DailyHebrew.com

Prior to the discovery of a proto-Hebrew alphabet at Tel-Zayit, the order of the biblical Hebrew alphabet was known through several sources:

• Cognate Languages. The Hebrew writing system (cf. GKC Table of Alphabets) was derived from and shares the same order as the Phoenician alphabet; likewise Greek originated from Phoenician. Of course, the Greek letters changed slightly from their origin in Phoenician and added vowels that were created from consonants: alpha from aleph, epsilon from he, eta from chet, iota from yod, omicron from ayin, and upsilon from waw.

• Abecedarian Psalms. This type of psalm uses an alphabetical acrostic as a poetic pattern or device. Just as today’s school children learn the alphabet by memorizing “A is for Apple, B is for Ball, C is for Cat, etc.” or Dr. Seuss’s ABC, the Hebrews used abecedary for easier memorization of poetic literature.

Psalm 119 is the most well-known of this type of psalm. It contains twenty-two strophes (i.e. units of poetry); one for each of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Each of the eight lines, or verses, in the strophe begins with the letter of the alphabet (8 lines x 22 strophes/letters = 176 verses). Example (Psalm 119:1-10):

Psalm 112 uses one letter per line (verses contain several lines, or cola, of Hebrew poetry):

Other abecedary psalms include Psalm 111, Psalm 37 (every other verse), and Psalm 25. Apparently, it was not imperative to develop a “perfect” alphabet acrostic. Some examples of imperfect acrostics are Psalm 145 (omits nun), Psalm 34 (omits waw), Psalm 25 (omits kaf and waw is dubious), and Psalm 9-10 (excludes several letters).

• Other acrostics. Another notable acrostic concludes the book of Proverbs. Verses 10-31 delineate the ABCs of the virtuous woman. Other acrostic poetic devices are used in Lamentations 1-4.

(For more information see Brug, J.F. “Biblical Acrostics and Their Relationship to Other Ancient Near Eastern Acrostics,” in The Bible in the Light of Cuneiform Literature: Scripture in Context III. Ancient Near Eastern Texts and Studies 8. William W. Hallo, et al, eds. [Lewiston: Edwin Mellen, 1990], 283-305; ISBN 0889462194)

***UPDATE 1***
Talmida has posted on the Proverbs 31 passage mentioned above. Check it out here.

***UPDATE 2***
FORWARD Online Newspaper answers the question concerning why the English abecedary begins with A-B-C and not the Phoenician order A-B-G.

The discovery of the earliest Hebrew (or possibly Phoenician) abecedary has been announced by archeologists with the Zeitah Excavations sponsored by Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. The website announcement states:

The New York Times broke the story of the Tel Zayit Inscription on November 9, 2005. On November 20, 2005, Dr. Tappy (Director of The Zeitah Excavations and G. Albert Shoemaker Professor of Bible and Archaeology at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary) and epigrapher P. Kyle McCarter (William Foxwell Albright Professor of Ancient Near Eastern Studies at Johns Hopkins University) will, respectively, describe the archaeology relating to the discovery of the stone and analyze the writing on it at the annual meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature at the Philadelphia Convention Center in Pennsylvania. Their lecture is titled "The Tel Zayit Stone: A New Tenth-Century BCE Inscription from the Judaean Shephelah."

In addition, Professors Tappy and McCarter will present their lecture at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary on Thursday, December 8, at 7:30 p.m. in Hicks Memorial Chapel Auditorium. Admission is free and open to the public.

More details on this year’s meeting are available at SBL’s website. See here for other newspaper articles or go to PaleoJudaica.

GKC provides a Table of Alphabets showing the known Hebrew writing systems.

***UPDATE 2***
For more information: Go to the new DH post: Order and Origin of the Hebrew Alphabet.

***UPDATE 3***
AP pictures of the inscription are available at Codex Blogspot.

***UPDATE 4***
From SBL’s website (here):

The Tel Zayit Stone: A New Tenth-Century Inscription from the Judaean Shephelah
11/20/2005
7:00 PM to 8:30 PM
Room: Room 103-A - Pennsylvania Convention Center
A dramatic discovery punctuated this year’s excavation season at Tel Zayit, Israel, where The Zeitah Excavations recovered a large stone bearing an incised, two-line inscription. The special importance of the stone derives not only from its archaic alphabetic text, which hints at formal scribal training at the site, but also from its well-defined archaeological context in a structure dating securely to the tenth century BCE. The borderland site of Tel Zayit lies in the lowlands district of Judah, and in this period it exhibits strong links with the highland culture to the east, in the direction of Jerusalem, not with the coastal culture of the Philistine plain. The early appearance of literacy at Tel Zayit will surely play a pivotal role in the current discussion of the archaeology and history of Israel and Judah in the tenth century BCE.

