Aramaic

The Hebrew particle נָא naʾ appears almost four hundred times in the Bible. How should it be translated? To answer this question, we need to look at: 1) the biblical contexts; 2) the ancient translations of the Bible; 3) medieval grammarians; and 4) modern grammarians.

Before the exile, Israelites and Judahites wrote in Old Hebrew script. During the Second Temple period, Aramaic script slowly replaces Old Hebrew to the extent that the rabbis even disqualify a Torah scroll written in Old Hebrew.