To my surprise, they cite the excellent study of Hasmonean and Roman paleo-Hebrew scripts by Mark McLean. McLean traces the typology of this archaizing script and is able to date by centuries and sometimes by half centuries paleo-Hebrew inscriptions, coin legends and manuscripts of the Hellenistic and Roman periods—including the paleo-Hebrew manuscripts from Qumran. Apparently, Rogerson and Davies did not learn from McLean’s study the characters of paleo-Hebrew and its evolution—assuming that they read it. They do not cite the paleographical literature on the development of the eighth- to sixth-century Old Hebrew scripts, and obviously have not been deterred by it.

The list of significant features differentiating Old Hebrew from paleo-Hebrew can …