Abstract
C
When the Dead Sea Scrolls first began to be published, the writings of the NT which attracted most attention with respect to prospective parallels were the Johannine ones. However, more recently there appears to have been a lull in activity in this field of research. This volume seeks to redress the balance in this matter by inquiring whether there may be new parallels other than those focused on in the earlier investigations. So John Ashton considers ‘“Mystery” in the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Fourth Gospel’ and emphasizes the apocalyptic beliefs of both of them. George J. Brooke, ‘Luke, John, and the Dead Sea Scrolls’, suggests the possibility ‘that some common Jewish background with a resonance of the Qumran library may lie behind some of the elements common to Luke and John’. Brian J. Capper, ‘John, Qumran, and Virtuoso Religion’, illustrates the impact of sociological approaches on the study of the Scrolls and prefers the description ‘religious order’ to that of ‘sect’ for the Essenes. Hannah K. Harrington, ‘Purification in the Fourth Gospel in Light of Qumran’, stresses Qumran's role in anticipating the eschatological work of the Spirit, and Loren T. Stuckenbruck, ‘“Protect Them from the Evil One” (John 17:15): Light from the Dead Sea Scrolls’, considers how Qumran and other Jewish texts contribute to our understanding of Jesus' petition in John 17. The volume opens with two balanced surveys of recent research: Eileen Schuller, ‘The Past Decade of Qumran Studies: 1997–2007’, and Paul N. Anderson's comprehensive review ‘John and Qumran: Discovery and Interpretation over Sixty Years’, which concludes with seven suggestions for further inquiry. The final essay is another survey, ‘The Fourth Evangelist and the Dead Sea Scrolls: Assessing Trends over Nearly Sixty Years’, by James H. Charlesworth, which tends in places to exaggerate the dependence of the former on the latter tradition. Overall, this is a fine and stimulating collection and a necessary vade mecum for anyone interested in this field.
J.T. W
F
For a review of this volume, see Section 9 above.
F
This volume proceeds from a conference at the Catholic Academy at Schwerte (18–20 April 2008) and centres, as its title suggests, on the interplay between archaeology and texts in Qumran. The book contains ten articles in German and seven in English. It is divided into four thematic sections: introduction (four essays), archaeological contexts (six essays), the texts and the library (two essays), and architecture and outside world (five essays). Jörg Frey's introductory article provides a concise review of the history of the diverse archaeological interpretations of Qumran. Carsten Claußen recounts the history of the identification and description of Qumran by travellers since antiquity. Dieter Viehweger reflects on methods and hermeneutics of archaeology and exegesis in general, while Sabine Hüttig considers the methodological relationship of both disciplines with special attention to research on Qumran. Jürgen Zangenberg discusses some details of the archaeological interpretation of Qumran such as bones and glass artefacts. Jan Gunneweg presents new scientific methods of archaeological research in Qumran by a team of trans-disciplinary science collaborators. Joan E. Taylor and Shimon Gibson analyse ‘The Qumran Pass and the Paths of the North-Western Dead Sea’. Jonathan Ben-Dov discusses the stone dial from Qumran. Mladen Popović considers details of the historical and archaeological implications of the Roman destruction of Qumran, arguing that there is no evidence for Roman book destruction in Cave 4. Anne Lykke and Friedrich Schipper raise issues of dating and interpretation of Hasmonaean architecture in Jericho. Daniel Stökl Ben Ezra raises the question of how many libraries existed at Qumran; he argues for the existence of two libraries, one of them represented by the writings of Caves 1 and 4, the other by those of Caves 2, 3, 5, 6 and 11. In the search for ‘reliable criteria to define sectarian literature as distinct from other types of texts’ (p. 395), Devorah Dimant provides an analysis of ‘The Vocabulary of the Qumran Sectarian Texts’. Simone Paganini presents reflections on the utopian description of the architecture of the Temple in the Temple Scroll and its meaning for the Qumran community. Johann Maier discusses ideal conceptions of the Temple in the OT and the Temple Scroll and their relationship with the Herodian Temple. Hugo Antonissen draws on ‘The Visionary Architecture of New Jerusalem in Qumran’. Craig A. Evans analyses Deut. 21.22–23 in the light of archaeology and the Dead Sea Scrolls under the title ‘Hanging and Crucifixion in Second Temple Israel’. Michael Tilly concludes the collection with an analysis of death and mourning in the Temple Scroll. The editors and authors of this remarkable volume have presented a state-of-the-art scientific reflection on the relationship between textual and archaeological data relating to Qumran, which is even more meaningful within a field that is often hijacked by self-appointed popular scientists.
