The Interface Between Language and Realia In the Preexilic Books of the Bible

The distinction between the Standard Biblical Hebrew of the preexilic period and Late Biblical Hebrew of the postexilic one is at present widely accepted in the scholarship. Some scholars have provided evidence for the claim that various linguistic layers can be discerned in Standard Biblical Hebrew as well. As a proponent of the latter approach, I present here ten examples of linguistic developments that most probably occurred during the preexilic period, which can perhaps be linked to historical and archeological data. Thus, the discussion of this significant topic advances the discussion of the dating of the books of the Hebrew Bible from relative to absolute dating.