Hebrew Language Politics and Bible Exegesis: The Case of Juda Leib ben Ze`ev

Juda Leib ben Ze’ev (1764–1811), Maskil of the 3^rd generation, is well known for his language project. He wrote two influential linguistic works, the Hebrew grammar Talmud Leshon Ivri (1796) and the Hebrew lexicon Otsar ha-Shorashim (1804). Ben Ze’ev is less known for his even more influential contribution to modern Jewish Bible exegesis. With his major work in the field, the Mavo `el-Mikra`ei Kodesh (1810), he was the first scholar to apply higher criticism to the Jewish text canon. The divinely revealed scriptures of the Jewish tradition go back to the same testimonies that are considered the very sources for the divine origin of the Hebrew language. So, it is no wonder that ben Ze’ev’s language and Bible project are intrinsically interlinked. Ben Ze’ev applies central elements of Moses Mendelssohn’s language politics but gives them, under the contradicting influence of Herder’s language politics, a new twist. Against this backdrop, my paper will examine two questions: 1.) How does Ben Ze’ev turn Mendelssohn’s call for the revitalization of the Hebrew language into a proto-Zionist position?; and 2.) How is ben Ze’ev’s language concept linked with the switch of paradigms from aesthetical (Mendelssohn) to secular Bible exegesis?