The Hebrew of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Tiberian Reading Tradition

Aaron D Hornkohl

doi:10.1163/15685179-bja10012

Abstract

Abstract The most authentic portrait of Second Temple Hebrew is afforded by the Dead Sea Scrolls, especially by those texts actually composed in Hellenistic and Roman times. On salient linguistic points Dead Sea Scrolls Hebrew agrees with the vocalization of the Tiberian reading tradition against the testimony of the written, i.e., consonantal, tradition of Masoretic Classical Biblical Hebrew material. This article presents a case study. On the one hand, these Dead Sea-Tiberian vocalization affinities are evidence of the relatively late character of their respective linguistic traditions and of the secondary character of the developments in the Tiberian reading tradition vis-à-vis the classical biblical written tradition. On the other hand, these same affinities demonstrate that the Tiberian pronunciation tradition is plausibly regarded as one that crystallized in the Second Temple Period, rather than in Byzantine or medieval times. Lastly, since joint Dead Sea-Tiberian reading departures from the classical biblical consonantal tradition constitute a tiny minority of their relevant linguistic data, most of which are characterized by historical continuity and/or linguistic heterogeneity of comparable historical depth, it is clear that the Second Temple crystallization of Dead Sea Scrolls Hebrew and the Tiberian reading tradition in no way preclude their routine preservation of authentic Iron Age features.

Highlights

Masoretic text – Tiberian tradition – reading tradition – written tradition – vocalization – consonantal text via free access the hebrew of the dead sea scrolls
The feature discussed in this study is one of many on which DSS Hebrew (DSSH) and the Tiberian reading tradition jointly deviate from an apparently older alternative in the Masoretic Classical Biblical Hebrew (CBH) written tradition
While such deviations demonstrate a degree of anachronism in the Tiberian pronunciation tradition vis-à-vis the Masoretic written tradition, linguistic affinity with the Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS) confirms the plausibility of the Second Temple crystallization of the Tiberian reading tradition

Summary

Introduction

Masoretic text – Tiberian tradition – reading tradition – written tradition – vocalization – consonantal text via free access the hebrew of the dead sea scrolls. In the Tiberian biblical tradition, when this combination is preceded by a clitic preposition, it consistently comes in the symmetrical, double-article determined noun + determined ordinal formulation, e.g., ‫“ ַביום הששי‬on the sixth day,”[11] as in (13).[12] (13) ‫“ ַביום השביעי‬on the seventh day” (Gen 2:2 [bis])

Results

Conclusion