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
Academy of the Hebrew Language system, the Hebrew Language Committee published bulletins and dictionaries. It coined thousands of words that are in everyday use today. Its successor, the Academy of the Hebrew Language, has continued this mission of creating new Hebrew words to keep up modern usage. Although the academy's business is creating new words from Hebrew roots and structures to replace loanwords derived from other languages, its own name is a loanword, "akademya." It addresses this irony on its English website. The Academy's mission, as defined in its constitution, is "to direct the development of Hebrew in light of its nature" (לכוון את דרכי