually developed into Mishnaic Hebrew, which was spoken until the second century CE.
Biblical Hebrew is best-attested in the Hebrew Bible, the collection of Judaic religious and historical texts which reflect various stages of the Hebrew language in its consonantal skeleton, as well as a vocalic system which was added in the Middle Ages by the Masoretes. There is also some evidence of regional dialectal variation, including differences between Biblical Hebrew as spoken in the northern Kingdom of Israel and in the southern Kingdom of Judah.