The First Spoken Language

[Marcus2Israel]

I was wondering if anywhere in the Bible there was anywhere that talks about the what the first language was. It doesn't matter much and I can't find it in Genesis so anyone know something I don't?

[Jerry]

Point number one in this article gives some interesting points for consideration:

http://www.wayoflife.org/fbns/myths-masoretic-text.html

[Madeline]

I believe the first language spoken was the language of Babylon, i.e. Chaldean. Let me tell you why I believe that. We read in Gen. 11:1, "And the whole earth was of one language and of one speech". We read in verse 2, "and it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar: and they dwelt there". "Shinar" is Babylonia. Then we read how they built this tower of Babel. Here is what we can piece together from this: When the tower of Babel was built in Babylonia they were of one langauge. What language was that? Given that the tower was built it was in Babylon, I believe that the language was the language of the Baylonians, i.e. Chaldean. I'm still doing some research on this, so I am open to correction.

Love,
Madeline

[Danny Carlton]

There's a story about a really old man living in the Soviet Union who was sitting on a park bench several decades ago, during the height of Soviet Communism, with a book in Hebrew. A KJB agent walked by, saw him and demanded to know why he was studying Hebrew, when Isreal was considered an enemy of the Soviet Union.

"Well." the old man began, "I figure I've not got long to live and if I go to heaven I want to speak the language God speaks."

"Ha," the agent sneered, "what if you go to the other place?"

"Oh, that won't be a problem," the old man replied, "I already speak Russian."

[Marcus2Israel]

After reading the stuff on the link Jerry posted I think i'm convinced that its Hebrew. Btw :haha at the joke Danny made.

[John81]

Nope, couldn't be Hebrew! I've seen old movies of Adam and Eve and other pre-Babel incident folks and they all spoke English. It seems many of them even spoke the same style of English as used in the KJB! :tum

[Marcus2Israel]

Good point John! :rollover:

[Guest Guest]

I believe this one's a total mystery that we won't find out till we get to Heaven. The Bible doesn't tell us, so whatever we think is only a guess.

It would be funny if it was English though. If English was the first language, God confounded the languages, and then it came back later and God used it to bring us a perfect, complete Bible.

[IM4given]

I always thought that Adam and Eve spoke "Edonese" before the tower of Babel was built...

I thought the Russian joke was funny - but could so easliy can be said the same thing of present-day America too! :sad

[Annie]

It would be funny if it was English though. If English was the first language' date=' God confounded the languages, and then it came back later and God used it to bring us a perfect, complete Bible.[/quote']

I think we can be 99.9999999999999999% sure it wasn't English, since English is a "daughter language" that finds its origins and influences in Latin, Greek, Saxon, and other languages. IOW, these other languages came first, then English.

I know the oldest known form of writing is cuneiform, developed by the Sumerians. But that was after the Flood...

My personal belief, which really has no solid basis, is that the first spoken language was, like the rest of God's creation, "perfect," or "unfallen." It had the capacity to express every idea, emotion, process, and thought clearly. It was God's gift to Adam and Eve. I tend to think that even spoken language was affected by the Fall; I think it became rougher, less clear, harder to express things, etc. The event at Babel served only to confuse things further.

Fun to think about...

[HappyChristian]

My personal belief, which really has no solid basis, is that the first spoken language was, like the rest of God's creation, "perfect," or "unfallen." It had the capacity to express every idea, emotion, process, and thought clearly. It was God's gift to Adam and Eve. I tend to think that even spoken language was affected by the Fall; I think it became rougher, less clear, harder to express things, etc. The event at Babel served only to confuse things further.

Good thoughts, there, Annie.

I do believe that the first language was Hebrew - maybe a more perfect Hebrew than what is known today.

Here's a fun question - could the animals talk? I think they probably could, because Eve wasn't frightened when the snake came up to her. She understood him well, and if the animals couldn't talk, she would have known something was wrong. What do you think?

