New Fragments from Qumran: 4Qgenf, 4Qisab, 4Q226, 8Qgen, and Xqpapenoch*

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NEW FRAGMENTS FROM QUMRAN: 4QGENF, 4QISAB, 4Q226, 8QGEN, AND XQPAPENOCH*

ESTHER ESHEL AND HANAN ESHEL Bar Ilan University

Scrolls research has benefited immeasurably from the decision of the Jordanian Department of Antiquities and of the Board of the Trustees of the Rockefeller Museum to concentrate the some 15,000 Cave 4 fragments at the Rockefeller Museum. Had these texts been scattered across the globe, the fate of Qumran research is difficult to imagine. Due recognition must also be given to the significant contribution by the eight scholars who came to Jerusalem soon after the discovery of Cave 4 and who took upon themselves the task of cleaning, identify- ing, and categorizing the numerous fragments. Of these scholars, it was John Strugnell who identified and joined more fragments than any other scholar.1 We feel privileged to dedicate this publication of six new Qumran fragments to him in appreciation of his scholarship and collegiality. We have attempted not only to identify these fragmentary texts but also to assign them to their correct place within the corpus of the known Qumran scrolls.2 In September 2003 we were invited to serve as academic advisors to an exhibition entitled, “From the Dead Sea Scrolls to the Forbidden Book,” held in Dallas, Texas,3 at which a group of small scroll frag-

* We would like to dedicate this article to Professor John Strugnell in appreciation of his scholarship and collegiality. 1 By way of illustrating his contribution, we would like to note that, after 11QPsa came to light, Strugnell concluded that the non-canonical Psalms that had been Jean Starcky’s responsibility belonged to the same scroll that contained the canonical hymns of 4QPsf which had been Patrick Skehan’s responsibility. See J. Starcky, “Psaumes apocryphes de la grotte 4 de Qumran (4QPsf VII–X),” RB 73 (1966) 353. 2 In the past we identiﬁed a number of Qumran fragments. See E. Eshel and M. Stone, “A New Fragment of 4QDeuth,” JBL 112 (1993) 487–89; H. Eshel, “Three New Fragments from Qumran Cave 11,” DSD 8 (2001) 1–8; H. Eshel, “6Q30, a Cursive ∞în, and Proverbs 11,” JBL 122 (2003) 544–46; H. Eshel, “Another Fragment (3a) of 4QShirot ÆOlat HaShabbatb (4Q401),” Liturgical Perspectives: Prayer and Poetry in Light of the Dead Sea Scrolls (ed. E.G. Chazon with the collaboration of R. Clements and A. Pinnick; STDJ 48; Leiden: Brill, 2003) 89–94. 3 L. Biondi, From the Dead Sea Scrolls to the Forbidden Book: A History of the © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2005 Dead Sea Discoveries 12, 2 Also available online – www.brill.nl DSD_395eshel_f3-134-157 6/17/2005 9:43 Page 135

NEW FRAGMENTS FROM QUMRAN 135

ments was displayed. Blackened due to poor preservation, these pri- vately owned and unpublished fragments could be read only through the use of infrared photography. Four of these fragments appear to have originated in Cave 4 at Qumran. These include: a fragment from the book of Genesis; two fragments from an Isaiah scroll; and a small fragment from a nonbiblical work that refers to Abraham and Isaac. The ﬁfth fragment also comes from Genesis; however, as best can be determined, its origins are from Cave 8. All of these texts belong to known Qumran scrolls. The biblical fragments add some minor detail or alternatives to known versions; the nonbiblical text is most likely a reference to the Aqedah. The sixth and most important fragment pre- serves several lines of 1 Enoch. Its importance is not simply as an addition to the eleven known Qumran manuscripts of 1 Enoch but also as a version that contributes to the reconstruction of two parallel Cave 4 manuscripts.

1. A Fragment of 4QGenf

Figure 1. 4QGenf

The origin proposed for this fragment, which contains parts of Gen. 33:19–34:2, as belonging to 4QGenf is based on the size of the column and on the similarity of the script; compare the formation of the letters bet, dalet, ◊adeh, and ﬁnal ◊adeh. The script of this new fragment, to which we suggest assigning the siglum 1a, like the fragments of the previously known column containing Gen. 48:1–11,4 dates from

Bible (Dallas, Texas, 2003). We received the ﬁrst ﬁve fragments at Dallas; the sixth fragment (XQpapEnoch) was given to us in March 2004, when the exhibition was in Akron, Ohio. We would like to thank Dr. William Noah from Murfreesboro, TN for inviting us to serve as academic advisors to the exhibition. 4 J.R. Davila, “4QGenf,” Qumran Cave 4.VII: Genesis to Numbers (eds E. Ulrich and F.M. Cross; DJD 12; Oxford: Clarendon 1994) 53–55, pl. 11.