Ancient Hebrew Periodization and the Language of the Book of Jeremiah

In Ancient Hebrew Periodization and the Language of the Book of Jeremiah, Aaron Hornkohl defends the diachronic approach to Biblical Hebrew and the linguistic dating of biblical texts. Applying the standard methodologies to the Masoretic version of the biblical book of Jeremiah, he seeks to date the work on the basis of its linguistic profile, determining that, though composite, Jeremiah is likely a product of the transitional time between the First and Second Temple Periods.

Hornkohl also contributes to unraveling Jeremiah’s complicated literary development, arguing on the basis of language that its 'short edition', as reflected in the book’s Old Greek translation, predates that 'supplementary material' preserved in the Masoretic edition but unparalleled in the Greek. Nevertheless, he concludes that neither is written in Late Biblical Hebrew proper.

Aaron D. Hornkohl, Ph.D. (2012), The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, is a Research Associate in the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Cambridge.

"To repeat: Hornkohl has written a masterful study about the linguistic profile of the book of Jeremiah, but the data and the conclusions reverberate far beyond the specific focus of this monograph. I for one will consult this book for years to come." ~ Gary. A. Rendsburg, Rutgers University, in Journal of the American Oriental Society, 138.1 (2018), pp. 190-191