Read more
List of contents
List of Tables
Acknowledgements
List of Abbreviations
Introduction
1. The Loanwords
2. Text Analysis—Loanwords as a Means for Group Maintenance
3. Conclusions
Appendix One: Root Constraints and the Shared Vocabulary of Aramaic and Hebrew
Appendix Two: Lists and Distribution of Loanwords and Foreign Names in Esther
Appendix Three: Lists and Distribution of Loanwords and Foreign Names in Daniel Appendix Four: Lists and Distribution of Loanwords in Ezra 1–7
Appendix Five: Lists and Distribution of Loanwords in Exodus 25–40
Appendix Six: An Outline of Linguistic Change in Aramaic and Akkadian
Bibliography
Index
About the author
Jonathan Thambyrajah is Tutor of Hebrew and Biblical Studies at the Broken Bay Institute and Sydney University, Australia.
Summary
In contrast to previous scholarship which has approached loanwords from etymological and lexicographic perspectives, Jonathan Thambyrajah considers them not only as data but as rhetorical elements of the literary texts of which they are a part. In the book, he explains why certain biblical texts strongly prefer to use loanwords whereas others have few. In order to explore this, he studies the loanwords of Esther, Daniel, Ezra and Exodus, considering their impact on audiences and readers. He also analyzes and evaluates the many proposed loan hypotheses in Biblical Hebrew and proposes further or different hypotheses.
Loanwords have the potential to carry associations with its culture of origin, and as such are ideal rhetorical tools for shaping a text’s audience’s view of the nations around them and their own nation. Thambyrajah also focuses on this phenomenon, looking at the court tales in Esther and Daniel, the correspondence in the Hebrew and Aramaic sections of Ezra 1–7, and the accounts of building the tabernacle in Exodus, and paying close attention to how these texts present ethnicity.
Foreword
Examines loanwords, or words adopted from foreign languages, in the Bible from a literary perspective, especially focusing on Esther, Daniel, Ezra 1–7, and Exodus 25–40.
