In this talk I will discuss key nineteenth century writings about Hebrew and other Semitic languages. Although notables such as Humboldt and Herder will be mentioned, first and foremost among the figures discussed will be Ernest Renan. Renan was a dominant figure in Semitic scholarship in the mid-nineteenth century, and is fingered by Edward Said as being a major player in nineteenth century Orientalism. Thus any attempt, like mine, to account for the influence of nineteenth century linguistics on the guiding principles of the Modern Hebrew revival, must necessarily place him in the spotlight. Among other texts, I shall be presenting some of Renan's reflections from his ``Histoire générale et système comparé des langues sémitiques.'' Nineteenth century linguist that he is, Renan is perfectly comfortable in attempting to equate linguistic and national/racial characteristics, an equation which may well leave the contemporary linguist feeling an equal and opposite amount of discomfort. It is particularly interesting to look at his comparisons of the Semitic and Indo-European languages as a whole, and at comparisons of Hebrew with other Semitic languages, such as Arabic and Aramaic, and to ask what light these may shed on questions about the decisions taken by the Hebrew revivalists.