Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Uri Hurwitz <uhurwitz AT yahoo.com>]

    Dear Bryant,

     Extra-biblical evidence, such as the Samaria Ostraca,
  points to a different dialect in the North. Yahwistic
 theophoric names have a "...YW" ending, instead of the
"...YHW" or "...YH" in Judea. Examples: the PNs "YD(YW",
 "$MRYW" in the ostraca. 
     The final W here is taken to be a diphthong and pronounced 
 "yau". In the South these names would have been "YD(YHW",
 or "$MRYHW".

    The word for 'year', probably under the influence of
 Arameic, is $NT'instead of $NH in the South.

    The famous story in Judges 12 about the Ephraimites
 who could not pronounce the sibilant Shin, reflects
 ancient tradition about dialectical variation.


   As for diachronic markers - all inscriptional evidence
 from the Second Temple period, points to a "Yah" ending
 of theophoric names.

   This trend is also clear in the written
 evidence of the HB. Cf. the name Yirmiyahu with the name
 Obadyah. This is a trend, and exceptions occur both
 ways.

  As for reading the whole article - in my experience
 it is sometimes possible to get a reprint of an article
 through inter-library exchange which is available even
 in very small public libraries. If I had it, I would have
 mailed you a copy.

  I'm glad you were able to get hold of the charts.

  Uri

  Uri Hurwitz                           Great Neck                         




    




> Dear Uri,

> Thank you for the reference. Unfortunately, I don't have
> the funds nor the
> system to obtain the full article. I was able to obtain the
> charts though.
> 
> Do you think that Andersen and Hess have indicated that the
> differences in the
> YHWH elements would also reflect the division between the
> Northern and Southern
> Kingdoms and between Pre-exilic, Exilic and Post-Exilic? I
> looked at the charts
> and the differences especially in the prophets seem to
> indicate that Exekiel and
> Daniel -yh was the predominant usage from the beginning of
> the Exile (605 BCE)
> and after. Isaiah and Jeremiah both reflect the Southern
> Kingdom usage; while
> the other prophets would reflect Northern Kingdom usage.
> Considering that
> Jeremiah and Kings have the same amount of yhw- usage in
> them one would be
> tempted to think that Jeremiah authored Kings (?).
> 
> Chronicles would seem to contradict the latter observation,
> but because Ezra (?)
> was using the Samuel/Kings as his resources (in additional
> to others) it would
> make sense for the high level of yhw- use and still retain
> the large amount
> of -yh use.
> 
> Rev. Bryant J. Williams III
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Uri Hurwitz" <uhurwitz AT yahoo.com>
> To: <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
> Sent: Saturday, May 14, 2011 10:48 AM
> Subject: [b-hebrew] Early Biblical Hebrew (EBH or SBH -
> Standard) & LateBiblical
> Hebrew (LBH)
> 
> 
> >
> > Those who are interested in evidence for diachronic
> >  development of the language of the Hebrew bible
> may
> >  wish to check the following paper.
> >
> >
> >  Names in the Study of Biblical History: David,
> YHWH Names,
> >  and the Role
> > of Personal Names
> > by Francis I. Andersen and Richard S. Hess
> > Buried History Monographs - BHM 2
> > Australian Institute of Archaeology, 2007
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > From Charles Halton's blog Awilum.com December 7,
> 2007:
> >
> >
> > "It is a grand total of 20 pages but it is packed
> >  with information and very valuable
> bibliography–they
> >  provide extensive bibliography for personal
> names
> >  in the languages/geographic areas Akkadian,
> Ammonite,
> >  Amurrite, Aramaic, Ebla, Emar, Hebrew, Hittite,
> >  Hurrian, Phoenician, 2nd Millennium names from
> >  Palestine and vicinity, Ugaritic, and other
> West
> > Semitic names.
> >
> > In this monograph Andersen and Hess survey the
> >  historical and literary distribution of the
> spellings
> >  of YHWH elements in names as well as the
> spelling of David.
> >
> > [2 statistical charts omitted; see http://awilum.com/?p=458]
> >
> >
> > Although there are supporting supplementary comments,
> >  here is their conclusion:
> >
> > 'The books of the Old Testament present accurately
> the
> >  changing fashions in Hebrew names. The long
> forms of
> >  names ending with the name of God (-yhw) were
> prominen
> > t during the monarchy, and were completely replaced
> >  by -yh forms after the Exile. The short
> spelling
> >  of David was in vogue before the Exile, the
> longer
> >  form after. The Bible and the archaeological
> evidence
> >  are the same. If the material in Genesis-Kings
> was
> >  largely concocted after the Exile, as some
> scholars now
> >  claim, and the invented characters were given
> the names
> >  current in their own day, we would expect the
> >  popular -yh names to be used throughout.Â
> Genesis-Kings
> >  accurately preserves the changes in Hebrew
> names
> >  corresponding to linguistic and cultural
> changes
> >  in the Israelite communities. The authenticity
> of
> >  the Bible in this specific matter is established
> by
> >  external evidence.' "
> >
> > What should be emphasized is the correspondence
> > between the biblical and extra-biblical evidence in
> this
> >  case.
> >
> > Uri Hurwitz Great Neck, NY
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > b-hebrew mailing list
> > b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
> > http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/b-hebrew
> >
> 
> 
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