A Social History of Hebrew: Its Origins Through the Rabbinic Period

✍ Scribed by William M. Schniedewind (editor); John Collins (editor)

• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Year: 2013
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 277
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

More than simply a method of communication shared by a common people, the Hebrew language was always an integral part of the Jewish cultural system and, as such, tightly interwoven into the lives of the prophets, poets, scribes, and priests who used it. In this unique social history, William Schniedewind examines classical Hebrew from its origins in the second millennium BCE until the Rabbinic period, when the principles of Judaism as we know it today were formulated, to view the story of the Israelites through the lens of their language.

 

Considering classical Hebrew from the standpoint of a writing system as opposed to vernacular speech, Schniedewind demonstrates how the Israelites’ long history of migration, war, exile, and other momentous events is reflected in Hebrew’s linguistic evolution. An excellent addition to the fields of biblical and Middle Eastern studies, this fascinating work brings linguistics and social history together for the first time to explore an ancient culture.

✦ Table of Contents

Contents
Preface
Abbreviations
1. Language, Land, and People: Toward the History of Classical Hebrew
2. The Origins of Hebrew: In Search of the Holy Tongue
3. Early Hebrew Writing
4. Linguistic Nationalism and the Emergence of Hebrew
5. The Democratization of Hebrew
6. Hebrew in Exile
7. Hebrew under Imperialism
8. Hebrew in the Hellenistic World
9. The End and the Beginning of Hebrew
10. Epilogue
Notes
Bibliography
Index