Biblical Hebrew Forum

[peter_kirk AT sil.org]

How about Daniel and Ezra, in the forms found in MT? I don't know 
exactly what period you are talking about and to what period you 
assign the texts, but from what I remember you wanted to assign Ezra 
to not long after Josephus and Daniel to not long before. The mixed 
forms only make sense if they were intended for a bilingual 
readership.

Then we also have to think of the Aramaic words in the Gospels. These 
are mostly translated, suggesting that the readership of the final 
form was not bilingual, but surely a good explanation for their 
presence is that they were taken from sources intended for a bilingual 
Palestinian audience. Probably worth looking at a good NT commentary 
for that point.

On general sociolinguistic grounds (and my experience living in a 
bilingual city), I would expect a considerable degree of bilingualism, 
especially in the cities which must have had a mixed population. This 
would probably be deeper than the basic words needed in the market but 
well short of the double native speaker proficiency which Henry seems 
to be suggesting.

Peter Kirk


______________________________ Reply Separator 
_________________________________
Subject: Re: Josephus & 1Esdras
Author:  mc2499 AT mclink.it at internet
Date:    14/07/1999 14:26

<snip>
Are there in fact any bilingual texts from the period?
<snip>