Introduction Peter Flint in Memoriam

Ananda Geyser-Fouché and John J. Collins

Peter William Flint passed away prematurely on November 3, 2016, at the age of 65 years. At the time, a Festschrift in his honor was in preparation. It ap- peared as a memorial volume in 2017.1 Twenty-eight friends and colleagues contributed to that Festschrift, but his native South Africa was not represent- ed in the volume. The initiative for a second memorial volume to which his South African colleagues could contribute came from Ananda Geyser-Fouché of the University of Pretoria, but it was felt that this too should be an interna- tional venture. John J. Collins of Yale, who, as Director of Graduate Studies in Theology had welcomed Peter to Notre Dame when he first arrived in the US agreed to help organize and edit the volume. Without Collins’ expertise and extensive experience as well as his liaising with prospective contributors, the project might never have become a reality. It is a measure of the affection and esteem in which Peter was held that several scholars who had written for the first memorial volume gladly agreed to write again in his honor. In a relatively short career, Peter made several important contributions to the field, many of them in collaboration with other scholars.2 His disserta- tion on the Psalms Scroll stands as the most authoritative treatment of that scroll to date.3 Among his collaborative ventures, three especially stand out: the translation of The , with and Eugene Ulrich,4 an introduction to the Dead Sea Scrolls with James VanderKam,5 and his edition of the Isaiah Scrolls with Eugene Ulrich.6 On a more modest level,

1 Andrew B. Perrin, Kyung S. Baek, and Daniel K. Falk, Reading the Bible in Ancient Traditions and Modern Editions. Studies in Memory of Peter W. Flint. Early Judaism and its Literature 47 (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2017). 2 A fuller account of his career can be found in the first memorial volume. 3 The Dead Sea Psalms Scrolls and the Book of Psalms. STDJ 17 (Leiden: Brill, 1997). 4 The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible. The Oldest Known Bible, translated for the first time into English, by Martin Abegg, Jr., Peter Flint, and Eugene Ulrich (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1999). 5 James VanderKam and Peter Flint, The Meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Their Significance for Understanding the Bible, Judaism, Jesus, and Christianity (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 2002). Flint also published his own book on the Scrolls: The Dead Sea Scrolls (Nashville: Abingdon, 2013). 6 Eugene Ulrich and Peter W. Flint, with a contribution by Martin G. Abegg, Jr., Cave 1. II. The Isaiah Scrolls. DJD XXXII (Oxford: Clarendon, 2010).

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2019 | doi:10.1163/9789004410732_002 2 Introduction he collaborated with John J. Collins to edit the “Pseudo-Daniel” Aramaic manu- scripts (4Q243–5).7 It was as an editor, however, that Peter was most prolific. He was co-editor of no fewer than three series on the Dead Sea Scrolls for Eerdmans and Brill, and of a series on “The Formation and Interpretation of Old Testament Literature” (a sub-series of Vetus Testamentum Supplements) for Brill. Perhaps his major editorial accomplishment was the two-volume collection The Dead Sea Scrolls after Fifty Years. A Comprehensive Assessment, with James VanderKam.8 Peter’s contribution to the study of the Dead Sea Scrolls was not limited to his publications. Together with Craig Evans and Martin Abegg, he built up the Dead Sea Scrolls Institute at Trinity Western University, where many young scholars took their first steps in the field. He was a universally popular lecturer and propagandist for the Scrolls. Peter’s contributions were recognized by his appointment to the prestigious Canada Research Chair in 2004, scarcely more than a decade after he had re- ceived his Ph.D. Peter’s passion and enthusiasm for the Scrolls were well known. He was always keen to encourage the next generation to study the Scrolls. When he learnt South African scholars were taking an interest in the Scrolls and that Qumran conferences were being held in South Africa, he was overjoyed and willing to assist wherever he could. Peter never forgot his roots; he treasured South Africa and regularly invited South African scholars to lecture at Trinity Western. There he received them with his characteristic warmth and hospital- ity. Peter will be remembered by everyone for his congeniality and his enthusi- asm for life in general, but especially for the Scrolls. This volume contains 17 essays, most of which deal with the interrelated subjects of text, canon, and scribal practice. In Part 1, the volume is introduced by Peter’s Doktorvater and frequent col- laborator, Eugene Ulrich, with an overview of the Qumran evidence for the text and canon of the Bible. The essays grouped together as text-critical studies (Part 2) are of different kinds. Gert Prinsloo focuses on what we can and cannot learn from Habakkuk about the history of the biblical text. Gideon Kotzé offers a detailed text-critical examination of a Hebrew term in Numbers 4. Herrie van Rooy reviews the Ezekiel manuscripts from Qumran. James Nati goes beyond the

7 “Pseudo-Daniel,” in Qumran Cave 4. XVII. Parabiblical Texts, Part 3. DJD XXII (Oxford: Clarendon, 1996), 95–164. 8 Peter W. Flint and James C. VanderKam, ed., The Dead Sea Scrolls after Fifty Years. A Comprehensive Assessment. 2 vols. (Leiden: Brill, 1998–99).