Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Dave Washburn <dwashbur AT nyx.net>]

Hmm, good point about the Persian period bullae.  Regarding Arad, I wonder 
how 
much spelling in Hebrew might change (at least along such lines) in one 
century; it does certainly seem to be the case that a century of change for 
ancient Hebrew wasn't anything like, say a century of change for English, the 
process for Hebrew seems to have moved much more slowly.  I might quibble 
about the time of composition of the texts, but that's off-topic both for the 
list and for the subject, so I'll refrain.  In any case, it would appear that 
we don't actually have enough information to determine what factors went into 
the variations of spelling.  Being a big fan of the simplest explanation 
possible, I tend to vote for the idea that they're merely two different 
spellings, either one acceptable in polite company (so to speak), with one or 
the other gaining popularity for a time from one period to the next.  I go by 
either Dave or David, and the only thing to be inferred from people's use of 
one or the other is simple preference.  Perhaps such a thing might be 
analogous to the YHDH/YHWDH variation?  YMMV.

On Monday 28 June 2004 02:27, Yigal Levin wrote:
> I'm not so sure. Arad is over a century later than Hezekiah. It's also
> closer the the time of the composition of much of the Biblical text. Could
> the "optional" W have become "stabilized" or "standardized" during this
> time?
>
> Since the Persian period bullae, stamps and coins are mostly in Aramaic,
> I'm not sure if they prove anything.
>
> Yigal
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Dave Washburn" <dwashbur AT nyx.net>
> To: "b-hebrew" <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
> Sent: Monday, June 28, 2004 8:04 AM
> Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] DWD or DWYD, YHDH or YHWDH
>
> > This would seem to suggest that the variant spelling was just that, an
> > optional variant spelling, rather than indicating anything about relative
> > dating of texts.
> >
> > On Sunday 27 June 2004 15:48, Uri Hurwitz wrote:
> > >     Other interresting extra-biblical evidence bearing direrctly on
> > > this can be found in   the many seal impressions (bullae) from the time
> > > of
>
> the
>
> > > Persian rule. Judea was then a province or satrapy  whose name was
>
> written
>
> > > in Hebrew letters as either YHD, without the Waw or YHWD,with the Waw!
>
> An
>
> > > earlier inscriptional mention occurs in Arad ostracon no.40, where the
>
> name
>
> > > appears with a Waw: "....MLK YHWD[H]...". This is dated to shortly
>
> before
>
> > > the end of the Judean kingdom. Uri
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Patrina <patrina AT bestmail.us> wrote:
> > > Dear Yigdal
> > >
> > > Hezekiah's seals were featured in Biblical Archaeology Review
> > > Volume 28, Number 4, July/August 2002, Pp 42-51, 60 and can be found in
> > > a web article at:
> > >
> > > http://rd.archaeological-center.com/articles/13.shtml
> > >
> > > There are several pics of the seals there, all showing a spelling of
> > > YHDH in paleo-hebrew between the wingtips of the scarab. If the verbal
> > > root originally included a waw as suggested by HH, it would seem
> > > strange to have dropped out during the time of Hezekiah
> > > extra-biblically, or to have been spelled with a mater in the formal
> > > anals of his reign (and priestly records such as the biblical texts)
> > > but not on official seals?
> > >
> > > I've been thinking about the spelling issue for quite a while, because
> > > it impacts on dating of all the texts containing the word YHWDH.
> > >
> > > Patrina Nuske Small
> > > Adelaide, South Australia
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > ---------------------------------
> > > Do you Yahoo!?
> > > New and Improved Yahoo! Mail - 100MB free storage!
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > b-hebrew mailing list
> > > b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
> > > http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/b-hebrew
> >
> > --
> > Dave Washburn
> > http://www.nyx.net/~dwashbur
> > Learning about Christianity from a non-Christian
> > is like getting a kiss over the telephone.
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > b-hebrew mailing list
> > b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
> > http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/b-hebrew
>
> _______________________________________________
> b-hebrew mailing list
> b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/b-hebrew

-- 
Dave Washburn
http://www.nyx.net/~dwashbur
Learning about Christianity from a non-Christian
is like getting a kiss over the telephone.