middle vs late Hebrew

[Kristin]

This is an ignorant question, but when dictionaries refer to a word being "middle Hebrew" or "late Hebrew", what are the date ranges of these terms?

 

Thanks,

Kristin

[R. Mansfield]

From The Dictionary of Early Judaism:

 

"One can speak about three periods: (1) Classical Hebrew, (2) Middle Hebrew, and (3) Late Hebrew. Traditionally, these phases of the language are related to the major texts written in each of the respective periods: (1) Biblical Hebrew (subdivided into Classical Hebrew and Late Biblical Hebrew), (2) Ben Sira and Qumran Hebrew, and (3) Mishnaic Hebrew."

 

accord://read/Early_Judaism_Dictionary#8431

[Kristin]

Hi @R. Mansfield,

I am afraid I am still a little confused. The breakdown from the Dict of Early Judaism makes sense, but as far as a time period what actual dates do these cover?

[Brian K. Mitchell]

The following may be helpful. EBH = Early Biblical Hebrew and LBH = Late Biblical Hebrew.

Quote

EBH, according to the traditional view, is the language of the preexilic or monarchic period, down to the fall of the kingdom of Judah to the Babylonians in 586 BCE. The exile in the sixth century BCE marks a transitional period, the great watershed in the history of BH. After the return from exile in the late sixth century BCE, we have the era of LBH. 

https://bibleinterp.arizona.edu/articles/yount357913

[Brian K. Mitchell]

Earlier some people used divide classical Hebrew this way:

(1) pre-exilic

(2) post-exilic

(3) Mishnaic

 

I am guessing

(1) early Hebrew would be Archaic Hebrew,

(2) middle Hebrew Later pre-exilic Biblical Hebrew,and

(3) Late Hebrew would corresponded to Late Biblical Hebrew in the following wiki:

 

Quote

 

The oldest form of Biblical Hebrew, Archaic Hebrew, is found in poetic sections of the Bible and inscriptions dating to around 1000 BCE, the early Monarchic Period.^[39][40] This stage is also known as Old Hebrew or Paleo-Hebrew, and is the oldest stratum of Biblical Hebrew. The oldest known artifacts of Archaic Biblical Hebrew are various sections of the Tanakh, including the Song of Moses (Exodus 15) and the Song of Deborah (Judges 5).^[41] Biblical poetry uses a number of distinct lexical items, for example חזה for prose ראה 'see', כביר for גדול 'great'.^[42] Some have cognates in other Northwest Semitic languages, for example פעל 'do' and חָרוּץ 'gold' which are common in Canaanite and Ugaritic.^[43] Grammatical differences include the use of זה, זוֹ, and זוּ as relative particles, negative בל, and various differences in verbal and pronominal morphology and syntax.^[44]

Later pre-exilic Biblical Hebrew (such as is found in prose sections of the Pentateuch, Nevi'im, and some Ketuvim) is known as 'Biblical Hebrew proper' or 'Standard Biblical Hebrew'.^[39][40] This is dated to the period from the 8th to the 6th century BCE. In contrast to Archaic Hebrew, Standard Biblical Hebrew is more consistent in using the definite article ה-, the accusative marker את, distinguishing between simple and waw-consecutive verb forms, and in using particles like אשר and כי rather than asyndeton.^[45]

Biblical Hebrew from after the Babylonian exile in 587 BCE is known as 'Late Biblical Hebrew'.^[39][40] Late Biblical Hebrew shows Aramaic influence in phonology, morphology, and lexicon, and this trend is also evident in the later-developed Tiberian vocalization system.^[46]

Qumran Hebrew, attested in the Dead Sea Scrolls from ca. 200 BCE to 70 CE, is a continuation of Late Biblical Hebrew.^[40] Qumran Hebrew may be considered an intermediate stage between Biblical Hebrew and Mishnaic Hebrew, though Qumran Hebrew shows its own idiosyncratic dialectal features.^[47]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblical_Hebrew

 

 

Edited November 27, 2022 by Brian K. Mitchell

[Kristin]

Hi @Brian K. Mitchell,

Thank you for the clarification. That last thing you wrote is for sure how I learned it. I understand pre vs post-exilic, but when HALOT was saying something is "late" Hebrew, it was really unclear. Now if I see LH in HALOT, I will take that to mean that they mean post-exilic. Given when I believe various books were written, I would need to give it thought to see if I agree with a date or not, but it helps to know what "late" Hebrew even referred to.

BTW, when you said "earlier" some people divided it that way, do you mean "earlier" as in 10 years ago, or "earlier" as in 100 years ago? I really can't remember my professor referring to anything as "late."

[Brian K. Mitchell]

2 minutes ago, Kristin said:

BTW, when you said "earlier" some people divided it that way, do you mean "earlier" as in 10 years ago, or "earlier" as in 100 years ago? I really can't remember my professor referring to anything as "late."

 

  Yes, 100 or more years ago for example:
 

Quote

The creative period of Hebrew may be divided into three phases: pre-exilic, post-exilic, and Mishnaic

Singer, Isidore, ed. The Jewish Encyclopedia (1901–1906)

[Brian K. Mitchell]

Two more:

Quote

we shall be content with distinguishing two main periods in the history of the Hebrew language: the pre-exilic and post-exilic periods(). The pre-exilic period is the golden age of the language; it is, so to speak, the period of Classical Hebrew. During the post-exilic period the language changes, partly under the influence of Aramaic, which becomes more and more the everyday idiom of Jews. The most advanced stage of post-exilic Hebrew is represented by the language of Ecclesiastes, Esther, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Chronicles

Joüon, Paul, and Takamitsu Muraoka. A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew. Vol. 1. Pontificio Istituto Biblico, 2003.

 

And another way of dividing Hebrew language history:

 

Quote

 

There are four main phases of the Hebrew language:

  1.      Biblical Hebrew, known as Classical Hebrew.

  2.      Rabbinical, or Late, Hebrew, in which the Mishna (ca. second century A.D.) and the Hebrew portions in the Talmud and the Midrash were written.

  3.      Medieval, or Rabbinic, Hebrew, the Hebrew of the great theological, philosophical, and poetical works composed during the Middle Ages, mainly in Spain and North Africa. It is also the language of the translations from Arabic and the works written under the influence of the Arabic language. During the Middle Ages it served as a lingua franca for Jews throughout the world.

  4.      Modern Hebrew, the development of which has begun in the present century.
The vocabulary has changed from one period to another. The basic vocabulary, however, is that of the Bible, but it is very probable that the Bible does not contain all the vocabulary in actual use in biblical times, as indicated by archaeological texts uncovered since the beginning of this century.

 

Mansoor, Menahem. Biblical Hebrew Step by Step. 2d ed. Vol. 1. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1980.