Is "Paleo-Hebrew" Actually the Oldest Hebrew?

One of the modern trends of the "Hebrew Roots Movement" today is a fascination with what many call "Paleo-Hebrew", which is a term coined by Lew White, but the question remains, is there evidence that it is the most "ancient" of Hebrew and is it exclusively Hebrew?  Lets investigate this.

There are several semitic scripts in Hebrew and Aramaic, there is Ancient Hebrew, D'fus and K'tav.  In Aramaic we have Ashuri, Estrangela, Serta and Swadaya script.  All of these scripts make up what is called "Yehudith" (meaning: The Language of the Jews).  Both Hebrew and Aramaic are found within the Tanach, in all major codexes (Masoretic and Leningrad being the most used).  On the flip side, what we believe to be the original New Testament manuscript (The Khabouris Codex) we also find Hebrew words in the Estrangela Aramaic Script.  

One prime example, within the Khabouris Codex we have the word ܒܪܫܝܬ in John 1:1, which though in Estrangela Aramaic Script, it is actually a Hebrew word, that word is "Bereiishis (Beresheet in Sefardi dialect meaning "In the Beginning").  This provides to us in many ways a flow of continuity of language and scribal tradition considering we have a Hebrew text which contains Aramaic and an Aramaic text which contains Hebrew adds to the validity of Aramaic Primacy.  But lets get back to the scripts.  

The importance of Aramaic plays a huge part in us pinpointing the oldest Hebrew script, and soon you will see why.  Below, we see a chart taken from the publication "The Wisdom of the Hebrew Alphabet" by Rabbi Michael L Munk, published by Artscroll

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Wisdom in the Hebrew Alphabet by Rabbi Michael L Munk (page 42; 3rd Edition; copyright 1983, 2007, 2012)

The thing you will see interesting is that there is not mention of the "other" ancient hebrew script in the chart that we commonly see in the Hebrew Roots Movement.  Within, zero Jewish publications do we find an ox head, or a little stick figure with it's hands raised or nails or any of these picto hebrew scripts represented.  Why is this?

Because they are not Hebrew.  We can validate one script as being used by Hebrew, but we can also exclude the "other ancient Hebrew" when we trace back it's script.  The script below, is not Hebrew and was never used by by Jews nor was ever represented as a Hebrew script

The script represented above was actually a mixture of two different hieroglyphs one, Egyptian and one was also a spoken language of the people of Phoenicia.  Neither of which were ever tied to the Hebrew language. So lets investigate the next Ancient Script.  These scripts date around 300 years after Moses.

This next script we see above, even Artscroll says is Ancient Hebrew.  All the scholars agree.....but this doesn't exactly mean it is the oldest...we will get to that point very soon.  This script (seen above) is a later form of Phoenician script, which was a phonetic language.  This script, though is also considered "Hebrew" was a borrowed form of Hebrew and not exclusively Hebrew.  It would be like, if I wrote the word אֶמֶת and said "the word is emet" would my english script be the Hebrew to help you vocalize the word or would the D'fus script be the Hebrew script?  The same is true with this Phoenician script shown above, it served as a place holder in many respects.  Now, onto another ancient script 

Above we have displayed the 4 letters of Aramaic script (from top to bottom: Ashuri, Estrangela, Serta, and Swadaya script).  The top script may look very familiar.  The top script is identical to Hebrew D'fus script.  We see this script in many variations of Hebrew.  

Now we need to learn the history of Aramaic.  Aramaic is actually considered to be, by most scholars, as one of the oldest of languages in the world.  Parts of Genesis even give us a clue of this.  In Genesis 31:47 we see the words Yegar Sahadutha and even further back in Genesis 15:1 we have the word ba-mahaze, both are Aramaic.  We also find Aramaic in dozens of places in the Tanach, as well as complete chapters in Daniel.  The thing interesting is the script does not change, which shows a companionship between the two languages.  

Here is a kicker, ancient hebrew script, is dated as being only 3,400 years old, the Aramaic Ashuri script is dated as being over 4,000 years old.  Hebrew adopted the Aramaic Ashuri script during the time of the first temple period.  So in all actuality the oldest script of Hebrew is the "modern script" we use today which is known as D'fus Hebrew but is actually Ashuri Aramaic script.  (Below is a video I recently recorded on this subject).

How Many Biblical Manuscripts Are There of Each Language Script?

This may be surprising to many, but believe it or not there is not a single manuscript in either form of "Paleo" or Ancient Hebrew" how about the others? 

• Paleo or Ancient Hebrew= ZERO manuscripts of the Bible in existence 
• Hebrew D'fus script= Over 10,000 many of which are used as base text for your old testament texts today 
• Aramaic in any of it's represented scripts= Over 3,000 of the Old and New Testament 

These numbers should give us an indication of how it is we should define what is actual "Hebrew" but lets get into why many in the modern "Hebrew Roots Movement" are advocates for "Paleo" or Ancient Hebrew.

Why Do People Advocate So Much For These Scripts?

In the Hebrew Roots Movement we have many who have learned a little bit of knowledge of the Torah, and they think that translates to a level of scholarship above their former religious institution.  Many are zealous but have no theological training.  Zealousness is a good thing but it is misplaced zealousness.  So, many automatically want to see themselves as teachers.  

