Pesharim (Companion to the Qumran Scrolls)

115 Pages·2002·4.57 MB·English

by  Timothy H. Lim

PESHARIM
Timothy H. Lim
EFFIELD ACADEMIC PRESS
SH A Continuum imprint
LONDON • NEW YORK
Copyright © 2002 Sheffield Academic Press
A Continuum imprint
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British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Typeset by Sheffield Academic Press
Printed on acid-free paper in Great Britain by MPG Books, Bodmin, Cornwall
ISBN 1-84127-325-2 (hardback)
1-84127-273-6 (paperback)
To Laura
'Yet with all this beauty, there is much wisdom in her'
Genesis Apocryphon 20.7

Contents
Preface ix
Abbreviations x
Editions, Translations and Bibliographies 1
1. Introduction 7
1. The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Qumran Scrolls 7
2. The Essenes and the Qumran Community 9
3. The Study of the Scrolls and Confessionalism 11
4. A Community of Study 12
5. The Pesharim 13
6. Types of Pesharim 14
7. Pesherite Biblical Quotations 15
8. Editing Scrolls 19
9. Dating the Pesharim 20
10. Bibliographical Note 22
2. The Continuous Pesharim 24
1. Diversity of Exegeses in the Pesharim 27
2. Common and Distinctive Features 40
3. The Genre of Pesher: Definition and Categorization 44
1. The Thematic Pesharim 46
2. Midrash 48
3. Midrash Eschatology 51
4. Pesher as a Distinct Genre 52
4. Biblical Quotations in the Pesharim 54
1. On Identifying Exegetical Variants 57
2. Textual Nature of Biblical Quotations Found
in the Pesharim 62
5. History in the Pesharim 64
1. Sobriquets and Titles 65
2. 1Q Hodayot as a Source for the Pesharim 78
3. Imitating the Prophetic Style 79
6. Pesher and the New Testament 81
1. Common Sectarian Matrix 83
viii Pesharim
Bibliography 86
Index of References 98
Index of Authors 105
Preface
While standing together in a queue in Cambridge during the 1995 Inter­
national Organization for Qumran Studies, I suggested to Philip Davies that
it would be useful to have a series of textbooks along the lines of the Old
Testament Guides that were intended for senior undergraduates and graduate
students. Having benefited from some of the best of the OT guides in
teaching Hebrew and Old Testament classes in Edinburgh over the years, I
felt that the study of the Qumran scrolls was not well served. I had searched
in vain for one or more textbooks that would accompany my honours course
on the Dead Sea Scrolls and Christian Origins. Little did I know that this
suggestion would lead to an invitation to write one of the volumes.
What I have attempted to do in this book is to write for students with
varying backgrounds. Some will have had several years of biblical studies,
either of the Hebrew Bible alone or also of the New Testament, alongside
intensive language study in biblical Hebrew, Aramaic and/or New Testament
Greek, while others would come to it with minimum acquaintance or a
survey course. I begin with a general orientation to the scrolls and the
pesharim before pursuing important topics in subsequent chapters. I have
written the book in a way that provides an introduction for the student and
advances the scholarly discussion on the pesharim.
Many thanks to Philip Davies, the general editor of the Companion series,
not only for the invitation to contribute, but also for his patience in waiting
for the completion of the volume. The delay has meant that I have been able
to incorporate several of the texts recently published and edited, and to
benefit from important studies by colleagues. The bibliography evidences the
centrality of the pesharim in Qumran scholarship. Along the way, I have
taken positions on a number of issues, but I have attempted to be fair to my
intellectual sparring partners by directing the readers' attention to the
relevant publications. It is hoped that by laying out scholarly disagreements
students will be led into a deeper engagement with the scrolls and begin to
formulate their own views.
I have had the encouragement and support of my immediate and several
extended family members. My son and daughter, Jonathan and Alison, are a
constant source of joy for their father who marvels at the wonders of their
imagination. This book is dedicated to my beloved wife Laura.
Abbreviations
ABD David Noel Freedman (ed.), The Anchor Bible Dictionary (New
York: Doubleday, 1992)
BA Biblical Archaeologist
BARe-o Biblical Archaeology Review
BHS Biblia hebraica stuttgartensia
BO Bibliotheca orientahs
DJD Discoveries in the Judaean Desert
DSD Dead Sea Discoveries
EDSS L.H. Schiffmann and J.C. Vanderkam, Encyclopedia of the Dead
Sea Scrolls (2 vols.; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000)
EI Eretz Israel
IDB George Arthur Buttrick (ed.), The Interpreter's Dictionary of the
Bible (4 vols.; Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1962)
IDBSup IDB, Supplementary Volume
IE] Israel Exploration Journal
JBL Journal of Biblical Literature
JJS Journal of Jewish Studies
JNES Journal of Near Eastern Studies
JQR Jewish Quarterly Review
JSJ Journal for the Study ofJudaism in the Persian, Hellenistic and
Roman Period
JSS Journal of Semitic Studies
MQC J. Trebolle Barrera and L. Vegas Montaner (eds.), The Madrid
Qumran Congress: Proceedings of the International Congress of the
Dead Sea Scrolls, Madrid, 18-21 March 1991 (Leiden: E.J. Brill,
1992)
NTS New Testament Studies
OTS Oudtestamentische Studien
PAM Palestine Archaeological Museum (photographic plate number)
RevQ Revue de Qumran
SR Studies in Religion/Sciences rehgieuses
TZ Theologische Zeitschrift
VT Vetus Testamentum
VTSup Vetus Testamentum, Supplements
WUNT Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament
ZNW Zeitschrift fur die neutestamentliche Wissenschafi
Editions, Translations and Bibliographies
Editions of the Pesharim and Related Texts
Continuous Pesharim
4QpesherIsaiaha (4Q161)
Allegro, J.M. and A.A. Anderson
1968 Qumran Cave 4.1 (4Q158-4Q186) (DJD, 5; Oxford: Clarendon Press):
11-15, pis. IV-V.
1956 'Further Messianic References in Qumran Literature*, JBL 75: 177-82,
pis. II and III.
Horgan, M.P.
1979 Pesharim: Qumran Interpretations of Biblical Books (Washington:
Catholic Biblical Association of America): 70-86; texts: 15-19.
Strugnell, J.
1969-71 'Notes en marge du volume V des Discoveries in the Judaean Desert of
Jordan', tfeyQ 7: 183-86.
4QpesherIsaiahb (4Q162)
Allegro and Anderson (1968: 15-17, pi. VI).
Horgan (1979: 86-93, texts: 19-20).
Strugnell (1969-71: 186-88).
4QpesherIsaiahc (4Q163)
Allegro and Anderson (1968: 15-17, pi. VI).
Horgan (1979: 86-93, texts: 19-20).
Strugnell (1969-71: 188-95).
4QpesherIsaiahd (4Q164)
Allegro and Anderson (1968: 15-17, pi. VI).
Horgan (1979: 86-93, texts: 19-20).
Strugnell (1969-71: 195-96).
4QpesherIsaiahe (4Q165)
Allegro and Anderson (1968: 15-17, pi. VI).
Horgan (1979: 86-93, texts: 19-20).
Strugnell (1969-71: 197-99).
4QpesherHoseaa (4Q166)
Allegro and Anderson (1968: 15-17, pi. VI).
Horgan (1979: 86-93, texts: 19-20).
Strugnell (1969-71: 199-201).