What languages did Hebrew evolve from?

Answer 1

The traditional answer is that God created Hebrew; however, we know scientifically that Hebrew most likely evolved out of Old Canaanite.

Our tradition states that Hebrew was the language with which God created the world (Rashi commentary, Genesis 2:23, quoting the midrash); and it is the language in which He spoke on Mount Sinai.
Since it was considered a holy language and was used for prayer and the teaching of religious tradition, it was not spoken in mundane contexts and wasn't taught to just anyone. It was handed down from individual teachers to disciples as part of the original tradition; and the same goes for the art of writing (letters on parchment, as opposed to cuneiform or hieroglyphics). Thus, certain Hebrew Psalms (92 and 139) and teachings are attributed to Adam, the first man. The wider public, most of whom descended relatively quickly into idolatry and sin, were not given access to the treasures of the original tradition, since by their actions they implicitly repudiated it.
After the Flood, the Hebrew language had a brief period in which it was generally known, thanks to Noah (see Rashi commentary on Genesis 11:1). This is why many hundreds of Hebrew words have cognates in languages as diverse as German and Japanese. The alphabet, which secular scholars trace back to the Greeks and the earlier Phoenicians, is according to our tradition actually one step older than that: it is from the Hebrew aleph-bet, which those of the Phoenicians and Greeks closely mimic. The earliest known Greek inscription (the Dipylon) was written from right to left.
After the Flood also, the knowledge of Hebrew eventually declined (see Genesis ch.11) and was preserved only among the Western Semites, the ancestors and cousins of Abraham. Eber, from whom our word "Hebrew" (Ivrit) is named, was a Semitic descendant of Noah and ancestor of Abraham. He was one of the major transmitters of the original traditions. He is credited with having broadened the Hebrew language, and some Hebrew grammatical constructs are attributed to him by certain Jewish researchers.
As time passes, languages grow and adapt. Thus today we can identify many Hebrew words and types of usage that go all the way back (and these are the ones that are most likely to be found in the Hebrew Bible and to have cognates in other languages). And then there are Late Biblical Hebrew; the Hebrew of the Mishna; Medieval Hebrew, and so on. All of these have a broad overlap, but each has introduced its added vocabulary-words and usages.

Scholars say that the earliest forms of the Hebrew language evolved out of the Canaanite language around the tenth century BCE, and in fact there is occasional debate as to whether a very early inscription is Hebrew or Canaanite. There is no evidence of Egyptian influence in the language of the early Hebrews, as might be expected after a period of over four centuries in Egypt.

Keel and Uehlinger (Gods, Goddesses and Images of God in Ancient Israel) say the Israelite language was closer to Phoenician (both of which they refer to as major Canaanite 'dialects') than to the Judahite language, which was a 'peripheral', conservative dialect of Canaanite, comparable to Ammonite and Moabite. Artefacts discovered in marginal territory can be sometimes distinguished as Israelite or Judahite (or Phoenician) based on the dialect in the text.

The Canaanite derivation may seem surprising, given the biblical enmity between the Israelites and the Canaanites, but the strong consensus of scholars and historians is that the Hebrews were actually rural Canaanites who migrated peacefully away from the region of the rich coastal cities into the hitherto sparsely populated hinterland. Thus the Hebrew culture, language and even religion evolved from Canaanite origins. The legend of a military conquest under Joshua is a much later development.

The traditional answer is that God created Hebrew; however, we know scientifically that Hebrew most likely evolved out of Old Canaanite.

Answer 2

Our tradition states that Hebrew was the language with which God created the world (Rashi commentary, Genesis 2:23, quoting the midrash); and it is the language in which He spoke on Mount Sinai.
Since it was considered a holy language and was used for prayer and the teaching of religious tradition, it was not spoken in mundane contexts and wasn't taught to just anyone. It was handed down from individual teachers to disciples as part of the original tradition; and the same goes for the art of writing (letters on parchment, as opposed to cuneiform or hieroglyphics). Thus, certain Hebrew Psalms (92 and 139) and teachings are attributed to Adam, the first man. The wider public, most of whom descended relatively quickly into idolatry and sin, were not given access to the treasures of the original tradition, since by their actions they implicitly repudiated it.
After the Flood, the Hebrew language had a brief period in which it was generally known, thanks to Noah (see Rashi commentary on Genesis 11:1). This is why many hundreds of Hebrew words have cognates in languages as diverse as German and Japanese. The alphabet, which secular scholars trace back to the Greeks and the earlier Phoenicians, is according to our tradition actually one step older than that: it is from the Hebrew aleph-bet, which those of the Phoenicians and Greeks closely mimic. The earliest known Greek inscription (the Dipylon) was written from right to left.
After the Flood also, the knowledge of Hebrew eventually declined (see Genesis ch.11) and was preserved only among the Western Semites, the ancestors and cousins of Abraham. Eber, from whom our word "Hebrew" (Ivrit) is named, was a Semitic descendant of Noah and ancestor of Abraham. He was one of the major transmitters of the original traditions. He is credited with having broadened the Hebrew language, and some Hebrew grammatical constructs are attributed to him by certain Jewish researchers.
As time passes, languages grow and adapt. Thus today we can identify many Hebrew words and types of usage that go all the way back (and these are the ones that are most likely to be found in the Hebrew Bible and to have cognates in other languages). And then there are Late Biblical Hebrew; the Hebrew of the Mishna; Medieval Hebrew, and so on. All of these have a broad overlap, but each has introduced its added vocabulary-words and usages.

Answer 3

Scholars say that the earliest forms of the Hebrew language evolved out of the Canaanite language around the tenth century BCE, and in fact there is occasional debate as to whether a very early inscription is Hebrew or Canaanite. There is no evidence of Egyptian influence in the language of the early Hebrews, as might be expected after a period of over four centuries in Egypt.

Keel and Uehlinger (Gods, Goddesses and Images of God in Ancient Israel) say the Israelite language was closer to Phoenician (both of which they refer to as major Canaanite 'dialects') than to the Judahite language, which was a 'peripheral', conservative dialect of Canaanite, comparable to Ammonite and Moabite. Artefacts discovered in marginal territory can be sometimes distinguished as Israelite or Judahite (or Phoenician) based on the dialect in the text.

The Canaanite derivation may seem surprising, given the biblical enmity between the Israelites and the Canaanites, but the strong consensus of scholars and historians is that the Hebrews were actually rural Canaanites who migrated peacefully away from the region of the rich coastal cities into the hitherto sparsely populated hinterland. Thus the Hebrew culture, language and even religion evolved from Canaanite origins. The legend of a military conquest under Joshua is a much later development.

Answer 4

The traditional answer is that God created Hebrew; however, we know scientifically that Hebrew most likely evolved out of Old Canaanite.