Significance of Multiple Languages

 

Considering that the Middle East has, since the Creation, been the crossroads between the continents of Europe, Asia and Africa and that knowledge and use of multiple languages is absolutely necessary for international trade, it should not be surprising to learn of the use of multiple tongues in the larger cities of this area. While peasants, farmers, herdsmen, craftsmen and artisans might not have need of more than one language, government officials, traders, merchants, importers, exporters, military officials, scribes and representatives to foreign nations could not function without the use of interpreters and translation guides, or more easily, by learning other languages themselves.

We see that Solomon had his own fleet of ships based in the Gulf of Aquaba (1K.9:26-28) and traded internationally (1K.10:11-12, 22, 28, 29; 2 Chrn.8:17-18; 9:13-22, 28). Trading voyages to "Ophir" are mentioned several times. Josephus, the Septuagint, and the Vulgate translate "Ophir", as India. According to 1K.10:22, the trip to Ophir took 2-3 years to complete.
There is also evidence of overland trade routes to China. One author, in his book from the early 1900's AD, described the "round-eyed" Chinese he met on his father's missionary journeys to Beijing, in the late 1800's. They were Sabbath-keepers and claimed to be descendants of King Solomon's trading representatives.

The international trade routes through the "promised land" existed before Israel became a prominent Nation under Solomon. The trading flourished in the time of Solomon, and the routes continued to exist and be used under the subsequent world empires of the Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks and Romans. The primary language of Palestine changed according to the dominant world power.

"Examples of at least six different types of writing have been found in the (Late Bronze) sites of Canaan: Babylonian cuneiform, Egyptian hieroglyphic and hieratic, the Canaanite linear alphabet (ancestor of the Hebrew and Greek alphabets), and an alphabet of 25 to 30 cuneiform signs related to that of Ugarit, the syllabic script of Byblos and scripts of Cypriot or Cretan type." (Archaeology, The Illust. Bible Dict. Vol.1, pp. 93-101, D.J. Wiseman, O.B.E., M.A., D. Lit., F.B.A., F.S.A., Professor of Assyriology, University of London. Emphasis ours. ) (Note: the period known as "Late Bronze" is 1550-1200 BC. The Exodus and the Israelite settlement of Canaan is dated as 1450-1410 BC.)

Archaeology has revealed the history of writing. Pictographs on clay tablets were used in Babylonia from 3100 BC onwards. Because of the difficulty of making curved lines in clay, pictographs were replaced by wedge shapes (cuneiform) pressed into the moist clay tablets using a stylus. Writing in downward in columns beginning on the right side was replaced for the convenience of writing horizontally from left to right. Word-signs or ideograms were used to represent homophonic words (i.e. right and write). By 2800 BC, cuneiform had fully developed using 500 different signs, but it continued to be modified at times. In Mesopotamia it was used for the Sumerian, Babylonian and Assyrian languages. It was widely adapted for writing other languages including W Semitic dialects, various Hittite tongues and Hurrian. In Palestine, during the 15th-13th centuries, the chief cities used it for diplomacy and administration. Cuneiform tablets have been found at Shechem, Gezer, Hazor and Jericho, among others.

"Parallel with this, however, a unique system of writing was developed. It combined the simplicity of the existing Canaanite (Phoenician) alphabet with the Mesopotamian system of writing with a stylus on clay, thus transcribing the consonantal alphabet by means of cuneiform writing. Since it was employed for both Semitic and non-Semitic (Hurrian) languages, 29 signs were developed (by the addition of a few wedges in a simple pattern bearing little or no relation to Akkadian) to represent the consonant and three alep signs with variant vowels (a, I, u). A number of scribal practice tablets give the order of the alphabet which prefigured the Hebrew order. (C. Virolleaud, Palais royal d'Ugarit, 2, 1957)."

"Wide use of Egyptian hieroglyphs and Babylonian cuneiform in Syro-Palestine for the 3rd millennium BC on (e.g. Ebla) stimulated the production of simpler writing systems for local languages. At Byblos (Gebal) a system of about 100 syllabic signs flourished during the 2nd millennium BC, but they are as yet not fully understood. . . . Early in the 2nd millennium BC, it would seem that a scribe in Syro-Palestine, perhaps as Byblos, realized that his language could be represented by many fewer signs than any of the current more cumbrous syllabaries employed; each consonant could be shown by one symbol.. The symbols adapted were pictures on the Egyptian model. . . . The value of the alphabetic principle lay in reducing the number of symbols until there was only one for each consonantal sound in the language. Vowels were not separately represented until the Greeks took over the alphabet. It is probable that the symbols were treated initially as consonants plus appropriate vowel (e.g. ba, du, gi). With this outstanding invention mankind gained a simple means of recording which eventually broke the monopoly of the scribes and placed literacy within the reach of everyone. Examples of the ancestor of all alphabets have been found in Palestine and can be dated shortly before 1500 BC".

