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ПЕТЕРБУРГСКОЕ ВОСТОКОВЕДЕНИЕ St.Petersburg Journal Of Центр "Петербургское Востоковедение” St.Petersburg Centre for Oriental Studies ПЕТЕРБУРГСКОЕ ВОСТОКОВЕДЕНИЕ St.Petersburg Journal of Oriental Studies выпуск 6 volume 6 Центр "Петербургское Востоковедение" Санкт-Петербург 1994 - 221 - Orientalia: статьи и исследования The Reflection of the Political Situation in Judaea in 88 B.C.E. in the Qumran Commentary on Nahum (4QpNah, Columns 1—4) Igor R. Tantlevskij (St. Petersburg Institute of Oriental Studies) The Qumran Commentary on the prophet Nahum1 is the only Qum­ ran Essene composition hitherto discovered, in which, apart from other con­ ventionally designated persons and groups, there are two real names of the Hellenistic historic characters to be found in a more or less coherent histori­ cal context2, videlicet the "Kings of Greece (Yawan [JV]; lit. Ionia)" (/. e. the Seleucids) Antiochus (4QpNah 1:3; it is likely to refer to Antiochus III the Great3) and Demetrius. Of the latter one it is said in 4QpNah 1:2 that "he sought to enter Jerusalem on the counsel of the expounders of smooth things (mpVnn T i n nxya)". In this passage, most of the scholars perceive an allusion to the Pharisees (= mpVnrt ,ttm*T), who assumed leadership of the insurrection against the Judaean king Alexander Jannaeus (103— 76 B.C.E) in 94/93— 88 and invited the Syrian king Demetrius III Eucaerus (95—88/87 B.C.E.) to help4. (See: Josephus, The Jewish War, I, 92; idem, Jewish Antiquities, XIII, 376). based upon this, it is believed that in the text of the first column and in the first line of the second column of the Com­ mentary on Nahum there are some circumstances of the mentioned rebellion attested5. With the text of columns 2 (first line excluded)—4, there are re­ flected, according to a widely adopted opinion originally suggested by J. D. Amusin, D. Flusser and Y. Yadin, the events that took place during the reign of the queen Alexandra Salome (76—67 b.C.E), Jannaeus' widow6. At the same time, the year 63 B.C.E., when Judaea was captured by Pompey the Great, is considered by the hypothesis' advocates as the terminus post quern of the Commentary's composition. Note also A. Dupont-Sommer's assump­ tion that in 4QpNah 2 :2— 4:9 certain events of the reign of Salome's sons, Aristobulus II and Hyrcanus II, particularly collisions of their internecine war, are depicted7 (60—50 b.C.E.)8. In the following, we shall try to show that the Commentary on Na­ hum could be compiled only in 88 B.c.E. (and, consequently, is the sole Qumran composition hitherto discovered which can be dated to within a year), and that in its text, in all of the four columns, the situation was re­ flected which had emerged in Judaea in the very same year as a result of the Петербургское востоковедение, вып. б - 222 - Orientalia: статьи и исследования defeat inflicted by Demetrius III on Alexander Jannaeus' troops near Shechem' (located some 2 km east of present Nablus in the valley between Ebal and Gerizim Mountains). In the opinion of the overwhelming majority of researchers, the king Alexander has been mentioned twice in the text of 4QpNah 1:4— 8 condi­ tionally designated as "the Furious Young Lion"9. (See also 4QpHosb (The Commentary on Hosea) fr. 2 , 2—3). This passage reads as follows: «"The lion (’IK) tears enough for its cubs (and) it chokes prey for its lioness (Nahum 2:13a)... [Its interpretation concerns] the Furious (or: the "Fierce". — I. T.) Young Lion (pinn TSD) who strikes (ЛЭ’; or: "beats", "defeats". — I. T.) his great men and the men of his council... ["And it fills] its cave [with prey] and its den with torn flesh" (Nahum 2:13b). Its interpretation concerns the Furious Young Lion [who has executed (or: "executes") reve]nge (ma[p3]) on the expounders of smooth things and who hangs (nVn1’) men alive [on the tree(s), as this is the law] in Israel as of old (D^D^tt VxWS [m inn ГПТ ’D yvn Vv])10 (or: "[...a thing done] long since in Israel (OnsVa Vinuro [ p nurj?’ ПУХ...]). —I. T.)