Hebrew (language)

Hebrew was an Earth language in which the Gospel of Mark was originally written. (PROSE: Byzantium!)

Bernice Summerfield was fluent in this language. (PROSE: Just War)

Behind the scenes

Several settings in the Doctor Who universe come from Hebrew words. They include, but are not limited to:

• The planet Sheol. In Hebrew, this means "underworld." Located within Sheol, ironically, is the city of Heaven. (PROSE: The Ruins of Heaven)
• The planet Gehanna. In Hebrew, this means "hell." It was inhabited by Devil-like creatures.
• The city Gehanna. This has the same root. It would be safe to assume that the Jewish colonists who inhabited it named it after the Jewish hell.
• The colony planet Ha'olam. In Hebrew, this means simply "the world" and is the word used in real-world Hebrew to describe Earth. Judging by this and obviously Jewish characters in the novel (like Shoshana Rubernstein), it is safe to assume that the planet has Jewish/Hebrew origins. (PROSE: Seeing I)
• The name Abaddon, the demon trapped under the rift, sounds a lot like the Hebrew word for "doom", אבדון (Avaddon).

The song, "The Daleks"', repeatedly chants the lyrics "מה קורה," (ma kor'eh) "what is happening" in Hebrew, repeated over and over again.

See also

• Judaism