ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the concepts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book. The book discusses the history of scholarship on the dating of the biblical books focusing on the use of linguistic evidence, a new synthesis, further detailed case studies of supposed late or Late Biblical Hebrew (LBH) features, and a detailed bibliography. The synthesis will draw together the threads of the argument and argue that seeing Early Biblical Hebrew (EBH) and LBH as two successive chronological phases of BH is incompatible with the evidence. 'Early' BH and 'Late' BH, therefore, do not represent different chronological periods in the history of Biblical Hebrew (BH), but instead represent coexisting styles of literary Hebrew throughout the biblical period. The authors and scribes who composed and transmitted works in EBH exhibit a tendency to 'conservatism' in their linguistic choices.