Lawrence Stager, Harvard University, Presiding
Ron Tappy, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, Panelist
P. Kyle McCarter, Johns Hopkins University, Panelist

***UPDATE 5***

Notes from SBL ASOR on the Tel Zayit Inscription from deinde blog.

***UPDATE 6***

More from the SBL session on Tel Zayit on Higgaion and PaleoJudaica.

***UPDATE 7***

Dr. Cathey’s and Paleojudica have reported about an interview with P. Kyle McCarter in the Johns Hopkins Gazette on the Tel-Zayit inscription. Quote from the article:

"Part of it has to do with the history of the alphabet itself," McCarter says. "The 10th century was the time when the Hebrew script was emerging as a distinct tradition." In fact, he says, a case can be made that the Tel Zayit stone is the oldest Hebrew inscription ever found.

Additionally, Kevin at biblicalia has some thoughts to contribute to the "Zayit debates".

וַיְהִ֣י ׀ בַּיָּמִ֣ים הָהֵ֗ם וַיִּגְדַּ֤ל מֹשֶׁה֙ וַיֵּצֵ֣א אֶל־אֶחָ֔יו וַיַּ֖רְא בְּסִבְלֹתָ֑ם וַיַּרְא֙ אִ֣ישׁ מִצְרִ֔י מַכֶּ֥ה אִישׁ־עִבְרִ֖י מֵאֶחָֽיו׃ 12 וַיִּ֤פֶן כֹּה֙ וָכֹ֔ה וַיַּ֖רְא כִּ֣י אֵ֣ין אִ֑ישׁ וַיַּךְ֙ אֶת־הַמִּצְרִ֔י וַֽיִּטְמְנֵ֖הוּ בַּחֹֽול׃ 13 וַיֵּצֵא֙ בַּיֹּ֣ום הַשֵּׁנִ֔י וְהִנֵּ֛ה שְׁנֵֽי־אֲנָשִׁ֥ים עִבְרִ֖ים נִצִּ֑ים וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ לָֽרָשָׁ֔ע לָ֥מָּה תַכֶּ֖ה רֵעֶֽךָ׃ 14 וַ֠יֹּאמֶר מִ֣י שָֽׂמְךָ֞ לְאִ֨ישׁ שַׂ֤ר וְשֹׁפֵט֙ עָלֵ֔ינוּ הַלְהָרְגֵ֙נִי֙ אַתָּ֣ה אֹמֵ֔ר כַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר הָרַ֖גְתָּ אֶת־הַמִּצְרִ֑י וַיִּירָ֤א מֹשֶׁה֙ וַיֹּאמַ֔ר אָכֵ֖ן נֹודַ֥ע הַדָּבָֽר׃ 15 וַיִּשְׁמַ֤ע פַּרְעֹה֙ אֶת־הַדָּבָ֣ר הַזֶּ֔ה וַיְבַקֵּ֖שׁ לַהֲרֹ֣ג אֶת־מֹשֶׁ֑ה וַיִּבְרַ֤ח מֹשֶׁה֙ מִפְּנֵ֣י פַרְעֹ֔ה וַיֵּ֥שֶׁב בְּאֶֽרֶץ־מִדְיָ֖ן וַיֵּ֥שֶׁב עַֽל־הַבְּאֵֽר׃

Vocabulary

Verse 11

גדל  verb: “grow up”

סבלה  “burden” (BDB, 688) 

מַכֶּ֥ה  “strike, smite” (root נכה)

Verse 12

פנה  verb: “turn and look” (BDB, 812)

יך  “smite” (root נכה)

טמן  verb: “hide” (BDB, 380)

חול “sand” (BDB, 297)

Syntax & Miscellaneous

• Notice the gentilic endings of מִצְרִ֔י “Egyptians” and עִבְרִ֖י “Hebrews.”  The English language uses a plethora of gentilic endings, sometimes called demonyms (e.g. -ian, -ish, -ite, -er, -ese, -s, etc.).  The gentilic suffix is a historically long “i” in Hebrew, Arabic, and Aramaic (actually “ay”).
• The idiom, כֹּה֙ וָכֹ֔ה, describes how he looked.  A common idiom in English would be “he looked ‘both ways’” or “this way and that.”
• The word וַיַּךְ֙ is difficult to identify.  The root as indicated above is נכה.  The nun has assimilated and the he apocopated.  Thus, the only root letter remaining in the form is the kaf.  (Hint: Hebrew professors enjoy including this word on final exams)

