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The Anchor Yale Bible Reference Library
How Old Is the Hebrew Bible?: A Linguistic, Textual, and Historical Study
From two expert scholars comes a comprehensive study of the dating of the Hebrew Bible
The age of the Hebrew Bible is a topic that has sparked controversy and debate in recent years. The scarcity of clear evidence allows for the possibility of many views, though these are often clouded by theological and political biases. This impressive, broad-ranging book synthesizes recent linguistic, textual, and historical research to clarify the history of biblical literature, from its oldest texts and literary layers to its youngest. In clear, concise language, the authors provide a comprehensive overview that cuts across scholarly specialties to create a new standard for the historical study of the Bible. This much-needed work paves the path forward to dating the Hebrew Bible and understanding crucial aspects of its historical and contemporary significance.
The age of the Hebrew Bible is a topic that has sparked controversy and debate in recent years. The scarcity of clear evidence allows for the possibility of many views, though these are often clouded by theological and political biases. This impressive, broad-ranging book synthesizes recent linguistic, textual, and historical research to clarify the history of biblical literature, from its oldest texts and literary layers to its youngest. In clear, concise language, the authors provide a comprehensive overview that cuts across scholarly specialties to create a new standard for the historical study of the Bible. This much-needed work paves the path forward to dating the Hebrew Bible and understanding crucial aspects of its historical and contemporary significance.
240 pages, Hardcover
Published November 20, 2018
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About the author
Ronald Hendel
11 books1 followerRonald Hendel is the Norma and Sam Dabby Professor of Hebrew Bible and Jewish Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, and general editor of The Hebrew Bible: A Critical Edition.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
October 20, 2025
I went into this hoping to be shown hard data that can help us pinpoint with at least some degree of confidence when the books of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament were written, since for the most part our manuscript evidence is quite late. And I was not disappointed.
Hendel & Joosten trace with clarity the ways in which biblical Hebrew shows signs of development in identifiable stages, and how a close analysis of a given text's vocabulary and syntax can place it in one of these stages. They also demonstrate how their linguistic profile of the texts lines up well with what we know from archaeology (e.g., inscriptions, letters, annals) to lend probabilistic weight to their proposed dates.
Whether it's the updating of archaic grammar to clearer forms, the disappearance of ancient terms following the Babylonian exile, or the introduction of loanwords and syntactical constructions from later cultures, there are indeed points of empirical evidence that can shed light on a text's date of composition.
For example, while tradition would ascribe Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs to the monarchic period, their linguistic profile places their origins firmly in the Persian period or later. The book of Daniel, likewise, contains elements dating it to the Hellenistic Greek period.
On the other hand, while some minimalist scholars have tried to assert that the entirety of the Old Testament is a late Greek-era composition, Hendel & Joosten demonstrate how the archaic Hebrew in portions of the Pentateuch and historical books places them firmly in the monarchic period, and would have been impossible to successfully replicate centuries later, after Hebrew had undergone so much linguistic evolution.
Also fascinating was their discussion of Job and Ruth as examples of what they label "Transitional Biblical Hebrew," that stage of language evolution that took place after the Assyrian period and during the Babylonian conquest (c. 600-450 BCE). The linguistic profiles of these books match many of the traits seen in texts from this intermediate period like Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Isaiah 40-66, with a mix of classical and late Hebrew features.
Overall, this was a fascinating deep dive into the value of historical linguistics for helping determine the date of origin of the texts of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, and an important contribution to scholarship on the Hebrew Bible. Note, though, that it is also quite technical, and readers should have at least a basic grasp of biblical Hebrew to fully appreciate the arguments set forth.
Hendel & Joosten trace with clarity the ways in which biblical Hebrew shows signs of development in identifiable stages, and how a close analysis of a given text's vocabulary and syntax can place it in one of these stages. They also demonstrate how their linguistic profile of the texts lines up well with what we know from archaeology (e.g., inscriptions, letters, annals) to lend probabilistic weight to their proposed dates.
Whether it's the updating of archaic grammar to clearer forms, the disappearance of ancient terms following the Babylonian exile, or the introduction of loanwords and syntactical constructions from later cultures, there are indeed points of empirical evidence that can shed light on a text's date of composition.
