THE QUMRAN LIBRARY: SCROLLSThese 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. The Enoch Scroll
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.
The Hosea Commentary Scroll
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 is a metaphor, Amos 8:11 ¶Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: 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.
Horgan, M. Pesharim: Qumran Interpretations of Biblical Books. Washington, 1979.
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
| 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.
Translation.........
Column A
Column B
Column C
Transcription and translation by E. Eshel, H. Eshel, and A. Yardeni
| Va-Yikrah 11Q1(PaleoLev) Parchment Copied late second centuryÄearly 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.
Translations.......
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.
| 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.
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.
Translations..
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