English to Hebrew translation has a lot going for it. One of its strongest points is that Hebrew speakers tend to speak English as well. That’s always a plus when working with a non-Indo-European language like Hebrew.

Hebrew is an ancient language, in active use today, and is translated all of the time. It is a West Semitic language, which is a subgroup of the Semitic languages found in the Near East and the Horn of Africa (a favorite haunt of modern-day pirates, in case you watch the news). The Hebrew language existed long before the advent of the Common Era (CE), but it eventually faded from general use.

Thankfully, Hebrew scholars kept the language alive in written texts and spoke it aloud during Jewish religious worship. Hebrew maintained a small current throughout the ages until it was revived as a “living,” or actively spoken, language in the 19th century. The creation of the Jewish state of Israel only strengthened Hebrew’s roots in the global community of spoken languages.

Hebrew translation became a necessity with the rebirth of the language into modern world society. Not just anyone can read Hebrew script, which is written from the right to the left using the Assyrian alphabet (also known as the Ashuri alphabet). Around 9 million souls speak Hebrew as their main language these days. Most of these people, of course, live in Israel, although a fairly substantial Hebrew-speaking population also resides in the United States.

The Middle East is a volatile place, as you’re undoubtedly aware. Hebrew translators might have to deal with a lot of translations reflecting this fact. Even so, Israel is also a world economic power despite its small geographical size. Hebrew translators also work with commerce, trade, diplomatic relations, religious translation, scientific papers, and a host of other fields in which good Hebrew to English or English to Hebrew translation is needed.