The Unsorted BBS Collection/thegreatunsorted.tar/thegreatunsorted/texts/txtfiles_misc/scrolls3.txt

Text File | 1993-07-27 | 17KB | 393 lines

                   SCROLLS FROM THE DEAD SEA:
      THE ANCIENT LIBRARY OF QUMRAN AND MODERN SCHOLARSHIP

                       The Qumran Library
                        Scroll Fragments

These scroll fragments were displayed in the exhibit at the
Library of Congress, May - August 1993.  They were provided
courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority.  The exhibit
captions and translations (below) provide background on the
fragments and their relationships with the other Dead Sea
Scrolls, the Qumran Community, and its Library.


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                            IMAGE FILE NAME:  enoch-a.gif (b & w)
                            IMAGE FILE NAME:  enoch-b.gif (color)
Enoch
Hanokh
4Q201(En ar<superspcript>a)
Parchment
Copied ca. 200-150 B.C.E.
Fragment A: height 17.5 cm (6 7/8 in.), length 17.5 cm (6 7/8
in.)
Fragment B: height 6.4 cm (2 1/2 in.), length 6.9 cm (2 11/16
in.)
Courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority (11)


     One of the most important apocryphic works of the Second
Temple Period is Enoch.  According to the biblical narrative
(Genesis 5:21-24), Enoch lived only 365 years (far less than the
other patriarchs in the period before the Flood).  Enoch "walked
with God; then he was no more for God took him."

     The original language of most of this work was, in all
likelihood, Aramaic (an early Semitic language).  Although the
original version was lost in antiquity, portions of a Greek
translation were discovered in Egypt and quotations were known
from the Church Fathers.  The discovery of the texts from Qumran
Cave 4 has finally provided parts of the Aramaic original.  In
the fragment exhibited here, humankind is called on to observe
how unchanging nature follows God's will.

Reference:
Milik, J. T. The Books of Enoch: Aramaic Fragments of Qumran Cave
     4. Oxford, 1976.

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Enoch - Translation
Hanokh
4Q201(En ar<superscript>a)
Courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority (11)

     En<superscript>a I ii
12.  ...But you have changed your works,
13.  [and have not done according to his command, and
     tran]sgressed against him; (and have spoken) haughty and
     harsh words, with your impure mouths,
14.  [against his majesty, for your heart is hard]. You will have
     no peace.

     En<superscript>a I iii
13.  [They (the leaders) and all ... of them took for themselves]
14.  wives from all that they chose and [they began to cohabit
     with them and to defile themselves with them];
15.  and to teach them sorcery and [spells and the cutting of
     roots; and to acquaint them with herbs.]
16.  And they become pregnant by them and bo[re (great) giants
     three thousand cubits high ...]

Transcription by J. T. Milik, amended by J. C. Greenfield;
translation by J. C. Greenfield


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                            IMAGE FILE NAME:  hosea-a.gif (b & w)
                            IMAGE FILE NAME:  hosea-b.gif (color)
Hosea Commentary
Pesher Hoshe`a
4Q166 (4QpHos<superscript>a)
Parchment
Copied late first century B.C.E.
Height 17.5 cm (6 7/8 in.), length 16.8 cm (6 5/8 in.)
Courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority (6)


     This text is a commentary, or "pesher," on the prophetic
biblical verses from the book of Hosea (2:8-14).  The verse
presented here refers to the relation of God, the husband, to
Israel, the unfaithful wife.  In the commentary, the unfaithful
ones have been led astray by "the man of the lie." The document
states that the affliction befalling those led astray is famine.
Although this famine could be a metaphor, it may well be a
reference to an actual drought cited in historical sources of
that time.

     The manuscript shown here is the larger of two unrelated
fragments of the Hosea Commentary found in Cave 4.  The script,
which is identical to that of a commentary on Psalms, belongs to
the rustic, semiformal type of the Herodian era.

References:
Allegro, J. M. Qumran Cave 4: I (4Q158-4Q186). Discoveries in the
     Judaean Desert, V. Oxford, 1968.
Horgan, M. Pesharim: Qumran Interpretations of Biblical Books.
     Washington, 1979.

