Question

Firstly, I would like to know how similar modern spoken Hebrew is to classic Hebew that was spoken a few thousand years ago. Are there Bibles available in Classic Hebrew today? In Modern Hebrew? How similar/different is modern Hebrew from old Hebrew?

Answer

The old and modern Hebrew are very similar. Modern Hebrew bases itself upon the ancient Hebrew language used in the Bible and Talmud.

Like every language, it developed over the years. Modern concepts, innovations, inventions, etc., all brought about new or related words.

There are numerous books on Torah and Talmud, that are in the form of a commentary style. These can be found in "The National Hebrew Library" Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel.

The works of Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz in simplifying Torah and Talmud to modern Hebrew, should be a great help.