Diggers at the Well: Proceedings of a Third International Symposium on the Hebrew of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Ben Sira (Studies of the Texts of the Desert of Judah)

The accelerated publication of the Dead Sea Scrolls makes it essential for scholars working with these texts to have reliable and up-to-date information over the nature of Qumran Hebrew and Aramaic. This volume presents results of current investigations in this field presented at a third, four-day symposium on the Hebrew of the Scrolls and Ben Sira held in October 1999 at the Ben-Gurion University in Beer-Sheva with as many as 27 papers presented, some of which deal with questions of general and fundamental importance such as the nature of Qumran Hebrew, the linguistic symbiosis in Qumran, the position of Qumran Hebrew in the history of Hebrew, the future directions of philological and linguistic investigation of Qumran Hebrew and the Scrolls. Participants, many of whom are reputed specialists in the field, came from not only Israel, but also the U.S.A. , U.K., Sweden, the Netherlands, and France. DIGGERS AT THE WELL......Page 4 Table of Contents......Page 6 Preface......Page 8 Abbreviations......Page 10 I: Nominal clauses with יש......Page 12 II. Nominal clauses with אין......Page 15 IIIa. Parallel constructions with ואין and לאין......Page 19 IIIb. Poetic alternation לא /אין......Page 20 IIId. Alternatives for possessive ל......Page 21 IIIe. Various aspects......Page 22 Example 1......Page 23 Example 2......Page 25 B. Aramaic at Qumran......Page 26 Example 1......Page 27 Example 2......Page 28 Summary......Page 30 Joshua Blau: A Conservative View of the Language of the Dead Sea Scrolls......Page 31 1. The Problem......Page 37 2. Semantic aspects of Hebrew pseudo-constructs......Page 42 3. Full lexicalization of historical pseudo-constructs......Page 47 4. Synopsis and conclusion......Page 48 I INTRODUCTION......Page 51 II FIFTEEN SIGNIFICANT DSS VARIANTS IN Isa 1-5 WHICH ARE PREFERABLE TO THE MT......Page 56 III CONCLUSION......Page 66 Part A......Page 67 Part Β......Page 68 John F. Elwolde: rwqmh in the Damascus Document and Ps 139:15......Page 76 Appendix 1. Other approaches ίο rwqmh......Page 85 Appendix 2. The quṭl noun pattern and the Puˁal in the Scrolls......Page 88 Appendix 3. Rigmah (Ps 68:28) and gimel/kaf/qof interchange......Page 90 (a) Narration......Page 95 (b) Discourse......Page 97 The Participle......Page 99 Infinitives......Page 101 Introductory wayhī......Page 102 Summary......Page 103 A.......Page 105 B.......Page 107 Book of Isaiah......Page 108 Book of Psalms......Page 110 Book of Genesis......Page 111 C.......Page 112 D.......Page 115 E. Summary......Page 117 Avi Hurvitz: Was QH a "Spoken" Language? On some Recent Views and Positions: Comments......Page 121 Jan Joosten: The Knowledge and Use of Hebrew in the Hellenistic Period: Qumran and the Septuagint......Page 126 1.1. The problem of using a version......Page 127 1.2. Post-biblical Hebrew in the Septuagint......Page 128 1.2.1 Cases involving rabbinic Hebrew......Page 130 1.2.2 Cases involving Late Biblical Hebrew......Page 132 2.1. Old linguistic traditions reflected in the LXX and in QH......Page 133 2.2.1. Later homonyms......Page 135 2.2.2. Semantic developments......Page 136 2.2.3. Pseudo-classicism......Page 138 2.3. Differences between QH and the Hebrew of the translators......Page 139 3. Conclusions......Page 140 כ.א.ר in Pesher Nahum and its relationship to other layers of Hebrew......Page 142 The DSS language as a contribution to the interpretation of BH גבורה, סלע......Page 144 'praise' שבח......Page 145 שמע/בין......Page 146 CONCLUSION......Page 147 Menahem Kister: Some Observations on Vocabulary and Style in the Dead Sea Scrolls......Page 148 תעודה. 