It is interesting to note that alphabets enabling public literacy were made available to mankind less than 100 years before God gave the law at Mt Sinai.

". . . . During the next 500 years the signs were simplified, losing their pictorial form. . . . The order of the letters is attested by the cuneiform alphabet of Ugarit (13th century BC), an early imitator, by an ostracon from 'Izbet Sartah', near Aphek (c. 1100 BC; M. Kochari, Tel Aviv 4, 1977). Hebrew acrostics also display it (Na. 1:2-14; Pss. 9, 10, 25, 34, 37, 111, 112, 119, 145; La. 1-4; Pr. 31:10-31; Ecc. 5:13, 29). The Greeks borrowed the letters in the same order.

Phoenician-early Hebrew. In the main from 1000 onwards we can trace the history of the letters clearly, although there are few specimens written between 1000 and 800 BC. The direction of the writing was standardized, from right to left, as in Egypt. Most documents were made of papyrus and so have perished in the damp soil. Those that survive, on stone, pottery and metal, prove the ready acceptance of the script for all purposes. It was evidently well established before the end of the 2nd millennium BC, a ready tool for the Israelites to employ in recording and teaching the laws of God and the history of his works on their behalf (see A.R. Millard, EQ 50, 1978, pp.67ff.)."
"The major monumental inscriptions for the study of Hebrew epigraphy are: (a) the agricultural calendar from Gezer . . . dated to the 10th century BC (Dott, pp. 201-203). (b) The stele of Mesha, king of Moab (Moabite Stone). . . . c. 850 BC. The well cut letters already show a tendency to become cursive. This is further seen in the Siloam Inscription . . . dating from the reign of Hezekiah, c. 710 BC, and (d) the Tomb inscription of the Royal Steward from Siloam of about the same date . . . By this time Phoenician and Aramaic letters had taken their own distinctive forms".

Aramaic. Aramaeans adopted the Canaanite alphabet as they settled in Syria and gradually gave it distinctive features. (The earliest texts are c. 850-800 BC.) As Aramaic spread, the alphabet quickly took root in Assyria and Babylonia, to the disadvantage of the cuneiform script.

Early Jewish scripts. (The discoveries of the Dead Sea Scrolls) have produced a wealth of material for the study of the formal and cursive Palaeo-Hebrew and early Jewish scripts from the 3rd century BC to the 2nd century AD. The fall of the Persian empire and the displacement of the common Aramaic of the imperial court led to many local variations. 1. The Archaic or proto-Jewish script of Judah, c. 250-150 BC, as reflected in the Qumran MSS, shows a formal hand derived from the Persian Aramaic . . . 2. The Hasmonean period (c. 150-30 BC) saw the development of the formal, squarer and more angular hand . . . 3. The Herodian period . . . 4. The post-Herodian period (after 70 AD) is now well known from dated commercial and legal documents. . . . Study of early Hebrew writing, the scribes's habits and letter forms, is of especial value in considering how errors may or may not, have crept into the OT text.

Greek. The Greek alphabet was by tradition attributed to a Phoenician trader Cadmus (Herodotus, Hist.5.58-59) . . .They used the Phoenician symbols for sound which they did not possess ('h, h', u [w], y), for the vowel sounds they required (a, e, [long] e, o, y, I respectively), and thus created the first true alphabet in which consonants and vowels were represented by distinct signs."
(Writing, The Illust. Bible Dict. Vol.3, pp.1657-1671, D.J. Wiseman, A.R. Millard, M.A., M.Phil., F.S.A., Rankin Senior Lecturer in Hebrew and Ancient Semitic Languages, University of Liverpool, K.A. Kitchen, B.A., Ph.D., Reader in Egyptian and Coptic, University of Liverpool.) (Emphasis ours.)

