The Sun.
London, England, 1828-12-16 00:00:00

THE HEBREW LANGUAGE.

The following historical sketch of the decline
and revival of the study of Hebrew, is ex-
tracted from Mr. Hui witz's Introductory Lecture
at the London University. The whole of the
lecture seems to promise a course very interest-
ing to the Biblical Student and to the
logist :

Languages, like human beings, are said to
have their different stages of existence ; their in-
fancy, youth, manhood, and their decrepit, •yet
garrulous old age. In languages of compara-
tively modern formation, these stages may be
pretty accurately marked ; but not so with re-
spect to the Hebrew. Here we can only dis-
cover manly vigour and declining age.
In the Pentateuch we find the language al-
ready in the highest state of improvement it ever
attained. In this most ancient of all books, we
have already the two great divisions of style._
prose and verse—distinctly marked, and formally
recognised ; and what is not less remarkable, the
prose constitutes the far larger portion of the
work. And permit me to observe, that the in-
tellect aid intellectual cultivation of a people
must have already reached_ an advanced point,
who possessed a language of facts,. or simple
historic narrative, and at the same time a language
of the imagination, often conveying the same
facts as the former, but as contemplated in mo-
ments of high emotions and excited fancy ; and
each of these languages subsisting apart from
each other, and enjoying its owa special charac-
ter—an advantage this, which the Greeks had
but imperfectly attained, even so late as .the age
of Herodotus.

The golden age of the Hebrew language be-
gan with Moses, and continued, with little varia-
tion, to the end of the reign of Hezekiah. It
was during this long period, that Hebrew litera-
ture arrived at its most flourishing state. The
song of Deborah, and the prayer of Hannah,
show, that even in times of anarchy, the Israelites
neither neglected their language, nor—and I
would particularly draw your attention to this, as
a forcible and demonstrative proof of high culti-
vation, the education of their daughters. It was
even during these disturbed times; that the schools
of the prophets were established. It was during
this golden period of the language, that the
Royal bards of Israel struck their harps, and the
eloquent prophets of the Hebrews poured forth
those energetic and manly orations, which have
been and ever will be the admiration of ages.
After the death of Hezekiah, when the As-
syrians and the Chaldeans made frequent inroads
into the land, the language began sensibly to
decline.

Jeremiah is not, indeed, deficient in poetical
beauties ; but he wants that majesty, elegance,
and purity of diction which characterize Isaiah,
Joel, Habakkuk, and .other ancient prophets.
In proportion as the state declined, so did the
genius of the language ; till at last, when the
nation was plucked up from its native soil, and
transplanted into a foreign country, Judah's
sweet-toned lyre was struck dumb ;, Sion's sacred
minstrels hung their harps on the willows ; and
when their spoilers asked thin to sing the fes-
tive song, they emphatically exclaimed, " Ah
how can we sing the Lord's sung in a strange
land ?" The vanquished gradually exchanged
their own venerable tongue for that of the van-
quishers ; and the Hebrew rapidly approached
its dying days. The lamp of prophecy was not
entirely extinguished ; but it gave only a dim
light : it was surrounded with a thick oppressive
atmosphere. The five last prophets still poured
forth their oracles in Hebrew ; but it was no
longer the pure classic Mebrew of their prede-
cessors, Iu short, the language became more
and more intermixed with foreign words and
idioms, so that, in the time of Nehemiah, the
bulk of the people had entirely forgotten the lan-
guage of their ancestors ; and had not Provi-
dence raised an Ezra, and inspired him with a
holy zeal for the religion of his forefathers, the
Sacred Writings might have been irrecoverably
lost.

