Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Randall Buth <randallbuth AT gmail.com>]

On differences between First and Second Temple Hebrew, the
place to start is with Avi Hurvitz' writings. Some is in English.

on the web you can get started with a survey paper by Rooker.
http://www.ibr-bbr.org/IBRBulletin/BBR_1994/BBR_1994_10_Rooker-LateHebrew.pdf

At least you can start there. To do this right, you will need to consult
Abba Bendavid leshon miqra ulshon Haxamim and Kutscher's
Language...Isaiah Scroll.
This latter is now available in English. Actually you probably
need to read most everything that Kutscher wrote. And those
Ben Koseba letters are an absolute must read, in detail, both the
Aramaic and Hebrew letters, to see what was really going on,
without outside spin. Amazing stuff there.

>> Do you conclude that the post-exilic
>> Jews spoke Aramaic?
>
> Yes, that is my conclusion.

See the Rooker PDF, for watching how things develop and how
DDS and Mishnaic Hebrew are a high and low continuation of
LBH.
Even Ezekiel is part of the change over, despite having a
mothertongue pre-exilic Hebrew.

Nehemiah thought that he was a Hebrew speaker, in step with
those with Jewish (Hebrew-speaking) mothers. Neh. 13.25.
And he certainly knew the difference between Hebrew and
administrative-business/market Aramaic, not to mention
Phoenician and Hebrew, Moabite and Hebrew, Ammonite
and Hebrew.
PS: This kind of knowledge of Hebrew also removes the
need for alleging that there is no connection between pre- and
post-exilic Hebrew, as if knowledge of BH was lost and
needed to be re-discovered or deciphered by Aramaic
speakers.




-- 
Randall Buth, PhD
www.biblicalulpan.org
randallbuth AT gmail.com
Biblical Language Center
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