In short, we do not need to speculate about the history of languages and writing. It has been well documented. None of the various forms of Hebrew are among the earliest languages, although they did develop from them. In the Eastern Mediterranean world, Akkadian, as the international language of trade and diplomacy was replaced by Aramaic, which was in turn, replaced by Greek. Even during the reign of Solomon, early Hebrew was merely the national language of Israel, and only one of many Canaanitish languages still in existence. The languages of Canaan as well of Babylonia and Assyria were all Semitic languages (meaning from Shem, son of Noah). As we will see below, even the language of Egypt (Hamitic) had a Semitic influence. It is interesting to note that while other languages (even those in Canaan) adopted the convenience of writing from left to right, the Hebrews adopted the Egyptian style of writing from right to left.

Between the continuous trading and the many changes in foreign domination of the land, the knowledge and use of multiple languages was not an option but a necessity. In the 9th cent. BC, before the Captivity, Israel and Damascus had merchants in each other's capitals (1K.20:34) and Aramaic was understood by rulers and merchants, but not by the common man in the street
(2 K.18:26). By the time the Jews returned from captivity, this situation had changed and Aramaic was commonly spoken.

Multiple Languages of the Captivity and Restoration

Portions of Daniel have been preserved in Aramaic (Dan. 2:4b-7:28). Aramaic is a cognate of Hebrew and other Semitic languages. It is not a dialect of Hebrew. It is a different language. In the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, Aramaic was one of the languages of the returning Jews, Levites and Benjaminites (many older references incorrectly label Aramaic as "Chaldean"). Portions of the book of Ezra have been preserved for us in Aramaic (4:8-6:18; 7:12-26). "Aramaic was also the diplomatic language of the day and was suitable for the portion dealing with the coming and going of letters and decrees between Palestine and Persia." ( Ezra, Illustrated Bible Dict. Vol. 1, pp.493-495). While some could understand the biblical Hebrew (Neh.8:1-3), translation of the law was made for those who understood only Aramaic (verses 7-8). In addition to translating, the priests had to explain the "meaning" of the law (verse 8).

The problem of multiple languages was increased by the intermarriage of those returning from Babylon, with the current natives of Palestine which included Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians and Amorites (Ezra 9:1). The "leaders" of those who returned, were not only involved in this intermarriage, but were "leaders" in the practice (Ezra 10:18-44). This practice was mostly stopped by Ezra (Ezra 9:1-10:44, c.457-444 BC) but had to be dealt with again by Nehemiah (13:23-31, c.445-433 BC). A result of this repeated practice of marrying non-Israelites was that the next generation "could not speak in the language of the Jews" (Neh. 13:24).
What do we mean, when we refer to the "language of the Jews"?

The "Language of the Jews"

The word "Jew" is defined today as, "One whose faith is Judaism; a descendant of the Hebrews: originally one of the tribe or kingdom of Judah." (Source: New Webster's Dict. of the English Language, Ency. Ed.). Modern Judaism is practiced by people in many different nations, speaking many different languages, including English. There were 12 tribes which descended from Jacob (Israel). Only three of those tribes were represented in the restoration under Ezra and Nehemiah. Most were from the tribe of Judah, some were from Benjamin and the priests were Levites.

In modern Israel, people speak "modern Hebrew". Descendants of the "kingdom of Judah" who lived in Medieval times, spoke and wrote "Medieval Hebrew". Those living in the 1st-4th cent. AD, spoke and wrote "Mishnaic Hebrew". "Classical or Biblical Hebrew" was spoken and written from approx. 1200-200 BC. [Note: Although the Exodus occurred about 1491 BC, the earliest physical evidence of the Classical/Biblical Hebrew language has been dated to 1200 BC.]

This leaves us with several hundred years between the end of the OT and the time of Christ. During this period, we find three forms of Aramaic were spoken in Palestine. "Classical/Imperial Aramaic", including "Biblical Aramaic" was used from the 7th-3rd cent. BC, followed by "Western Aramaic". This, in turn, was followed by "Jewish Palestinian Aramaic" of 150 BC-4th century AD. [The gap from the 3rd cent.(200's) to 150 BC indicates a brief period for which no representative documents have been discovered. The language of this period would still be Aramaic.]
The nation of Judah was taken away into Babylonian captivity in 588-586 BC. Zerubbabel was sent back by Cyrus to rebuild Jerusalem in 536 BC, 50 years or two generations later. In Neh. 13:24 above, we saw that the "language of the Jews" was lost in only one generation while still in Palestine. Little wonder that some of the returning captives from a foreign land (Babylon) required translators for the public reading of the law (Neh. 8:7-8) since only some of the oldest of them had seen or could remember the former temple (Ezra 3:12).

