Linguistic Dating of Biblical Texts: An Introduction to Approaches and Problems

Biblical Hebrew scholars Young (Hebrew, University of Sydney), Ehrensvard (religion, University of Aarhus) and Rezetko (Guadalajara) present a comprehensive overview of the methods used in the ongoing attempts to date the texts of the Hebrew Bible and offer a new theory on the subject. Published in two volumes, the first is intended for undergraduate students and reviews the state of the field at present, stressing the linguistic arguments for assigning a pre- or post-exilic date to the texts. Drawing upon texts outside the Bible and also in other languages, such as Persian, Ugritic and Greek, the authors believe that the labels used to designate early and late Biblical Hebrew are invalid; that both forms co-existed and were used by two groups of redactors. This argument is continued in the second volume, which presents a more in-depth analysis geared toward advanced students and scholars. Volume two also contains tables of linguistic features, a bibliography and indices. The authors feel that some knowledge of Hebrew is needed for a solid understanding of the work. Volume one is also available separately as a paperback (ISBN 9781845530822). Distributed in North America by The David Brown Book Co. Annotation c2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Ian Young is senior lecturer in the department of Hebrew, Biblical and Jewish Studies at the University of Sydney.

Robert Rezetko completed his PhD in Hebrew Bible at the University of Edinburgh.