Language Contact, Colonial Administration, and the Construction of Identity in Ancient Israel

by Samuel L. Boyd

Unknown Binding

Reviews

[Gerardo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Boyd does an excellent job refuting the Aramaic mediation hypothesis. Traditionally, it is thought that Biblical Hebrew Literature obtained Assyrian forms of literature (Exodus' Covenant code and Deuteronomy's extensive legal code) through Assyrian translations into Aramaic. However, this is not supported by the data. There is no broad "Aramaic" but rather regional dialects of Aramaic. The Assyrian empire interacted with many regional dialects, including Hebrew. BM 25636 is a Hebrew (or Phoenician) text written in a cuneiform script.

The implications abound: who in Israel's elite could have learned about elite Assyrian Literature? How? Why?

Other portions of the book review different levels of linguistic and societal contact, as demonstrated in Ezekiel and Isaiah. Each of these books interacts with Assyrian literature in different ways.