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The Literary Development of Psalm 151: a New Look at the Septuagint Version

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The Literary Development of Psalm 151: a New Look at the Septuagint Version The Literary Development of Psalm 151: A New Look at the Septuagint Version Michael Segal For many years, Psalm 151 was only known from the Septuagint and Vulgate versions of the book of Psalms, as well as from a Syriac collection of apocryphal psalms from the 10th century.1 Until the Dead Sea discoveries, scholars still debated whether these texts were translations of an original Hebrew Vorlage. However, this discussion was put to rest in 1963 when James Sanders published a preliminary edition of the psalm as preserved in the Psalms Scroll from Cave 11.2 The final column of that scroll, Column XXVIII, contains most of Psalm 134 (lines 1-2), followed by two separate psalms, the first (lines 3-12) similar, yet not identical to the presumed Hebrew Vorlage of vv. 1-5 of the Septuagint version of Psalm 151. Lines 13- 14 contain a new psalm, delineated by an open paragraph (:inino :,wio) at • This paper was first presented at the Thirteenth World Congress of Jewish Studies, Jerusalem, 2001. I would like to thank Prof. Alexander Rofe and Dr. Baruch Schwartz for their insightful comments on earlier versions of this study. 1 See the discussions of scholars in the following studies (in chronological order): H. H. Spoer, "Psalm 151," ZAW 28 (1908) 65-67; M. Noth, "Die fiinf syrisch iiberlieferten apocryphen Psalmen," ZAW 48 (1930) 1-23; J. Strugnell, "Notes on the Text and Transmission of the Apocryphal Psalms 151, 154 (=Syr. II) and 155 (=Syr. III)," HTR 59 (1966) 258-272; W. Baars (ed.), "Apocryphal Psalms," in The Old Testament in Syriac according to the Peshitta Version edited by the Peshitta Institute, Part IV, fascicle 6 (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1972) i-ix, 1-4; J. Magne, "Les textes grec et syriaque du Psaume 151," RevQ 8 (1975) 548-564; idem, "Le verset des trois pierres clans le tradition du Psaume 151," RevQ 8 (1975) 565-591; P. W. Skehan," Again the Syriac Apocryphal Psalms," CBQ 38 (1976) 143-158; D. N. Wigtil, "The Sequence of the Translations of the Apocryphal Psalm 151," RevQ 11 (1983) 401-407. 2 J. A. Sanders, "Psalm 151 in 11QPss," ZAW75 (1963) 73-86. The editio princeps of the psalm was published two years later in idem, The Psalms Scroll of Qumran Cave 11 (11QPs•) (DJD IV; Oxford: Clarendon, 1965) 54-64. [Textus 21 (2002) 139-158] 140 Michael Segal the end of line 12. The material preserved in these lines is fragmentary, but almost certainly describes David's battle with Goliath. From the perspective of content, this second psalm parallels the second part of LXX Psalm 151, vv. 6-7, which also describes this encounter. Thus Sanders labeled the two 'passages in llQPsa as Psalms 151 A and B. As is evident from the comparison of Psalm 151A and LXX Psalm 151:1-5 provided below, the LXX version of the psalm is significantly shorter than the Qumran text. Such large-scale differences should not be viewed as the product of negligent textual transmission by copyists, but rather as textual evidence for the literary development of this psalm. 3 As will be argued, each version of the poem represents a distinct edition of this short composition, and each therefore needs to be investigated independently before they can be compared to each other. 11QPsa 151A4 LXX Psalm 151 :,,,,,:-r 3 1O0TOS' 6 ljloAµos- •w• y:i ,,,,, io1oypocj>os- eis- lwui/5 KOi esw8ev TOU cxp18µou· OTE EµovoµO:XTJOEV T~ roAIO0. •nN Jr.) 'l1"l1 Jt,p M1Kpos- ~µT]V EV TOIS' o:15EAcj>OIS' µou •:JN 'l:JI'.) i•ni KOi VEWTEPOS' EV T~ o'iKc,,J TOU TTOTpos- µou · ml? mn, 4 'll'.)'1V'i ETTOtµaivov TCX rrpol30Ta TOU TTOTPOS' µou · i•m•il:i ,w,1'.), :im, iwl.l •i• 2oi xe'ipes- µou ETTOIT]OOV opyovov 113:J 'l1il.l:JlNi oi 00:KTUAOI µou npµooov ljlaATT]plOV. ii:i:J 'l1? :,1'.)•lVNi 5 3 E. Tov, Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible (2nd ed.; Minneapolis and Assen: Fortress and Royal van Gorcum, 2001) 313-350, provides an important introduction to the theoretical principles underlying the interrelationship of textual and literary criticisms, as well as specific examples of biblical compositions in which this phenomenon is attested. 4 The text of the psalm follows the suggested reading of P. Auffret, "Structure litteraire et interpretation du Psaume 151," RevQ 9 (1977) 163-188, and later adopted by D. Amara, "Psalm 151 from Qumran and its Relation to Psalm 151 LXX," Textus 19 (1998) 1*-35* (Heb.). The numbers within the llQPs• version represent the line numbers in col. XXVIII; the numbers in the LXX version delineate the verses. .
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