For example, while tradition would ascribe Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs to the monarchic period, their linguistic profile places their origins firmly in the Persian period or later. The book of Daniel, likewise, contains elements dating it to the Hellenistic Greek period.
On the other hand, while some minimalist scholars have tried to assert that the entirety of the Old Testament is a late Greek-era composition, Hendel & Joosten demonstrate how the archaic Hebrew in portions of the Pentateuch and historical books places them firmly in the monarchic period, and would have been impossible to successfully replicate centuries later, after Hebrew had undergone so much linguistic evolution.
Also fascinating was their discussion of Job and Ruth as examples of what they label "Transitional Biblical Hebrew," that stage of language evolution that took place after the Assyrian period and during the Babylonian conquest (c. 600-450 BCE). The linguistic profiles of these books match many of the traits seen in texts from this intermediate period like Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Isaiah 40-66, with a mix of classical and late Hebrew features.
Overall, this was a fascinating deep dive into the value of historical linguistics for helping determine the date of origin of the texts of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, and an important contribution to scholarship on the Hebrew Bible. Note, though, that it is also quite technical, and readers should have at least a basic grasp of biblical Hebrew to fully appreciate the arguments set forth.
March 26, 2019
This is a love-letter to the Hebrew language.
The book is an in-depth study concerning the various ways the Hebrew language developed and how one might find consilience with temporal or historical events. A highly technical volume, there are a lot of great insights here, more than I, a non-specialist in the Hebrew language could understand. As a philologist there was still much for me to appreciate. In particular, thinking about style-shifting (how authors might revert to an archaic or older style for a particular song or character or situation) and pseudoclassicisms, which I found particularly interesting with reference to examples at Qumran. A lot of LBH (Late Biblical Hebrew) and Qumran literature use pseudoclassicisms and their use is not simply for style but may also reflect a view about what kind of Hebrew was appropriate for interpreting or expounding on a text. As the authors note, "Among the sectarians, classical Hebrew was defined expressly as God's own language. Their ideology of Hebrew explains their active effort to produce new texts in the language of scripture" (Page 96). Further exploration is warranted, but this will have some interesting implications for thinking about what these ancient authors of the Scrolls thought they were doing. It is often assumed the canon of the Hebrew Bible though settled probably nearer to the end of the first century had an intrinsic "unity" in comparison to "apocryphal" or "pseudepigraphal" or "sectarian" texts. But, the imitation of CBH (classical biblical Hebrew) in texts like Pesher Habakkuk show that by imitating the style of older Hebrew texts, texts that have longstanding divine authority in their communities, these commentators and authors in their own right of the Scrolls were in some way trying to produce scripture of their own. This is textual traditioning to a whole different level.
Having sat in lectures and seminars with Prof. Jan Joosten, his voice and his arguments come through in this volume. Speaking about Hebrew philology is not always an easy task but Hendel and Joosten have written a volume on Hebrew "chronolects" with flare and a real sense of humility. Genuine curiosity leaps off the page. The authors have an axe to grind, but they do so in a way that reflect their seasoned experience in the academy. In short, this is a humble but formidable account of the age of the Hebrew Bible.
The book is an in-depth study concerning the various ways the Hebrew language developed and how one might find consilience with temporal or historical events. A highly technical volume, there are a lot of great insights here, more than I, a non-specialist in the Hebrew language could understand. As a philologist there was still much for me to appreciate. In particular, thinking about style-shifting (how authors might revert to an archaic or older style for a particular song or character or situation) and pseudoclassicisms, which I found particularly interesting with reference to examples at Qumran. A lot of LBH (Late Biblical Hebrew) and Qumran literature use pseudoclassicisms and their use is not simply for style but may also reflect a view about what kind of Hebrew was appropriate for interpreting or expounding on a text. As the authors note, "Among the sectarians, classical Hebrew was defined expressly as God's own language. Their ideology of Hebrew explains their active effort to produce new texts in the language of scripture" (Page 96). Further exploration is warranted, but this will have some interesting implications for thinking about what these ancient authors of the Scrolls thought they were doing. It is often assumed the canon of the Hebrew Bible though settled probably nearer to the end of the first century had an intrinsic "unity" in comparison to "apocryphal" or "pseudepigraphal" or "sectarian" texts. But, the imitation of CBH (classical biblical Hebrew) in texts like Pesher Habakkuk show that by imitating the style of older Hebrew texts, texts that have longstanding divine authority in their communities, these commentators and authors in their own right of the Scrolls were in some way trying to produce scripture of their own. This is textual traditioning to a whole different level.
