06. I’m confused about the different historical periods of the Hebrew language. What are they?

According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, the history of the Hebrew language is usually divided into four major periods:

1. Biblical (or Classical) Hebrew, until about the 3rd century BC, in which most of the Old Testament is written;
2. Mishnaic (or Rabbinic) Hebrew, the language of the Mishna (a collection of Jewish traditions), written about 200 AD (this form of Hebrew was never used among the people as a spoken language);
3. Medieval Hebrew, from about the 6th to the 13th century AD, when many words were borrowed from Greek, Spanish, Arabic, and other languages; and
4. Modern Hebrew, the language of Israel in modern times.