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Hosea Commentary - Translation
Pesher Hoshe`a
4Q166 (4QpHos<superscript>a)
Courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority (6)

     Hos. 2:10-14
1.   (10)[SHE DID NOT KNOW THAT] I MYSELF HAD GIVEN HER THE GRAIN
     [AND THE WINE]
2.   [AND THE OIL, AND] (THAT) I HAD SUPPLIED [SILVER] AND GOLD
     ... (WHICH) THEY MADE [INTO BAAL. The interpretation of it
     is]
3.   that [they] ate [and] were satisfied, and they forgot God
     who [had fed them, and all]
4.   his commandments they cast behind them, which he had sent to
     them [by]
5.   his servants the prophets.  But to those who led them astray
     they listened, and they honored them [  ]
6.   and as if they were gods, they fear them in their blindness.
7.   vacat
8.   (11)THEREFORE, I SHALL TAKE BACK MY GRAIN AGAIN IN ITS TIME
     AND MY WINE [IN ITS SEASON,]
9.   AND I SHALL WITHDRAW MY WOOL AND MY FLAX FROM COVERING [HER
     NAKEDNESS.]
10.  (12)I SHALL NOW UNCOVER HER PRIVATE PARTS IN THE SIGHT OF
     [HER] LO[VERS AND]
11.  NO [ONE] WILL WITHDRAW HER FROM MY HAND.
12.  The interpretation of it is that he smote them with famine
     and with nakedness so that they became a disgra[ce]
13.  and a reproach in the sight of the nations on whom they had
     leaned for support, but they
14.  will not save them from their afflictions.  (13)AND I SHALL
     PUT AN END TO ALL HER JOY,
15.  [HER] PIL[GRIMAGE,] HER [NEW] MOON, AND HER SABBATH, AND ALL
     HER FEASTS.  The interpretation of it is that
16.  they make [the fe]asts go according to the appointed times
     of the nation.  And [all]
17.  [joy] has been turned for them into mourning.
     (14)AND I SHALL MAKE DESOLATE [HER VINE]
18.  [AND HER FIG TREE,] OF WHICH SHE SAID, "THEY ARE THE HIRE
     [THAT MY LOVERS HAVE GIVEN] ME."
19.  AND I SHALL MAKE THEM A FOREST, AND THE W[ILD BEAST OF THE
     FIELD] WILL DEVOUR THEM.

Transcription and translation by M. Horgan


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                           IMAGE FILE NAME:  jonath-a.gif (b & w)
                           IMAGE FILE NAME:  jonath-b.gif (color)
Prayer For King Jonathan
Tefillah li-Shlomo shel Yonatan ha-Melekh
4Q448
Parchment
Copied between 103-76 B.C.E.
Height 17.8 cm (7 in.), length 9.5 cm (3 3/4 in.)
Courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority (2)


     The King Jonathan mentioned in this text can be none other
than Alexander Jannaeus, a monarch of the Hasmonean dynasty who
ruled Judea from 103 to 76 B.C.E.  The discovery of a prayer for
the welfare of a Hasmonean king among the Qumran texts is
unexpected because the community may have vehemently opposed the
Hasmoneans.  They even may have settled in the remote desert to
avoid contact with the Hasmonean authorities and priesthood.  If
this is indeed a composition that clashes with Qumran views, it
is a single occurrence among 600 non-biblical manuscripts.
However, scholars are exploring the possibility that
Jonathan-Jannaeus, unlike the other Hasmonean rulers, was favored
by the Dead Sea community, at least during certain periods, and
may explain the prayer's inclusion in the Dead Sea materials.

     This text is unique in that it can be clearly dated to the
rule of King Jonathan.  Three columns of script are preserved,
one on the top and two below.  The upper column (A) and the lower
left (C) column are incomplete.  The leather is torn along the
lower third of the right margin.  A tab of untanned leather, 2.9
by 2.9 cm, folds over the right edge above the tear.  A leather
thong, remains of which were found threaded through the middle of
the leather tab on the right edge, probably tied the rolled-up
scroll.  The form of the tab--probably part of a fastening--seems
to indicate that the extant text was at the beginning of the
scroll, which was originally longer.  Differences between the
script of Column A and that of B and C could indicate that this
manuscript is not the work of a single scribe.