 

The Languages of Abram

Abraham, or Abram, (c.1996-1821 BC) was not a native of Canaan where the later, Western Semitic languages of Aramaic and Hebrew were spoken. He was from Ur, which is generally accepted to be 14 km west of Nasiriyeh on the river Euphrates in southern Iraq. This is about 50 miles from Kuwait, a small country on the Persian Gulf. The languages of Abram's homeland were the eastern Semitic languages of Akkadian, Old Assyrian and Old Babylonian (c.2000-1500 BC).

Sometime after Abram's marriage to Sarai (c.1956-46 AD), his father Terah moved the clan to Har(r)an (Gen.11:26-32), [Akkadian harranu 'cross-roads' (Gk. charrhan, Acts 7:4)]. Harran, now in modern Turkey, was (later) the last capital of Assyria after the fall of Nineveh. The regional languages were the western Semitic "Eblaite" (2400 BC) and "Amorite" (1700's BC).

About 25 years later, at age 75 (c. 1921 BC), Abram leaves Harran for Canaan (Gen. 12:1-5), about 350 miles to the south. This is about 700-800 years prior to the first known examples of "Classical or Biblical Hebrew" (c.1200 BC). During that time the known languages in Canaan are "Eblaite" (c. 2400 BC), "Amorite" (c.1700's BC), "Ugaritic" (c.1450-1200 BC), "Early Canaanite" (c. 1300's BC) , and the subsequent "Canaanite", and "Aramaic".

So which language did Abram speak? In his native land, he would have spoken Akkadian and/or Old Babylonian. In his (approx.) 25 years in Harran, he would have learned Old Assyrian, Eblaite or Amorite. In the 100 years following, he lived near Bethel, Mamre, Beersheba, Shechem, Gerar and Machpelah (all in Canaan) and for a time, in Egypt. In Canaan, Abram lived peaceably among Canaanites (Gen. 12:6), Perizzites (13:7), Philistines (21:34) and negotiated with the Hittites for the cave-tomb for Sarah (23:10-20). All of these peoples spoke Canaanite, including the Hamitic Philistines who migrated from the Aegean into Palestine and assimilated the Canaanite language. In fact, Palestine gets its name from the word "Philistine", during their occupation of southern Syria.

Where did the term "Akkadian" (or Accadian) originate?

"Accad, Akkad. One of the major cities, with Babylon and Erech, founded by Nimrod (Gn. 10:10. It bore the Semitic name of Akkadu, Sumerian Agade. Its precise location near Sippar or Babylon is uncertain, though some identify it with the ruins of Tell Sesubar or even Babylon itself. Inscriptions show that an early Semitic dynasty founded by Sargon I (c. 2350 BC) flourished here. At this time Akkad controlled all Sumer (S Babylonia), and its armies reached Syria, Elam and S Anatolia. With the great trade and prosperity which followed the rule of Sargon and his successor Naram-Sin the dynasty became symbolic of a 'golden age'. When Babylon later became the capital, the term 'Akkad' continued to be used to describe the whole of N Babylonia until the late Persian period in the records of the kings of Assyria and Babylonia.

Akkadian (Accadian) is now used as a convenient term for the Semitic Assyrian and Babylonian languages, the dialect of the famous dynasty of Agade being designated 'Old Akkadian'." (Accad, Akkad, The Illust. Bible Dict. Vol.1, p. 9, D.J. Wiseman, O.B.E., M.A., D. Lit., F.B.A., F.S.A., Professor of Assyriology, University of London.)

The Akkadian language was still in use long after Abraham. "Moses would have been familiar with Egyp. writing and literary methods. He may, too, have been acquainted with cuneiform, for the El-Amarna and other letters show that Akkadian was widely used during the 15th to 13th centuries BC as a diplomatic language." (Texts and Versions, The Illust. Bible Dict., pp.1536-1552, W.J. Martin, M.A., Th.B., Ph.D., Head of the Department of Hebrew and Ancient Semitic Languages, University of Liverpool, A.R. Millard) (Emphasis ours.).
"And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds." (Acts 7:22)

Even the Egyptian language had a Semitic influence. "The ancient Egyptian language is of mixed origin and has had a very long history. It is usually called 'Hamito-Semitic', and was basically a Hamitic tongue (i.e. related to the Libyco-Berber languages of northern Africa) swamped at an early epoch (in prehistory) by a Semitic language. Much Egyptian vocabulary is directly cognate with Semitic, and there are analogies in syntax." (Egypt, The Illust. Bible Dict. Vol.1, pp. 415-430).

