Hebrew language
   the language of the Hebrew nation, and that in which the Old
   Testament is written, with the exception of a few portions in
   Chaldee. In the Old Testament it is only spoken of as "Jewish"
   (2 Kings 18:26, 28; Isa. 36:11, 13; 2 Chr 32:18). This name is
   first used by the Jews in times subsequent to the close of the
   Old Testament.
   
     It is one of the class of languages called Semitic, because
   they were chiefly spoken among the descendants of Shem.
   
     When Abraham entered Canaan it is obvious that he found the
   language of its inhabitants closely allied to his own. Isaiah
   (19:18) calls it "the language of Canaan." Whether this
   language, as seen in the earliest books of the Old Testament,
   was the very dialect which Abraham brought with him into Canaan,
   or whether it was the common tongue of the Canaanitish nations
   which he only adopted, is uncertain; probably the latter opinion
   is the correct one. For the thousand years between Moses and the
   Babylonian exile the Hebrew language underwent little or no
   modification. It preserves all through a remarkable uniformity
   of structure. From the first it appears in its full maturity of
   development. But through intercourse with Damascus, Assyria, and
   Babylon, from the time of David, and more particularly from the
   period of the Exile, it comes under the influence of the Aramaic
   idiom, and this is seen in the writings which date from this
   period. It was never spoken in its purity by the Jews after
   their return from Babylon. They now spoke Hebrew with a large
   admixture of Aramaic or Chaldee, which latterly became the
   predominant element in the national language.
   
     The Hebrew of the Old Testament has only about six thousand
   words, all derived from about five hundred roots. Hence the same
   word has sometimes a great variety of meanings. So long as it
   was a living language, and for ages after, only the consonants
   of the words were written. This also has been a source of
   difficulty in interpreting certain words, for the meaning varies
   according to the vowels which may be supplied. The Hebrew is one
   of the oldest languages of which we have any knowledge. It is
   essentially identical with the Phoenician language. (See MOABITE STONE.) The Semitic languages, to which class the
   Hebrew and Phoenician belonged, were spoken over a very wide
   area: in Babylonia, Mesopotamia, Syria, Palestine and Arabia, in
   all the countries from the Mediterranean to the borders of
   Assyria, and from the mountains of Armenia to the Indian Ocean.
   The rounded form of the letters, as seen in the Moabite stone,
   was probably that in which the ancient Hebrew was written down
   to the time of the Exile, when the present square or Chaldean
   form was adopted.