Hebrew
Hebrew is a language spoken by Jews. Hebrew is a Semitic language, related to Arabic. Like Arabic, it is written from right to left.
The original Hebrew largely died out as a spoken language. Modern Hebrew is spoken in Israel and is a restoration of Ancient Hebrew with many differences to the older form.[1]
The Old Testament is written almost entirely in Ancient Hebrew, with some portions in Aramaic.
Hebrew is a "root" language with basic meanings of words derived from the consonents. This is different than English and other Indo-Eurpean languages where the vowels have equal weight as the consonents. Thus, in Hebrew, the consonents CTB(or V) have something to do with "writing". From this basic root, there is derived CoTeV=writing or author, CaTTav= reporter, CaTuV=written, C'TuVim=Scriptures, CaTaVti= I wrote, eC(kh)ToV=I will write, C'ToVet=inscription or address, and so on.
The Hebrew of the Old Testament, though "classical", is not uniform. Some of the Hebrew, as in the Song of Deborah, is very archaic. The narrative portions relating to Deborah are more "modern". The same is true of the poetic Song of Moses and its corresponding narrative. This indicates that the poetic portions where written much earlier than the narrative and very close to the time of the event itself. This suggests that the events were passed on orally and in song to the next generation before they were written down. Deuteronomy displays a type of Hebrew similar to some of the Prophetic literature. What all this indicates is the "freedom" found in the Hebrew language of the Bible. In comparative terms to our modern sense and usage, it would be as if King James English with its magnificent cadences, Revised Standard English, more accessible and approachable to the modern man, and New International English, more familiar to the "man in the street", were to be used in one and the same version of the Bible to fit different "moods" and different usages and succeeding centuries. This evinces a most convincing and natural development of the language just as there is a most convincing and natural development of the culture and of the people of the Bible. Biblical Hebrew is thus shown to be very far different from an artificial or "school room" construct. It is a living language – or, more properly, living languages – used for different purposes and at different times.