Identifying Biblical Persons in Northwest Semitic Inscriptions of 1200-539 B.C.E.

This book establishes the first comprehensive system for evaluating potential identifications of persons mentioned in the Hebrew Bible with persons mentioned in Northwest Semitic inscriptions. It applies this system in detail to a small number of Hebrew inscriptions, the Mesha Inscription, and the Tel Dan stele. Appendixes updated through mid-2002 briefly evaluate potential identifications of over 75 biblical persons in over 90 Northwest Semitic inscriptions which are mostly contemporary with the person. Resulting identifications and non-identifications appear in six categories of strength or weakness, from unmistakable to disqualified. The final product is a first-ever corpus consisting only of inscriptions that name biblical persons. This technical book will appeal to advanced scholars, graduate students, seminarians, clergy, and others who have a working knowledge of at least one Northwest Semitic language, e.g., biblical Hebrew, and to nonspecialists interested in questions about biblical historicity and potential identifications of biblical persons in Northwest Semitic inscriptions. Paperback edition is available from the Society of Biblical Literature (www.sbl-site.org).