Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

b-hebrew - Re: [b-hebrew] the little things

b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Biblical Hebrew Forum

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: K Randolph <kwrandolph AT gmail.com>
  • To: fred burlingame <tensorpath AT gmail.com>
  • Cc: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] the little things
  • Date: Fri, 5 Nov 2010 19:23:55 -0700

Fred:

On Thu, Nov 4, 2010 at 7:48 PM, fred burlingame <tensorpath AT gmail.com>wrote:

> Hello Karl:
>
> Let me see if I understand correctly the current status of biblical hebrew
> ("BH") language, facts (versus faith).
>
> 1. We have a circa 1,000 a.d., BH vocalization code (nikkud); and
>

Which some people like myself consider untrustworthy and most likely
inaccurate.

>
> 2. We have a circa 400 b.c., written BH language, implied by the dead sea
> scrolls which contain documents composed in mishnaic hebrew and in BH
> language.
>

It’s more complex than that.

>
> 3. The written BH text that we have (masoretic text, "MT") might equal a
> much older language form, but we have no facts at this time which would
> support such claim. In other words, the language of the MT might date from
> 1400 b.c., or earlier, but no facts extant at this time support such claim.
>

Some texts, letters, etc. that date from before the Babylonian Exile,
sometimes centuries before, support the forms found in the consonantal
Biblical text.

>
> regards,
>
> fred burlingame
>
> Personally, I think you are making a mountain out of a molehill. The
consonantal text is pretty well attested, not perfectly, but workable.

Karl W. Randolph.




Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page