Point of Interest: Background to the Language of the Old Testament

OLD TESTAMENT LANGUAGES: THE SEMITIC FAMILY
Two important language groups trace their origins to the descendants of Noah: Shem and Ham. On the basis of phonological and morphological features that they share, Semitic and Hamitic languages are thought by many scholars to be related through a hypothetical common ancestor, Hamito-Semitic. To the Hamitic group, which is essentially North African, belong Egyptian (called Coptic after the third century of the Christian era), the Berber dialects of North Africa, and various Cushitic dialects spoken along the upper Nile. Coptic is the language used in the liturgy of the early Christian church in Egypt. South of the Sahara languages are usually classified into three main divisions: Sudanese, Bantu, and Hottentot and Bushman. The Semitic group of languages includes four divisions.2

The Eastern Division Akkadian, called Assyrian in the periods of the oldest texts, and later Babylonian are spokesmen of this division. Akkadian was the common language of all Southwest Asia during the height of the Old Babylonian and Assyrian empires, a fact evidenced by the Amarna Letters, which were sent by petty kings in Syria and Palestine to the Pharaohs in Egypt around 1400–1360 B.C. These languages are not used in the Old Testament.

The Southern Division This division has two major languages: Arabic and Ethiopic. Neither of those languages is used in the Old Testament. Ethiopic was the language of Ethiopia (Cush), a country referred to in each section of the Old Testament (cf. Gen. 10:7–8; Isa. 45:14; Ps. 68:31). Arabic is the most widely spoken Semitic language in the modern world, being spoken by large numbers of people over a vast area. In the sixteenth century Arabic became the official language of Egypt.

The Northern Division Amorite and Aramaic,3 which was the language of Jesus and the disciples, are representatives of the northern division. The Amorites inhabited Palestine before and during Israel’s occupation (cf. Gen. 10:16; 15:16; Deut. 7:1; Josh. 10:6; 2 Chron. 8:7), but their language was not used in the writing of the Old Testament. Aramaic, the language of the Syrians, appears in all three sections of the Old Testament either in writing or in place names (cf. Gen. 10:22; 31:47; 2 Kings 8:26; Ezra 4:7–6:1; 7:12–26; Isa. 36:11; Jer. 10:11; Dan. 2:4–7:28).

The Northwest Division This division of the Semitic family includes the Canaanite subdivision as well as Aramaic elements, and is represented by four dialects: Ugaritic, Phoenician, Moabite, and Hebrew.

Ugaritic is not used in the Old Testament, but it has been instrumental in further study of the cognate Hebrew language of the Old Testament. It was the language of the Ras Shamra Tablets, discovered in Northern Syria since 1929, which provide another key to the Canaanite dialects.

Phoenician is another important language that was not used in the Old Testament, although Phoenicians are mentioned in all three sections (cf. Gen. 10:8–12; 1 Kings 5:6; Neh. 13:16; Ezek. 27:9; Zeph. 1:11). The contribution of the Phoenicians is a major one, because it was they who introduced the alphabet to other languages,4 thus making writing much less cumbersome than it was for the Akkadians.

Lot’s descendants developed two dialects of Hebrew: Moabite by way of his oldest daughter, and Ammonite by way of the younger. Neither of these languages were used in the Old Testament; however, their nations are referred to repeatedly in all three sections of the Old Testament. The Moabite Stone (c. 850 B.C.) is the first really long inscription in any Canaanite language that has been discovered (found in 1868 at Dibon) and is the account of the Moabite king, Mesha, concerning the revolt mentioned in 2 Kings 1:1; 3:4–27.

Hebrew is by far the most important language of the Old Testament.5 Most of the Old Testament is written in it, and it is called “Judean” (2 Kings 18:26, 28), as well as “the language of Canaan” (Isa. 19:18). Except for the portions mentioned above (cf. Aramaic in particular), the Old Testament was written in Hebrew. During its long history, Hebrew has developed into the Biblical, Mishnaic, Rabbinic, Medieval, and Modern dialects.

Geisler, N. L., & Nix, W. E. (1996). A general introduction to the Bible (Rev. and expanded.) (324–326). Chicago: Moody Press.