JOURNAL FOR THE STUDY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT SUPPLEMENT SERIES 129 Editors David J.A. Clines Philip R. Davies JSOT Press Sheffield This page intentionally left blank THE ARAMAIC OF DANIEL IN THE LIGHT OF OLD ARAMAIC Zdravko Stefanovic Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series 129 Copyright © 1992 Sheffield Academic Press Published by JSOT Press JSOT Press is an imprint of Sheffield Academic Press Ltd The University of Sheffield 343 Fulwood Road Sheffield S10 3BP England Typeset by Sheffield Academic Press and Printed on acid-free paper in Great Britain by Billing & Sons Ltd Worcester British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Stefanovic, Zdravko Aramaic of Daniel in the Light of Old Aramaic.—(JSOT Supplement Series, ISSN 0309-0787; No. 129) I. Title II. Series 224.506 ISBN 1-85075-351-2 CONTENTS Preface 7 Abreviations 8 INTRODUCTION 1 Chapter 1 THE ENIGMA OF THE ARAMAIC OF DANIEL 13 A Survey of the Debate on the Aramaic of Daniel 17 Evidence from the New Material 20 The Use of Old Aramaic Texts 24 Chapter 2 LITERARY CORRELATIONS 28 Description of the Texts 28 The Nature of the Texts 31 Structures 36 Vocabulary 47 Chapter 3 GRAMMATICAL CORELATIONS 62 Orthography 62 Phonology 71 Morphology 80 Chapter 4 SYNTACTICAL CORELATIONS 95 GENERAL CONCLUSION 108 Appendix 1 LIST OF COMPARABLE EXPRESSIONS 109 6 The Aramaic of Daniel in the Light of Old Aramaic Appendix 2 WORDS COMMON TO DANIEL AND THE TELL FAKHRIYAH INSCRIPTION 12 Select Bibliography 17 Index of References 121 Index of Authors 126 PREFACE The field of Aramaeology is an ever growing branch of general linguistics, and that is why it offers so much excitement to everyone who is involved in it. The field itself, however, is not just made up of letters and inscriptions, but of real people who are companions to the student in his or her research. I have personally benefited from a number of such competent per- sonalities to whom I now present my modest tribute. The study is heartily dedicated to the late Professor E.Y. Kutscher, from whose works I have learned much. As an outstanding Aramaist, he has taught us all how to treat the dialect of Biblical Aramaic with respect and care. I also feel very much indebted to Professor W.H. Shea for his constant support and valuable insights. Lastly I appreciate Professor David J.A. Clines's kindness in accepting my manuscript for publication in the JSOT Supplement Series. ABBREVIATIONS A AW Anzeigerfiir Altertumswissenschaft AB Anchor Bible AcOr Acta orientalia AfO Archivfiir Orientforschung AION Annali dell' istituto orientate dl Napoli AJSL American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures ANET J.B. Pritchard (ed.), Ancient Near Eastern Texts AOS American Oriental Society ArOr Archiv orientdlnt AUSS Andrews University Seminary Studies BA Biblical Aramaic B A Biblical Archaeologist BASOR Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research BHS Biblia hebraica stuttgartensia Bib Biblica BibOr Biblica et orientalia B TB Biblical Theology Bulletin BZAW Beihefte zur ZAW CBQ Catholic Biblical Quarterly CIS Corpus inscriptionum semiticarum DA The Aramaic of the Book of Daniel, or (depending on context) the Aramaic Portions of the Book of Daniel EgA Egyptian Aramaic EncJud Encyclopaedia Judaica ETL Ephemerides theologicae lovanienses HSM Harvard Semitic Monographs HUCA Hebrew Union College Annual ICC International Critical Commentary IDB G.A. Buttrick (ed.), Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible IE] Israel Exploration Journal JANESCU Journal of the Ancient Near Eastern Society of Columbia University JAOS Journal of the American Oriental Society JBL Journal of Biblical Literature JETS Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society Abreviations 9 JJS Journal of Jewish Studies JNES Journal of Near Eastern Studies JPOS Journal of the Palestine Oriental Society JSOT Journal for the Study of the Old Testament JSS Journal of Semitic Studies JTS Journal of Theological Studies KAI H. Donner and W. Rollig, Kanaandische und aramdische Inschriften KB L. Koehler and W. Baumgartner (eds.), Lexicon in Veteris Testamenti libros Les LeSonenu MDOG Mitteilungen der deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft MUSJ Melanges de I'universite Saint-Joseph OA Old Aramaic OfA Official Aramaic Or Orientalia Or Ant Oriens antiquus OTSt Old Testament Studies PEQ Palestine Exploration Quarterly QS QirjatSefer RB Revue biblique RevQ Revue de Qumran RSO Rivista degli studi orientali StudOr Studia orientalia VT Vetus Testamentum VTSup Vetus Testamentum, Supplements ZA Zeitschriftfiir Assyriologie ZA W Zeitschriftfiir die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft ZDMG Zeitschrift der deutschen morganldndischen Gesellschaft ZKT Zeitschriftfiir katholische Theologie