Vocabulary

Verse 13

נצה  participle: “struggle with one another” (BDB, 663)

רשׁע  adjective: “wicked, evil”

Verse 14

הרג  verb: “kill”

אכן  “surely, certainly” (BDB, 38)

Verse 15

פרעה  name: “Pharaoh”

מדין  name: “Midian”

באר  noun: “well” (BDB, 91)

Syntax & Misc.

Verse 13

• Notice the difference in the idiom of time.  In Hebrew, one refers to the “second day;” whereas, the English idiom is the “next day.”  Today in the Hebrew understanding of temporality is called day one, or the first day, tomorrow is called day two, or the second day, and the day after tomorrow is day three, or the third day.
• The adjective, רשׁע, is used as a denominative.

Verse 14

• The initial he of הַלְהָרְגֵ֙נִי֙ marks an interrogative.    
• In the last clause, הַדָּבָֽר means “matter, thing”

Verse 15

• An adjective must agree in gender, number, and definiteness (cf. הַדָּבָ֣ר הַזֶּ֔ה).

וַתֹּ֙אמֶר֙ בִּ֣י אֲדֹנִ֔י חֵ֥י נַפְשְׁךָ֖ אֲדֹנִ֑י אֲנִ֣י הָאִשָּׁ֗ה הַנִּצֶּ֤בֶת עִמְּכָה֙ בָּזֶ֔ה לְהִתְפַּלֵּ֖ל אֶל־יְהוָֽה׃ 27 אֶל־הַנַּ֥עַר הַזֶּ֖ה הִתְפַּלָּ֑לְתִּי וַיִּתֵּ֨ן יְהוָ֥ה לִי֙ אֶת־שְׁאֵ֣לָתִ֔י אֲשֶׁ֥ר שָׁאַ֖לְתִּי מֵעִמֹּֽו׃ 28 וְגַ֣ם אָנֹכִ֗י הִשְׁאִלְתִּ֙הוּ֙ לַֽיהוָ֔ה כָּל־הַיָּמִים֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר הָיָ֔ה ה֥וּא שָׁא֖וּל לַֽיהוָ֑ה וַיִּשְׁתַּ֥חוּ שָׁ֖ם לַיהוָֽה׃ פ

Vocabulary

Verse 26

בי   particle of entreaty: “I pray” (BDB, 106) 

נצב  participle (Niphal): “take one’s stand”

לְהִתְפַּלֵּל  verb (Hithpael infinitive): “pray”

Syntax & Miscellaneous

• The phrase, חֵ֥י נַפְשְׁךָ֖ אֲדֹנִ֑י, is called an “oath formula.”  It could be rendered: “As your soul lives.”
• אֲנִ֣י הָאִשָּׁ֗ה is a verbless clause.
• The participle, הַנִּצֶּ֤בֶת, is a substantive.

Vocabulary

Verse 27

שׁאלה  “thing asked for” (BDB, 982)

Verse 28

שׁאל  verb (Hiphil): “give over to, lend over to”

שׁתח  verb: “worship”

Syntax & Misc.

Verse 27

• The waw in the second clause, וַיִּתֵּ֨ן יְהוָ֥ה לִי֙ אֶת־שְׁאֵ֣לָתִ֔י, should be understood as “that,” explaining for what Hannah prayed.

Verse 28

• The form, הִשְׁאִלְתִּ֙הוּ֙, is a Hiphil perfect 1cs verb with a 3ms suffix.