D. M
G
This revised version of a doctoral dissertation supervised by Adela Yarbro Collins offers a comprehensive study of the regulations found at Qumran in comparison with voluntary associations in the Graeco-Roman period as well as with ancient constitutional literature. Particular attention is paid to the alternative state ideologies of Epicureans, Cynics, Stoics, Paul's churches, and fifth-century Roman Plebs. Chapter 1 introduces the Damascus Document, the Community Rule, and the Rule of the Congregation. On occasion G. pre-empts the treatment of issues that would have been better placed subsequently. He favours an identification with the Essenes but also evaluates parallels with the Pharisaic havurah and the Pythagoreans. He further offers an overview of earlier studies comparing the Qumran texts to Graeco-Roman associations. The volume benefits from a very detailed table of contents and a series of synoptic tables. G. presents a tremendous amount of material saturated with a wealth of his hypotheses both about the interpretation and interrelationship of the three key Qumran texts and their place in Graeco-Roman political thought and communal practice. To my mind, the notion of a singular ‘sect’ of covenanters adopted by G., even if he allows for local ‘cells’, does seem somewhat dated. G.'s case for an ‘alternative civic ideology’ is stronger for the Damascus Document and the Rule of the Congregation. Overall, this rich and ambitious book deserves to be read by a broad scholarly readership interested in Graeco-Roman antiquity.
C. H
G
The impetus for this book came from an invitation from Jim Davila to Grossman to give an electronic ‘guest lecture’ at the University of St Andrews in 2005. The subsequent e-mail correspondence between them led to this 15-essay volume by way of the contributors meeting up at the 2006 SBL annual meeting in Washington, DC and a public lecture before their workshop by S. Metso and C. Hempel. The following contributions are to be found in the book: S. Metso, ‘When the Evidence Does Not Fit: Method, Theory and the Dead Sea Scrolls’; E. Tigchelaar, ‘Constructing, Deconstructing and Reconstructing Fragmentary Manuscripts: Illustrated by a Study of 4Q184 (4QWiles of the Wicked Woman)’; M.G. Abegg, Jr, ‘The Linguistic Analysis of the Dead Sea Scrolls: More than (Initially) Meets the Eye’; B. Zuckerman, ‘The Dynamics of Change in the Computer Imaging of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Other Ancient Inscriptions’; J. Magness, ‘Methods and Theories in the Archaeology of Qumran’; H. Lapin, ‘Dead Sea Scrolls and the Historiography of Ancient Judaism’; J.R. Davila, ‘Counterfactual History and the Dead Sea Scrolls: The Growth of Ancient Texts’; S. Delamarter, ‘Sociological Models for Understanding the Scribal Practices in the Biblical Dead Sea Scrolls’; C.A. Newsom, ‘Rhetorical Criticism and the Dead Sea Scrolls’; R. Kugler, ‘Of Calendars, Community Rules, and Common Knowledge: Understanding 4QSe −4QOtot, with Help from Ritual Studies’; M.L. Grossman, ‘Women and Men in the Rule of the Congregation: A Feminist Critical Assessment’; J. Jokiranta, ‘Social-Scientific Approaches to the Dead Sea Scrolls’; J. Klawans, ‘The Dead Sea Scrolls, the Essenes, and the Study of Religious Belief: Determinism and Freedom of Choice’. The result is a wide-ranging cornucopia of different aspects of Scrolls scholarship that new and not-so-new scholars alike will find stimulating, at times pleasantly surprising, and highly useful. The important contributions by Metso and Hempel are outstanding and essential reading.
