Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Peter Kirk <peterkirk AT qaya.org>]

On 24/10/2005 16:35, Dr. Joel M. Hoffman wrote:

> > In case you think that this is something I have said, I have not. I have 
> > simply stated that as far as I can see LXX does not provide evidence 
> >    
>
> This list has a way of taking simple ideas and obfuscating them.  Once
> again:
>
> 1.  There's no evidence that TH (Tiberian Hebrew) vowels, syllable
>    structure, or Beged Kefet rules reflect Hebrew from over 1,000
>    years prior.
>  

Also, there is not evidence that they do not.

> 2.  In particular, the LXX does not provide this evidence (because
>    there is no evidence).
>  

LXX provides good evidence neither for nor against the hypothesis.

> 3.  Linguists unanimously agree that languages change over time, so
>    the default assumption ought to be that late first millennium CE
>    Hebrew differed from late first millennium BCE Hebrew.
>  

Agreed there were probably differences in some areas. However, there is 
no reason to suggest that these differences were anything like what you 
have suggested that they might be - although there is suggestive 
evidence for some vowel changes. In particular, there is no evidence and 
no particular reason to believe that the syllable structure changed, and 
also no evidence and no particular reason to believe that the Begadkefat 
rules changed.

> ...
>
> This thread resurfaced when someone (I forget who) asked the question,
> "doesn't the LXX show that TH matches Biblical Hebrew."  I answered
> "no."
>  

Agreed, but it also does not show that TH does not match biblical Hebrew.

> [Though (1-3) are almost universally accepted (certain religious
> advocates being the exception), the implications are widely ignored.
> We do everyone a disservice when, for example, we talk about Dagesh or
> Segholates in Biblical Hebrew.  Those are elements of TH, not Biblical
> Hebrew.
>  

These are elements of TH which may or may not also be applicable to 
biblical Hebrew. Although some things doubtless changed, the probability 
of any single feature changing in 1000 years is actually not very high. 
We have no evidence to tell us whether or not these particular features 
changed.


--
Peter Kirk
peter AT qaya.org (personal)
peterkirk AT qaya.org (work)
http://www.qaya.org/