But can you honestly say that you would be able to read with full understanding, and no ambiguity, an unpointed biblical Hebrew text with which you had no previous familiarity, and which included some rather difficult words and constructions? I'm not sure how good an example this is, but what about the book of Sirach, if you are not already familiar with it? Or newly released Dead Sea Scrolls? Of course here you have to allow for a little language change. But are there not material uncertainties in the readings of such texts because they are preserved (at least in Hebrew) only in unpointed form?
In other words, is your fluency more a tribute to your excellent Bible knowledge than to your ability to read the text?
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