How Hebrew Became a Holy Language - The BAS Library
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Home > Magazines > BAR > January/February 2017

How Hebrew Became a Holy Language

By Jan Joosten

In the Genesis creation narratives, God arguably speaks Hebrew; in fact, everyone speaks Hebrew until the Tower of Babel. If Hebrew were a holy language, one would expect it to be unique—set apart from other languages—but it is not. Perhaps Hebrew did not start out holy—but instead became holy.

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Footnotes

1.

Avi Hurwitz, “How Biblical Hebrew Changed,” BAR 42:05.

2.

Avraham Faust, “How Did Israel Become a People?” BAR 35:06.

3.

Laurie E. Pearce, “How Bad Was the Babylonian Exile?” BAR 42:05.

4.

Bezalel Porten, “Did the Ark Stop at Elephantine?” BAR 21:03.

Endnotes

1.

The earlier meaning is attested, for example, in Proverbs 1:8, and the later meaning in Nehemiah 8:4.