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Prior to the discovery of a proto-Hebrew alphabet at Tel-Zayit, the order of the biblical Hebrew alphabet was known through several sources:

• Cognate Languages. The Hebrew writing system (cf. GKC Table of Alphabets) was derived from and shares the same order as the Phoenician alphabet; likewise Greek originated from Phoenician. Of course, the Greek letters changed slightly from their origin in Phoenician and added vowels that were created from consonants: alpha from aleph, epsilon from he, eta from chet, iota from yod, omicron from ayin, and upsilon from waw.

• Abecedarian Psalms. This type of psalm uses an alphabetical acrostic as a poetic pattern or device. Just as today’s school children learn the alphabet by memorizing “A is for Apple, B is for Ball, C is for Cat, etc.” or Dr. Seuss’s ABC, the Hebrews used abecedary for easier memorization of poetic literature.

Psalm 119 is the most well-known of this type of psalm. It contains twenty-two strophes (i.e. units of poetry); one for each of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Each of the eight lines, or verses, in the strophe begins with the letter of the alphabet (8 lines x 22 strophes/letters = 176 verses). Example (Psalm 119:1-10):

Psalm 112 uses one letter per line (verses contain several lines, or cola, of Hebrew poetry):

Other abecedary psalms include Psalm 111, Psalm 37 (every other verse), and Psalm 25. Apparently, it was not imperative to develop a “perfect” alphabet acrostic. Some examples of imperfect acrostics are Psalm 145 (omits nun), Psalm 34 (omits waw), Psalm 25 (omits kaf and waw is dubious), and Psalm 9-10 (excludes several letters).

• Other acrostics. Another notable acrostic concludes the book of Proverbs. Verses 10-31 delineate the ABCs of the virtuous woman. Other acrostic poetic devices are used in Lamentations 1-4.

(For more information see Brug, J.F. “Biblical Acrostics and Their Relationship to Other Ancient Near Eastern Acrostics,” in The Bible in the Light of Cuneiform Literature: Scripture in Context III. Ancient Near Eastern Texts and Studies 8. William W. Hallo, et al, eds. [Lewiston: Edwin Mellen, 1990], 283-305; ISBN 0889462194)

***UPDATE 1***
Talmida has posted on the Proverbs 31 passage mentioned above. Check it out here.

***UPDATE 2***
FORWARD Online Newspaper answers the question concerning why the English abecedary begins with A-B-C and not the Phoenician order A-B-G.

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