On linguistic dating of biblical Hebrew

THE BIBLE AND INTERPRETATION:

Biblical Hebrew Changed, but How?

In a hot-off-the-press popular article in Biblical Archaeology Review (September/October 2016), Avi Hurvitz discusses “How Biblical Hebrew Changed.” It is certainly true that Biblical Hebrew evolved over time, but the particulars of how that happened are more complex and debated than Hurvitz acknowledges. The example that he discusses, ʾiggeret and sēfer for “letter,” is a case in point.

See Also: Linguistic Dating of Biblical Texts

A Very Tall “Cautionary Tale”: A Response to Ron Hendel

An Unsettling Divide in Linguistic Dating and Historical Linguistics

By Robert Rezetko
Research Associate
Radboud University Nijmegen & University of Sydney
September 2016

The BAR article by Hurvitz, which is behind a subscription wall, was noted here last week.