Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Maurice A. O'Sullivan" <mauros AT iol.ie>]

At 11:23 23/08/02, Ian Goldsmith wrote:

> Would anyone you be able to recommend a book, paper or
> online source that gives a good history of the
> grammatical system that we use today?

I would suggest:
Chomsky, William. Hebrew: The Eternal Language. Philadelphia: J.P.S, 1957

My own copy is a 1988 reprint, but you might e-mail the Jewish Publication 
Society
in Philadelphia: jewishbook AT jewishpub.org
for an update.

> When did the vowel points start to appear and who was responsible
> for the them?

This was the work of the Masoretes.
The "classic" text is:
Yeivin, Israel. Introduction to the Tiberian Masorah.  Trans. and edited by 
E.J. Revell Masoretic Studies, 5.. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1980.

This is fairly technical, and you might prefer to start with:
Kelley, Page H., and Daneil S. Mynatt, eds. The Masorah of B.H.S. Grand 
Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998.
which I have seen favourably reviewed.

For the more specialised forms of Hebrew:

Rendsburg, Gary A. "The Galilean Background of Mishnaic Hebrew." Chap. in 
The Galilee in Late Antiquity. Cambridge, Mass: The Jewish Theological 
Seminary of America, 1992.

Quimron, Elisha. The Hebrew of the Dead Sea Scrolls.  Harvard Semitic 
Series # 29. Cross, Frank Moore. Atlanta: Scholars Press.




Hope this is of help.

Maurice

P.S
I've just noticed you have your ISP is in the U.K
From previous dealings with the JPS, I know that they sell in this part of 
the world through a U.K outlet:
>> distribution company, Orca Booksellers. Their telephone number is 01202 
665 432. <<

Maurice A. O'Sullivan
mauros AT iol.ie

"When you know a thing, to hold that you know it, and when you do not know 
a thing, to allow that you do not know it: This is knowledge."
Confucius