cheers for that
for some reason I thought the dead sea scrolls were all in Aramaic and represented the earliest known bible - I went back to check, turns out some of them were documents in Aramaic but the bible copy and most of the other items were in Hebrew
(Carpe Cyprinidae, Fri 13 Dec 2013, 20:14, 1 reply)

Hebrew?

( d.r._and_quinch when will you be famous?, Fri 13 Dec 2013, 20:16, closed)

apparently yes
the bible found among the dead sea scrolls is the oldest Hebrew language version of the bible ever discovered
(Carpe Cyprinidae, Fri 13 Dec 2013, 20:28, closed)

there are what are thought to be quotes from the book of Numbers in paleo-Hebrew script
dating from late pre-exilic times (about 600 BC) on a pair of tiny silver scrolls.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketef_Hinnom
( Moon Girl Technologies horrendous beanbag, Fri 13 Dec 2013, 21:15, closed)

just spent fascinating 40-odd minutes reading about paleography. cheers for the spur to learn something
(Carpe Cyprinidae, Fri 13 Dec 2013, 22:01, closed)

the official version the Jews use is in Hebrew as well,
called the Masoretic text and dates back to at least 10th century. It was a dead as a spoken language but still kept on in textual form.
( Moon Girl Technologies horrendous beanbag, Fri 13 Dec 2013, 21:12, closed)

That most Jewish people at that time did not comprehend as text. Making it very dead?

( d.r._and_quinch when will you be famous?, Fri 13 Dec 2013, 21:46, closed)

yes it's dead,
but that doesn't mean it isn't used as the basis for translations. It reads a bit like Shakespearean English to Modern Hebrew speakers, I think.
( Moon Girl Technologies horrendous beanbag, Fri 13 Dec 2013, 21:50, closed)

You may have missed my earlier remarks regarding Hebrew and I have just realised I am
way out of my league. I am going to watch re-runs of 3-2-1.
( d.r._and_quinch when will you be famous?, Fri 13 Dec 2013, 21:53, closed)