H. R. J
H
The Damascus Document, first discovered in the form of two mediaeval manuscripts at the close of the nineteenth century (CD), is now also represented by ten fragmentary manuscripts from Qumran. The mediaeval manuscripts were published by Solomon Schechter in 1910, and Joseph Baumgarten's edition of the last eight manuscripts from Qumran has been available since 1996. H., like Ben Zion Wacholder before him (see his 2007 work The New Damascus Document: The Midrash on the Eschatological Torah of the Dead Sea Scrolls, reviewed in B.L. 2008, p. 237), offers a reconstructed form of the document as a whole. A number of questions remain concerning the transition from the Admonition to the legal part of the document and the order of the Cave 4 fragments that are without parallels in CD, and it is here that the reconstructions presented by Wacholder and H. differ. However, the physical reconstruction of the Damascus Document is currently being investigated by a research group at the University of Göttingen led by Professor R.G. Kratz, and we look forward to further light on the arrangement of the crucial central portion of this text in due course. After a brief introduction H. presents a new edition of the Hebrew text with the French translation on facing pages. Textual notes and commentary accompany both. A very selective bibliography and indexes of Hebrew words and references complete the book. This is a welcome contribution to the study of the Damascus Document.
C. H
K
K
These are some of the most recent editions of this Polish journal. Volume 17 has one special issue (reviewed in B.L. 2010, pp. 37–38) on the famously enigmatic Qumran Locus 101, in which all the finds made on the site and the various opinions as to the site's function are reviewed, the drawings made by Roland de Vaux at the time of excavation are reproduced, and a map and photographs of the site are included. Issues 2–4 (a single volume) celebrate the eightieth birthday of Scrolls scholar Claus-Hunno Hunzinger, and contain articles on who wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls and why; discoveries in Wadi Daliyeh; and a survey of scholarship on the identity of MLKY SDQ in 11QMelchizedek. Review articles cover a Czech edition and translation of the Dead Sea Scrolls, a study of chemicals in Qumran pottery, and the Orion Center Bibliography of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and there are a further seven book reviews. Volume 18 (four issues in a single volume) contains a review of the first decade of Qumran studies, focusing particularly on the contributions of de Vaux and Milik; seven review articles on the latest published studies and editions of the Scrolls; an article on statistical analysis of the Scrolls; and a report on a round-table event on the Scrolls held in Paris in the National Library of France on 8 June 2010.
D. W. R
K
The larger part of this book is a biography of Milik by Kapera. In addition to his first-hand acquaintance and his common Polish background, Kapera had access to Milik's extensive personal archives after his death, so that he is able to add a good deal of previously unknown information to the story of work on the Scrolls. The style occasionally tends towards the hagiographic, but this is understandable and needs to be read alongside the sometimes ill-informed criticisms that were levelled against Milik in the period immediately before the full release of the Scrolls. While it is clear that there were two sides to this unhappy story, it is helpful to have more material than was previously available about one side of it. Although Feather's contribution to this volume is entitled ‘conversations’ with Milik, very little of what he writes is in fact a record of conversations as such. Rather it is an opportunity for Feather to expound once again his personal views about aspects of the history that lies behind the composition of the Scrolls, and it is clear that he shared these at length with the older scholar. Nevertheless he visited Milik several times in his last years, so that from this too we learn about his personal circumstances towards the end of his life.
H. G.M. W
M
For a review of this volume, see Section 1 above.