So Abraham could have learned to speak as many as five different languages, and although they were all Semitic or semi-Semitic, none of them were "Classical/Biblical Hebrew". We know this because of the preserved, and dated examples of all these languages.
Considering the length of time which Abraham, Isaac and Jacob spent in Canaan, it should not surprise us that Hebrew is a "Canaanitish" language.

About 430 years after Abraham went to Canaan (c.1491-1451 BC), Moses wrote his five books in the language of the Hebrews who lived in Egypt. This was a different language than the Egyptians spoke (Psa.114:1; Gen. 42:7, 23), in spite of the similarities in vocabulary and syntax. Yet the Israelites had been in Egypt for about 215 years and at one time, Joseph, an Israelite, was ruler over all Egypt, and subject only to Pharaoh himself (Gen. 41:33-46). Since the Semitic influence upon the Egyptian language was from a much earlier time, perhaps that influence was arranged by God, for the convenience of Abraham, Joseph, Moses and the Israelites while they were in Egypt, just as Joseph was sent ahead to prepare the way for Jacob's family (Gen. 45:3-5).

 

The Languages of the NT Jews

When the Jew's returned from Babylon, the language of Palestine was "Classical/Imperial Aramaic" which includes "Biblical Aramaic". Although the world empire established by Alexander the Great lasted less than 20 years, the divided kingdom, including Palestine, was under Greek influence for over 350 years. The next world empire, that of Rome, assumed control over Palestine in 65 BC when the Selucid Ruler, Antiochus, was deposed by Pompey. While Latin became the "official" language of the empire, Greek was still the "lingua franca", or most common language in all countries from southern Europe to India and including north Africa. That is why the Roman Procurator, Pilate, had the sign on the cross of Christ's crucifixion printed in three languages, Latin (the official language of the empire), Greek (the common language of the empire) and "Hebrew" (the local language). However, archaeological records show that this "Hebrew" or "language of the Jews" would not have been "Classical/Biblical Hebrew" but "Aramaic". Also, we see that Christ's last words before his death, were a call to his "God", in the Aramaic language, not Hebrew (Mat.27:46).
Peter spoke Aramaic with a strong north-country (Galilean) accent which betrayed him to the Jews in Jerusalem (Mk. 14:70). While Peter's original name was probably the Hebrew Simeon (Acts 15:14) he, like others in the NT, adopted the name Simon, a Greek name of similar sound.

Something else which the "names" supporters fail to point out is that Modern Hebrew is not the same as Classical/Biblical Hebrew. Universities with Hebrew language departments offer the two as separate courses. A comprehensive "family tree" (chart) of human languages will also show 'Medieval Hebrew' was used between the older, 'Classical Hebrew' and today's 'Modern Hebrew'. So we now have three forms of the Hebrew language which used different forms of the Hebrew alphabet.

Scriptures "Translated" into Aramaic

"The Heb. word targum (plural targumim) denotes an Aramaic translation or paraphrase of some part of the Old Testament. Targums are extant for every book except Ezra, Nehemiah and Daniel. Targums gradually came into being as the synagogue evolved. After the Babylonian Exile, Aramaic came to predominate over Hebrew as the language of the Jews; in consequence it became customary for the reading of the Heb. scriptures to be followed by an oral rendering into Aramaic for the benefit of the worshipers [see Neh. 8:7-8; 13:23-24]. No doubt such renderings were free and spontaneous at first, but they became more and more fixed and 'traditional' as time passed. The next stage was to commit such material to writing; the earliest extant targumic material is from the 2nd century BC, from Qumran. In the 1st millennium AD Judaism had two chief centres, Babylonia and Palestine. It would seem that most if not all the traditional targumic material originated in Palestine; some of it was transmitted to Babylonia where in due course Targum Onkelos for the Pentateuch and Targum Jonathan on the Prophets were given official status.

At one extreme, Targum Onkelos is for the most part an accurate word-for-word rendering of the Hebrew. In view of their synagogue purpose, however, it is not surprising that targums were used as a medium of interpretation and instruction. Even the more literal of them display interpretative traits: e.g. places-names are brought up to date, difficulties are smoothed over and obscurities clarified. In the more paraphrastic targums (e.g. Pseudo-Jonathan), the text is expanded to a marked degree. Not only can the whole sense of a verse or passage be altered, but a great deal of additional material ('midrash') may be incorporated. Thus a targum may be scarcely recognizable as a translation of the Heb. original.

