Beyond Babel: A Handbook for Biblical Hebrew and Related Languages

by John Kaltner (Editor), Steven L. McKenzie (Editor)

According to the well-known story in Genesis 11, the LORD saw the Tower of Babel under construction and said, 'Come, let us go down, and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand one another's speech' (Gen 11:7, NRSV). In generation after succeeding generation, students of the Bible have had reason to regret the confusion of languages in the biblical world and the ancient Near East. Beyond Babel helps to ease the pain of such students by providing a general introduction to and overview of the languages that are significant for the study of the Hebrew Bible and ancient Israel. Included are essays on biblical and inscriptional Hebrew, Akkadian, Northwest Semitic dialects (Ammonite, Edomite, and Moabite), Arabic, Aramaic, Egyptian, Hittite, Phoenician, postbiblical Hebrew, and Ugaritic. Each chapter in the volume shares a common format, including an overview of the language, a discussion of its significance for the Hebrew Bible, and a list of ancient sources and modern resources for further study of the language. A general introduction by John Huehnergard discusses the importance of the study of Near Eastern languages for biblical scholarship, helping to make the volume an ideal resource for persons beginning an in-depth study of the Hebrew Bible.

Genres: Language, Linguistics

241 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2002

Reviews

[Ming Chen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprisingly interesting. The chapters discuss Biblical Hebrew (divided into Biblical and post-Biblical) and related languages like Phoenician, Ugaritic, Akkadian, and so on. Each chapter is written at a very entry-level difficulty given the reader has some knowledge of Biblical Hebrew and hence is able to understand the parallels and differences drawn from these other Semitic languages and Hebrew. The language itself, its application to Biblical studies, and resources (though these might be outdated!) are all discussed.

[Robert Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fantastic book that I wish I had found a year ago. John Huehnergard has a fantastic introduction that is perfect for someone coming from a linguistics background, without the jargon and minutiae of Semitology. David Marcus provides a great introduction to Akkadian. Simon B. Parker highlighted (for me, once again) that we know next to nothing about the other Canaanite languages! John Kaltner gives a good introduction to Arabic, but doesn't show its continuing usefulness to Biblical scholarship. He does, however, find lots of wrong cognate-links in The Hebrew And Aramaic Lexicon Of The Old Testament! Frederick E. Greenspahn's article on Aramaic was so good, I had to add it to my papers on Daniel and Ezra, and cite it five times! Donald B. Redford's article on Egyptian was historically informative, but didn't seem to correspond with Biblical linguistics topics from the Old Testament. I need to go talk to my professor Daniel Kim - who got his Ph.D in Egyptian - because this article made it sound like only Coptic has any philological contributions to make to Biblical Studies.
Jo Ann Hackett's write-up on Biblical and Epigraphic Hebrew was excellent. Baruch A. Levine seemed to be defending the study of Post-Biblical Hebrew to non-Jews in a very defensive and non-productive way. Harry A. Hoffner, Jr. wrote about Hittite, but it seemed so far removed from anything to do with Biblical Studies that it just made me want to study Hurrian more! Charles R. Krahmalkov wrote about Phoenician/Punic. It was most informative about historical matters, but still very good. Peggy L. Day's article on Ugaritic seemed overly political and felt very out of place in this volume. Perhaps a Feminist agenda doesn't jive with the tone of all the other articles.
Overall, very well done and dense, informative. Recommended for anyone going on from Hebrew to further Semitic studies.

[Jared Saltz · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really good collection on the various languages surrounding the context of the creation of the Hebrew Bible from a great list of authors. I didn't read the whole thing, only a sample of the articles, but it's certainly a great reference for when you have questions about specifics.

[Corinna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book, with brief overviews of Akkadian, Arabic, Aramaic, Phoenician, Ugaratic, Hebrew and more.