וַיִּשְׁלַ֣ח יְהוֹשֻׁ֣עַ־בִּן־נ֠וּן מִֽן־הַשִּׁטִּ֞ים שְׁנַֽיִם־אֲנָשִׁ֤ים מְרַגְּלִים֙ חֶ֣רֶשׁ לֵאמֹ֔ר לְכ֛וּ רְא֥וּ אֶת־הָאָ֖רֶץ וְאֶת־יְרִיח֑וֹ וַיֵּ֨לְכ֜וּ וַ֠יָּבֹאוּ בֵּית־אִשָּׁ֥ה זוֹנָ֛ה וּשְׁמָ֥הּ רָחָ֖ב וַיִּשְׁכְּבוּ־שָֽׁמָּה׃ 2 וַיֵּ֣אָמַ֔ר לְמֶ֥לֶךְ יְרִיח֖וֹ לֵאמֹ֑ר הִנֵּ֣ה אֲ֠נָשִׁים בָּ֣אוּ הֵ֧נָּה הַלַּ֛יְלָה מִבְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל לַחְפֹּ֥ר אֶת־הָאָֽרֶץ׃ 3 וַיִּשְׁלַח֙ מֶ֣לֶךְ יְרִיח֔וֹ אֶל־רָחָ֖ב לֵאמֹ֑ר ה֠וֹצִיאִי הָאֲנָשִׁ֨ים הַבָּאִ֤ים אֵלַ֙יִךְ֙ אֲשֶׁר־בָּ֣אוּ לְבֵיתֵ֔ךְ כִּ֛י לַחְפֹּ֥ר אֶת־כָּל־הָאָ֖רֶץ בָּֽאוּ׃ 4 וַתִּקַּ֧ח הָֽאִשָּׁ֛ה אֶת־שְׁנֵ֥י הָאֲנָשִׁ֖ים וַֽתִּצְפְּנ֑וֹ וַתֹּ֣אמֶר ׀ כֵּ֗ן בָּ֤אוּ אֵלַי֙ הָֽאֲנָשִׁ֔ים וְלֹ֥א יָדַ֖עְתִּי מֵאַ֥יִן הֵֽמָּה׃ 5 וַיְהִ֨י הַשַּׁ֜עַר לִסְגּ֗וֹר בַּחֹ֙שֶׁךְ֙ וְהָאֲנָשִׁ֣ים יָצָ֔אוּ לֹ֣א יָדַ֔עְתִּי אָ֥נָה הָלְכ֖וּ הָֽאֲנָשִׁ֑ים רִדְפ֥וּ מַהֵ֛ר אַחֲרֵיהֶ֖ם כִּ֥י תַשִּׂיגֽוּם׃ 6 וְהִ֖יא הֶעֱלָ֣תַם הַגָּ֑גָה וַֽתִּטְמְנֵם֙ בְּפִשְׁתֵּ֣י הָעֵ֔ץ הָעֲרֻכ֥וֹת לָ֖הּ עַל־הַגָּֽג׃

Vocabulary

Verse 1

נון name: “Nun”

שׁטים  name (of place): “Shittim”

מרגל  verb: “spy” (BDB, 920)

חרשׁ   “secretly” (BDB, 361)

יריחו  name (of place): “Jericho”

זונה  noun: “harlot” (BDB, 275)

שׁכב  verb: “lie down”

Verse 2

הֵ֧נָּה “hither” (BDB, 244)

חפר  “search” (BDB, 343)     

Syntax & Miscellaneous

• Is this phrase, בֵּית־אִשָּׁ֥ה זֹונָ֛ה, a three-member bound phrase (“house of a women of a harlot”) or do the first two words form a construct relationship and the last in apposition to the second(“house of a woman, a harlot”)?  Why one or the other?
• The last two clauses, וּשְׁמָ֥הּ רָחָ֖ב וַיִּשְׁכְּבוּ־שָֽׁמָּה, use the homophone of שׁמה.
• Notice the use in verse two of the homophone, הנה.

Verse 3

הֹוצִיאִי  verb (Hiphil imperative fs): “bring out/forth”

Verse 4

צפן  verb: “hide” (BDB, 860)

מֵאַיִן  “whence? where?” (BDB, 33)

Verse 5

שׁער  “gate”

סגר verb: “shut”

אנה  “whence, where”

רדף  verb: “pursue”

תשׂיג  verb (Hiphil): “overtake” (BDB, 673)

Verse 6

גג  noun: “roof” (BDB, 150)

טמן verb: “hide” (BDB, 380)

פשׁת “linen” (BDB, 833)

Syntax & Misc.

Verse 3

• The participle, הַבָּאִים, is a substantive.
• The word order of the quotation (כִּ֛י לַחְפֹּ֥ר אֶת־כָּל־הָאָ֖רֶץ בָּֽאוּ) is very important.  The verb is in the final position, while the infinitive is placed in the first position.  Great the emphasis is with fronting.

Verse 4

• Notice the singular suffix which describes two individuals, וַֽתִּצְפְּנֹו.
• The final two words, מֵאַ֥יִן הֵֽמָּה, form a verbless clause.

Verse 5

• The beth preposition in the second clause is functioning temporally.