The Great Psalms Scroll, also referred to as 11Q5, is the most substantial and well preserved manuscript of Psalms of the thirty-seven discovered among the Dead Sea Scrolls in the Qumran caves. It is one of six Psalms manuscripts discovered in Cave 11. [2]
The scroll was discovered in February of the year 1956, ten years after the initial discovery of the scrolls. It was purchased by The Palestine Archaeological Museum located in Jerusalem and first unrolled in November 1961. Four fragments of this scroll were later purchased by the same museum. The scroll's physical make up is that of dark yellow animal hide and is a little less than 1 mm thick. [4] The primary body of the manuscript consists of “5 sheets of leather, still sewn together”, and is 4.253 meters in length. [5] It is estimated to have been copied anywhere from 30-50 AD, and is written in Biblical style Hebrew. [5] [6] When rolled out, it forms a slight arc, and the top part is clean and well kept, while the bottom is decomposing significantly. [4] It was first edited and published by James A. Sanders in 1965, with a second volume also published by Sanders two years later with a wider and more general audience in mind. [6] The full scroll is published in the Leon Levy Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Library.
The reason this manuscript is of such great interest to scholars is due to its major deviance from the Masoretic Psalter. Its textual makeup is that of “apocryphal compositions interspersed with canonical psalms in a radically different order”. [7] It contains approximately fifty compositions, forty of which are found in the Masoretic text. [5] While some maintain the masoretic order, such as some of the Psalms of Ascent, others are scattered throughout in a different order. [5]
11Q5 has generated a lot of interest in scholars due to its large difference from the Masoretic Psalter, “both in ordering of contents and in the presence of additional compositions”. [6] It contains several compositions that are not present in the Masoretic Psalter of 150 hymns and prayers and therefore, “challenges traditional ideas concerning the shape and finalization of the book of Psalms.” [6] There are eight non-Masoretic compositions with an additional prose composition that is not formatted like a psalm. Three highlighted compositions include “The Apostrophe to Zion”, “Plea for Deliverance”, and Psalm 151; [4] in addition, the prose composition is researched to be known as “David’s Compositions”. [8] While these are non-Masoretic, one of them, Psalm 151, was known in the Septuagint.
The Apostrophe to Zion, written as a love poem to Zion, is one of two non-Masoretic compositions that are complete in the Great Psalm Scroll. It has the “same style as three biblical apostrophes in Isaiah 54:1-8, 60:1-22, 62:1-8” and another copy of this composition can be found in 4Q88. [9]
The Plea for Deliverance, found in column 19, was a psalm unknown before the discovery of 11Q5, where neither the beginning nor the end of the poem can be found, except some twelve lines of the same psalm found in 11Q6. It is a prayer for deliverance from sin and Satan, giving thanks for experiences in the past while using biblical vocabulary, style, and form. Scholars have found it very difficult to date this psalm. [9]
The traditional Hebrew Bible and the Book of Psalms contains 150 psalms, but Psalm 151 is found both in The Great Psalms Scroll and the Septuagint, as both end with this psalm. Scholars have found it fascinating having both the Greek and Hebrew translation of this psalm, helping to understand the different techniques of the different translators. However, the Septuagint version is short and scarce with only one composition of 7 verses, whereas 11Q5 has two compositions. Psalm 151A and 151B (Hebrew) and 151 (Greek) are the only psalms considered to be autobiographical in terms of relating to events in David's life. [11] The version of Psalm 151, discovered at Qumran, adopts a more biographical tone, giving it the sound of a hymn associated with the figure of David.
The additional prose composition is also known as David's Compositions. It references many Psalms associated with David, including 364 songs for each day of the year, conforming to calendars found in distinctively sectarian texts among the Dead Sea Scrolls. These songs were hymns attributed to King David, praising him for composing the Psalms, classifying the hymns and prayers he wrote. According to this list, David composed 3,600 psalms, 364 songs to be performed each day of the year during regular sacrifices, another 52 songs for the weekly Sabbath sacrifice, 30 songs for sacrifices of annual festivals and the new moon, and 4 songs for the sick. [8] Therefore, 11Q5 concludes with the bold statement that David was an avid sage and hymnist, crafting upwards of 4,050 psalms.
