The Biblical Lexicon in Light of the Dead Sea Scrolls*

The Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS) contain linguistic evidence shedding new light on biblical Hebrew. The scrolls present an ancient dialect with roots in the biblical period,' and were written by authors intimately familiar with the books of the Bible. Some of these scribes were competent interpreters of Scripture, and their own concepts were often close to those of the authors of the biblical books. It also stands to reason that the scrolls preserve living traditions of the pronunciation and interpretation of the Bible, going back to biblical times. The significance of the DSS for understanding biblical Hebrew is, therefore, inestimable. Scholars have