Greek, Latin, English: All are the children of the Hebrew Language
Through out time, many scholars have complained and constantly have argued over who had the oldest language. Some say it were the Greeks, others say it was the Hebrew. The purpose of this study was to show which language is the oldest language. It was also written to show how the later languages Latin and English were developed. These two languages are important because they show the transition of the scriptures to a language that is in common use. It also gives information on who created the language, and when these four languages were spoken. Finally, it will show which language should be translated to get the closest meaning of the scriptures, Yahweh’s word.
The Greek language is of Indo-European origin and is spoken and written primarily in Greece and Cyprus. Its history is long and rich and spans a period of 34 centuries from the 14th century BC to date (longer than any other language of Indo-European descent). Through this long period of time, the Greek language evolves in four distinct forms/phases: Ancient Greek (14th - 4th century BC). The original form of language is Mycenaean Greek (14th - 12th century BC), characterized by the use of syllabic script called Linear B. Following the Mycenean Greek, the prominent Greek language form becomes Archaic (Classical) Greek (8th - 4th century BC). A prominent feature of this form is its adoption of the alphabet, and the introduction of new letters and vowels.
The break in the evolution of language from the 12th to the 8th century coincides with the destruction of the Mycenean civilization by the Dorian invasions and for nearly 4 centuries very little linguistic progress was recorded. Hellenistic Greek (4th century BC - 4th century AD). Also known as Koine Greek it is the most widely spread language of the times due to the empire of Alexander the Great. It absorbed all local dialects and became the standard language of the times. The New Statement (the 4 Gospels, the Letters of St. Paul and St. Peter, and the Apocalypse of St. John) is written in Koine Greek. Byzantine Greek (5th - 15th century AD). It is the official language of the Byzantine Empire and is considered by many an early version of the Modern Greek language. The spoken form of this language differs significantly from its written counterpart. Since it was spoken across vast lands by many people, it continued to incorporate local dialects and idioms. At the same time, the intellectuals of those days thought that this language was not pure and sought to return to the Greek written in Classical Athens (classicists). Modern Greek. It is the language spoken and written today in Greece and Cyprus (with minor dialect changes) primarily.
2,500 years ago Latin was just one of the Italic languages spoken in central Italy. Latin was the language of the area known as Latium (modern Lazio), and Rome was one of the towns of Latium. The earliest known inscriptions in Latin date from the 6th century BC and were written in various versions of the Greek alphabet, which was brought to to Italy by Greek colonists.
Rome was at first ruled by Etruscan kings, but in 509 BC the Romans overthrew their Etruscan overlords, Rome became a republic ruled by elected officials and started to expand its influence in Italy.
After the civil war between Julius Caesar and Pompey in 49 BC, Caesar declared himself dictator, effectively putting an end to the republic, and set about expanding the empire. Caesar was assassinated by republicans on the Ides of March 44 BC and many years of civil wars ensued. In 31 BC, Caesar's adopted son Octavian emerged as the victor, renamed himself Augustus and became the first Roman emperor. Virgil, author of the Aeneid, Horace and other poets were active during the reign of Augustus.
The Roman Empire soon stretched across a wide swathe of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East and Latin was used throughout the empire as the language of law, administration and increasingly as the language of everyday life. Literacy was common among Roman citizens and the works of great Latin authors were read by many.
Meanwhile in the eastern Mediterranean, Greek remained the lingua franca and well-educated Romans were familiar with both languages. In fact the earliest surviving examples of Latin literature are Latin translations of Greek plays, and Cato's farming manual, which dates from 150 BC.
The language used in much early Latin literature, classical Latin, differed in many ways from colloquial spoken Latin, known as vulgar Latin, though some writers, including Cicero and Petronius, used vulgar Latin in their work. Over the centuries the spoken varieties of Latin continued to move away from the literary standard and eventually evolved into the modern Italic/Romance languages (Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian, Catalan, etc).
Even after the collapse of the western Roman Empire in 476 AD, Latin continued to be used as a literary language throughout western and central Europe. An enormous quantity of medieval Latin literature was produced in a variety of different styles ranging from the scholarly works of Irish and Anglo-Saxon writers to simple tales and sermons for a wider audience.
During the 15th century, Latin began to lose its dominant position as the main language of scholarship and religion throughout Europe. It was largely replaced by written versions of the vernacular languages of Europe, many of which are descendants of Latin or have been heavily influenced by it.