     This small manuscript contains two distinct parts.  The
first, column A, presents fragments of a psalm of praise to God.
The second, columns B and C, bear a prayer for the welfare of
King Jonathan and his kingdom.  In column A lines 8-10 are
similar to a verse in Psalm 154, preserved in the Psalms Scroll
(11QPsa) exhibited here.  This hymn, which was not included in
the biblical Book of Psalms, is familiar, however, from the
tenth-century Syriac Psalter.

Reference:
Eshel, E., H. Eshel, and A. Yardeni. "A Qumran Scroll Containing
     Part of Psalm 154 and a Prayer for the Welfare of King
     Jonathan and His Kingdom," Israel Exploration Journal,
     forthcoming.


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Prayer For King Jonathan - Translation
Tefillah li-Shlomo shel Yonatan ha-Melekh
4Q448
Courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority (2)

    Column A
1.  Praise the Lord, a Psalm [of
2.  You loved as a fa[ther(?)
3.  you ruled over [
4.  vacat [
5.  and your foes were afraid (or: will fear) [
6.  ...the heaven [
7.  and to the depths of the sea [
8.  and upon those who glorify him [
9.  the humble from the hand of adversaries [
10. Zion for his habitation, ch[ooses

    Column C                             Column B
1.  because you love Isr[ael         1.  holy city
2.  in the day and until evening [   2.  for king Jonathan
3.  to approach, to be [             3.  and all the congregation
                                         of your people
4.  Remember them for blessing [     4.  Israel
5.  on your name, which is called [  5.  who are in the four
6.  kingdom to be blessed [          6.  winds of heaven
7.  ]for the day of war [            7.  peace be (for) all
8.  to King Jonathan [               8.  and upon your kingdom
9.                                   9.  your name be blessed

Transcription and translation by E. Eshel, H. Eshel, and A.
Yardeni


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                            IMAGE FILE NAME:  levit-a.gif (b & w)
                            IMAGE FILE NAME:  levit-b.gif (color)
Leviticus
Va-Yikrah
11Q1(PaleoLev)
Parchment
Copied late second century─early first century B.C.E.
Height 10.9 cm (4 1/4 in.), length 100.2 cm (39 1/2 in.)
Courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority (4)


     This scroll was discovered in 1956, when a group of
Ta`amireh Bedouin happened on Cave 11, but it was first unrolled
fourteen years later, at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.
Inscribed in the scroll are parts of the final chapters (22-27)
of Leviticus, the third book in the Pentateuch, which expounds
laws of sacrifice, atonement, and holiness.  This is the
lowermost portion (approximately one-fifth of the original
height) of the final six columns of the original manuscript.
Eighteen small fragments also belong to this scroll.  The
additional fragments of this manuscript are from preceding
chapters: Lev. 4, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16, 18-22.

     The Leviticus Scroll was written in an ancient Hebrew script
often referred to as paleo-Hebrew.  The almost uniform direction
of the downstrokes, sloping to the left, indicates an
experienced, rapid, and rhythmic hand of a single scribe.  The
text was penned on the grain side of a sheep skin.  Both vertical
and horizontal lines were drawn.  The vertical lines aligned the
columns and margins; the horizontal lines served as guidelines
from which the scribe suspended his letters.  Dots served as
word-spacers.

Reference:
Freedman, D. N., and K. A. Mathews. The Paleo-Hebrew Leviticus
     Scroll. Winona Lake, Indiana, 1985.


