Ask a Hebrew Teacher - Was Hebrew a Dead Language for Centuries?

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In this lesson, you'll learn about some of the Hebrew language history.

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[MillennialSpark]

I’m afraid I don’t know much regarding this language. I did hear of an individual around the 1940s or 1950s who really pushed for the remaking of the language... I forgot his name, though

[lauriemclean]

Very interesting and informative. Thank you.

[dannl]

"it just ceased to be a spoken language", "Hebrew ceased to be an everyday spoken language". That´s the technical definition of a dead language. So, the answer to the question is 'yes'. " 'Survived' as the language of Jewish liturgy, Rabbinic literature and poetry." "Jewish people (...) could read and understand it." That´s the description of a Classic (and therefore dead) language. Just like Latin or Sanskrit. Don´t get me wrong, I absolutely love those three languages, and the fact that Hebrew was brought back to life, so to speak, is an amazing feat, but a fact is a fact. Anyway, thanks for your lessons and keep up the good work. Bye!

[vivianederrien]

Hi, I'm creating a language awareness game and will include a small booklet with fun facts about each language present in the game such as hebrew. It's destined for +7 yo and aims to trigger curiosity about cultures and languages. What would be 2-3 things that you would share during a dinner discussion to get someone interested in Hebrew?
Thank you for your video

[veganvendetta]

Very interesting. ... loved this history lesson.

[tenienteramires]

A dead language is a language that is no more a spoken language, so, yes, hebrew was a dead language.

[libafried]

Stop spreading misinformation. Hebrew was always spoken and used uninteruptedly. Modern Hebrew, Ivrit, is a secular Zionist invention ( and a popular one at that) using the original Hebrew language with some Arabic and Indo-European language persuasions. The original Hebrew never ceased to be spoken and used.

Religious Jews all over the world, (who used to be a majority until sometime in the 20th century) besides for religious Jews living in Israel today, were always and are today as well, bilingual, Hebrew being one of the languages we use.

[libafried]

Hebrew absolutely did NOT stop being used after the Bar Kochva revolt! That is totally incorrect. It NEVER ceased to be a spoken language. Even after Jews lost their independence to the Romans (and a language isn't killed off by a nation losing their independance so it's a silly hypothesis that Jews stopped speaking Hebrew after Bar Kochba's failed revolt)it was spoken in yeshiva by scholars, in synogogues, in prayer and learning. That is not a dead language. Thousands of books all over the world were printed in Hebrew since the printing press came into existence and before that scribes wrote manuscripts on parchment ( besides for the Torah). All religious Jews (which made up the majority of Jews pre-20th century) were bi-lingual, Hebrew being the common language that tied all Jews together. How do you think a Jew coming straight off the plane from Yemen can converse fluently in Hebrew? They spoke that language forever, that's how. How is that a dead or unused language? It was a religious language, dead to the secular, assimiliated world until secular Israelis adopted the language. But it was never a dead or unspoken language. Hebrew was alive since it's inception.

[warrior]

6 black "israelites" didn't like the video, in other words, the truth

[besholem]

The so called Hebrew language is merely the canaanite dialect or the lip of canaan. This canaanite dialect spoken by Hebrew is one of many Old Arabian dialects similar to the himyarite dialect in Southern Arabia