[Avodah] Did the Patriarchs Speak Hebrew?

[Mandel, Seth]

There is no proof that anyone spoke Hebrew. Chazal say that dibb'ra Torah
bilshon b'nei odom, and the Torah was written in Hebrew because that is
what the Jews understood at the time of Moshe Rabbeinu and the N'vi'im.
This is clear from last weeks Parsha, where Par'oh speaks to Yosef,
kavyakhol in Hebrew.

However, just as much as there is no proof at all from the T'NaKh
that lots of people spoke Hebrew, even though the T'NaKh records them
in Hebrew, there is also no proof at all that certain people did not
speak Hebrew. The Ramban quotes the story of Lovon and Ya'akov to
"prove" that Lovon did not speak Hebrew. That is probable, but what
did Yaakov and Lovon speak together? What did Yaakov speak to Rochel and
Leah, who had never been in EY? OK, they all spoke what was spoken in
Aram Naharayim. Probably. But Yaakov and the Ovos must have learned
the language of K'na'an for Avrohom to speak to b'nei Het to buy the
Cave of the Patriarchs. So what exactly did Avrohom Ovinu say in the
language of Aram, whence he came, and what in the language of K'na'an?

QED that one cannot know from the T'NaKh who spoke what when and where.

The only thing we know is the Masorah, that HQBH dictated the Torah to
Moshe Rabbeinu in the eponymous Biblical Hebrew.

People ask whether Odom hoRishon spoke Hebrew. That is a question
that has no meaning. We do not know exactly what he spoke, nor is
it relevant. It might have been a precursor of Hebrew, IOW a language
like Hebrew, but a much older form. It could have been something else.
But, scientifically, it could not have been the same as the Hebrew spoken
in the time of Y'tzi'as Mitzrayim, because it has been proven that all
languages change over time.

Rabbi Dr. Seth Mandel