Languages from the World of the Bible

Languages from the World of the Bible Languages from the World of the Bible edited by Holger Gzella De Gruyter An electronic version of this book is freely available, thanks to the support of libra- ries working with Knowledge Unlatched. KU is a collaborative initiative designed to make high quality books Open Access. More information about the initiative can be found at www.knowledgeunlatched.org An electronic version of this book is freely available, thanks to the support of libra- ries working with Knowledge Unlatched. KU is a collaborative initiative designed to make high quality books Open Access. More information about the initiative can be found at www.knowledgeunlatched.org ISBN 978-3-11-021808-4 e-ISBN (PDF) 978-3-11-021809-1 e-ISBN (EPUB) 978-3-11-021806-2 ISSN 0179-0986 e-ISSN 0179-3256 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License, as of February 23, 2017. For details go to http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/. ISBN 978-1-934078-61-7 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data e-ISBN 978-1-934078-63-1 A CIP catalog record for this book has been applied for at the Library of Congress. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Bibliografische Information der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der Deutschen Nationalbibliogra- Languages from the world of the Bible / edited by Holger Gzella. fie; p. detaillierte cm. bibliografische Daten sind im Internet über http://dnb.dnb.de Includes bibliographical abrufbar. references and index. ISBN 978-1-934078-61-7 (alk. paper) ©ISBN 2016 1. Middle 978-3-11-021808-4 Walter deEastern Gruyter philology. 2. Semitic GmbH, Berlin/Boston philology. 3. Middle East—Languages— Drucke-ISBNGrammar, und (PDF) Bindung: 978-3-11-021809-1 Comparative. 4. Middle Duck & Co., Ortsname Eastern literature—Relation to the Old ♾e-ISBN GedrucktTestament. 5. Middle (EPUB) auf 978-3-11-021806-2 säurefreiem Eastern Papier literature—Relation to the New Testament. 6. Bible. PrintedISSNO.T.—Criticism, 0179-0986 in Germany interpretation, etc. 7. Bible. N.T. — Criticism, interpretation, etc. e-ISSNI. Gzella, 0179-3256 Holger, 1974 – www.degruyter.com PJ25L36 2011 492—dc23 2011038199 ThisBibliographic work is licensed information under published the Creative by the Commons Deutsche NationalbibAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivsliothek 3.0 License, asThe of DeutscheFebruary 23,Nationalbibliothek 2017. For details lists go to this http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/. publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available in the Internet at http:// Librarydnb.d-nb.de. of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A CIP catalog record for this book has been applied for at the Library of Congress. © 2012 Walter de Gruyter, Inc., Boston/Berlin Bibliografische Information der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek Die© Original Deutsche edition Nationalbibliothek „Sprachen aus verzeichnet der Welt des diese Alten Publikation Testaments“ in der 2009 Deutschen by WBG Nationalbibliogra- (Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft), Darmstadt fie; detaillierte bibliografische Daten sind im Internet über http://dnb.dnb.de abrufbar. Cover image: Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY Typesetting: Apex CoVantage, LLC, Madison, Wisconsin, USA ©Printing: 2016 Walter Hubert de Gruyter& Co. GmbH GmbH, & Berlin/Boston Co. KG, Göttingen Druck und Bindung: Duck & Co., Ortsname ♾ Gedruckt Printed on auf acid-free säurefreiem paper Papier PrintedPrinted in in Germany Germany www.degruyter.com www.degruyter.com Contents Preface �� vii On Transcription �� xi Abbreviations �� xv Introduction �� 1 Holger Gzella The Alphabet �� 14 Alan Millard Ugaritic �� 28 Agustinus Gianto Phoenician �� 55 Holger Gzella Ancient Hebrew �� 76 Holger Gzella The Languages of Transjordan �� 111 Klaus Beyer Old and Imperial Aramaic �� 128 Margaretha Folmer Old South Arabian �� 160 Rebecca Hasselbach Old Persian �� 194 Michiel de Vaan & Alexander Lubotsky Greek �� 209 Andreas Willi West Semitic and Greek letterforms �� 243 Maps �� 247 Index �� 251 Preface Scholarship increasingly emphasizes the considerable linguistic and cul- tural diversity of the environment in which the biblical texts originated over time. Both the neighboring civilizations in the immediate vicinity of ancient Israel, and the Near Eastern world empires, have contributed to shaping the biblical world, although in different respects and during successive periods. Whereas literary and administrative traditions in particular have undergone many influences from the more remote cultures of Mesopotamia and Egypt (which are well known even to the point of exhaustion), the Hebrew language took on its shape and evolved first and foremost in a matrix of closely related tongues in Syria-Palestine. This region also maintained early contacts with the Arabian Peninsula, was incorporated into the Persian Empire, and eventually became part of the Greco-Roman Near East. It is, however, the alphabetic script that unites the languages of Syria-Palestine, Arabia, Persia, and Greece. Their investigation belongs to various academic fields but often does not surface, at least not at a regular rate, in university curricula. Among the plethora of current methods and research interests in biblical exegesis and Ancient Near Eastern Studies, philology no longer occupies the principal place. Nonetheless, a thorough knowledge of the primary sources in their original forms remains the most important point of departure for all further concerns. The present volume aims at furnishing concise yet fresh and up- to- date overviews of the most pertinent varieties of the languages in ques- tion without merely repeating what has been said elsewhere. It also addresses their interaction within a clear historical framework while at the same time maintaining a reasonably sharp focus. Hence it takes a more technical approach than Kaltner and McKenzie’s Beyond Babel1 but has a less ambitious scope than Woodard’s Cambridge Encyclopedia of the 1 John Kaltner and Steven McKenzie (eds.), Beyond Babel: A Handbook for Biblical Hebrew and Related Languages (Leiden: Brill, 2002). viii Preface World’s Ancient Languages2 or Kaye’s Phonologies of Asia and Africa and the same editor’s Morphologies of Asia and Africa published ten years later.3 They all provide useful further reading. Since this book is an updated and thoroughly revised translation from the German,4 it shares a number of shortcomings with in the original version. It would have been impossible to eliminate them without causing a significant delay in publication. The cuneiform languages have been deliberately excluded, because they already feature in a volume of a similar kind.5 For an excellent modern survey of Akkadian in English, which some readers will no doubt miss here, one may refer to Hueh- nergard and Woods, “Akkadian and Eblaite”.6 A brief description spe- cifically geared toward the Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian varieties of Akkadian, which are of particular importance for the world of the Hebrew Bible, remains high on the editor’s wish list, though. Likewise, there is, unfortunately, no treatment of Ancient North Arabian either; a contribution was requested for the German edition but not received. The editor’s Introduction, for what it is worth, contains a few general remarks on this topic and further bibliographic references. Egyptian and some later varieties of Hebrew and Aramaic (as in the Dead Sea Scrolls) would make very sensible additions, too, “had we but world enough, and time.” The chapters on the Transjordanian languages and on Greek were translated by Peter T. Daniels; the others by the authors themselves. Peter Daniels and Gene McGarry also served as copyeditors. As the contributors belong to three different generations and work in five different countries, their pieces reflect several distinct, though often in- terrelated, academic traditions and styles. This diversity of notational conventions, specialized terminology, and organization of the data has been

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