Where Did the Hebrew Language Come from?
We have the evidence of the Torah for this point. The Hebrew language was passed down from one person to another until it reached Eber (Eber received it from Noah and Noah from Adam); for Hebrew was the language spoken by Eber (Ever) and it was called Ivrit (Hebrew) after him because he preserved it even during the confusion of tongues at Babel. And Abraham preserved it after Eber. However, while he was in Ur Abraham spoke Aramaic because that was the local language; he retained Hebrew as a language of holiness and used Aramaic for everyday purposes. This conception, which was held by non-Jewish scholars also until the eighteenth century, contains two principles: that Hebrew was the first of all languages–the language in which the Creator spoke to Adam, and which was spoken by everyone until the time of the Tower of Babel; and that other languages spoken by other peoples came into being in the generation of Babel, Hebrew remaining the language of Eber, and in turn that of the Patriarc
