Books by Benjamin P Kantor
Kantor, Benjamin. The Standard Language Ideology of the Hebrew and Arabic Grammarians of the ʿAbbasid Period. Cambridge Semitic Languages and Cultures 21. Cambridge: University of Cambridge and Open Book Publishers, 2023
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Kantor, Benjamin. The Linguistic Classification of the Reading Traditions of Biblical Hebrew: A Phyla-and-Waves Model. Cambridge Semitic Languages and Cultures 19. Cambridge: University of Cambridge and Open Book Publishers, 2023
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Kantor, Benjamin. The Pronunciation of New Testament Greek: Judeo-Palestinian Greek Phonology and Orthography from Alexander to Islam. Grand Rapids, MI.: Eerdmans, 2023
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Kantor, Benjamin. A Short Guide to the Pronunciation of New Testament Greek. Grand Rapids, MI.: Eerdmans, 2023
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Journal Articles by Benjamin P Kantor
Kantor, Benjamin. “‘Untying the Knots of the Yoke’: Yom Kippur and an Agricultural Allusion to Jubilee in Isaiah 58:6.” Catholic Biblical Quarterly 85 (4): 666–685, 2023
A number of scholars have identified allusions to the Jubilee Year found in Isaiah 58. Among thes... more A number of scholars have identified allusions to the Jubilee Year found in Isaiah 58. Among these are the trumpet imagery of v. 1 (cf. Lev 25:9) and the selfaffliction in vv. 3 and 5 (cf. Lev 16:31). While Jubilee allusions have also been seen in v. 6, which describes the release of slaves alongside imagery of breaking the yoke, I claim here that not all of the allusions to Jubilee in Isa 58:6 have been identified. Though most commentators see the yoke merely as a metaphor for subjugation, there is actually something deeper and more profound going on. The agricultural imagery, when understood rightly in its ancient philological and cultural context, is actually calling to mind the anticipation of the first rainfall that would have accompanied a Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) on which the Jubilee would be announced. The ancient farmer, who would have been anxious to plow the fields at the right time and avoid potential loss, is called to refrain from plowing and to respect the Jubilee legislation to let the land lie fallow. This serves as a metaphor to call those in society, who regard personal gain as more important than having compassion for their fellow human beings, to repent and embrace the commandments of Yhwh.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Kantor, Benjamin. “The LXX and Historical Koine Greek Phonology: Phonology, Orthography, and Transcriptions.” Journal for the Study of Judaism 54 (4–5): 494–526. Special Issue: The Septuagint within the History of Greek. Edited by James K. Aitken† and Marieke Dhont, 2023
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Khan, Geoffrey and Benjamin Kantor. “Waw to Vav: Greek and Aramaic Contact as an Explanation for the Development of the Labio-dental [v] from the Labio-velar [w] in Biblical Hebrew.” Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft 172 (1): 27–55, 2022
In ancient times, the Hebrew consonant ו waw was originally pronounced as a labio-velar [w]. Ac... more In ancient times, the Hebrew consonant ו waw was originally pronounced as a labio-velar [w]. According to the medieval grammarians, however, the regular realization of this consonant in Tiberian Hebrew was as a labio-dental [v]. Therefore, at some point in the history of Hebrew, the pronunciation of ו waw changed from [w] to [v]. In this paper, we will argue (i) that this development (i. e., [w] → [v]) occurred during the Roman and/or Byzantine period(s) as a result of language contact with Greek and (ii) that pronouncing Hebrew waw as [v] is characteristic of the Palestinian origins of the Tiberian tradition.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Kantor, Benjamin. “Recitation and Performance in Late Antique Hebrew: Linguistic Hints of a Performance Register in Greek and Latin Transcriptions of Biblical Hebrew from Late Antiquity.” Dead Sea Discoveries 29 (3): 342–365. Edited by Geoffrey Khan and Hindy Najman, 2022
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Kantor, Benjamin. “‘shewa’ + Secondary Gemination in Late Antique Hebrew as seen in Greek and Latin Transcriptions of Hebrew and in Samaritan.” Journal for Semitics 31 (1), 2022
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Kantor, Benjamin. “Reconstructing the Second Column in the Cairo Genizah Hexapla Palimpsest: A Proposed Restoration of the Second Column (Secunda) of Origen’s Hexapla as Attested in the Hexapla Fragment T-S 12.182 (RAHLFS 2005).” Maarav 25 (1–2): 113–151. Edited by Jonathan Kaplan and Na'ama Pat-El, 2021
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Kantor, Benjamin. “מסורת העברית של יהודי דרום איטליה במאה השלוש־עשרה לפי תעתיקים יווניים למילים עבריות בדיאלוג "דיון נגד היהודים" מאת ניקולאוס מן אוטרנטו.” Leshonenu 82: 148–184, 2020
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Kantor, Benjamin. “Where Does ʾayyē Come From? Proclisis and Affix Pleonasm in the Biblical Hebrew Interrogatives ʾē and ʾayyē.” Journal of Semitic Studies 64 (2): 377–399, 2019
