Hebrew language Christian seminaries. The Torah (the first five books), and most of the rest of the Hebrew Bible, is written in Biblical Hebrew, with much of its present form specifically in the dialect that scholars believe flourished around the 6th century BCE, around the time of the Babylonian captivity. For this reason, Hebrew has been referred to by Jews as "" (), "the Holy Language", since ancient times. The modern English word "Hebrew" is derived from Old French "Ebrau", via Latin from the Greek "Ἑβραῖος" ("Hebraîos") and Aramaic "'ibrāy", all ultimately derived from Biblical Hebrew "Ibri" (), one of several names
Study of the Hebrew language Study of the Hebrew language Study of the Hebrew language has an ancient history. Since Hebrew is the original language of the Hebrew Bible (known as the Torah and Tanakh), it is therefore a language that has always been central to Judaism and valued by the Jewish people for over three thousand years and later by Christian scholars as well. The beginnings of the study of Hebrew are found in the Talmud and Midrash, which have some grammatical notes. The Masoretes continued the study as they fixed the text and vocalization of the Hebrew Bible. Under the influence of the