In today's social media a person can pose as an expert without any training their zealousness makes them try and take the fast track so they can be front and center.  Their theology comes from regurgitation of the drive by theology they see on YouTube.  The idea is, "I want to learn now and I want to learn quick" so they can seek praise on social media.  

The "Paleo" or Ancient Hebrew is a vehicle for a person without theological training to put themselves front and center, because there is no such thing as a "Paleo Hebrew Scholar", there is not a school on the planet that teaches paleo or ancient Hebrew, so therefore they don't have to worry about fact checking and they don't have to know the language.  

They may find in blogs online or go dumpster diving on the internet and see something like "it is possible at ancient times the letter _____ made a ___ sound instead".  Quotes like this are prevalent but contain zero citation.  What we end up having is a copy and paste job from a series of individuals, none are hebrew or aramaic scholars, and though it is devoid of citation or scholarship, if it is said enough times and if it seems contrary to the establishment, many of these young individuals will take hold of this faulty theology.  

So they tend to take on the same models of english, how letters can only make one sound, yet letters like the aleph in all actuality make 5 sounds or no sound based upon nikud (we will get into nikud later).  They also don't know several letters make several sounds, the vav also makes three sounds based on nikud.  But for such individuals learning one sound of 22 letters is hard enough, learning over a dozen nikud on top of it does not fit the model, so they propagate the half truth we will discuss next.  

"But Nikud Wasn't Added Until Later By the Masorites"

The above quote is true.  But the Paleo crowd twist the reasons why we now have nikud.  They try and come up with a conspiracy saying that the language was changed because of nikud.  The only time this is true is with Divine Names to preserve them. For instance the Leningrad Codex has 3 separate sets of nikud for the Divine Name of G-d, this was done on purpose to keep it concealed so that it is not profaned by heathens.  So the wrong ones were added on purpose for this reason.  

However, in terms of 99.99% of the words in the text this is not the case, in fact nikud was added to preserve the sounds of the Hebrew words and language, not to change it.  In fact to defile the language and change it would be so much against halakha, the sages even say such an individual who does as such should be punished to the point of death.  That is rather serious.

But because the nikud didn't com about until the times of the Masorites, it is easy for the Paleo crowd to then say that the language was changed and that the language didn't have as many rules as it does today so they come up with goofy renderings that if they tried to speak their words the way they understand them to native Hebrew speakers, the native Hebrew speaker would say, "you are speaking gibberish what are you saying?".  

So when the Paleo crowd propagates an anti-nikud position it is propagated as the exact opposite of why it was implemented.  It was actually implemented so we didn't loose the language, and it was implemented to preserve the sounds.  But the paleo crowd doesn't want to admit this history recorded in both secular and religious history because then that would mean the paleo people would then have to actually learn the language and that is just too much work for them.

One question we have to ask the paleo advocates is how they chose the vowels after the Hebrew consonants?  If their system is flawless and they wish to tell us how Hebrew was traditionally spoken how come none of them can agree what vowels to use in between consonants of everyday words?  Personally I don't think "guessing" preserves the language.  I think having a concrete system helps to do that, kinda like...well...you know...nikud.  

The "Modern Hebrew" and Yiddish Argument 

Have you ever come upon someone who is presented with Hebrew on social media and when they cannot decipher it they say "That is yiddish not Hebrew" or "that is modern Hebrew", they usually end these phrases with, "I know paleo-hebrews".  

Again we have covered the language sounds have not changed, dialects may differ but the language itself has not changed.  They define the way Hebrew has always been rendered as yiddish or modern Hebrew and not actual Hebrew.  They actually do not know what modern hebrew or yiddish are.  

Modern Hebrew was created by Eliezar ben Yehudah in the early 20th Century, Eliezar wanted Hebrew to no longer be the language of only the scholars and the religious leaders.  He wanted the common people to learn Hebrew.  Within Hasidim it was once believed that Hebrew would not be spoken again until the Messianic era.  So Eliezar was considered a heretic, and he also released the first Hebrew dictionary.  He was the considered the father of modern Hebrew because he came up with modern words that were not a part of the language at the time.  For instance, he created a word for toilet paper, or automobile, or kitchen sink.  The hebrew language did not have these words so he, intern created them.  That is why it is called "modern Hebrew".  It has nothing to do with new sounds or renderings or new words in place of old words.  

Now what is yiddish?  Yiddish is incorporating European languages with Hebrew.  It is not a new form of Hebrew. It is like me saying, "That nash Bruce ist win Mench" what you see here is I mixed english with german and hebrew and morphed them together.  That is what Yiddish is, you can use a variety of European languages and it doesn't have to include those particular 3 languages it can be a mixture of any of them.  And sometimes European words are adopted as a yiddish word and classified as such.  That is why yiddish actually is.  It is not a new language it is borrowing of words from several languages and it is not even related.  

I Want To Learn Hebrew But This Article Scared Me 

It is understandable, and we have to understand that on the internet as we have learned, people with no training in something can proclaim they know what they are talking about but have never attended a school to teach the languages.  It is good to ask to see their certificates from either religious institutions or from secular colleges and transcripts to show that they actually know the languages they are teaching.  Ask to see their certifications.  A few years ago I even sought a third certification in Hebrew (as shown below)

It is good for a teacher to seek a recertification every 5-7 years as a refresher if they are not using Hebrew and Aramaic often enough to retain it.  There is nothing wrong with brushing up every few years.  

If You Want to Learn Hebrew or Aramaic or Both....

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