Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Michael Abernathy <mabernathy AT isot.com>]

Assuming that we are unlikely to find any 3000 year old Hebrews who can 
tell us whether our theories are correct or not, what options are 
available to us for determining how tenses were understood?
Should any examination of this question assume uniformity throughout the 
history of the language or would it be necessary to consider the 
probable time of authorship?
Can we get past a working theory using just linguistic analysis of 
extant texts?
What are the limits of what  we can learn from ancient translations? I 
should think that one problem in trying to determine how the author of 
Exodus used tenses from translations is that these translations were 
made after the language was influsenced by the Aramaic language. The 
usage may not be the same in the two time periods. I should also think 
that one would have to consider who the translation was written for and 
why it was written. If we give any credence to the traditions concerning 
the LXX, then it was written by Hebrews who were somewhat isolated from 
other speakers of the Hebrew language. This raises questions about 
whether their dialect had shifted from the standard.
Sincerely,
Michael Abernathy