Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Jonathan D. Safren" <yonsaf AT beitberl.beitberl.ac.il>]

Hebrew'
Subject: RE: Saadia Gaon: Where did Hebrew Come From?


Saadiah Gaon was limited by the knowledge of his time, but he laid the
grounds for comparitive Semitics.
Jonathan D. safren

-----Original Message-----
From: Peter Kirk [mailto:peter_kirk AT sil.org]
Sent: Saturday, February 19, 2000 6:27 PM
To: Biblical Hebrew
Subject: Re: Saadia Gaon: Where did Hebrew Come From?


Dear Wondell,

I think that Gaon's contribution has been misunderstood. In the
passage quoted he clearly distinguishes Hebrew and Arabic as different
languages - though he and many Jews spoke Arabic as well as Hebrew at
that time. To summarise what he wrote: "Someone has written a useful
Arabic grammar. I have decided to write a similar grammar of Hebrew."
He was copying the concept, and because the languages are quite
similar he could also have copied some of the structure of the work,
but the details would be different for Hebrew and Arabic.

Hebrew cannot possibly be derived from classical Arabic, as the Dead
Sea Scrolls prove that it is much older than the classical Arabic of
the Qur'an and early Muslim works. Hebrew and Arabic have a common
ancestor, but that must have been well before any surviving
literature.

Peter Kirk




--
Jonathan D. Safren
Dept. of Biblical Studies
Beit Berl College
Beit Berl Post Office 44905
Israel