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This is one of those issues that has always bugged me.

Hebrew and Aramaic are both languages found within the Torah/Tanakh. If Hebrew is a divine language and given to us from Hashem as his word, why would we have occurrences where a separate language - Aramaic - is being used?

Wouldn't the argument that Aramaic is a sister language run against the claim that Hebrew is a divinely inspired/created language?

I was curious if the Rabbis ever wrestled with the issue. I genuinely struggle with this one.

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    If Hebrew is a divine language and given to us from Hashem as his word, why would we have occurrences where a separate language - Aramaic - is being used Clarifying what you mean by divine language, and given to us as God's word, as well as which occurrences in Tanakh you are referring to would strengthen the question. || If you mean for example, yegar sahadutta, the famous example in the Torah, that doesnt indicate a primacy of one language over another; the whole point is to say what Lavan called it. Had his name (a proper noun) been translated, it would've rendered the line meaningless.
    – mevaqesh
    Sep 26, 2017 at 4:08
  • Wouldn't the argument that Aramaic is a sister language What do you mean by a sister language? The fact that the two are both Semitic languages, or the fact that they both sometimes appear in Tanakh? Regardless, clarify why you think that this would be difficult to reconcile with the claim the Hebrew is a divinely inspired language. (For example, if you meant the fact that the languages are related, could not Aramaic be a corruption of Hebrew)?
    – mevaqesh
    Sep 26, 2017 at 4:12
  • This may or may not be relevant, given the above uncertainty about your question, but according to Shadal the greatness and uniqueness of the Hebrew language, lies not in its antiquity, but in its usage; it is the language of the Torah, and the language of most of Tanakh, and it is therefore in some ways more the Jewish national language than any other language.
    – mevaqesh
    Sep 26, 2017 at 4:14
  • According to Rambam, what makes Hebrew special is the fact that it lacks vocabulary to describe sexual matters, and relies on euphemisms.
    – mevaqesh
    Sep 26, 2017 at 4:15
  • This book (amazon.com/Lashon-HaKodesh-History-Holiness-English/dp/…) deals with it at length.
    – N.T.
    Dec 25, 2020 at 23:18

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The situation is due to the punishment of the Tower of Bavel which caused the world to be split into different languages. Many meforshim explain that the Hebrew of the Torah is the language that changed the least. However, due to the punishment that caused the different languages, all the other languages were created. Others point out that Hebrew is לשון הקודש (the Holy Tongue) because it is used for the Torah and holiness.

See Rav Hirsch on Noach chapter 11

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