ScriptLookup

Hebrew

כתב עברי
Hebr Right-to-left Living Abjad Middle Eastern
Sample Text
שלום עולם

Sample Characters

֑ ֒ ֓ ֔ ֕ ֖ ֗ ֘ ֙ ֚ ֛ ֜ ֝ ֞ ֟ ֠ ֡ ֢ ֣ ֤ ֥ ֦ ֧ ֨ ֩ ֪ ֫ ֬ ֭ ֮ ֯ ְ ֱ ֲ ֳ ִ ֵ ֶ ַ ָ ֹ ֺ ֻ ּ ֽ ־ ֿ ׀

First 48 characters from Hebrew (U+0591–U+05F4)

About Hebrew

The Hebrew alphabet is a 22-letter abjad used primarily to write Hebrew and Yiddish. It is written right-to-left and has been in continuous use for over 3,000 years, making it one of the oldest alphabets still in active use. The modern square Hebrew script (Assyrian script) emerged around the 3rd century BCE, evolving from the Aramaic alphabet.

In traditional religious texts, Hebrew is written without vowels; vowel points (niqqud) are added in children's books, prayer books, and poetry. Modern Israeli Hebrew is typically written without niqqud.

Data sourced from the ISO 15924 registry, Unicode CLDR, and the Unicode Character Database.

Script Family & Lineage

Ancestor Chain
Phoenician › Imperial Aramaic › Hebrew

Languages Using Hebrew 5

Hebrew עברית Judeo-Arabic Judeo-Persian Ladino Yiddish ייִדיש

Frequently Asked Questions

What type of writing system is Hebrew?
Hebrew is an Abjad. Abjads write consonants only; vowels are absent or shown by optional diacritics.
What direction does Hebrew read?
Hebrew is written Right-to-left, meaning text flows from right to left. Words and sentences begin on the right side of the page.
How many languages use the Hebrew script?
5 languages use Hebrew according to Unicode CLDR data. Together these languages are spoken by approximately 10M people worldwide.
When was the Hebrew script created?
The Hebrew script originated around 900 BCE.
Does Hebrew have uppercase and lowercase letters?
Hebrew does not have separate uppercase and lowercase forms. Vowels can be marked with optional diacritics but are often omitted in everyday text.

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Direction, characters, languages — side by side.

Key Facts

ISO Code
Hebr
ISO Number
125
Script Type
Abjad
Direction
Right-to-left
Status
Living
Region
Middle Eastern
Characters
134
Introduced
900 BCE
Languages
5
Total Speakers
~10M

Unicode Ranges

  • Hebrew
    U+0591–U+05F4
  • Alphabetic Presentation Forms
    U+FB1D–U+FB4F

Script Properties

Has Case
No
Cursive
No
Vowels
optional

Official Use In

IL

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