1......Page 177 אמר שירה. 2......Page 181 Shelomo Morag: On Some Concepts in the World of Qumran: Polysemy and Semantic Development......Page 189 יחד......Page 190 גורל......Page 193 הרבים......Page 197 סרך......Page 202 Takamitsu Muraoka: An Approach to the Morphosyntax and Syntax of Qumran Hebrew......Page 204 [1] Infinitive construct......Page 205 [2] Infinitive absolute......Page 206 [3] The cohortative and the long imperative......Page 207 [4] Prolepsis......Page 210 [5] Impersonal constructions......Page 211 [6] The definite article with a nomen regens......Page 212 [8] The verb complementation......Page 213 [9] The Heh locale......Page 217 [10] Tenses......Page 219 [13] Conclusions......Page 225 [12] The conditional כי......Page 223 I: The use of qatal in the protasis of conditional clauses......Page 226 II: The infinitive in the protasis......Page 228 III: Verb forms used in the apodosis......Page 229 V: Use and non-use of the waw apodoseos......Page 233 Conclusion......Page 235 APPENDIX: SOME OBSERVATIONS ON THE LANGUAGE OF THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS AND BEN SIRA IN RELATION TO PROFESSOR MURAOKA'S LECTURE......Page 236 1 Introduction......Page 243 3. What is the Origin of MH......Page 244 3.1. Did Nehemiah Speak MH?......Page 247 4.1 How much Archaism can be Found in the DSS?......Page 248 5. Are DSS Hebrew and MH merely a Continuation of BH?......Page 249 6. Comparative Observations of Several Distinctive Features......Page 250 7 Conclusion......Page 255 I. Language and Linguistic Ideology......Page 256 II. Language Ideology in the Qumran Community......Page 257 III. Linguistic Ideology and Grammatical Aspects of Qumran Hebrew......Page 261 I. Introduction......Page 267 The Biblical Evidence: Classifications for Predicative IA......Page 269 Ben Sira......Page 272 DSS......Page 273 Index of Texts......Page 280 Index of Subjects......Page 282 Index of Semitic Words and Phrases......Page 284 Index of Greek and Latin Words......Page 285 Works Cited......Page 286 Back Matter......Page 320 Existential Clauses In Qumran Hebrew / M.f.j. Baasten -- A Few Remarks On Mishnaic Hebrew And Aramaic In Qumran Hebrew / M. Bar-asher -- A Conservative View Of The Language Of The Dead Sea Scrolls / J. Blau -- Some Observations On The ... Syndrome In The Hebrew Of The Dead Sea Scrolls / A. Borg -- A Philological Reevaluation Of Some Significant Dss Variants Of The Mt In Isa 1-5 / C. Cohen -- Non-biblical Verbal Usages In The Book Of Ben Sira / H. Dihi -- Rwqmh In The Damascus Document And Ps 139:15 / J.f. Elwolde -- Verbal Syntax In Late Biblical Hebrew / M. Eskhult -- The Syntax Of The Biblical Documents From The Judean Desert As Reflected In A Comparison Of Multiple Copies Of Biblical Texts / S.e. Fassberg -- Was Qh A Spoken Language? On Some Recent Views And Positions : Comments / A. Hurvitz -- The Knowledge And Use Of Hebrew In The Hellenistic Period : Qumran And The Septuagint / J. Joosten -- Some Cognitive And Typological Semantic Remarks On The Language Of 4qmmt / P.-i. Kirtchuk -- Some Observations On Vocabulary And Style In The Dead Sea Scrolls / M. Kister -- Biblical Apocrypha And Pseudepigrapha And The Hebrew Of The Second Temple Period / J. Kugel -- On Some Concepts In The World Of Qumran : Polysemy And Semantic Development / S. Morag -- An Approach To The Morphosyntax And Syntax Of Qumran Hebrew / T. Muraoka -- Conditional Sentences With ... In The Protasis In Qumran Hebrew / W.t. Van Peursen -- The Nature Of Dss Hebrew And Its Relation To Bh And Mh / E. Qimron -- Linguistic Ideology In Qumran / W.m. Schniedewind -- The Infinitive Absolute As Predicative Verb In Ben Sira And The Dead Sea Scrolls : A Preliminary Survey / M.s. Smith. Edited By T. Muraoka & J.f. Elwolde. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [275]-307) And Indexes. This volume presents results of investigations in the field of Quarum Hebrew and Aramaic, presented at a four day symposium on the Hebrew of the Scrolls and Ben-Sira in October 1999 at Beer-Sheva. Of the 27 papers presented, some dealt with the nature and linguistic analysis of Quarum Hebrew.