Adult Forum

“Hebrew, Aramaic, and the Politics of Language in Ancient Judiasm”
Presented by: Dr. Robert E. Jones (Assistant Director of Jewish Studies; Assistant Research Professor of Jewish
Studies and Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies, Penn State)

The use of the Hebrew language declined significantly after the destruction of Judah, its
temple, and its government by the Babylonian Empire in 586 BCE. In its place, Jewish
scribes adopted Aramaic, the lingua franca of Ancient Near Eastern empires, as their
language for writing religious and political literature as well as commercial and legal
documents. But eventually, Hebrew began to re-emerge as a language for composing
religious and political literature, even as Aramaic continued in use as a legal and commercial
language. This presentation traces the revival of Hebrew in the second century BCE as a
symbol of religious and political identity.