#John Kaltner

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Beyond Babel: A Handbook for Biblical Hebrew and Related Languages

[Beyond Babel: A Handbook for Biblical Hebrew and Related Languages. Editors John Kaltner & Steven L McKenzie. SBL Resources for Biblical Study 42. Society of Biblical Literature, Atlanta, USA.
  2002. Pages: xii + 241. ISBN: 1-58983-035-0. (thanks to Oxford Academic for publication details)] 


I am an armchair linguist, as can be seen in many of my other book reviews for Words Across Time.  I also profess to be a Christian, and as such I have a particular interest in the language of Scripture.  The Christian Bible is written in three languages:  Hebrew (the Old Testament), Greek (the New Testament), and a small amount of Aramaic (also known as Chaldean) which is sprinkled amid several books (mainly Daniel and Ezra) within the Old Testament.

One should note, however, that the Bible, like nearly every other book and document in history, was not written in a vacuum.  It is informed by, and reflects the influence of, countless cultural and linguistic influences.  This is especially true of the Old Testament, given that it was assembled (many Biblical scholars prefer the word “compiled”) over the course of centuries of unprecedented upheaval and socio-political shifts in the Near and Middle East and across North Africa.  It is therefore no surprise that many languages show up in Scripture, either directly or indirectly, above and beyond the aforementioned.

This volume is a tidy and exceedingly informative compilation of articles written by experts in specific Biblical-era languages.  Many of these languages have become either extinct or are only used in very restrictive liturgical settings (meaning that they are no longer used in secular discourse).  Messrs Kaltner and McKenzie have done an admirable job with this collection of monographs.  For this review I’ll mention a few specifics about the structure and content of the book followed by a couple of observations of my own.

The book contains ten chapters, each devoted to one or more related languages.   The bulk of these chapters – indeed, all but one of them – discuss languages that are currently classified by linguists as Semitic languages.  Some sources would call these languages Nilo-Hamitic or by other designations, but the reader of this review is likely to have heard “Semitic” used much more frequently.  There are a number of Semitic languages still in use today.  The largest in terms of native speakers is Arabic (by far!).  Hebrew is also a Semitic language, as are Amharic (one of the principal languages spoken in modern-day Ethiopia) and Maltese.  [Fun trivia fact:  Maltese is the only Semitic language to be written with the Latin alphabet and read left-to-right across the page.]

The language groupings in this book are, in order:  Akkadian; Ammonite, Edomite & Moabite; Arabic; Aramaic; Egyptian, Hebrew (Biblical and Epigraphic); Hebrew (Postbiblical); Hittite (the only non-Semitic language!); Phoenician; and Ugaritic.  With the exception of Biblical Hebrew (and to a lesser degree Aramaic), the articles on the languages focus on how elements of each language’s grammar, syntax, semantic breadth and pragmatic extent exerted influence on the authors of the Biblical books.  Each article is written by an expert in the specific language area.  The tenor of the writing varies quite a bit, from nearly plainspoken to extremely pedantic, so the reader may wish to brace themselves for quite a waterfront’s worth of writing styles.

The chronology covered by these languages spans from roughly the third millennium BCE to roughly 300 CE – quite a lot of time for languages to evolve and adapt.  Evolution of language was especially notable in this time period when the vast majority of users of the language were illiterate.  The written word often provides a conservatizing filter on language, slowing the degree to which its phonetic and grammatical patterns change.  An excellent example is provided by Greek, which has been a written language for at least four thousand years.  A modern Greek can still read the classical (Attican) forms with general comprehension.  From this volume, the language with the longest continual usage is Arabic, and again, a modern Arabic reader would have little trouble reading and understanding written Arabic even from pre-Qu’ranic times.

I loved this book.  It opened my eyes to the realms inhabited by lots of extinct languages that nevertheless live on through the Bible in ways great and small.  If you’ve ever been curious about what the writers in past millennia might have been up to, this book forms a good foundation from which to satisfy that curiosity.

Kevin Gillette

Words Across Time

18 May 2022

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#Kevin Gillette #Words Across Time #wordsacrosstime #May 2022 #Beyond Babel #John Kaltner #Steven L McKenzie #Society of Biblical Literature #Oxford Academic #Christian #Scripture #Old Testament #New Testament #Hebrew #Aramaic #Chaldean #Daniel #Ezra #Near East #Middle East #North Africa #Biblical-era #Nilo-Hamitic #Semitic Languages #Semitic #Amharic #Ethiopia #Maltese #Latin #Arabic

[hottytoddynews]

Professor Mary Thurlkill will open her religion class to community members this fall. Photo by Robert Jordan Ole Miss Communications

A University of Mississippi professor is opening her fall religion course to people in the Lafayette-Oxford-University community, inviting them to come learn what both the Bible and the Quran teach on several topics.

The class, REL 300: Comparative World Religions: Bible and Quran, meets from 6 to 7 p.m. Tuesdays at various religious establishments across Oxford.

The course is divided into four themes: sacred stories, ritual and performance, community and ethics, and death and afterlife. Mary Thurlkill, associate professor of religion, will discuss what both religious texts say about these topics.

This is the first time Thurlkill has opened the course to the community, but she hopes to try this format more in the future.

“It is one of our department’s main goals to encourage the academic study of religion,” Thurlkill said. “I hope such a class will appeal to a wide range of students interested in learning more about Christianity and Islam.”

She also said she wants to provide an opportunity to learn in a community setting, which she does not often get to do as a medieval historian.

“My natural habitat is a library surrounded by old, arcane texts,” she said. “What better ‘service’ to the community might we offer than an opportunity to engage in such dialogue and conversation?”

Besides Thurlkill’s lectures, the course will include videos and guest speakers.

One of those speakers in September is John Kaltner, religion professor at Rhodes College. Kaltner has published several books on introducing the Quran to readers more familiar with the Bible and will present some of his work about what the texts say about Moses, Abraham, Jesus and other notable figures.

The course will follow the semester schedule for students registered through the university, but it will run 12 weeks for nonstudents.

The first and last meetings of the class will be for Ole Miss students only. However, beginning Aug. 29 through Thanksgiving break, community members can attend the course at no charge. At each meeting, a reception from 5:30 to 6 p.m. will serve as a break for students and an opportunity for fellowship for all participants.

“Community engagement plays an important part in our university’s mission,” said Steven Skultety, associate professor and chair of the Department of Philosophy and Religion. “Professor Thurlkill’s innovative class serves as a wonderful example of how faculty in higher education can better serve the citizens of our city and state.”

UM students will complete scholarly readings and assignments as well as design and host an “Interreligious Dialogue Conference” in November, which also will feature guest speakers.

“I have students from a wide range of majors already registered for the class, and I’ve tried to tailor the course a bit to their various skill sets,” she said. “For example, some students will be responsible for marketing and advertising the conference while others will document the sessions and provide podcasts for community groups.”

Space is limited at some of the venues, so community members interested in taking the course should register by contacting Thurlkill at [email protected] or 662-202-7536.

By Christina Steube

For more questions or comments email us at [email protected]. 

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