Biblical Hebrew (Hebrew: עִבְרִית מִקְרָאִית Ivrit Miqra'it or לְשׁוֹן הַמִּקְרָא Leshon ha-Miqra), also called Classical Hebrew, is an archaic form of Hebrew, a Canaanite Semitic language spoken by the Israelites in the area known as Israel, roughly west of the Jordan River and east of the Mediterranean Sea.