Dead Sea Scrolls (Religion)

The Library from Qumran and the Essenes (Spanish)

by Carlos Segovia

in: Historia National Geographic 88 (2011) 40-48.

“The Wilderness and Jewish Revolutionary Fervour in First-Century Palestine: A Response to D.P. Schwartz and J. Marcus,” Journal for the Study of Judaism 29 (1998): 322-36.

by Bruce Longenecker

According to Schwartz and Marcus, Isa 40:3 had instructive, programmatic force in leading Jewish revolutionaries out... more According to Schwartz and Marcus, Isa 40:3 had instructive, programmatic force in leading Jewish revolutionaries out into the wilderness where they prepared themselves for the invading procession of Israel's God against Israel's enemies. But examination of relevant passages from Josephus' writings and the Dead Sea scrolls indicates that the evidence for the revolutionary interpretation of Isa 40:3 is relatively sparse and unimpressive. Instead, the narrative of the Hebrews' wilderness trek and conquest of the land under Moses and Joshua has far more to commend itself as the narrative precursor to the revolutionaries' retreat into the wilderness.--D.J.H. Abstract Number: NTA43-1999-1-634

Notes on the Three Qumran-Type Yadin Fragments Leading to a Discussion of Identification, Attribution, Provenance, and Names

by Eibert Tigchelaar

pre-print

The identification of the three Qumran-type Yadin fragments as Qumran Cave 11 fragments is dubious in one case, and... more The identification of the three Qumran-type Yadin fragments as Qumran Cave 11 fragments is dubious in one case, and erroneous in the other two cases. This raises the more general question how we need to deal with unprovenanced Dead Sea Scroll fragments.

Which Theologies in Conflict? Some Suggestions for a Symptomatic Rereading of 4 Ezra in Light of P. Sacchi's and E.P. Sanders' Contributions to the Study of Early Judaism, with a Final Note on the Hodayot from Qumran and Paul

by Carlos Segovia

Presented at the 6th Enoch Seminar: 2 Baruch - 4 Ezra: 1st Century Jewish Apocalypticism -- Milan, June 26 - July 1, 2011.

4 Ezra sets forth a kind of dialogical retextualization of the idea that salvation is unconditionally granted by God... more 4 Ezra sets forth a kind of dialogical retextualization of the idea that salvation is unconditionally granted by God to his chosen people in order, first, to discuss its accuracy and, second, to dismiss it together with the opposing view according to which salvation in only granted to, even if not self-achieved by, those who have good deeds to their credit. A comparison between 2 Sam 7; 1 Kgs 8:22-26; and 1 Kgs 2:1-4 and 2 Chron 6:12-17 shows that these two competing views--or theologies--can be traced back to the Hebrew Bible. I will also argue that they may be further clarified through a cross-reading of P. Sacchi's and E.P. Sanders' studies. And that the first view can be found again, to one extent or another, in several post-Biblical Jewish texts such as the Hodayot from Qumran and Paul's letters.Yet my main point will be to suggest that, in spite of their different purposes, the author of 4 Ezra might have had in mind Paul's controversial reuse of such view, since 4 Ezra 8:32, 36 seemingly echoes Rom 4:5.

Noah as Eschatoligical Mediator Transposed: From 2 Enoch 71-72 to the Christological Echoes of 1 Enoch 106:3 in the Qur'an

by Carlos Segovia

in: Henoch 33.1 (2011) 129-44.

1. Introduction: Mediatorial figures in Second Temple Judaism
2. The Noah story in 1 Enoch, 1QapGen, 4Q534-36,... more 1. Introduction: Mediatorial figures in Second Temple Judaism
2. The Noah story in 1 Enoch, 1QapGen, 4Q534-36, and 1Q19-19bis
- Excursus A: A brief re-examination of the differences between the Noah traditions, Noah's role in 1 Enoch, and the Apocalypse of Noah
3. The Noah story transposed, from 2 Enoch to the Qur'an
- Excursus B: The Noah/Melchizedek story in 2 Enoch and the Fifth Enoch Seminar: Some preliminary observations
- Excursus C: 1 Enoch and the Qur'an
4. Postscriptum: A few final remarks in dialogue with Daniel Assefa, Andreas Bedenbender, Harold Ellens, Emmanouela Grypeou, Basil Lourié and Pierluigi Piovanelli

2012 4Q541, Fragment 24 Reconsidered

by Edward Cook

From "Puzzling Out the Past: Studies in Northwest Semitic Languages and Literatures in Honor of Bruce Zuckerman" (ed. Marilyn Lundberg, Steven Fine, and Wayne Pitard; Brill 2012).

