Cian J. Power explores how the biblical authors viewed and presented a fundamental human reality: the existence of the world's many languages. By examining explicit references to this diversity - such as the ambivalent account of its origins in the Tower of Babel episode - and implicit acknowledgements that included the use of strange-sounding speech to portray alien peoples, he illuminates ideas about Aramaic, Egyptian, Akkadian, and other ancient languages. Drawing on sociolinguistics, Power detects a consistent link between language and - ethnic, political, religious, and divine/human boundaries, and argues that changing historical circumstances are key to the Bible's varying attitudes. Furthermore, the study's findings regarding the biblical authors' ideas about their own language and its importance challenge our very notion of Hebrew.

The Hebrew language may be divided into the Biblical, Mishnaic, Medieval, and Modern periods. Biblical Hebrew has its own distinct linguistic profile, exhibiting a diversity of styles and linguistic traditions extending over some one thousand years as well as tangible diachronic developments that may serve as chronological milestones in tracing the linguistic history of Biblical Hebrew. Unlike standard dictionaries, whose scope and extent are dictated by the contents of the Biblical concordance, this lexicon includes only 80 lexical entries, chosen specifically for a diachronic investigation of Late Biblical Hebrew. Selected primarily to illustrate the fifth-century ‘watershed’ separating Classical from post-Classical Biblical Hebrew, emphasis is placed on ‘linguistic contrasts’ illuminated by a rich collection of examples contrasting Classical Biblical Hebrew with Late Biblical Hebrew, Biblical Hebrew with Rabbinic Hebrew, and Hebrew with Aramaic.

Preliminary Material /Cynthia L. Miller --Introduction /Cynthia L. Miller --Metapragmatics and Linguistic Diversity in the Representation of Speech /Cynthia L. Miller --Syntactic Varieties of Indirect Speech /Cynthia L. Miller --Syntactic Varieties of Direct Speech /Cynthia L. Miller --Reported Speech in Conversation and Narration /Cynthia L. Miller --The Discourse-Pragmatic Functions of Direct Speech /Cynthia L. Miller --Conclusions /Cynthia L. Miller --Afterword /Cynthia L. Miller --Additions and Corrections for the Second Printing /Cynthia L. Miller --Matrix Verbs in Frames /Cynthia L. Miller --Bibliography /Cynthia L. Miller --General Index /Cynthia L. Miller --Index of Biblical References /Cynthia L. Miller.

In 1961 William L. Morgan published "The Hebrew Language in Its Northwest Semitic Background", in which he presented a state-of-the-art description of the linguistic milieu out of which Biblical Hebrew developed. Moran stressed the features found in earlier Northwest Semitic languages that are similar to Hebrew and he demonstrated how the study of those languages sheds light on Biblical Hebrew. Since Moran wrote, our knowledge of both the Hebrew of the biblical period and of Northwest Semitic has increased considerably. In the lights of new epigraphic finds and the significant advances in the fields of Biblical Hebrew and Northwest Semitic in the past four decades, the Institute for Advanced Studies of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem convened an international research group during the 2001-2002 academic year on the topic "Biblical Hebrew in Its Northwest Semitic setting: Typological and Historical Perspectives." The volume presents the fruits of the year-long collaboration and contains twenty articles based on lectures given during the year by members of the groups and invited guests. A wide array of subjects are discussed, all of which have implications for the study of Biblical Hebrew and Northwest Semitic.

In recent decades, the field of Biblical Hebrew philology and linguistics has been witness to a growing interest in the diverse traditions of Biblical Hebrew. Indeed, while there is a tendency for many students and scholars to conceive of Biblical Hebrew as equivalent with the Tiberian pointing of the Leningrad Codex as it appears in Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (BHS), there are many other important reading traditions attested throughout history. Origen’s Secunda reflects a late Roman reading tradition of Biblical Hebrew transcribed into Greek letters. Occasional transcriptions of Biblical Hebrew into Latin letters in Jerome’s commentaries similarly reflect a reading tradition from early Byzantine Palestine. In the medieval period, alongside Tiberian Hebrew we also find the Babylonian tradition and the Palestinian tradition. The modern oral reading tradition of the Samaritan community also likely has roots in the Second Temple period. Aside from these primary attestations of the reading traditions, there are a whole host of other modern reading traditions of Biblical Hebrew, from Ashkenazi, to Sephardi, and Yemenite. Despite the rich diversity of traditions of Biblical Hebrew at our fingertips, the linguistic relationship between them has never been mapped out. In this book, then, the phyla-and-waves methodology, which has been used for Semitic language classification, is used to map out the relationship between the main reading traditions of Biblical Hebrew throughout history.

Many linguistic tools and methods are applied to biblical texts in order to gain meaning from them. Such applications do not always take into account the perspective of the investigators, the presuppositions of the method used and the nature of the material to which it is applied. These are all factors that influence the meaning obtained from the text. Sue Groom takes us through the pitfalls and limitations of the various methods available and considers textual transmission, diachronic and dialectical variation and the impact these have on the relationship between reader, author and text. Combining a critical account of long established approaches to Hebrew meanings with a lucid introduction to newer and more recent methods such as lexical semantics and text linguistics, this illuminating read will be of interest to those who have previously studied Hebrew as well as those who know no Hebrew or would like to start somewhere.

"THE OLD TESTAMENT: Commentary, Background, & Bible Difficulties - Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges - VOLUME I" is an extensive guide that ventures deep into the study of the Old Testament, providing comprehensive commentary, historical and cultural background, and exploration of Bible difficulties for the books of Genesis through Judges. This book begins with a detailed examination of the foundations of the Old Testament, covering a range of topics such as the Inspiration of the Old Testament, archaeology's role in unveiling Biblical history, the significance of chronology, the textual criticism of the Old Testament, and much more. It dissects the origin and evolution of Hebrew manuscripts, the history of Hebrew writing, and how these documents became the Canon of the Old Testament. The book also presents an in-depth study of the Documentary Hypothesis theory and provides a thorough exploration of God's name, debunking common misconceptions. Following the Old Testament studies, the book embarks on a thorough analysis of the first seven books of the Old Testament—Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, and Judges. Each book review commences with the identification of the author, place and time of writing, followed by highlights of the book. A comprehensive commentary for each book is provided, that carefully unpacks the text and context. In addition, each review provides an extensive analysis of the historical and cultural background and sheds light on the Bible difficulties associated with each book, assisting the reader in resolving and understanding these perceived contradictions. Finally, the value of each book is discussed, drawing out the underlying principles for contemporary application. Designed for theologians, scholars, students of the Bible, and anyone with a keen interest in understanding the Old Testament, this guide is a vital resource. It is not merely a commentary but a tool for study, reflection, and deepening faith.