Linguistics and the Dating of Biblical Literature

This chapter examines how linguistics is used to evaluate biblical texts from a historical perspective. It focuses on the main historical development, which occurred in late Biblical Hebrew as compared to classical Biblical Hebrew. The chapter illustrates the unique diachronic developments in the Hebrew language during the First and Second Temple periods through various examples. The linguistic developments in Biblical Hebrew (BH) during the Second Temple period can be summarized into two main categories: external influences and internal developments. The external influences can be divided into the following three languages: Persian influence, Aramaic influence, and presence of Mishnaic Hebrew components. Regarding the internal developments, the diachronic standpoint is based on the assumption that the use of any linguistic marker is likely to erode over time. The chapter delineates the use of the infinitive construct liqtol, which marked the transition from the classical era to the Second Temple period.