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Leviticus - Translation
Va-Yikrah
11Q1(PaleoLev)
Courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority (4)

     Lev. 23:22-29
1.   (22)[...edges of your field, or] gather [the gleanings of
     your harvest; you shall leave them for the poor and the
     stranger; I the LO]RD [am]
2.   your God.
3.   (23)The LORD spoke to Moses saying: (24)Speak to the
     Israelite people thus: In the seventh month
4.   on the first day of the month, you shall observe complete
     rest, a sacred occasion commemorated with load blasts.
5.   (25)You shall not work at your occupations; and you shall
     bring an offering by fire to the LORD.
6.   (26)The LORD spoke to Moses saying: (27)Mark, the tenth day
     of this seventh month is the Day
7.   of Atonement.  It shall be a sacred occasion for you: you
     shall practice self-denial, and you shall bring an offering
8.   by fire to the LORD; (28)you shall do no work throughout
     that day.  For
9.   [it is a Day of Atonement on which] expiation is made on
     your behalf [before the LO]RD your God.  (29)Indeed, any
     person who

Translation from "Tanakh," p. 192. Philadelphia, 1985.


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                           IMAGE FILE NAME:  sabbat-a.gif (b & w)
                           IMAGE FILE NAME:  sabbat-b.gif (color)
Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice
Shirot `Olat ha-Shabbat
4Q403(ShirShabb<superscript>d)
Parchment
Copied mid-first century B.C.E.
Height 18 cm (7 in.), length 19 cm (7 1/2 in.)
Courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority (9)


     The Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice, also known as the
"Angelic Liturgy," is a liturgical work composed of thirteen
separate sections, one for each of the first thirteen Sabbaths of
the year.  The songs evoke angelic praise and elaborate on
angelic priesthood, the heavenly temple, and the Sabbath worship
in that temple.

     The headings of the various songs may reflect the solar
calendar.  Although the songs bear no explicit indication of
their source, the phraseology and terminology of the texts are
very similar to those of other Qumran works.

     Eight manuscripts of this work were found in Qumran Cave 4
(4Q400 through 407) and one in Cave 11, dating from the late
Hasmonean and Herodian periods.  One manuscript of the Songs of
the Sabbath Sacrifice was found at Masada, a Zealot fortress.

References:
Newsom, C. Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice: A Critical Edition.
     Atlanta, 1985.
Strugnell, J. "The Angelic Liturgy at Qumran--4QSerek Sirot `Olat
     Hassabbat." In Congress Volume, Oxford 1959. Supplements to
     Vetus Testamentum, vol. 7, pp. 318-45. Leiden, 1960.


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Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice - Translation
Shirot `Olat ha-Shabbat
4Q403(ShirShabb<superscript>d)
Courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority (9)

30.  By the instructor.  Song of the sacrifice of the seventh
     Sabbath on the sixteenth of the month. Praise the God of the
     lofty heights, O you lofty ones among all the
31.  elim of knowledge. Let the holiest of the godlike ones
     sanctify the King of glory who sanctifies by holiness all
     His holy ones. O you chiefs of the praises of
32.  all the godlike beings, praise the splendidly [pr]aiseworthy
     God. For in the splendor of praise is the glory of His
     realm. From it (comes) the praises of all
33.  the godlike ones together with the splendor of all [His]
     maj[esty. And] exalt his exaltedness to exalted heaven, you
     most godlike ones of the lofty elim, and (exalt) His
     glorious divinity above
34.  all the lofty heights. For H[e is God of gods] of all the
     chiefs of the heights of heaven and King of ki[ngs] of all
     the eternal councils. (by the intention of)
35.  (His knowledge) At the words of His mouth come into being
     [all the lofty angels]; at the utterance of His lips all the
     eternal spirits; [by the in]tention of His knowledge all His
     creatures
36.  in their undertakings. Sing with joy, you who rejoice [in
     His knowledge with] rejoicing among the wondrous godlike
     beings. And chant His glory with the tongue of all who chant
     with knowledge; and (chant) His wonderful songs of joy
37.  with the mouth of all who chant [of Him. For He is] God of
     all who rejoice {in knowledge} forever and Judge in His
     power of all the spirits of understanding.

Transcription and translation by C. Newsom

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deadsea.scrolls.exhibit                        rev. 6/18/93 (kde)