12. Is there a real difference between modern and Paleo Hebrew?

Although both are abjad scripts (no vowel letters), their appearance became quite different about 800-500 BC. Since the era of the Assyrian and Babylonian captivities, the form of the Hebrew letters has been completely different — changing from Phoenician based pictographs to an Aramaic shaped alphabet. Although the Modern letters do retain individual meanings, they are rarely used to define words.