The Israelites justly consider Ezra as the
storer of their religion and the preserver of their
holy law. Nor must we omit Nehemiah ;—thiS
truly pious patriot, who, amidst the dazzling
splendour of an eastern court, could still drop a
tear for the shattered walls of Jerusalem, and
weep for the forlorn condition of his country
who, although cup-bearer to the Persian mo'-
'larch, and enjoying great consideration, and
dignified office, did not forget his distressed
brethren ; but sacrificing ease, and comfort, and
honours, hastened to their relief, and re-animat-
ed their drooping spirit. He it was, who,' to-
gether with Ezra and other eminent .men, first
introduced the custom of reading the law in
public, and of interpreting it to the people, who
soon learnt to appreciate its value, and to prac-
tise its invigorating lessons ; and the consequence
was, that idolatry was for ever banished from
amongst Israel. Thus did these pious men la•
hour for the benefit of their nation, and laid a
sure and solid fpundation fbr the revival oflearn-
nig. This was all that eircumstaßces permitted
them to dc. The people had already adopted the
Chaldee as their veinecular tongue; and the He,
brew became, what it has ever since bum a dead
or learned language.
4 new Ppoch now commences in the history
of tbe language? which my limited time will not
permit me further to pursue, I shall, therefore,
only briefly r9mark, that ever since that period,
the Hebrew continued to bp cultivated amongst
the Jews, with more or less success, in propor,
tion as they were more or less persecuted ; that
it, was transmitted traditionally from generation
to genecatiop, until the beginning of the tenth-
century of the present cm, when Rabbi Saadias,
the celebrated author of the Arabic version,
wrote the first grammar of the Hebrew language,
fie was soon followed by other learned Israelites,
who, during that, and the following four centu-
ries, 'distinguished themsekez, not only in gram-
matical learning, but in every other department
of knowledge. The names and works of Jehuda
ben Jarisji, Menacham ben Serug, Jehuda
Chiuig,,Jopah ben Gerlach, Solomon ben Gebi-
rol, Hallevi, Jambi, then Ezra, Mai-
monides, Joseph, Moses, and Davftl Prebi,
Nachmanides, Aben Sid, Abarhanel; Elias Le-
vita, and many others, too numerous to be
;lamed, are all well known to the learned.
Indee4, this was the golden_ age cf Rabbinical
literature. The Jews of Spain, in particular,
devoted their minds to philosophy, medicine,
mathematics, and astronomy ; And it is well
kllO :4in ;bat they greatly assisted in keeping up
t"e lamp of ricien;:.e during the ages of Gothic
darkness. They made astorlAing progress in
every
branch of learning, until in the year I 4
a b 09
Kilo., incited by a brutal and ignorant
Priesthood, r;oo dreaded the light of science,
plunged half a million of Inman beings into mi-
, and almost extinguished 69 sery and despair
mental light Of Israel.
Exeepting grigen in the second, and Jerome
in the fourth century, very few Christians could

boast of a considerable knowledge of the Hebrew
before the beginning of the 16th century.—
Benchlin was the first that led the way. He was
followed by a few others ; but the prejudices of
the times, joined with the prevailing ignorance,
prevented the general difflision of Hebraic learning.
We may form some idea of the ignorance of
even the clergy of those days, from an anecdote
which Cour. Heresbach relates in his work
(Drat. de Laudibus Literar. Gm.) He states
that he heard a monk announce from the pulpit
to his audience,' They (I suppose the heretics)
have introduced a new language, which is called
the Greek : this must be shunned. It occasions
nothing but heresies. Here and there these
people have a book in that language called the
New Testament. This book is full of stones
and adders. - Another language is starting up
—the Hebrew. Those that learn it are sure to
become Jews.".

However, soon after the Reformation had
slackened the cords of mental bondage, the itn-
portance of the Hebrew began more and more
to be felt. Since that period it has struck
deep root on Christian ground. Cultivated by
men of rare talents, it soon grew up and flou-
rished, and I rejoice to say it continues to do
so. Pity it is that it grows rather too luxu-
riantly, and wants now and then a little pruning.

To mention the names of the eminent who
wrote on this language in various parts of Eu-
rope would take up more time than my limits
will allow. To Englishmen, however, it must
always be gratifying to know that a Selden, Po-
cock, Lightfoot, Walton, Casten, and Lowth,
adorn the distinguished names in the annals of
Hebrew Literature.