[Annie]

I used to think the pre-Fall animals could talk, for the reason you mentioned here...but now I don't think they could. I don't think animals have ever had the capacity to communicate with humans, using human speech. That would require that their intellectual capacity be similar to humans...and we know that humans have always been superior to the animals. Perhaps there was more of an intuitive understanding between animals and humans...We know that animals were not afraid of humans until after the curse. Perhaps the very thing that got Eve's attention and interest was the fact that a beautiful animal was talking to her. "Wrong" did not exist; Eve had no concept of "something being wrong" until after she sinned. Being frightened was unknown as well; what was there to be frightened of in a perfect world? Everything in the garden had been given to them by God; a talking snake would have been more of a newly discovered wonder than a signal that something wasn't right.

I think that sometimes we extrapolate to Adam and Eve emotions and ideas we think we would have in a situation like Eve's. But we have no concept of what it would really be like to live in a completely perfect world as a completely perfect people not knowing about "good" and "evil," and never experiencing fear, confusion, anger, and a whole host of other emotions that have come into being as a result of sin and injustice in the world. We are so used to living in that fallen world, and, as Christians, having to discern between "right" and "wrong."

[Madeline]

......A KJB agent walked by' date=' .....[/quote']

I was thinking KJB (King James Bible) at first glance. Probably because this is a KJVO board. :bonK:

[Jerry]

I know - the wrong initials threw me off for a second too. The Russian secret police are KGB, not KJB.

[Madeline]

I did some research on this subject. I believe the context in Gen the "fall" is not teaching that every beast that God made had been created with the ability to talk to Adam and Eve (both, Adam and Eve were at the temptation and both were tempted to disobey God. Eve was deceived and Adam rebelled God deliberately and remained silent, refusing to defend God's Word). The passage states that the serpent was more cunning than any beasts of the field that God had made, it doesn't teach that the serpent was defined as a beast of the field at that time. At the curse for what they had done, Adam and Eve weren't the only one who had to bear their punishment (bear the consequences for attempting to make themselves equal to God - meaning they wanted to be their own lawmaker). The serpent also had to bear the consequences for working to displace God from His Created beings. The implication of his curse is that this created being on some level was "like" Adam and Eve. He was superior to the beasts of the field.

Here is the curse on him:

"And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."

Within context, he is being described as superior to the beasts, having the same powers (intellectual, with an added ability to foretell, that is not spoken of Adam and Eve) that he displayed at the encounter with Adam and Eve in the garden. Today, the snake crawls in the grass and strikes out at the heel of the walking person. Human beings (and animals) crush the head of the snake to kill it. This is the way this creature was to live out his generations on earth after his curse. Of course that passage also refers to Satan's defeat by Christ. The word for "serpent" in Gen., is "nachash" - meaning a snake (from its hiss, serpent). This word is from the root "Nachash" meaning "to hiss, i.e., whisper, generally to prognosticate, certainty, divine, enchanter, diligently, observe." The context and use of these words imply that the serpent had not been created a beast of the field, but nearer Adam and Eve's abilities both in biology, beauty and intellectual ability and superior in powers (enchanter, divine abilities). He walked upright. He was cunning. The word used re him is "subtil" [subtle] - "aruwm" - Hebrew - meaning, "cunning, usually in a bad sense, crafty, prudent, subtil [subtle]. At his curse, God lowered him to lower than other beasts of the field on earth, separating forever the ability to bear off-spring with human beings and taking away his original created abilities and similarity with humanity. The scene presents a picture of Satan using this created being for his own purposes (as he will when he brings the man of sin into the world to do his bidding) and it is not surprising that God cursed this being who was willing to do what Satan wanted him to do) counting him among the animals and lower than all other beasts God had created. I don't believe that animals were created to talk to human beings. They certainly do have intelligence, but their intelligence and the ability to feel an emotional attachment to their owners, does not put them on the same level of intelligence as human beings. I am open to correction.

Love,
Madeline