Interrogatives from the base *ʼayy-are common throughout Semitic. Two of the reflexes of this bas... more Interrogatives from the base *ʼayy-are common throughout Semitic. Two of the reflexes of this base in Biblical Hebrew, ʼē 'where?' and ʼayyē 'where?', exhibit atypical phonological features. In the case of ʼē (< *ʼayy-v), the diphthong *ay ought to have been preserved due to the following gemination (cf. day [< *dayy-v] 'sufficiency'). In the case of ʼayyē, the final ṣere is unusual. In this paper, I argue that contraction has occurred in ʼē because it is proclitic and that the ṣere (-ē) ending in ʼayyē is from the Semitic adverbial ending *-ay, which also contracted to-ē due to proclisis. The morphosyntactic developments of these forms, taken within their wider Semitic context, shed light on the linguistic phenomenon of 'affix pleonasm' in both Hebrew and Semitic.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Book Chapters by Benjamin P Kantor
Kantor, Benjamin. “Discovering the Secunda: Insights from Preparing a New Critical Edition of the Second Column of Origen’s Hexapla.” In Editing the Septuagint: The Unfinished Task, edited by Felix Albrecht and Frank Feder, 155–192. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2022
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
“The Development of the Wayyiqṭol (‘Waw Consecutive’) Verbal Form in Light of Greek and Latin Transcriptions of Hebrew.” In Studies in Semitic Vocalisations and Reading Traditions, edited by Geoffrey Khan and Aaron Hornkohl, 55–132. Cambridge: University of Cambridge and Open Book Publishers, 2020
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Zhakevich, Philip and Benjamin Kantor. “Modern Hebrew.” In The Semitic Languages: Second Edition, edited by John Huehnergard and Na'ama Pat-El, 571–610. London and New York: Routledge, 2019
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Ph.D. Thesis by Benjamin P Kantor
Kantor, Benjamin. “The Second Column (Secunda) of Origen’s Hexapla in Light of Greek Pronunciation.” diss., The University of Texas at Austin, 2017
This dissertation addresses the phonology and orthography of the second column (Secunda) of Orige... more This dissertation addresses the phonology and orthography of the second column (Secunda) of Origen's (185–254 ce) Hexapla, which constitutes a Greek transcription of Biblical Hebrew. The transcription text is analyzed in light of its Hellenistic/Roman Near Eastern background, the phonology and orthography of Roman Palestinian Koine Greek, and roughly contemporary Greek transcription conventions for other languages. Aside from the brief introduction (chapter 1) and conclusion (chapter 7), this dissertation is comprised of five substantial chapters. Chapters 2 and 3 address the historical and social background of the text of the Secunda. In chapter 2, I argue that Origen did not have enough Hebrew knowledge to compose the text himself. In chapter 3, on the basis of comparative evidence from the Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine Near East, I argue that the Secunda originated among the Jewish scholarly community of Caesarea as a didactic aid in the second or third century ce. Chapters 4 and 5 address the linguistic background of the text of the Secunda. Chapter 4, based on a thorough analysis of the epigraphic evidence from ancient Palestine, provides a reconstruction of contemporary Greek pronunciation. Chapter 5, based on a linguistic analysis of comparative transcription material, surveys typical Greek transcription conventions from roughly the same period. Chapter 6 applies the data from the previous sections to the Hebrew vocalization tradition reflected in the text of the Secunda, addressing the phonemic and phonetic value of the consonants, vowels, and shewa as well as the syllable structure. Methodologically, the phonology and orthography of Secunda Hebrew are approached from the perspective of historical (Hebrew) linguistics, Greek pronunciation and orthography, linguistic studies on cross-language perception, and moraic phonology.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Book Reviews by Benjamin P Kantor
Kantor, Benjamin. Review of The Reconfiguration of Hebrew in the Hellenistic Period, edited by Jan Joosten, Daniel Machiela, and Jean-Sébastien Rey. Revue de Qumrân 32 (1): 149–164, 2020
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Kantor, Benjamin. Review of The Verb in Archaic Biblical Poetry: A Discursive, Typological, and Historical Investigation of the Tense System, by Tania Notarius. Journal of the American Oriental Society 138 (2): 413‒415, 2018
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Talks by Benjamin P Kantor
The ability to hear a language is critical for fluent reading. If our students cannot process Heb... more The ability to hear a language is critical for fluent reading. If our students cannot process Hebrew aurally as they read, they will not be able to store enough in their working memory to absorb a written text in natural chunks. As language teachers, our task is to provide our students with the aural input necessary for developing fluent reading skills. How then can we best infuse our classrooms with grammatically authentic Biblical Hebrew (BH) speech, and what sort of conversational activities are appropriate in the context of a language classroom thousands of years removed from the biblical text?
