Benjamin Lee Cooper
1.2 Should I learn Modern or Biblical? The first thing you must decide is if it would be “Modern Hebrew” or “Biblical Hebrew” that you want to learn. Modern Hebrew is not the original Hebrew of creation, its not the original Hebrew of the Garden of Eiden, and its not the original Hebrew that Noach, Avraham, and Yaaqov spoke. There are some added and removed grammar aspects, and many added words that are not in the Biblical Hebrew. If you are going to be spending a lot of time in Israel, then maybe you should learn Modern Hebrew to speak it there. If you will be spending a lot of time reading and studying the Tanakh, then you should probably learn Biblical Hebrew. I don't recommend that you learn both Modern and Biblical at the same time. This is because of the grammar, spelling, and vocabulary differences, you will probably confuse the two often. I suggest that you first master one, then start to learn the other. Start with the one that you need the most first. People who speak Modern Hebrew, and who also can read the Bible, do not differentiate the two languages usually. They think of the Bible as being an outdated form of the language. So, if your goal is to speak Hebrew with other people fluently, you should learn Modern Hebrew.
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