ABSTRACT
The Hebrew inscriptions may thus be used in quite different reconstructions of the history of the Hebrew language. Their linguistic identity with Early Biblical Hebrew (EBH) or Late Biblical Hebrew (LBH) is far from established. It seems better, in fact, to see them as an independent corpus. Their most significant contribution to the question of linguistic dating is their confirmation that LBH linguistic features already existed in pre-exilic Hebrew. The extra biblical sources establish that EBH is contemporary with the Hebrew inscriptions of the monarchic period, and that LBH is later, i.e. postexilic. The main criterion in Hurvitz's system which allows him to separate EBH from LBH texts is the criterion of 'accumulation'. In regard to linguistic dating, therefore, the identity of EBH with inscriptional Hebrew cannot be taken for granted and used as a secure base from which to argue conclusions about the nature and date of EBH.