Targumic material offers some of the major evidence for the vernacular speech of ancient Palestine. It is therefore of special importance of the study of the [sayings] of Jesus and of the Aramaic substratum of the NT as a whole.
The targums offer an important witness to the text of the OT, comparable in value with the LXX, Peshitta and Vulgate.
The targums bear witness to Jewish modes of expression, exegetical methods and current interpretations in the early Christian centuries. Many of them are reflected, whether directly or in a more diffuse way, in the NT.

Bibliography. Major texts: A. Sperber, The Bible in Aramaic, 1957-73; A. Diez Macho, Neophyti, 1,1968- . Studies: R. Le Deaut, Introduction a la litterature targumique, 1, 1966; E. Schurer, A History of the Jewish People in the Time of Christ, pp. 99-114; M. McNamara, The New Testament and the Palestinian Targum to the Pentateuch, 1966; idem, Targum and Testament, 1968, Interpreter's dictionary of the Bible, Supplement 1976, s.v. 'Targums'; J. Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature, 1969; R. Le Deaut, 'The Current State of Targumic Studies', Biblical Theology Bulletin 4, 1974, pp. 3-32. See also B. Grossfeld, A Bibliography of Targumic Literature, 1972; Newsletter for Targumic Studies, 1974- ."
(Source: Targums, The Illust. Bible Dict., Tyndale, Vol. 3, p. 1517).

"The synagogue served a threefold purpose of worship, education and government of the civil life of the community. Subject to the law of the land, the synagogue had its own government (Josephus, Ant. 19. 291). The congregation was governed by elders who were empowered to exercise discipline and punish members. Punishment was by scourging and excommunication. The chief officer was the ruler of the synagogue (cf. Mk. 5:22; Acts 13:15; 18:8). He supervised the service to see that it was carried on in accord with tradition. The attendant (Lk. 4:20) brought the scrolls of Scripture for reading, replaced them in the ark, punished offending members by scourging and instructed children to read. Peritz has shown that 'the primary function of the synagogue assemblies was the popular instruction in the law' ('Synagogue' in EBi). The dispenser of alms received the alms from the synagogue and distributed them. Finally, a competent interpreter was required to paraphrase the Law and the Prophets into the vernacular Aramaic."
( Synagogue, The Illust. Bible Dict., Tyndale, Vol. 3, pp. 1499-1503) (Emphasis ours).

Jews Encouraged Alternative Language Instruction

The basis for public education as we know it today has been traced to the system of instruction instituted by Ezra during the Restoration of Ezra-Nehemiah. Education of children was repeatedly emphasized by God to Israel, and the Jews preserved this approach.

"The child has always been of paramount importance in Judaism, as the Mishna and Talmud clearly show in several passages. For that matter, Jesus certainly taught the value of children, in his kindly treatment of them as well as in his instruction regarding them. . . . It was Ezra who established Scripture (such as it was at the time) as the basis for schooling; and his successors went on to make the synagogue a place of instruction as well as a place of worship. . . The place of learning was exclusively the home in the earliest periods, and the tutors were the parents; and teaching in the home continued to play an important part in the whole of the biblical period. . . . (In the early period, the) child would learn ordinary moral instruction from his mother, and a trade, usually agricultural, plus some religious and ritual knowledge, from his father. . . . To read was essential for the study of scripture; writing was perhaps less important, although it was known as early as Judg. 8:14. [See marginal note in KJV] Basic arithmetic was taught. Languages were not taught per se, but note that as Aramaic became the vernacular, study of the Heb. Scriptures became a linguistic exercise.

Girls' education was wholly in their mothers' hands. They learnt the domestic arts, simple moral and ethical instruction, and they were taught to read in order to become acquainted with the law. Their education was considered important, however, and they were even encouraged to learn a foreign language. King Lemuel's mother apparently proved an able teacher to him (Pr. 31:1); this chapter also shows the character of the ideal woman.

Bibliography. W. Barclay, Educational Ideals in the Ancient World, 1959, chs. I, VI; F.H. Swift, Education in Ancient Israel, 1919; E.B. Castle, Ancient Education and Today, 1961, ch., V; Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Vol. 5, pp. 596-625; entries s.v. 'Education' in The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible and Encyclopaedia Judaica, 1971."
(Education, The Illust. Bible Dict., Tyndale, Vol. 1, pp. 413-414), (Emphasis ours).

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