Abstract
In this article we examine how Qumran Hebrew can contribute to our knowledge of historical Hebrew linguistics. The premise of this paper is that Qumran Hebrew reflects a distinct stage in the development of Hebrew which sets it apart from Biblical Hebrew. It is further assumed that these unique features are able to assist us to understand the nature of the development of Biblical Hebrew in a more precise way. Evidence from the syntax of participial negation at Qumran as opposed to Biblical Hebrew provides evidence for this claim.Keywords: Qumran Hebrew; Biblical Hebrew; historical linguistics;l Dead Sea Scrolls
Highlights
During the late Second Temple period Judea was multilingual and culturally diverse
The Qumran texts, which were written in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek, reflect this multilingual and cultural diversity and are significant for providing a window into the linguistic environment of the late Second Temple period
A variety of information concerning a stage of the language about which little or nothing was known before the discovery of the texts became available and thereby filled what had previously been a gap in our knowledge of Hebrew. This language, Qumran Hebrew,3 falls between Biblical Hebrew and Mishnaic Hebrew
Summary
During the late Second Temple period Judea was multilingual and culturally diverse. The Qumran texts, which were written in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek, reflect this multilingual and cultural diversity and are significant for providing a window into the linguistic environment of the late Second Temple period.. A variety of information concerning a stage of the language about which little or nothing was known before the discovery of the texts became available and thereby filled what had previously been a gap in our knowledge of Hebrew. This language, Qumran Hebrew, falls between Biblical Hebrew and Mishnaic Hebrew.. This language, Qumran Hebrew, falls between Biblical Hebrew and Mishnaic Hebrew. It provides a unique opportunity to observe a language in a state of transition and to assess the impact of dialectical and other linguistic influences (Fitzmyer 1979:57–84)
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