Diglossia, revelation, and Ezekiel's inaugural rite

Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, Jun 1998 by Fredericks, Daniel C

2Cf. Isa 28:11 as well for phrases denoting difficulty in speech.

3 D. I. Block, "Text and Emotion: A Study in the 'Corruptions' in Ezekiel's Inaugural Vision (Ezekiel 1:4-28)," CBQ 50 (1988). He states that "it seems that to lay the burden of all of the irregularities on the shoulders of either scribes or redactors is to impose upon them a load which they might have been both unwilling and unable to bear" (ibid. 427-428). For examples of textual- and redaction-critical explanations see W. Eichrodt, Ezekiel: A Commentary (OTL; Philadelphia: Westminster, 1970) 55-56; K. S. Freedy, "The Glosses in Ezekiel i-xxiv," VT 20 (1970) 131-136; W. Zimmerli, A Commentary on the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel: Chapters 1-24 (Hermeneia; Philadelphia: Fortress, 1979) 100-110; C. B. Houk, "The Final Redaction of Ezekiel 10," JBL 90 (1971) 46.

4 Block, "Text" 424, 434. The problems abruptly and almost totally disappear in the last three verses, however (Ezek 1:26-28).

5 For brief and extended discussions of a possible north-Israelite dialect cf. e.g. C. F. Burney, Notes on the Hebrew Text of the Book of Kings (Oxford: Clarendon, 1903) 208-209; H. S. Nyberg, Studien zum Hoseabuche (Uppsala: Almqvist and Wiksell, 1935) 12, 43, 79; M. H. Segal,A Grammar of Mishnaic Hebrew (Oxford: Clarendon, 1958) 72, 78, 228; C. Rabin, A Short History of the Hebrew Language (Jerusalem: Jewish Agency, 1974) 27; R. Polzin, Late Biblical Hebrew: Toward an Historical Typology of Biblical Hebrew (Missoula: Scholars, 1976) 35, 37; W. R. Garr, Dialect Geography of Syria-Palestine, 1000-586 B.C.E. (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 1985) 38-39, 109, 227, 233-234; G. Rendsburg, "The Galilean Background of Mishnaic Hebrew,' The Galilee in Late Antiquity (ed. L. Levine; New York: Jewish Theological Seminary, 1992) 227; "The Northern Origin of `The Last Words of David' (2 Sam 23, 1-7),"Bib 69 (1988) 113-121; Linguistic Evidence for the Northern Origin of Selected Psalms (Atlanta: Scholars, 1990); D. C. Fredericks, Qoheleth's Language: Re-evaluating Its Nature and Date (Lewiston: Edwin Mellen, 1988) 32-43.

6 Discussions on a colloquial dialect seen in Biblical Hebrew vary in length from published dissertations to articles, brief comments and notes: G. Rendsburg, Diglossia in Ancient Hebrew (New Haven: American Oriental Society, 1990); G. R. Driver, "Colloquialisms in the Old Testament," Melanges Marcel Cohen (ed. D. Cohen; The Hague: Mouton, 1970) 232-239; J. MacDonald, "Some Distinctive Characteristics of Israelite Spoken Hebrew," BO 32 (1975) 162-175; G. Abramson, "Colloquialisms in the Old Testament," Sem 2 (1971-72) 1-16; R. C. Steiner, "A Colloquialism in Jer. 5:13 from the Ancestor of Mishnaic Hebrew," JSS 37 (1992) 21-26; Fredericks, Qoheleth's Language 36-46.

7 Rendsburg, Diglossia 25-62; Driver, "Colloquialisms" 234.

8 Block, "Text" 420. See also M. F. Rooker, Biblical Hebrew in Transition (JSOTSup 90; Sheffield: JSOT, 1990) 78-81. The linguistic observations in this article are based on Block's thorough study.