Let’s continue on with our discussion about how language helps us determine when a given Biblical book was written.
Today I’m gonna shift our focus to the Biblical language itself: Hebrew.
The first question that comes to mind is…
Is Biblical Hebrew quite different than the modern Hebrew spoken in the land today?
The answer is yes.
It’s not so different that an ancient Israelite wouldn’t be able to communicate with a modern Israeli today if he were somehow magically transported to the Holy Land via a time machine or something.
But there are significant differences.
Bible scholars have discovered certain phrases and words that were frequently used in one period of Israel’s history but not later on.
And the opposite also holds true.
There are many phrases and words used later in Israel’s history that weren’t used earlier.
So by examining the words and phrases, one can date a Biblical book with some degree of accuracy.
Now another effective way to date a Biblical book is to see how certain expressions from other languages influenced and made their way into the Hebrew Biblical text.
For example, have you heard of the term “Aramaisms”?
This is scholarly jargon used to refer to phrases and words from the Aramaic language found in of all places the “Old” Testament.
Yes, I said the “Old” Testament or the Hebrew Bible.
A lot of scholars, who shall we say are not so well-versed in linguistics, mistakenly assume that Aramaic didn’t appear until rather late in Israel’s history.
The reason why is because the most famous Aramaic expression of all was recorded in the New Testament.
I’m talking about the words Yeshua shouted out as he was hanging on that Roman cross.
ELI, ELI, LEMANA SHABAKTHANI
That would translate to “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”
However, it’s not true that Aramaic was some later evolved language.
One can find Aramaisms going as far back as the early era of the Judges (around 1400 B.C.).
And according to the Encyclopedia Brittanica, “Aramaic had replaced Hebrew as the language of the Jews as early as the 6th century bce. Certain portions of the Bible—i.e., the books of Daniel and Ezra—are written in Aramaic, as are the Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmuds”.
In fact, one could argue that Ruth’s father-in-law Eli-melech is a name that had been “Arama-ized” so to speak.
Unfortunately, the fact that Aramaic commonly appears in the “Old” Testament doesn’t help us much in terms of identifying exactly when the Book of Ruth was written.
To matters even worse, we find BOTH “classical” and “late modern” Hebrew in the text of Ruth.
So when the heck was Ruth written?
This isn’t gonna be the most accurate estimate in the world, but based on all the existing evidence out there, Ruth was most likely penned AFTER King Solomon’s reign but way BEFORE the Jews were hauled off to Babylon.
So we’re looking at a good 300-year time period.
Dissenting opinions are of course welcomed.
P.S. A shout out to all those who introduced themselves and their mother tongues. Some folks replied to my last blog post directly on this webpage. But many others also sent me emails directly. I received replies from folks all over the world such as England, Hong Kong and even a woman who describes herself as bilingual because she knows both sign language and English. Language is indeed awesome. Talk soon brothers and sisters in Messiah!
Another place we find this is in 2 Kings (also in 2 Chronicles, of course) when Rav Sancheriv, sent by King Nebuchednezzar, talked to the representatives from King Yoshiyahu and they asked that he speak in Aramaic and not in Hebrew.
Ooh! That’s a great reference for this article.