Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Chris and Nel" <wattswestmaas AT eircom.net>]

Dear All,

Beginning from the correct perspective that Biblical Hebrew was a living 
SPOKEN everyday language for some time I am somewhat curious about the 
deviations from the common rules that are visible in the collective grammar 
as a whole.

Just One Example to clarify my question, which is not about this word but 
about the overall pattern of deviations that occur

EG -- Rules governing the Perfect Hiphil (Pe-Gutteral) with and without the 
vav conjunction are understandable and logical, but, what about when one 
should expect the rule to apply yet reads in Joshua 7:7 He'aVaDTah instead 
of He'eVaDTah.  Is it really to be believed that people in those days were 
so pedantically accurate? So minutley detailed in their pronounciation of 
the spoken language.

I hope you can see where I am going with this and I do not see that an 
example in Joshua 7:7 does anything to convey a different sense or feel to 
the semantics of the sentence.  So what were the Masoretes so 'finigalty' 
about. Are they asking future generations to believe that there was such 
accuracy as say the pronounciation of a single vowel in what appears to be a 
normal word with an already pre-defined well-accustomed manner of speaking 
it?

This is a general question and I have only used this passage to clarify my 
"irritation".

Thankyou

Chris Watts
Ireland.