Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Garth Grenache <garthgrenache AT hotmail.com>]

Thanks Yitzhak for your excellent reply! (and for showing me I mistakenly 
posted off-list)

So then, do you 
suppose that the longer spelling YRWShLYM entered the text of the Hebrew
 Bible by the original authors of Esther and 1Chronicles?  Or from a 
later scribe?

When do you envisage this spelling coming into the 
Hebrew Bible?

I notice in the ~66 C.E. coin, that the spelling is
 new, but the script is old!
Is this the earliest known occurrence of
 this spelling?
Is there reason to suggest that the spelling was much
 earlier?

Actually, there is evidence for a short 'e' (segol) in 
the Aramaic pronunciation, in Dan 5:2; 5:3; 6:10; and in the Aramaic 
parts of Ezra.  It seems the Aramaic pronunciation found in the MT 
typically (maybe always?) is with a short 'e' in the last syllable.

If
 the Jews of the revolt against Pagan lordship produced this spelling, 
YRWShLYM, it may have been to combat Pagan influence on the 
pronunciation of the word, to mark the final vowel as long, and not 
short as in Aramaic.  Wasn't it all about taking Jerusalem back under 
Jewish rule?

The use of the old 'paleo' script on their coins *5 
centuries after it began to fall out of use* may likewise indicate an 
intentional resistance from Aramaic(pagan) influence.  [The square 
script which replaced the paleo script was taken from Aramaic writing.]

"Our
 city! Our script! Our pronunciation!" maybe?

Garth Grenache.                                           
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