Hebrew is generally thought to have ceased to be a spoken vernacular around the beginning of the 3rd century C.E. This coincides with the end of the Tannaitic period in rabbinic tradition. The surviving Hebrew texts that are datable to before this date would, therefore, have been written when Hebrew was still spoken. This includes the books of the Hebrew Bible, Qumran literature, Tannaitic rabbinic literature, documents, and epigraphy. There are references to the use of Hebrew as a vernacular in…