Having sat in lectures and seminars with Prof. Jan Joosten, his voice and his arguments come through in this volume. Speaking about Hebrew philology is not always an easy task but Hendel and Joosten have written a volume on Hebrew "chronolects" with flare and a real sense of humility. Genuine curiosity leaps off the page. The authors have an axe to grind, but they do so in a way that reflect their seasoned experience in the academy. In short, this is a humble but formidable account of the age of the Hebrew Bible.
August 26, 2019
I've read a number of recent books on the history of Judaism and its literature from ancient origins to the Second Temple era. This book was one in a series. It was splendid--though I have to admit to struggling with some of the discussion around ancient Hebrew grammar. I've been trying to understand where the idea of "one" God came from, at least as this problem is understood in academia. It is all fascinating. Basically, this book does a deep dive in the vocabulary and grammar of the Hebrew texts to illustrate how, sometimes, it can be dated on the basis of linguistic clues. It's all probabilistic and it's all fascinating. If you know a bit of Hebrew and you're interested in the Hebrew Scriptures, I'd strongly recommend this.
I'd add that all my reading of the most recent works in this area suggest that the evolution from a belief in many gods to one god was slow, and that most of the "one god" thinking didn't really gel until during the Babylonian exile. That's not to say that there were not champions of the one Israelite God (among all others) and perhaps even some radical monotheistic thinking before that. But the narrative we find in today's "Old" Testament mostly imposes later theological developments on an earlier time.
For me, this raises the question of what to make of contemporary monotheistic thinking in the Judea-Christian tradition. I see it more and more as an accident of history rather than a revealed truth.
I'd add that all my reading of the most recent works in this area suggest that the evolution from a belief in many gods to one god was slow, and that most of the "one god" thinking didn't really gel until during the Babylonian exile. That's not to say that there were not champions of the one Israelite God (among all others) and perhaps even some radical monotheistic thinking before that. But the narrative we find in today's "Old" Testament mostly imposes later theological developments on an earlier time.
For me, this raises the question of what to make of contemporary monotheistic thinking in the Judea-Christian tradition. I see it more and more as an accident of history rather than a revealed truth.
August 20, 2021
This book is shockingly cogent in its analysis, informative and useful in defense of ancient origins for many biblical texts, and overall highly persuasive. I rarely provide five stars for a book. This book surprised me. I wasn’t expecting to enjoy it as much as I did. So I cannot help but give it an excellent rating due to its persuasiveness and its usefulness within the field of textual critical studies. Old Testament textual critics should take note of this book, for its contribution is unique.
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August 1, 2024This book is above my pay grade. I picked it up because it was a work referenced in an upper lay level book on the development and fidelity of the biblical canon. I would recommend this for anyone who is a serious Old testament scholar. I would advise this as a deep dive for other folks in my situation where you have a decent amount of schooling and you want to be up to date on scholarship but also understanding personal blind spots. It's hard to give this a proper rating since I am not trained well enough to state if this is a three-star, four star, or five star book.
November 8, 2019
I wish I had this books years ago. It’s a great introduction to using historical linguistics to date the Hebrew Bible. Warning: Readers should have some basic understanding of classical Hebrew before reading.
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June 12, 2025I don’t know how to rate it given I don’t have knowledge on Hebrew. Read it out of curiosity on the dating of the Hebrew Bible. But as you read the book one thing is that, you will question Biblical inerrancy as a Jew/Christian
March 24, 2019
Warning: You need to have a pretty good grasp on Biblical Hebrew to make sense of the book.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews