Biblical Hebrew in use during the Diaspora

The Rabbis throughout the long Diaspora spoke and wrote in Hebrew.  They also researched grammar rules and studied the vocabulary.  Many times in Rashi's commentary he translates a Biblical Hebrew word into the vernacular, in his case Old French, so that readers of the text would know what they were reading.  The Brown Drivers Briggs although a good reference, was not written by the Rabbis and sometimes you have to look the words up in another dictionary.  I have a copy of the Chumash that has the Biblical Hebrew on one side and a modern Hebrew translation on the other side of the page.  This is the book that is taught in Israeli schools and it is more accurate and up to date.  תנ"ך רם   is the title.  Hebrew has been spoken and used for thousands of years without interruption.  When Eliezer Ben Yehuda wanted to make Hebrew up to date, he used the Bible, and added modern words for things that didn't exist in the Bible. Other people added more words.   Ice Cream is a new word, as well as computer.  Some words are based on other languages, גלידה comes from Italian Glace, but the word computer comes from the word חושב to think.  

The word for Electricity חשמל for example comes from a very spiritual word that is only used rarely in the Bible  in the text it describes a type of fire, in the famous vision of Ezekiel, Ben Yehuda didn't know that this word would become a household word.   

Rachael http://www.live-hebrew.net/en/hebrew-teacher.php