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Psalms, Hymns and Prayers

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Psalms, Hymns and Prayers Chapter Thirteen Psalms, Hymns and Prayers David Flusser In the literary documents that are discussed in this volume, material of hymnic and liturgical nature is found scattered throughout. These psalms, hymns and prayers are the object of the present survey. The special interest they offer is that we can learn about various types of Jewish piety in the Second Temple period, including that of Hellenistic mystical circles, the Essenes and early synagogalliturgy. The question, however, is to what extent these texts reflect actual litur­ gical practice. The majority are prayers put into the mouths of biblical persons who figure in these apocryphal works and it is clear that at least in their present form the primary purpose was not liturgical. Rather, such prayers and hymns were composed by the authors as parts of their literary output. Even in the case of purely hymnic compositions such as the Thanksgiving Scroll from Qumran, it is unlikely that they once formed part of a liturgy and they may rather have been written for studying. However in other cases, e.g. the apocryphal psalms from Qumran and Psalm 151 in the Septuagint, it is very probable that they were written for recitation before a congregation. There are also prayers in the Dead Sea scrolls with clear indications when they were to be said. Thus there is a basic difference between hymns and prayers contained in the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha and many prayers from Qumran. While the first are literary compositions, at least some of the prayers and psalms from Qumran were actual liturgical texts. Even so, merely 'literary' prayers or hymns may often serve as witnesses for liturgical forms in Judaism, because they may imitate current liturgical patterns. We are thus confronted with a problem of presentation. When the emphasis is on certain types of prayer, we may collect material from the whole range of documents. However when we focus on the prayers and hymns as they are contained in the sources, we have to deal with a variety of genres in each document. Our method will shift between the two viewpoints, according to the interest of the material itself. Magnificat and Benedictus A good example of this complex situation is provided by the two hymns included in the Gospel of Luke, namely the Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55) 551 PSALMS, HYMNS AND PRAYERS and the Benedictus (Luke 1:68-79).1 The Magnificat is a hymn recited by Mary, or according to other texts by Elisabeth the mother of John the Baptist, and the Benedictus is the song of Zechariah, the father of John te Baptist. Both became part of Christian liturgy. In the 'Nativity Gospel' (Luke chapters 1-2) other poetical passages are incorporated as well,2 but many scholars believe that the Magnificat and the Benedictus are pre­ Lucan and that their origin is to be found in circles attached to John the Baptist. They may originally have been written in Hebrew and only later translated into Greek; one opinion is that they are an elaboration of two Maccabean Hebrew psalms. 3 Indeed, even in their present form they are an expression of Jewish national feeling. In the Magnificat nothing is ex­ plicitly said about the birth of a child, and in the Benedictus only the second part (Luke 1:76-79) hints at John the Baptist as a prophet who will prepare the way of the Lord. There are scholars who assume that this second part was added, and that the first part (Luke 1:68-75) may simply be an ancient Jewish psalm of salvation. In any case the beginning of the Benedictus ('Blessed be the God of Israel') resembles the synagogal benedictions: it begins with the same word 11'"\:J. (Blessed). Moreover, there are important parallels in prayers from Qumran:4 two prayers in the War Scroll (lQM 13:2 and 14:4) begin with the same word.5 The first part of the Benedictus is an important witness for the development of the Eighteen Benedictions. The Greek Additions to Esther and Daniel While some of the psalms, hymns and prayers in the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha were originally written in Hebrew (or in Aramaic), others were composed in Greek. Such is the case with the Prayers of Mordecai and Esther in the additions to the Greek Book of Esther.6 These prayers are a literary fiction. They were evidently composed, along with the other ad­ ditions to the book, in order to form an integral part of the Greek version. One of their aims was apologetical: since in the Hebrew Book of Esther 1 See especially Schiirmann, Lukasevangelium, 70-80, 84-94; Schneider, Lukas, 54-56, 59-60. 2 Luke I: 13-17, 30-33, 35, 46-55, 68-79; 2:14, 29-32. On the famous Gloria (Luke 2: 14) see Flusser, 'Sanktus und Gloria', where I show that Luke 2:13-14 follows an exegetical tradition similar to the Aramaic Targum oflsa 6:3 and that the passage depends on an ancient Kedusha. 3 See Winter, 'Magnificat and Benedictus'. 4 See IQS II: 15; IQM 13:2; 14:4, 8; 18:6; IQH 5:20; 10: 14; 11:27,29, 32; 16:8; and DJD I, p. 153, 34 bis 2, 3; 3 I, 7. 5 The beginning of the Benedictus, though very similar to 1 Sam 25:32, is not taken from there because there it is not a beginning of a prayer. See also Schiirmann, Lukasevangelium, 86 n. 28. It seems to me that there are striking similarities between the content of the Benedictus and Magnificat, and IQM 14:3-9 and IQM 18:6-8. On the Qumran background of the Magnificat and Benedictus see Flusser, 'The Magnificat'. 6 See especially Moore, Daniel, Esther and Jeremiah. 552 .
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