The diachrony of the Hebrew verb בָּעַל

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Lexicographers and biblical scholars have traditionally disagreed regarding the chronological distribution of the sexual and marital meanings of the verb בָּעַל‎. Some restrict the sense ‘to penetrate’ to post-biblical corpora, whereas others assert that it is also present in the Hebrew Bible. This research seeks to 1) assess the degree of suitability of these claims, 2) analyse the semantics and morpho-syntactical structure of בָּעַל‎ in its diachronic extension, and 3) determine when the semantic evolution 'dominion/marriage' > sex happened. To this end, a wide array of sources, both direct (Hebrew Bible, Qumran documents, Mishnah, and Tosefta) and indirect (the ancient versions and dictionaries) is thoroughly examined.