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  • From: "JAMES CHRISTIAN READ" <JCR128 AT student.apu.ac.uk>
  • To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [b-hebrew] Hebrew - dialect of canaanite
  • Date: Wed, 28 Jun 2006 14:32:25 +0100

Peter wrote
An alternative scenario, which may appeal more to conservatives like
Karl, is as follows: When Abraham and his family came to Canaan, they
initially spoke a form of Aramaic, similar to what their relatives who
remained in the north, like Laban, continued to speak. But when they
moved to Canaan, they picked up the local Canaanite language. Hence the
difference between Jacob's and Laban's language, Genesis 31:47. (But we
must assume that Jacob also picked up some Aramaic during his many years
with Laban.) When the Israelites went into Egypt, they took with them
this same Canaanite, which is quite well attested as being widely spoken
by immigrants to Egypt during the second millennium BCE (see for example
the Wadi-el-Hol inscriptions). As there was constant interchange between
Egypt and Canaan, Egyptian Canaanite did not diverge far from the
version spoken in Canaan itself - but perhaps remained closer to the
southern dialects which became Moabite than to the northern ones which
became Phoenician. When the Israelites returned to Canaan, they brought
back with them this same Canaanite, which was not too different from
that of their neighbours. (I note for example that the spies could
communicate with Rahab in a situation where an interpreter was
unlikely!) They may have picked up some Transjordanian influences during
their time in the wilderness and in close contact with Moabites. This
was of course an early form of what we now call biblical Hebrew, which
continued to develop for centuries.
END QUOTE

In addition to this I would like to make the observation
that the phenomenon of the divine name seems to support
this theory. yhwh being an aramaic name was the way
Abraham called his god and was the way he taught his
children to call his god. This was perhaps the only
survivor of Abraham's language that managed to rest in
the language all the way through the generations even
though for the rest of everyday communication they
adopted hebrew.





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