There are many theories as to the function and status of the 11Q5 scroll at Qumran. In that it varies so much from the Masoretic Psalter, the general consensus seems to be that the Psalter canon had not been entirely fixed at this point and that this manuscript was part of a more "living corpus". [12] However, various theories, including those of James A. Sanders, M. H. Goshen-Gottstein, Patrick Skehan and Peter Flint, argue for different purposes or functions of the scroll.
James Sanders proposed that this manuscript contained an arrangement created prior to the fixation of the Masoretic Psalter of 150 Psalms. [6] He thought that the first half of the Masoretic Psalter, Psalm 1-89, had been finalized but that the second half, while still considered canonical at Qumran, was quite fluid. [6] In contrast, M. H. Goshen-Gottstein proposed that the scroll is a secondary liturgical collection based on the already standardized Masoretic Psalter. [6] Patrick W. Skehan also argued that it is a secondary collection grouped for liturgical purposes. [6] Peter Flint suggested that the scroll is a collection of 52 psalms, in correlation with the 52 weeks of the solar calendar, with 4 extra pieces arguing David's authorship. [6]
Due to the large number of Psalms scrolls found at Qumran and the references to the Psalms in other sectarian works, there is formal and functional evidence suggesting that the Psalms were viewed as scripture by the Qumran community [6] [12] and that the strong Davidic emphasis in this particular scroll correlates with the community's messianic hopes and expectations.
The Book of Psalms, also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the Ketuvim ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived from the Greek translation, ψαλμοί, meaning "instrumental music" and, by extension, "the words accompanying the music". The book is an anthology of individual Hebrew religious hymns, with 150 in the Jewish and Western Christian tradition and more in the Eastern Christian churches. Many are linked to the name of David, but modern mainstream scholarship rejects his authorship, instead attributing the composition of the psalms to various authors writing between the 9th and 5th centuries BC. In the Quran, the Arabic word ‘Zabur’ is used for the Psalms of David in the Hebrew Bible.
The Septuagint, sometimes referred to as the Greek Old Testament or The Translation of the Seventy, and often abbreviated as LXX, is the earliest extant Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible from the original Hebrew. The full Greek title derives from the story recorded in the Letter of Aristeas to Philocrates that "the laws of the Jews" were translated into the Greek language at the request of Ptolemy II Philadelphus by seventy-two Jewish translators—six from each of the Twelve Tribes of Israel.
The Dead Sea Scrolls are ancient Jewish and Hebrew religious manuscripts discovered between 1946 and 1956 at the Qumran Caves in what was then Mandatory Palestine, near Ein Feshkha in the West Bank, on the northern shore of the Dead Sea. Dating from the 3rd century BCE to the 1st century CE, the Dead Sea Scrolls are considered to be a keystone in the history of archaeology with great historical, religious, and linguistic significance because they include the oldest surviving manuscripts of entire books later included in the biblical canons, along with deuterocanonical and extra-biblical manuscripts which preserve evidence of the diversity of religious thought in late Second Temple Judaism. At the same time they cast new light on the emergence of Christianity and of Rabbinic Judaism. Most of the scrolls are held by Israel in the Shrine of the Book at the Israel Museum, but their ownership is disputed by Jordan due to the Qumran Caves' history: following the End of the British Mandate for Palestine in 1947, Jordan occupied the area in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and Israel captured both the area and several Scrolls from Jordan in the 1967 Six Day War. However, some of the scrolls are still in Jordan and are now displayed at The Jordan Museum in Amman. Ownership of the scrolls is also contested by the State of Palestine.
