Qumran Cave 4, Psalms to Chronicles

Abstract

Qumran Cave 4, Psalms to Chronicles, edited by Eugene Ulrich, Frank Moore Cross, Joseph A. Fitzmyer, Peter W. Flint, Sarianna Metso, Catherine M. Murphy, Curt Niccum, Patrick W. Skehan, Emanuel Tov, and Julio Barrera. DJD 16. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2001. Pp. xv + 302 + 38 plates. $115.00. This volume of Discoveries in the Judaean Desert (DJD) comprises the Cave 4 evidence for the Writings, fragments from Psalms, Job, Proverbs, Ruth, Canticles, Qohelet, Lamentations, Daniel, Ezra, and Chronicles. It also marks the penultimate publication of the biblical manuscripts from Qumran Cave 4, which was begun in 1992 with DJD 9 (Palaeo-Hebrew and Greek Biblical Manuscripts), followed in rapid succession by those written in Jewish script: DJD 12 (1994, Genesis-Numbers), 14 (1995, Deuteronomy-Kings), and 15 (1997, The Prophets). Only DJD 17 (Samuel) remains to be published. The work on these and other Cave 4 manuscripts was begun shortly following their discovery in the fall of 1952, with Patrick W. Skehan and Frank Moore Cross together with J. T. Milik and John Strugnell responsible for initial identifications and placements of most of the fragments. The importance of these original labors can hardly be overestimated. Marking a continuance with this seminal work, Cross has contributed his edition of the Lamentations scroll to the volume, while Skehan's draft editions of the Psalms manuscripts (4Q83-98g) have been completed by Eugene Ulrich and Peter Flint. Ulrich has also completed the edition of Skehan's two Proverbs manuscripts (4Q10103) and has contributed Job (4Q99-100) with Sarianna Metso; Ruth (4Q 104-105) with Catherine Murphy; Qohelet (4Q109-110), Daniel (4Q112-115, and 4Q116) with Curt Niccum) and Ezra (4Q117). Emanuel Tov furnished the edition of the remains of three Canticles manuscripts (4Q106-108) and Julio Trebolle Barrera edited the scant scraps of Chronicles (4Q118). The Psalms manuscripts from Cave 4 are without doubt the stars of the volume. Of the thirty-seven Psalms scrolls found in the caves at Qumran, the twenty-three that were preserved in Cave 4 are presented here. These scrolls are certain to add more fuel to the debate concerning the canonical history of the Psalms in the MT-150 collection. Manuscript 4QPs^sup e^ echoes the order already known in the largest of the Psalms scrolls, 11QPs^sup a^, which reflects a substantially different order in the latter third of the collection. In addition to this arrangement, 4QPs^sup b^ appears to leave out Psalms 92 to 111, and 4QPs^sup f^ contains Psalms 22, 107, and 109, followed by three apocryphal hymns (the Apostrophe to Zion [also occurs in 11QPs^sup a^], the Eschatological Hymn, and the Apostrophe to Judah). 4QPs^sup f^ highlights one aspect of the difficulty in determining the division of the scroll corpus into the somewhat anachronistic categories of biblical and sectarian (nonbiblical). It is of note that there is no concordance of the apocryphal elements of this text as is the practice with nonbiblical materials in DJD. A second aspect of this difficulty is revealed by a republication (see DJD 25, 67-70) of Psalm 122, which is included in its entirety within a larger composition entitled 4QProphecy of Joshua (4Q522). The transcriptions and notes of all these materials are of first quality, but Ulrich and Flint might have included a general introduction highlighting significant features such as the variant ordering-as compared to the MT-of some of the Psalms manuscripts. A table charting manuscript dating would also have been welcome. Emanuel Tov's helpful introduction to the three Canticles manuscripts (pp. 195-98) could have served as a paradigm for a similar introduction to the Psalms, and perhaps Daniel as well. Additionally, one should note that three of the four Canticles manuscripts found at Qumran were preserved in Cave 4. 4QCant^sup a^ is missing the text between 4:7 and 6:11 while 4QCant^sup b^ omits 3:6-8 and 4:4-7 and features clear Aramaic influence. …