In this text, Hebrew language scholars outline views on the phenomenon of variation in biblical Hebrew and its significance for biblical studies. An important question that is addressed is whether "late biblical Hebrew" is a distinct chronological phase within the history of biblical Hebrew.

Part I: Studies Within the Chronological Framework: Pre-Exilic SBH and Post-Exilic LBH; Mats Eskhult -; 'The Importance of Loanwords for Dating Biblical Hebrew Texts'; Avi Hurvitz -; 'Hebrew and Aramaic in the Biblical Period: The Problem of "Aramaisms" in Linguistic Research on the Hebrew Bible'; Frank Polak -; 'Style is More than the Person- Sociolinguistics, Literary Culture, and the Distinction Between Written and Oral Narrative'; Gary A. Rendsburg -; 'Hurvitz Redux: On the Continued Scholarly Inattention to a Simple Principle of Hebrew Philology'; Richard M. Wright -; 'Further Evidence for North Israelite Contributions to Late Biblical Hebrew'; Part II: Challenges to the Chronological Model; Philip R. Davies -; 'Biblical Hebrew and the History of Ancient Judah: Typology, Chronology and Common Sense'; Martin Ehrensvard -; 'Linguistic Dating of Biblical Texts'; Jacobus A. Naude -; 'The Transitions of Biblical Hebrew in the Perspective of Language Change and Diffusion'; Robert Rezetko -; 'Dating Biblical Hebrew: Evidence from Samuel-Kings and Chronicles'; David Talshir -; 'The Habitat and History of Hebrew during the Second Temple Period'; Ian Young -; 'Late Biblical Hebrew and Hebrew Inscriptions'; Concluding Reflections

Over the last 40 years this pioneering series has established an unrivaled reputation for cutting-edge international scholarship in Biblical Studies and has attracted leading authors and editors in the field. The series takes many original and creative approaches to its subjects, including innovative work from historical and theological perspectives, social-scientific and literary theory, and more recent developments in cultural studies and reception history.