Pesher, from the Hebrew root meaning "interpretation," is a group of interpretive commentaries on scripture. The pesharim commentaries became known from the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls. The pesharim give a theory of scriptural interpretation of a number of biblical texts from the Hebrew Bible, such as Habakkuk and Psalms.
Psalm 151 is a short psalm found in most copies of the Septuagint (LXX), but not in the Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Bible. The title given to this psalm in the Septuagint indicates that it is supernumerary, as no number is affixed to it. The psalm is ascribed to David. It is also included in some manuscripts of the Peshitta. The psalm concerns the story of David and Goliath.
Psalms 152 to 155 are additional Psalms found in two Syriac biblical manuscripts to date and several manuscripts of Elijah of Anbar's "Book of Discipline", first identified by the orientalist librarian Giuseppe Simone Assemani in 1759. Together with Psalm 151 they are also called the Five Apocryphal Psalms of David or the "Five Syriac Psalms".
Emanuel Tov, is a Dutch–Israeli biblical scholar and linguist, emeritus J. L. Magnes Professor of Bible Studies in the Department of Bible at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He has been intimately involved with the Dead Sea Scrolls for many decades, and from 1991, he was appointed Editor-in-Chief of the Dead Sea Scrolls Publication Project.
Psalm 145 is the 145th psalm of the Book of Psalms, generally known in English by its first verse, in the King James Version, "I will extol thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever". In Latin, it is known as "Exaltabo te Deus meus rex". It is the last psalm in the final Davidic collection of psalms, comprising Psalms 138 to 145, which are specifically attributed to David in their opening verses.
The Thanksgiving Scroll was one of the first seven Dead Sea Scrolls discovered in 1947 by the Bedouin. The scroll gets its name from the recurring use of the phrase "I thank you" in many of the poems. The Hebrew word Hodayot refers to "thanks" or "thanksgiving". Other names include Thanksgiving Hymns, Thanksgiving Psalms, Hymns Scroll and Scroll of Hymns.
4Q108 is a fragment containing a portion of the Song of Songs (3:7–8) in Hebrew. Fragments from three such scrolls were found in Cave 4 at Qumran. These, and 6Q6 from Cave 6, estimated from 2nd century BCE, comprise the total witness to the Song from the Dead Sea Scrolls, known so far.
Discoveries in the Judaean Desert (DJD) is the official 40-volume publication that serves as the editio princeps for the Dead Sea Scrolls. It is published by Oxford University Press.
"They have pierced my hands and my feet", or "They pierced my hands and my feet" is a phrase that occurs in some English translations of Psalm 22:16. The text of the Hebrew Bible is obscure at this point, and Jewish and some Christian commentators translate this line differently, although there is no evidence of a deliberate mistranslation.
The Isaiah Scroll, designated 1QIsaa and also known as the Great Isaiah Scroll, is one of the seven Dead Sea Scrolls that were first discovered by Bedouin shepherds in 1946 from Qumran Cave 1. The scroll is written in Hebrew and contains the entire Book of Isaiah from beginning to end, apart from a few small damaged portions. It is the oldest complete copy of the Book of Isaiah, being approximately 1000 years older than the oldest Hebrew manuscripts known before the scrolls' discovery. 1QIsaa is also notable in being the only scroll from the Qumran Caves to be preserved almost in its entirety.
The Samuel scroll is a collection of four manuscript fragments containing parts of the Book of Samuel which were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Habakkuk 3 is the third chapter of the Book of Habakkuk in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This book contains the prophecies attributed to the prophet Habakkuk, and is a part of the Book of the Twelve Minor Prophets. This chapter records "Habakkuk's song", a poetic psalm "extolling God's triumphs."
Jeremiah 17 is the seventeenth chapter of the Book of Jeremiah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This book contains prophecies attributed to the prophet Jeremiah, and is one of the Books of the Prophets. This chapter includes the third of the passages known as the "Confessions of Jeremiah".
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