"The Use of Greek at Qumran: Manuscript and Epigraphic Evidence for a Marginalized Language"

by Matthew Richey

Dead Sea Discoveries 19.2 (2012)    [Forthcoming]

Treatments of language use at Qumran have tended to marginalize the evidence for Greek language use among the... more Treatments of language use at Qumran have tended to marginalize the evidence for Greek language use among the Covenanters, on the basis of the observation that far more of the surviving texts are written in Hebrew or Aramaic. This paper examines the meager evidence for Greek use at the site – including the sole Greek documentary text, 4Q350, recently published epigraphic evidence, and the enigmatic Greek letters of the Copper Scroll (3Q15) – in an attempt to recognize the importance of Greek for everyday intramural business and for maintaining economic contact with exterior communities. Manuscript and epigraphic survivals demonstrate that the Covenanters’ use of Greek can be characterized as primarily occurring in the context of day-to-day economic transactions, business, and trade. The evidence suggests that, like the Bar Kokhba rebels, the Covenanters attempted to “purify” their discourse and way of life, but economic realities nevertheless encouraged periodic communication in the Greek language.

Keywords: Palestinian Greek, 4Q350, Qumran epigraphy, Copper Scroll, ancient sociolinguistics

The Early History of Qumran's Messianic Expectations

by Geza Xeravits

The Polemic Regarding Skin Disease in 4QMMT

by Yitzhaq Feder

Dead Sea Discoveries 19 (2012), 55-70

"What Do the Nations Have To Do With 'All Israel'? A Fresh Look at Romans 11:25-26"

by Jason Staples

Journal of Biblical Literature 130.2 (2011): 371–90

Paper available here: Paper available here: http://www.jasonstaples.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Staples-All-Israel-JBL.pdf

‘The Book of the Words of [Insert Name Here]’: On the Literary Convention of the Incipit as a Pseudepigraphic Mechanism in the Aramaic Scrolls

by Andrew Perrin

Read at the McMaster-Toronto 2012 Scrollery Colloquium; also at the 'Lost Texts' Graduate Conference at the Jewish Theological Seminary, New York.

It is widely recognized that the authors of the Aramaic Dead Sea Scrolls typically shrouded their tales in... more It is widely recognized that the authors of the Aramaic Dead Sea Scrolls typically shrouded their tales in pseudepigraphic garb and exhibited a perennial interest in the production and transmission of ancestral booklore. The present study explores the literary convention of the incipit in light of these wider concerns. Throughout the Aramaic Scrolls incipits introduce entire compositions as well as putative ‘texts’ within narratives. Comparative philological analysis of this literary convention reveals that the incipits of the Aramaic Scrolls feature strikingly similar literary-linguistic idioms. However, it is equally apparent that that these seeming common elements were uniquely patterned by individual authors to achieve various levels of pseudepigraphic authority for their ‘new’ works. It is suggested that the commonalities in this literary convention should inform how we conceive of the scribal milieu(s) from which the Aramaic Scrolls emerged. In light of these findings, the article concludes with a revised proposal of the literary function of the title “A Copy of the Writing of the Words of Noah” in 1QapGen 5:29.

"See My Hands and My Feet: Fresh Light on a Johannine Midrash"

by Jeffrey Garcia

John, Jesus, and History, Volume 2: Aspects of Historicity in the Fourth Gospel (Early Christianity and Its Literature; Atlanta: SBL, 2009)

God(s), Angels and Demons in the Dead Sea Scrolls

by Hanne von Weissenberg

Forthcoming in the T&T Clark Companion to the Dead Sea Scrolls. Edited by George J. Brooke and Charlotte Hempel. T&T Clark.

4QMMT

by Hanne von Weissenberg

Forthcoming in the T&T Clark Companion to the Dead Sea Scrolls. Edited by George J. Brooke and Charlotte Hempel. T&T Clark.

Maskil, Community, and Religious Experience in the Songs of the Sage (4Q510–511)

by Joseph Angel

Published in Dead Sea Discoveries 19.1 (2012): 1-27.

Meaning and History of Hebrew בדן

by Noam Mizrahi

Published in JAOS 130.4 (2011) 541-549

The Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice and Biblical Priestly Literature

by Noam Mizrahi

Published in HTR 104.1 (2011) 33-58

Review of FS Qimron (in Hebrew)

by Noam Mizrahi

Published in Shnaton 20 (2010) 283-300

The Language of the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice Compared to Hekhalot Literature (in Hebrew)

by Noam Mizrahi

Published in Meghillot 7 (2009) 263-298

David's Compositions in 11QPs-a and the Semantics of נצח (in Hebrew)

by Noam Mizrahi

Published in Language 11-12 (2009) 199-212