...» This passage of 4QpNah is usually correlated with Josephus Flavius’ account of "basphemy" committed by Alexander Jannaeus (= Furious Young Lion in 4QpNah 1:5—6) towards the end of the civil war, in 88 b.C.E., when, "boozing" in Jerusalem "in a conspicuous place with his concubines, he ordered that some eight hundred (of "the most powerful" rebels, i. e. apparently the Pharisees for the most part, who, prior to the uprising, had occupied high posts in the state and had a majority in the Sanhedrin (= "the expounders of smooth things", "great men", "men of the council" in 4QpNah 1:2—8). — I. T.) be crucified (dvaaxaupcoaa), and, while they were still alive, killed their wives and children before their very eyes" (Josephus, Antiquities, XIII, 380 (see also XIII, 381—383); idem, War, I, 97, 113). It was the most savagely cruel and over-sophisticated "complex" execution Jannaeus had ever subjected insur­ gents to (cf.: Josephus, Antiquities, XII, 256(!)), but probably by no means the only case of the death penalty by crucifiction (or simply "hanging men alive") during the 94/93— 88 uprising, in the course of the suppression of which (according to the "War" (I, 91) and "Antiquities" (XIII, 376) texts) no less than 50,000 Jews were killed by the Judaean king and high-priest. (cf 4QpNah 1:7: "...The Furious Young Lion... hangs (лЬгР; here, the im- perfectum presupposes a repeated (or usual, habitual) action. — I. T.) men alive [on the trees...]"). Note, in the context of this assumption, that, judg­ ing from 4QpNah 1:7—8, the law of crucifiction of state criminals (and particularly traitors who had communicated to foreigners) was not specifi- ’ We first expressed this idea in our lecture delivered at the University of Moscow in Jan. 1989. (See also: NAA 1 (1990), p. 161). - 223 - Igor R Tantlevskij. The Reflection of the Political Situation in Judaea cally Qumranic (cf. 11QT 64:6—13; cf. also Deuteronomy 21:22—33) but state. (cf. e. g. E z r a 6:11, 4QAhA = 4QTESTLEVid, fir. 24, i—ii, 4— 6, the Testaments of Levi 4:4 (Greek, Armenian, and Slavonic versions) and B enjam in 9:2—5, the Wisdom of Solomon 2:12—20; Bereshit Rab- ba 65:22; M. Sanhedrin, VI, 4, J. T. Hagigah, 77d—78a, J. T. Sanhedrin, 23c, Sifre Devarim 21:22; cf. also John 18:31—32, 19:7, 15— 16. Note also that in Republican Rome the death sentence by crucifiction was pro­ nounced even on the Roman citizens who had taken an enemy's part in war). Special attention should be given to the verbs rDH ("to strike", "to beat", "to defeat") and nVn ("to hang") used in the above text of 4Q pNah 1:4— 8 in the ijnperfect that serves here to denote repeated actions (begun in the past and still occuring in the period when the Commentary was being compiled). Since the agent in this passage is the Furious Young Lion, it may be said that this character was alive at the time of the composi­ tion of the Commentary on Nahum. (cf. also 4QpHosb fr. 2, 3). We think that this assumption is favoured also by the fact that the author of the text substituted in his "interpretation" of Nahum 2:13 the term TDD ("young lion") for the word ’“IN ("lion") used here as if striving to stress the cruel hero being young. Hardly would it have been appropriate to do so, had the Commentary on Nahum been composed on the person's death, ex hypothesi that of Alexander Jannaeus who died in 76 b.C.E. at the age of 49. As to the frightening image itself, it seems to have emerged under the influence of E z e k ie l 19, where the word TDD ("young lion") is used to denote young bloodthirsty and impious Judaean kings of the pre-Captivity period — Je- hoahaz (608 B.C.E.) who died at the age of 23, and Jehoiakim (608— 598 B.C.E.) who passed away at the age of 25. We now turn to the next text of the commentary (4QpNah 1:8— 2:1) which reads about the Furious Young Lion as follows: «"Behold I am against [you says the Lord of Hosts. I will bum up] your [multitude in smoke], and the sword shall devour your young lions. I will cut [off from the land the p]reying on others. And [the voice of your messengers] shall no [more be heard"]» (Nahum 2:14). Its [interpretation is: "your multitude" — they are the bands of his (sc. of the Furious Young Lion. — I. T.) army OV’n ’Tm ), tha[t he has lost in Sheche]m (D[DW2 m ax TP]X (?)); and "his young lions"— they are his great men ("nobles"), [...]and "his prey" — it is the wealth which the [Prie]sts of Jerusalem have amas[sed], which they [have gi]ven away [...It is through the fault of E]phraim (i. e. probably the Pharisees, since the designation "Ephraim" has been used in the Commentary as a synonym of "the expounders of smooth things". — I. T.) that Israel shall be delivered [in the hand of foreigners]... And "his messengers" — they are his envoys whose voice shall no more be heard - 224 - Orientalia: статьи и исследования among the nations». It seems plausible to suppose that the commentator has hinted, in the given text, at the shattering defeat which the Syrian king De­ metrius III inficted in 88 B.C.E.
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