Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-t5tsf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T22:28:36.108Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

7 - Mediaeval Hebrew

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

Angel Sáenz-Badillos
Affiliation:
Universidad Complutense, Madrid
Get access

Summary

Historical and geographical background

It is not easy to establish precise boundaries for that stage of the Hebrew language generally known as Mediaeval Hebrew (MH). We have already said that RH stopped being used as a living vernacular around the end of the second century CE, surviving for several centuries, however, alongside Aramaic, as a literary language. Although the transition to MH cannot be clearly defined, sometime during the sixth to seventh centuries and with the advent of Arab domination, there was a first movement towards the revitalization of Hebrew which may be considered as marking the beginnings of MH, even though the language remained deeply rooted in its past. This was the heyday of the Palestinian payṭanim, liturgical poets who employed a highly idiosyncratic, prayerlike language pervaded by biblical allusion and neologism. The same period sees the redaction of some late midrashim and the beginning of Masoretic activity.

The new vitality was limited to Hebrew as a literary language, but this does not mean that the language had disappeared entirely from daily use. Even though across the world Jewish communities tended to adopt the language of the host country for normal communication, they continued to pray and to read the Bible in Hebrew. This means as well that Hebrew must still have been taught in Jewish schools, and the testimonies of various mediaeval travellers show us that the use of the language in conversation had not ceased completely, as there were some communities, admittedly few in number, that used Hebrew in everyday life.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 1993

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×