These questions arise out of our experience teaching the “Intensive Biblical Hebrew” course (6 class hrs/wk) at the University of Texas. In this course, grammar is presented and reinforced with written and online exercises at home, and class time is devoted to activation of the language through spoken engagement with instructors, classmates, and texts. Our search for authentic sources of spoken BH has led us to the dialogue sections of the biblical text as ideal places for both students and instructors to begin developing oral proficiency. Since much of the modern world cannot be discussed in BH, re-enacting ancient scenarios such as “coming before the king with a request” (1 Kgs 2.20–24) gives students the chance not only to role-play in dialogue, but also to explore the linguistic peculiarities of such a meeting in BH. The situational contexts of the biblical dialogues dictate the setting for conversational activities conducted in class. This immersion in direct speech paves the way for in-Hebrew discussion of narrative BH texts, a conversational activity which is an essential tool for strengthening active comprehension.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Conferences by Benjamin P Kantor
Register to attend the colloquium at www.ps.edu/origen.
Twenty five years after Oxford’s Rich Se... more Register to attend the colloquium at www.ps.edu/origen.
Twenty five years after Oxford’s Rich Seminar sparked a renaissance of research on Origen’s Hexapla, the Phoenix Seminary Text & Canon Institute will host its first colloquium to explore Origen’s textual scholarship and its reception in late antiquity.
Origen of Alexandria moved to Caesarea around AD 230 and soon after began his work on the Hexapla or six-parallel-columned edition of the Old Testament. This edition inspired the preparation of subsequent scholarly editions of the Greek scriptures at the Caesarean Library that impacted the text and exegesis of the Scriptures in their Greek and Hebrew forms there and in other locales.
For its inaugural colloquium, the Text & Canon Institute is bringing together a group of international scholars to write this chapter of the Bible’s history.
The colloquium will take place November 18–19, 2020.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Uploads
Books by Benjamin P Kantor
Journal Articles by Benjamin P Kantor
Book Chapters by Benjamin P Kantor
Ph.D. Thesis by Benjamin P Kantor
Book Reviews by Benjamin P Kantor
Talks by Benjamin P Kantor
These questions arise out of our experience teaching the “Intensive Biblical Hebrew” course (6 class hrs/wk) at the University of Texas. In this course, grammar is presented and reinforced with written and online exercises at home, and class time is devoted to activation of the language through spoken engagement with instructors, classmates, and texts. Our search for authentic sources of spoken BH has led us to the dialogue sections of the biblical text as ideal places for both students and instructors to begin developing oral proficiency. Since much of the modern world cannot be discussed in BH, re-enacting ancient scenarios such as “coming before the king with a request” (1 Kgs 2.20–24) gives students the chance not only to role-play in dialogue, but also to explore the linguistic peculiarities of such a meeting in BH. The situational contexts of the biblical dialogues dictate the setting for conversational activities conducted in class. This immersion in direct speech paves the way for in-Hebrew discussion of narrative BH texts, a conversational activity which is an essential tool for strengthening active comprehension.
Conferences by Benjamin P Kantor
Twenty five years after Oxford’s Rich Seminar sparked a renaissance of research on Origen’s Hexapla, the Phoenix Seminary Text & Canon Institute will host its first colloquium to explore Origen’s textual scholarship and its reception in late antiquity.
Origen of Alexandria moved to Caesarea around AD 230 and soon after began his work on the Hexapla or six-parallel-columned edition of the Old Testament. This edition inspired the preparation of subsequent scholarly editions of the Greek scriptures at the Caesarean Library that impacted the text and exegesis of the Scriptures in their Greek and Hebrew forms there and in other locales.
For its inaugural colloquium, the Text & Canon Institute is bringing together a group of international scholars to write this chapter of the Bible’s history.
The colloquium will take place November 18–19, 2020.
These questions arise out of our experience teaching the “Intensive Biblical Hebrew” course (6 class hrs/wk) at the University of Texas. In this course, grammar is presented and reinforced with written and online exercises at home, and class time is devoted to activation of the language through spoken engagement with instructors, classmates, and texts. Our search for authentic sources of spoken BH has led us to the dialogue sections of the biblical text as ideal places for both students and instructors to begin developing oral proficiency. Since much of the modern world cannot be discussed in BH, re-enacting ancient scenarios such as “coming before the king with a request” (1 Kgs 2.20–24) gives students the chance not only to role-play in dialogue, but also to explore the linguistic peculiarities of such a meeting in BH. The situational contexts of the biblical dialogues dictate the setting for conversational activities conducted in class. This immersion in direct speech paves the way for in-Hebrew discussion of narrative BH texts, a conversational activity which is an essential tool for strengthening active comprehension.
Twenty five years after Oxford’s Rich Seminar sparked a renaissance of research on Origen’s Hexapla, the Phoenix Seminary Text & Canon Institute will host its first colloquium to explore Origen’s textual scholarship and its reception in late antiquity.
Origen of Alexandria moved to Caesarea around AD 230 and soon after began his work on the Hexapla or six-parallel-columned edition of the Old Testament. This edition inspired the preparation of subsequent scholarly editions of the Greek scriptures at the Caesarean Library that impacted the text and exegesis of the Scriptures in their Greek and Hebrew forms there and in other locales.
For its inaugural colloquium, the Text & Canon Institute is bringing together a group of international scholars to write this chapter of the Bible’s history.
The colloquium will take place November 18–19, 2020.