Biblical Hebrew Forum

[James Read <J.Read-2 AT sms.ed.ac.uk>]

Hi,

>  3.  Linguistics and historical details imply that certain loanwords  
>  in the book have come via Persian and Aramaic. The most plausible   
> timeframe for this to have occurred is the Persian Era.

I used to live in Italy (for 3 years) and have been living on and off  
for 3 years in Ukraine. I have learned both languages by full  
immersion. One thing I have noticed about both languages is that while  
neither of these two cultures have been conquered or occupied by the  
English (or any other English speaking country) both languages are  
full of English loan words.

So let's just for arguments sake assume that the words in Qohelet in  
question are loan words. What exactly does that mean? Is it really as  
indicative as George suggests?

James Christian

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