חידושי לשון בעברית של התקופה ההלניסטית: עדות מגילות קומראן לצד עדות תרגום השבעים

The potential relevance of the Septuagint for the study of Qumran Hebrew was realized early on by experts such as Edward Yechezkel Kutscher and Chaim Rabin. Attentive study of the Septuagint allows at least a partial retracing of the Hebrew known by the Greek translators, assumed for chronological reasons to be close to the Hebrew of the Qumran writers. Where a linguistic usage known from the Scrolls can be shown to underlie a Septuagint passage, Qumran Hebrew is freed from the threat of isolation that hangs over it. The present paper discusses two items for which it can be claimed with some assurance that Qumran and the Septuagint illuminate each other: (a) זן = 'this'; and (b) עלילה = '(false) cause, excuse'.