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"Dead Sea scrolls Language, style."
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The verbal system of the Dead Sea scrolls : tense, aspect, and modality in Qumran Hebrew texts
\"In Verbs in the Dead Sea Scrolls: Tense, Aspect, or Mood? Ken M. Penner determines whether Qumran Hebrew finite verbs are primarily temporal, aspectual, or modal. Standard grammars claim Hebrew was aspect-prominent in the Bible, and tense-prominent in the Mishnah. But the semantic value of the verb forms in the intervening period in which the Dead Sea Scrolls were written has remained controversial. Penner answers the question of Qumran Hebrew verb form semantics using an empirical method: a database calculating the correlation between each form and each function, establishing that the ancient author's selection of verb form is determined not by aspect, but by tense or modality. Penner then applies these findings to controversial interpretations of three Qumran texts\"-- Provided by publisher.
Book
The verbal system of the Dead Sea scrolls : tense, aspect, and modality in Qumran Hebrew texts
In The Verbal System of the Dead Sea Scrolls Ken M. Penner determines whether Qumran Hebrew finite verbs are primarily temporal, aspectual, or modal. Standard grammars claim Hebrew was aspect-prominent in the Bible, and tense-prominent in the Mishnah. But the semantic value of the verb forms in the intervening period in which the Dead Sea Scrolls were written has remained controversial.Penner answers the question of Qumran Hebrew verb form semantics using an empirical method: a database calculating the correlation between each form and each function, establishing that the ancient author's selection of verb form is determined not by aspect, but by tense or modality. Penner then applies these findings to controversial interpretations of three Qumran texts.
eBook
Negative Polarity in כל Constructions in Qumran Hebrew
Abstract
The Hebrew quantifier כל is used both as a universal quantifier (equivalent to English all) and as a distributive quantifier (equivalent to English each, every). In Qumran Hebrew, as in Biblical Hebrew, the quantifier כל occurs in four syntactic constructions depending upon the type of noun phrase that follows it in order to indicate nuances of individuation and specificity in addition to universal and distributive quantification. In contexts in which these constructions occur within the scope of negation, the quantifier assumes negative polarity (none, nothing, any in English). In this article, we identify the syntactic contexts and constructions in which negative polarity is licensed and we describe and analyze the constructions of כל with negative polarity. We also compare the negative polarity licensing exhibited in Qumran Hebrew with Biblical Hebrew and demonstrate that some of the features of negative polarity in Qumran Hebrew differ from those in Biblical Hebrew.
Journal Article
DIVERGENCES IN THE HEBREW OF THE SCROLLS
The new grammar of the Hebrew of the Dead Sea Scrolls by Elisha Qimron presents a synthesis of this scholar’s numerous illuminating insights. Unfortunately, too many errors (e.g., inaccurate references, misreadings of Hebrew words, and imprecise language) distract from and diminish the analysis. In addition, certain linguistic features (e.g., dialect and register, misspellings due to graphic confusion) seem to be deemphasized or neglected in the study. The result is that scholars should use this resource with caution.
Journal Article
Verbal Argument Structure in the War Scroll
Abstract
This essay presents the results of an extended study of verbal argument structure in the War Scroll (1QM). I first establish a method based in generative linguistic theory. I then illustrate this method with a discussion of the argument structure of Qal יצא in 1QM and other Dead Sea Scrolls. Following this case study, I present the data from 1QM on verb argument structure-specifically, instances where 1QM adds evidence that is not covered in previous studies of the Dead Sea Scrolls. 1QM presents few developments from earlier Hebrew; I argue that such continuity is significant. I conclude with reflections on the implications of argument structure in 1QM for the study of ancient Hebrew.
Journal Article
The Hebrew of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Tiberian Reading Tradition
The most authentic portrait of Second Temple Hebrew is afforded by the Dead Sea Scrolls, especially by those texts actually composed in Hellenistic and Roman times. On salient linguistic points Dead Sea Scrolls Hebrew agrees with the vocalization of the Tiberian reading tradition against the testimony of the written, i.e., consonantal, tradition of Masoretic Classical Biblical Hebrew material. This article presents a case study. On the one hand, these Dead Sea-Tiberian vocalization affinities are evidence of the relatively late character of their respective linguistic traditions and of the secondary character of the developments in the Tiberian reading tradition vis-à-vis the classical biblical written tradition. On the other hand, these same affinities demonstrate that the Tiberian pronunciation tradition is plausibly regarded as one that crystallized in the Second Temple Period, rather than in Byzantine or medieval times. Lastly, since joint Dead Sea-Tiberian reading departures from the classical biblical consonantal tradition constitute a tiny minority of their relevant linguistic data, most of which are characterized by historical continuity and/or linguistic heterogeneity of comparable historical depth, it is clear that the Second Temple crystallization of Dead Sea Scrolls Hebrew and the Tiberian reading tradition in no way preclude their routine preservation of authentic Iron Age features.
Journal Article
Double Object Constructions in DSS Hebrew
In this article an overview is given of the verbal valence patterns of the verb נתן in the Dead Sea Scrolls. Four patterns are distinguished for this verb: 1. נתן + OBJECT to produce ; 2. + נתן OBJECT + RECIPIENT to give to ; 3. נתן + OBJECT + LOCATION to place ; 4. נתן + OBJECT + 2 ND OBJECT to make into . All occurrences of the verb in the DSS corpus used, consisting of 1QHa, 1QS, 1QM, and 1QpHab, are discussed and divided into one of these patterns. This study shows that pattern 3 occurs most, followed by pattern 2, and that it can be argued that pattern 1 and 4 also occur in our DSS corpus, though the evidence is scarce. In some cases, translations, differing from the translations in the editions of the texts, are proposed that better reflect the verbal valence patterns used in the clause.
Journal Article
Is There a Negative Polarity Item דבר in DSS Hebrew?
Abstract
A negative polarity item (NPI) is a word or expression that occurs grammatically in negative clauses and a variety of other types of clauses such as interrogatives and conditionals, but not in ordinary affirmative sentences. Examples from classical Biblical Hebrew include the pronoun מאומה \"anything\" and the semantically-bleached noun דבר \"a thing,\" which has been produced from the ordinary noun דבר \"word, matter, action\" by the process of grammaticalization. This paper examines the noun דבר in the non-biblical DSS with the purpose of determining whether it is used as there as an NPI, as in Biblical Hebrew, or as an ordinary semantically-bleached noun, as in Rabbinic Hebrew. The results show that the diachronic development of דבר in the DSS appears to be at an earlier stage than classical Biblical Hebrew, despite the later dating of the scrolls. This finding is explained as a special kind of pseudo-classicism.
Journal Article
ACTING ביד רמה ‘WITH UPLIFTED HAND’ SIGNIFIES ENSNAREMENT BY THE NETS OF BELIAL
This study demonstrates that the collocation ביד רמה ‘with uplifted hand’, when found in Qumran texts, denotes three categories of foundational tests/sins: not keeping the law, following the false prophet to idolatry, and testing God. These are based on the tests/sins encountered by Israel during the biblical exodus from Egypt and are identifiable through the categorization of the occurrences of נ–ס–ה ‘test’ within this Pentateuchal pericope. Further, this study confirms the findings of previous investigations that these tests are subsumed under the rubric of the three nets of Belial, corresponding respectively with זנות ‘fornication’, הון ‘wealth’, and טמא המקדש ‘profanation of the temple’. Thus, acting ביד רמה is shown to signify that a person has been ensnared by the nets of Belial. This disqualifies them from group membership and, as such, they must be permanently removed.
Journal Article