Jovial (8 December 2005)
"The Evolution of Hebrew and English"

The fact that Hebrew has survived ALMOST unchanged from the time the Scriptures were first written down some several thousand years ago is almost a miracle.  It has evolved in small measure, but nothing like most languages, and the earliest Hebrew writings are still recognizeable Hebrew by the measurement of those who live in Israel today.    You would not recognize English from 1000 years ago as English.  http://www.wordorigins.org/histeng.htm gives an interesting history of the English Language and demonstrates how it has evolved over time by showing a text in English rfom several time periods.  Let me quote what they print:    

It is useful to compare various versions of a familiar text to see the differences between Old, Middle, and Modern English. Take for instance this Old English (c. 1000) sample:

Fæder ure þu þe eart on heofonum 
si þin nama gehalgod tobecume þin rice gewurþe þin willa on eorðan swa swa on heofonum 
urne gedæghwamlican hlaf syle us to dæg 
and forgyf us ure gyltas swa swa we forgyfað urum gyltendum 
and ne gelæd þu us on costnunge ac alys us of yfele soþlice.

To get a feel for Old English pronunciation, play a wav file of this Old English text (518Kb), read by Catherine Ball of Georgetown University.

Rendered in Middle English (1384), the same text is recognizable to the modern eye:

Oure fadir þat art in heuenes halwid be þi name; 
þi reume or kyngdom come to be. Be þi wille don in herþe as it is doun in heuene. 
yeue to us today oure eche dayes bred. 
And foryeue to us oure dettis þat is oure synnys as we foryeuen to oure dettouris þat is to men þat han synned in us. 
And lede us not into temptacion but delyuere us from euyl.

Finally, in Early Modern English (King James Version, 1611) the same text is completely intelligible:

Our father which art in heauen, hallowed be thy name. 
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heauen. 
Giue us this day our daily bread. 
And forgiue us our debts as we forgiue our debters. 
And lead us not into temptation, but deliuer us from euill. Amen.

 

Now even this needs some updating for the 21st century, but at least you can recognize that this IS the English language in use!   Now this demonstrates how much the English language has evolved in about a 1000 year time period.  This is not unusual.  However, Hebrew has not evolved very significantly since the Torah was written by Moses some 3,500 years ago!!!  It has evolved some, but compared to English - WOW!!  No contest!

Shalom,

Joe
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