R
In this careful and detailed study of the non-Masoretic poems of 11Q5, R. builds on his work in an earlier study of Sirach (Innovations in Hebrew Poetry; see B.L. 2005, p. 199) to provide a comprehensive and valuable analysis of a fascinating body of postbiblical Hebrew religious compositions. The discussion covers Sir. 51.13–30, Psalm 151A, Psalm 154, Psalm 155, the Apostrophe to Zion, the Plea for Deliverance, and the Hymn to the Creator, several of which are of course also known in Syriac versions. R.'s findings from his earlier study are convincingly applied to show that Sir. 51.13–30 is, to a high degree of probability, from the same author as the rest of the book. Each poem is given very detailed linguistic, morphological and structural analysis, and the views of earlier scholars are comprehensively and judiciously taken account of. The author is to be congratulated on producing what is in effect a major study resource for any future work on this body of literature. A particular strength of this monograph is R.'s attention to the detailed division into cola, verses and verse-paragraphs, as well as to acrostic patterns, which pays dividends in his identification of thematic developments within individual poems. An additional strength is the insights provided into the development of Hebrew poetry beyond the biblical period and the way that it makes creative use of biblical precedents and idioms. An impressive contribution to Scrolls scholarship.
A.G. H
S
As the subtitle accurately relates, this volume contains the papers from a one-day symposium held in March 2008 at New York University. As an introduction to the collection Schiffman himself writes on the kinds of topics in the Scrolls that need to be kept in mind by students of Judaism and Christianity. J.L. Angel neatly contextualizes the traditional roots of priestly messianism at Qumran within a wide framework of the intellectual and civil roles of priests. M.J. Bernstein offers a multi-generic perspective on the biblical interpretation evident in some scrolls and describes them as remnants of interpretative lineages that died out in antiquity. Y. Elman considers the cognitive styles of Zoroastrianism and Qumran. A.D. Gross wonders whether the Judaean desert documents can be configured as a regional sub-tradition within the broader development of Aramaic common law. A.P. Jassen presents a very illuminating comparative perspective on the Sabbath carrying prohibition. E.W. Larson evaluates the identification of some Greek fragments of 1 Enoch and for Qumran leaves the reader with nothing confirmed. The late J.K. Lefkovits reconsiders the Copper Scroll, especially column I, in the light of its recent re-edition. B.A. Levine looks afresh at documents of everyday life. G.A. Rendsburg describes the strange characteristics of Qumran Hebrew on the basis of 1QS. A.M. Sivertsev looks at the interplay of family-based groups and Hellenistic associations, as that might be evident in the Scrolls. M.S. Smith answers his question about the character of scriptural texts in the Second Temple period by noting how the transmission of texts is interwoven with their interpretation. S. Tzoref reflects on esotericism, election and culpability in Qumran and related literature, arguing that infringement of a revealed law is punished far more severely than the breach of a hidden rule.
G.J. B
Z
This revised 2009 Notre Dame dissertation is a significant advance in the discussion of what used to be called ‘rewritten Bible’ (and still is by a significant minority). In effect this monograph suggests that if ‘rewritten Scripture’ is to work as a label, then detailed consideration must be given to the interdependence of exegetical goals, compositional techniques and textual authority. Five compositions are considered in detail. Z. argues that 4Q158, 4Q364, 4Q365, the Samaritan Pentateuch and the Temple Scroll all use ‘virtually the same compositional techniques’, though in varying proportions; it is important for scholars to acknowledge the presence of the Samaritan Pentateuch in this list and to note Z.'s conclusion that in terms of replacement with material from elsewhere the Samaritan Pentateuch is more radical than its counterparts. A notable by-product of her analysis is the conclusion that the five manuscripts usually listed as Reworked Pentateuch (4Q158, 4Q364–367) are not a single composition in multiple copies, but a diverse collection showing some similarities. As to whether particular compositional techniques reflect particular exegetical aims, Z. concludes that while some methods are obviously bound to certain outcomes, such as harmonization, others allow almost unlimited freedom in how they can be used. And as to the status of the compositions, the techniques disclose little information, though some could be deliberately employed to help give a text project the kind of consistency that an authoritative text might be expected to have; rather, what becomes clear is that a fresh set of categories is needed for appreciating how faithfulness to an authoritative textual tradition demanded its reshaping.
G.J. B