Biblical Hebrew Forum

[George Athas <George.Athas AT moore.edu.au>]

Hi Uri!

I think you might have slightly caricatured the arguments of Young, Rezetko, 
and Ehrensvärd. The logic of their argument is quite sound. What this means 
in not that Gen 49, Exod 15 and Qohelet were written at the same time. 
Rather, on purely linguistic concerns, they MIGHT have been. Their claim is 
that it's hard to date a book on purely linguistic evidence when that 
evidence is purely Hebrew. There are other non-linguistic factors that we can 
use, and these would probably distinguish different milieus for the texts you 
mention. However, linguistics of Hebrew alone can't do that. Otherwise, on 
purely linguistic evidence, Exod 15 and the Habakkuk Pesher from Qumran are 
contemporaneous. We know that can't be the case on the basis of other factors.

Their argument commends itself for its sound reasoning, and I recommend the 
two volumes to Hebraists.

GEORGE ATHAS
Moore Theological College (Sydney, Australia)
www.moore.edu.au