Quite right. As you stated the original Hebrew (paleo-Hebrew) was already lost to antiquity for over a thousand years.

Look up "Hebrew" and even Wikipedia tells us that the written Hebrew of modern times (neo-Hebrew) is not paleo-Hebrew. Paleo-Hebrew is the original writings of the books of the Old Testament (OT).

Modern written Hebrew is based on the work by the Masoretes in 900 AD. Who are the Masoretes? They are Pharisaic Jews (Pharisees), who recreated a new written 'Hebrew' from Afroasiatic language family (Arabic) and Aramaic to successful 'revive' a dead language. Even Wikipedia admits to modern Hebrew as being a revived dead language (Albeit, you might have to use the Wayback Machine to see earlier postings). The original written Hebrew had only consonants and it depended on an oral tradition of learned scholars to know what the words meant. The Masoretes created a new written 'Hebrew' that had vowel points. These are any of a group of auxiliary symbols, as small lines and dots, placed above or below consonant symbols to indicate vowels in a writing system. Arabic uses vowel points. The Masoretes finished translating the New Hebrew version from the Septuagint in the 10th Century AD. The Masoretic Text, as it is called, was accepted as being the basis of all Protestant Bibles. In the same period, it was used as a source, along with later Greek Texts (such as the Miniscules, etc.) as the basis for the Textus Receptus. From the Masoretic Text, the King James Version was transliterated.

The oldest Bible OT there is the Septuagint, which was transliterated from the original paleo-Hebrew into koine Greek in circa 285 BC. As you mention from Ezra's time, the original Hebrew written language was in trouble and it only got worse under the Hellenic influence and was becoming extinct.

According to tradition, it was Ptolemy Philadelphus, who purchased the freedom of Israelites in his territories, arranged for 6 scholars from each of the 12 tribes to translate the first 5 books of the Old Testament from paleo-Hebrew into Greek around 285 BC. By this time a practical knowledge of the Hebrew written language was all but lost.

The original written Hebrew consisted only of consonants and relied on an oral knowledge to decipher the consonant-only words. Think of the English word 'cat' and remove the vowel. It becomes 'ct'. Without the vowel, the word 'ct' could be cat, cot, cut, cute, acute, coat, etc. An individual of knowledge would be required to orally teach others what the word 'ct' was. This is how the priestly class taught and passed on the writings of the bible. The paleo-Hebrew writings were designed for deciphering the bible using scribes trained to it. The written paleo-Hebrew was dependent on an individual trained in understanding it. This is how the Hebrew written language was passed down generation after generation. It was central to understanding the bible.

With the written Hebrew language being greatly eclipsed and dominated by the very popular Greek language, which was the international language of the day, Hebrew was in great peril of being lost forever. Ptolemy gathered together 72 scholars and in a short period of time they completed the Pentateuch. The Pentateuch is from Greek pentáteuchos and is the first five books of the Old Testament. The Latin name 'Septuagint' means 70, and was later applied to the translation in circa 1555 AD, for there was approximately 70 translators. This is also the reason why the abbreviation 'LXX' is used for this reason. After the first 5 books were finished, the translators set out to work on the rest of the OT. The exact date this was accomplished is not known, but it is certain the complete OT was finished within 100 years and it is likely it was completed within a few years by the same translators.

Quite right. As you stated the original Hebrew (paleo-Hebrew) was already lost to antiquity for over a thousand years.

Look up "Hebrew" and even Wikipedia tells us that the written Hebrew of modern times (neo-Hebrew) is not paleo-Hebrew. Paleo-Hebrew is the original writings of the books of the Old Testament (OT).

Modern written Hebrew is based on the work by the Masoretes in 900 AD. Who are the Masoretes? They are Pharisaic Jews (Pharisees), who recreated a new written 'Hebrew' from Afroasiatic language family (Arabic) and Aramaic to successful 'revive' a dead language. Even Wikipedia admits to modern Hebrew as being a revived dead language. The original written Hebrew had only consonants and it depended on an oral tradition of learned scholars to know what the words meant. The Masoretes created a new written 'Hebrew' that had vowel points. These are any of a group of auxiliary symbols, as small lines and dots, placed above or below consonant symbols to indicate vowels in a writing system. Arabic uses vowel points. The Masoretes finished translating the New Hebrew version from the Septuagint in the 10th Century AD. The Masoretic Text, as it is called, was accepted as being the basis of all Protestant Bibles. In the same period, it was used as a source, along with later Greek Texts (such as the Miniscules, etc.) as the basis for the Textus Receptus. From the Masoretic Text, the King James Version was transliterated.

The oldest Bible OT there is the Septuagint, which was transliterated from the original paleo-Hebrew into koine Greek in circa 285 BC. As you mention from Ezra's time, the original Hebrew written language was in trouble and it only got worse under the Hellenic influence and was becoming extinct.

According to tradition, it was Ptolemy Philadelphus, who purchased the freedom of Israelites in his territories, arranged for 6 scholars from each of the 12 tribes to translate the first 5 books of the Old Testament from paleo-Hebrew into Greek around 285 BC. By this time a practical knowledge of the Hebrew written language was all but lost.

The original written Hebrew consisted only of consonants and relied on an oral knowledge to decipher the consonant-only words. Think of the English word 'cat' and remove the vowel. It becomes 'ct'. Without the vowel, the word 'ct' could be cat, cot, cut, cute, acute, coat, etc. An individual of knowledge would be required to orally teach others what the word 'ct' was. This is how the priestly class taught and passed on the writings of the bible. The paleo-Hebrew writings were designed for deciphering the bible using scribes trained to it. The written paleo-Hebrew was dependent on an individual trained in understanding it. This is how the Hebrew written language was passed down generation after generation. It was central to understanding the bible.

With the written Hebrew language being greatly eclipsed and dominated by the very popular Greek language, which was the international language of the day, Hebrew was in great peril of being lost forever. Ptolemy gathered together 72 scholars and in a short period of time they completed the Pentateuch. The Pentateuch is from Greek pentáteuchos and is the first five books of the Old Testament. The Latin name 'Septuagint' means 70, and was later applied to the translation in circa 1555 AD, for there was approximately 70 translators. This is also the reason why the abbreviation 'LXX' is used for this reason. After the first 5 books were finished, the translators set out to work on the rest of the OT. The exact date this was accomplished is not known, but it is certain the complete OT was finished within 100 years and it is likely it was completed within a few years by the same translators.