The pre-revival state of Hebrew

In an examination of the Hebrew revival we should start with a look at the prior state of Hebrew. One very important factor in Hebrew's being a reviveable language is that while it was dead it was not at all gone. In status it was mostly a religious language, but it had other spheres of use. In written form there were many varieties, each with much literature and much vocabulary. Hebrew lacked terms for many aspects of modern life, but this was remedied, as explained below.