Hebrew
Hebrew
is
a
Semitic language originally adopted by the 'ibhri, or Israelites, when
they took possession of the land of Canaan west of the Jordan River in
Palestine. The language has also been called the speech of Canaan, and Judean,
after the kingdom of Judah. Ancient Hebrew, the language of the Bible, was
succeeded by an intermediary form, Mishnaic Hebrew, about the 3rd century BC.
Modern Hebrew, the only vernacular tongue based on an ancient written form, was
developed in the 19th and 20th centuries & is the national language of
Israel. There are 4,500,000 speakers in Israel and by over 100,000 in the
United States plus small numbers in many other nations around the world.
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![Israel - Click for Information]](https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/flags/is-flag.gif){kind=small}
![United States - Click for Information]](https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/flags/us-flag.gif){kind=small}