Modern Latin was used by the Roman Catholic Church until the mid 20th century and is still used to some extent, particularly in the Vatican City, where it is one of the official languages. Latin terminology is used extensively by biologists, palaeontologists and other scientists to name species and specimens, and also by doctors and lawyers.
The history of the language can be traced back to the arrival of three Germanic tribes to the British Isles during the 5th Century AD. Angles, Saxons and Jutes crossed the North Sea from what is the present day Denmark and northern Germany. The inhabitants of Britain previously spoke a Celtic language. This was quickly displaced. Most of the Celtic speakers were pushed into Wales, Cornwall and Scotland. One group migrated to the Brittany Coast of France where their descendants still speak the Celtic Language of Breton today. The Angles were named from Engle, their land of origin. Their language was called Englisc from which the word, English derives. An Anglo-Saxon inscription dated between 450 and 480AD is the oldest sample of the English language.
During the next few centuries four dialects of English developed: Northumbrian in Northumbria, north of the Humber , Mercian in the Kingdom of Mercia West Saxon in the Kingdom of Wessex , and Kentish in Kent.
During the 7th and 8th Centuries, Northumbria's culture and language dominated Britain. The Viking invasions of the 9th Century brought this domination to an end (along with the destruction of Mercia). Only Wessex remained as an independent kingdom. By the 10th Century, the West Saxon dialect became the official language of Britain. Written Old English is mainly known from this period. It was written in an alphabet called Runic, derived from the Scandinavian languages. The Latin Alphabet was brought over from Ireland by Christian missionaries. This has remained the writing system of English.
At this time, the vocabulary of Old English consisted of an Anglo Saxon base with borrowed words from the Scandinavian languages (Danish and Norse) and Latin. Latin gave English words like street, kitchen, kettle, cup, cheese, wine, angel, bishop, martyr, candle. The Vikings added many Norse words: sky, egg, cake, skin, leg, window (wind eye), husband, fellow, skill, anger, flat, odd, ugly, get, give, take, raise, call, die, they, their, them. Celtic words also survived mainly in place and river names (Devon, Dover, Kent, Trent, Severn, Avon, Thames).
Hebrew has been considered one of the many Semitic languages such as Canaanite, Aramaic, Phoenician, Akkadian, etc., that evolved out of a more ancient unknown language. However, Hebrew was the original language of man. According to the Bible all people spoke one language until the construction of the Tower of Babel, in southern Mesopotamia which occurred sometime around 4000 BCE. During the construction of the Tower, God confused the language of man and scattered the nations. It is at this time that the Sumerians , speaking a non-Semitic language , appear in southern Mesopotamia. It is believed that the Sumerians are related to the people living between the Black and Caspian Seas , known as the Scythians, ancestors of Noah's son Japheth. At approximately the same time the Sumerians appeared in Mesopotamia, another civilization emerges in the South, the Egyptians. The original language of the Egyptians is Hamitic , and is also unrelated to the Semitic languages.
It would appear that after the Tower of Babel, the descendants of Japheth traveled north with their language, the descendants of Ham traveled southwest with their language and the Semites traveled west with their language.
"That is why it was called Babel - because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth" (Genesis 11.9) What was the one language spoken prior to the Tower of Babel? When God created Adam he spoke to him indicating that God gave Adam a language and this language came from God himself, not through the evolution of grunts and groans of cave men. When we look at all the names of Adam's descendent we find that all the names from Adam to Noah and his children are Hebrew names, meaning that their name has a meaning in Hebrew such as Methuselah which in Hebrew means "his death brings" (The flood occurred the year that he died). It is not until we come to Noah's grandchildren that we find names that are of a language other then Hebrew, such as Nimrod who built Babylon/Sumer and possibly the Tower of Babel. According to the Biblical record of names, Adam and his descendants spoke Hebrew. Jewish tradition as well as some Christian Scholars, believed that Hebrew was the original language of man.
Using the bible and the internet has proven a very important fact. The roman catholic church constantly teach that Latin is the oldest language. However through much internet research and biblical research, Hebrew is older then all of the languages. The Hebrew language outdates Latin, Greek, and definitely outdates English. Therefore in order to get the true word of Yahweh, one must find a bible that translates from Hebrew straight to English.
Websites used for this paper www.torah.org, www.yaelf.com, www.linquistic.org, and www.hellenic.net.
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