THE PESHER NAHUM SCROLL FROM QUMRAN STUDIES ON THE TEXTS OF THE DESERT OF JUDAH EDITED BY FLORENTINO GARCÍA MARTÍNEZ ASSOCIATE EDITORS PETER W. FLINT EIBERT J.C. TIGCHELAAR VOLUME LIII THE PESHER NAHUM SCROLL FROM QUMRAN An Exegetical Study of 4Q169 BY SHANI L. BERRIN BRILL LEIDEN • BOSTON 2004 This book is printed on acid-free paper. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Berrin, Shani L. The Pesher Nahum scroll from Qumran : an exegetical study of 4Q169 / by Shani L. Berrin. p. cm. — (Studies on the texts of the desert of Judah ; v. 53) Includes bibliograpical references and index. ISBN 90-04-12484-5 (alk. paper) 1. Pesher Nahum. I. Title. II. Series. BS1625.N3B47 2004 224’.94044—dc22 2004045602 ISSN 0169-9962 ISBN 90 04 12484 5 © Copyright 2004 by Koninklijke Brill nv, Leiden, The Netherlands All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Brill provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910 Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change. printed in the netherlands To Mace, ≈qh ˚çmhb wydy wprn al rça This page intentionally left blank CONTENTS List of Tables .............................................................................. xi Acknowledgments ........................................................................ xiii Abbreviations .............................................................................. xvii I. INTRODUCTION ............................................................ 1 1.1 Review of Literature .................................................. 1 1.1.1 Principal Secondary Sources ........................ 3 1.2 Physical data .............................................................. 6 1.3 Hermeneutical and Methodological Considerations ............................................................ 9 1.3.1 Qumran Pesher .............................................. 9 1.3.2 Significance of the base-text .......................... 12 1.3.3 Lemma/Pesher Correspondence .................. 18 1.4 Chapter Outlines ........................................................ 19 1.4.1 Textual Analysis: Chapter 2 .......................... 20 1.4.2 Historical Analysis (Chapters 4, 6, 8, and Excursus to ch. 5) .................................. 23 1.4.3 Literary Analysis: Lemma/Pesher Correspondence (Chapters 3, 5, 7, 8) ............ 28 II. THE TEXT ........................................................................ 33 2.1 Transcription and Textual Variants ........................ 33 2.2 Readings and Restorations ........................................ 39 2.2.1 Frags 1–2 ........................................................ 39 2.2.2 Frags 3–4 I .................................................... 46 2.2.3 Frags 3–4 II .................................................... 60 2.2.4 Frags 3–4 III .................................................. 63 2.2.5 Frags 3–4 IV .................................................. 69 2.2.6 Fragment 5 .................................................... 71 III. PERICOPE 1, PESHER UNITS 1–5 .............................. 73 3.1 Literary Analysis: Pesher Units 1–5 ........................ 74 3.2 Pesher Unit 1 ............................................................ 74 3.3 Pesher Unit 2 ............................................................ 75 3.4 Pesher Unit 3 ............................................................ 77 viii 3.5 Pesher Unit 4 ............................................................ 79 3.6 Pesher Unit 5 ............................................................ 84 3.7 Summary of Pericope 1 ............................................ 84 IV. PERICOPE 2, PESHER UNITS 6–10: HISTORICAL CONTEXT .............................................. 87 4.1 Figures Named in Pericope 2 .................................. 89 4.1.1 Demetrius ........................................................ 89 4.1.2 Seekers-after-Smooth-Things (twqljh yçrwd)91 4.1.3 Antiochus ........................................................ 100 4.1.4 Kittim .............................................................. 101 4.1.5 Young Lion of Wrath (ˆwrjh rypk) .............. 104 4.1.6 Ephraim .......................................................... 109 4.2 Historical Context of Individual Pesher Units (units 6–10) ................................................................ 118 4.2.1 Unit 6 .............................................................. 118 4.2.2 Unit 7 .............................................................. 118 4.2.3 Unit 8 .............................................................. 