Speaking of Speaking: Marking Direct Discourse in the Hebrew Bible.

• Author: Revell, E.J.

This book is concerned with the identification of direct discourse (DD) in Biblical Hebrew and with the features which introduce or otherwise mark it. It presents a comprehensive description of these features, supporting the detailed study of the Hebrew by the use of linguistic resources ranging from the Amarna letters to the New Testament, and others from beyond the immediate area. The initial section provides an introduction to the problems involved in the study of the topic and to the assumptions which govern the work. The following sections deal with the use of MR, 'say', the use of other verbs to introduce DD, DD in the Prophets, and the marking of divine speech. There is a brief concluding summary, a set of appendices providing information on some details, a list of works cited, and an index of Biblical passages. Both text and index show a high standard of accuracy. This is a work of meticulous scholarship, providing a great deal of information on its topic and on matters associated with it. It provides a valuable reference tool of a sort much needed for the study of the Biblical language.

Any student of Biblical Hebrew may choose to define it as the language of the Bible as we know it (MT), or as the Hebrew language of the Biblical period, for which there is little direct evidence. The problem with the choice of MT is that other witnesses may vary, suggesting change since the Biblical period. Meier rejects the choice on this basis, arguing (p. 15) that "alternation between wymr and lmr, for example, cannot be assumed to be meaningful if alternate textual traditions indicate that it is not quite clear which form, if either, was original." The chart on p. 27 does show "the chaotic nature of the evidence" on a question of this sort if the Greek translation (G) and MT are regarded as equally authoritative, but it can also be read as showing that G either agrees with MT or uses the participle [Greek Text Omitted]. The use of this participle is evidently a feature of Semitized Greek (Meier shows on pp. 136-37 that its use differs from that of lmr, the Hebrew form to which it often corresponds), so G here may well reflect the influence of the spoken language. Unless it can be shown that this is not the case, the chart does not support Meier's view.

Again, the author is reluctant to accept the repetition of a verb of speaking within a speech as a "legitimate" feature of Hebrew narrative (p. 80) in the majority of cases. On p. 80, he argues...