As a person who got a degree in ancient languages (Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic), I'm excited to see this article up. Hapaxes are particularly interesting in ancient texts, because they bring up issues of understandability and translatability.
In particular the Bible is an interesting case. There are 1500 Hapaxes in the Hebrew Bible, but what's truly amazing is how many dis legomenon, tris legomenon, tetra, etc there are. The average English translation of the Hebrew Bible uses a diminished vocabulary, compared to the Hebrew, sometimes by a factor of 5. I think religious folk of all creeds would be interested to know how much subjective judgement goes into the translation of their sacred documents.
In particular the Bible is an interesting case. There are 1500 Hapaxes in the Hebrew Bible, but what's truly amazing is how many dis legomenon, tris legomenon, tetra, etc there are. The average English translation of the Hebrew Bible uses a diminished vocabulary, compared to the Hebrew, sometimes by a factor of 5. I think religious folk of all creeds would be interested to know how much subjective judgement goes into the translation of their sacred documents.