122 4.2.4 Unit 9 .............................................................. 126 4.2.5 Unit 10 ............................................................ 126 4.3 Conclusion .................................................................. 130 V. PERICOPE 2, PESHER UNITS 6–10: LITERARY ANALYSIS .................................................... 131 5.1 Pesher Unit 6 ............................................................ 131 5.2 Pesher Unit 7 ............................................................ 134 5.3 Pesher Unit 8 ............................................................ 145 5.4 Pesher Unit 9 ............................................................ 155 5.5 Pesher Unit 10 .......................................................... 158 5.6 Summary of Pericope 2 ............................................ 163 EXCURSUS: HANGING IN PESHER NAHUM: A LITERARY AND EXEGETICAL STUDY OF UNIT 9 ........................................................................ 165 ex 5.1 Hanging: Strangulation (qnj), Exposure to Predation (πrf), Crucifixion (yj hlt) ............ 165 ex 5.1.1 Strangulation (qnj) .............................. 165 ex 5.1.2 Exposure to Predation (πrf) .............. 168 ix ex 5.1.3 Hanging alive/Crucifixion (yj hlt) .... 170 ex 5.2 Legal Precedent (µynplm larçyb) ........................ 173 ex 5.3 The Phrase ar[qy]...yk .................................... 176 ex 5.3.1 Condemnation of crucifixion .............. 177 ex 5.3.2 Approval of Jannaeus’s crucifixion .... 180 ex 5.3.3 Explication ............................................ 184 ex 5.3.4 “Linked reading”: Nah 2:14 as part of pesher in Unit 9 .................... 185 ex 5.3.5 Prolonged Exposure ............................ 190 VI. PERICOPE 3, PESHER UNITS 11–16: HISTORICAL ANALYSIS .............................................. 193 6.1 Technical Terms ...................................................... 196 6.1.1 Ephraim ........................................................ 196 6.1.2 dwmlt .............................................................. 201 6.1.3 hdwhy dwbk twlghbw ........................................ 205 6.2 Key Temporal Phrases ............................................ 208 6.2.1 µymyh tyrjal (frag 3–4 II,2) ........................ 208 6.2.2 µymyh tyrja in Pericope 3 ............................ 214 6.2.3 twqljh yçrwd tlçmm ...................................... 217 6.3 Historical Context of Pericope 2 ............................ 220 6.3.1 The Reign of Salome Alexandra ................ 220 6.3.2 Pompey’s Takeover of Judea ...................... 222 6.3.3 The Reign of Alexander Jannaeus .............. 224 6.3.4 Alternative Proposal: Adaptation of Dupont-Sommer’s Attribution of the Pericope to Pompey’s Conquest .................. 228 6.4 Conclusion ................................................................ 231 VII. PERICOPE 3, PESHER UNITS 11–16: LITERARY ANALYSIS ........................................................................ 235 7.1 Pesher Unit 11 .......................................................... 235 7.2 Pesher Unit 12 .......................................................... 237 7.3 Pesher Unit 13 .......................................................... 244 7.4 Pesher Unit 14 .......................................................... 254 7.5 Pesher Unit 15 .......................................................... 256 7.6 Pesher Unit 16 .......................................................... 262 7.7 Summary of Pericope 3 .......................................... 265 x VIII. PERICOPE 4 (3–4 III,8 – IV,4 AND FRAG 5), PESHER UNITS 17–26 ................................................ 267 8.1 Historical Analysis of Pericope 4 .......................... 268 8.2 Literary Analysis of Pericope 4 .............................. 276 8.2.1 Pesher Unit 17 ............................................ 277 8.2.2 Pesher Unit 18 ............................................ 278 8.2.3 Pesher Unit 19 ............................................ 280 8.2.4 Pesher Unit 20 ............................................ 280 8.2.5 Pesher Unit 21 ............................................ 281 8.2.6 Pesher Unit 22 ............................................ 283 8.2.7 Pesher Unit 23 ............................................ 284 8.2.8 Pesher Unit 24 ............................................ 284 8.3 Fragment 5: Pesher Units 25–26 .......................... 285 8.3.1 Pesher Unit 25 ............................................ 285 8.3.2 Pesher Unit 26 ............................................ 285 IX. CONCLUSION: TEXTUAL, HISTORICAL, AND LITERARY