Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Dr. Joel M. Hoffman" <joel AT exc.com>]

>Is it possible that a settle aleph bet was not developed until later?
>Just as strict spelling rules weren’t developed until much later,
>so the order of letters within an abecedary also were somewhat fluid?
>
>Or is it possible that poets considered an exact following of an
>aleph bet optional? For example, Psalm 119 has the modern order, but
>Psalm 145 skips the nun.

Almost certainly the former.  The Izbat Sartah case does not seem like
poetry.  (Some researchers think that the writing probably comes from
one or more likely two students who had not yet mastered Hebrew, but I
disagree.)

-Joel