From Classical to Late Biblical Hebrew to Qumran Hebrew: Diachronic Change in Numerical Calendrical Constructions

Calendrical dates in the Bible are generally designated by numerical expressions designating ordinal numbers ('the first day', 'the second month', 'the third year'). Since ordinal numerals in Biblical Hebrew only go up to 10th, dates involving higher numbers such as 15th or 25th were expressed by special constructions featuring cardinal numerals; dates with ordinal numbers under ten could also be expressed by some of these special constructions.

My research has shown that the syntax of calendrical dates is different in Classical Biblical Hebrew and Late Biblical Hebrew, reflecting diachronic linguistic change. In this talk I will survey the syntactic constructions expressing calendrical dates in the successive stages of Biblical Hebrew.

I will then discuss syntactic variation in dates in Qumran Hebrew and show how some calendrical phrases reflect Late Biblical Hebrew syntax, others reflect post-biblical developments also seen in Rabbinic Hebrew, and yet others are an imitation, whether successful or unsuccessful, of Classical Biblical Hebrew syntax. For additional research on Qumran Hebrew and the linguistic world of the Dead Sea Scrolls, explore the Institute's resources on Qumran Hebrew and the linguistic world of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Prof. Adina Moshavi's current research includes the syntax and semantics of Hebrew cardinal and ordinal numerical expressions, with particular attention to diachronic change. Her work explicitly compares numerical calendar expressions in Classical Biblical Hebrew with developments in Late Biblical Hebrew, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and other later Hebrew corpora.

The variation in numerical syntax in the Bible and the Dead Sea Scrolls provides a particularly useful criterion for ranking the tendencies of a text towards continuity with earlier stages of Hebrew, expression of contemporary vernacular norms, or imitation of the classical language, and has yielded new insights regarding the dating of biblical texts. The EHJ presentation title places this problem in a diachronic sequence extending from Classical Biblical Hebrew through Late Biblical Hebrew to Qumran Hebrew.

Prof. Adina Moshavi is a professor in the Department of Hebrew Language at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Her research combines traditional philological study of Biblical Hebrew with modern linguistic theory and methodology.

She began her advanced academic work as a Bible student at the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Yeshiva University and completed a Ph.D. in Semitic Languages and Literature in 2000. From 2001 to 2011 she taught as an adjunct lecturer in the Department of Hebrew Language and Jewish Languages at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. In 2011 she was appointed Senior Lecturer in the Department of Hebrew Language and Semitic Languages at Bar-Ilan University, where she taught until joining the Hebrew University in 2021.

Her research interests include Biblical Hebrew syntax, pragmatics, discourse analysis, question-response interaction in biblical dialogue, grammaticalization of negative polarity items, lexical semantics, word order, and the syntax and semantics of numerical expressions. She also works on the relationship between philology and biblical interpretation.