From Texts to Scribes: Evidence for Writing in Ancient Israel
What do we know about ancient Israel’s scribal culture? Can two words in the biblical text, the verb ‘write’ (katav) and the noun ‘scribe’ (sofer) help us understand the
Non-Semitic Loanwords in the Hebrew Bible: A Lexicon of Language Contact
There are 235 non-Semitic loanwords in the Hebrew Bible from languages ranging from Egyptian, Greek, Hittite, Luvian, Hurrian, Old Indic, to Old Iranian. What do these tell us abou
Moses–Yahweh’s Idol?
Prophet. Lawgiver. Deliverer. Judge. None of the terms used to describe Moses fully describe his status. But what if we look outside of the Bible for other ancient Near Eastern ter
Translating the Bible Against the Ancient Near Eastern Background
Translators try to understand the language of ancient texts and the world view of the writers. Doing so requires going beyond the literal text to try and capture the poetic meaning
Hebrew as the Language behind the World’s First Alphabet?
Which Semitic language – and people – stands behind the enigmatic Proto-Sinaitic inscriptions? A controversial proposal brings us back to familiar, if equally controversial, gr