Abstract
In 2014 Avi Hurvitz published A Concise Lexicon of Late Biblical Hebrew: Linguistic Innovations in the Writings of the Second Temple Period. In the present article we offer an alternative, quantitative interpretation of the data in the Lexicon. Our main conclusions are that the late language cataloged in the Lexicon is rare and idiosyncratic in late biblical writings and accordingly the value of the late language for linguistic periodization and linguistic dating is negligible.
Highlights
The catalyst for the present article and the research behind it was the publication of Avi Hurvitz’s magnum opus, A Concise Lexicon ofLate Biblical Hebrew. 1 When we encountered this work several questions came to mind, including What is the lexicon of Late BiblicalHebrew (LBH)?, and, What is late about the lexicon of Late BiblicalHebrew (LBH)? In a separate publication we review the Lexicon, discussing its contents and objectives, offering commendations and criticisms, and evaluating closely some (4 of 80) of the individual entries in the book. 2In this article our objective is to take up the questions we asked above
(39%) can be found in one of the Transitional BH (TBH)/LBH books only, and if we look at the late variants that occur in three or fewer books
We have argued elsewhere that rates ofaccumulation of late variants in various biblical and postbiblical writings, the fact that there can be early, middle, and late adopters of linguistic innovations, and the general conclusion reached by literary and textual critics that biblical writings—including those written in CBH—did not stop developing until late in the Second Temple period, all problematize
Summary
The catalyst for the present article and the research behind it was the publication of Avi Hurvitz’s magnum opus, A Concise Lexicon ofLate Biblical Hebrew. 1 When we encountered this work several questions came to mind, including What is the lexicon of Late BiblicalHebrew (LBH)?, and, What is late about the lexicon of LBH? In a separate publication we review the Lexicon, discussing its contents and objectives, offering commendations and criticisms, and evaluating closely some (4 of 80) of the individual entries in the book. 2In this article our objective is to take up the questions we asked above. The catalyst for the present article and the research behind it was the publication of Avi Hurvitz’s magnum opus, A Concise Lexicon of. In a separate publication we review the Lexicon, discussing its contents and objectives, offering commendations and criticisms, and evaluating closely some (4 of 80) of the individual entries in the book. We have included a substantial presentation and discussion of recent research undertaken by us, which aims to characterize the lexicon of LBH, and it is intended to function both as a further evaluation of the Lexicon and as an illustration of what a new approach can offer to the ongoing debate about the history of BH. Concise Lexicon of Late Biblical Hebrew: Linguistic Innovations in the Writings of the Second Temple Period, JHS 16 (2016). The review can be accessed at http://jhsonline.org/reviews_vol.html
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