9. we his holy people In the Torah, the Israelite tribes are chosen to be God\u2019s holy people in that God has set them apart from other peoples by giving them special laws. Some ancient writers looked forward to this destiny being fully realized in a future where Israel would faithfully keep God\u2019s laws (e.g., Isa. 62:12, \u201cAnd they shall be called, \u2018The Holy People\u2019 \u201d; see also Dan. 12:7; Pss. Sol. 17:28 [26]). In this prayer, the congregation confidently identifies itself with the fulfillment of this destiny as God\u2019s holy people. For the congregation in prayer to call itself holy is unusual, but is a distinctive claim of the sectarian movement seen in some of the Dead Sea Scrolls (e.g., in 1QM 14:12).
\n10. fiv[e par]ts of light Each evening is described in terms of parts of light and dark. This apparently refers to phases of the moon, as in some Jewish astronomical writings found at Qumran. The moon is depicted as a vessel with 14 compartments that contain varying amounts of light and darkness as it waxes and wanes, so that it is dominated by light or dark accordingly. The new moon (on the first day of the month in 4Q503) has zero parts light and 14 parts darkness. Each day, the ratio of light increases until the full moon on the 15th day, which has 14 parts light and 0 parts darkness. Then darkness increases day by day until the new moon. Since elsewhere the same language of \u201clots of light\/darkness\u201d is used for the heavenly armies (e.g., 1QM 1:1, 10\u201311), and in this document there is a blurring between angels and luminaries, it seems that the sect saw reflected in the phases of the moon the cosmic struggle between spiritual forces ordained by God in the present era.<\/p>\n
Fragments 7\u20139<\/p>\n
2. six gates of lig[ht The sixth sunrise of the month.
\n3. the children of your covenant, we prais[e Although the line is broken, the sense is clear. The verb \u201cwe praise\u201d indicates that it is the community praising God, and the line must have ended with something like \u201cyour name.\u201d The community refers to itself as the \u201cchildren of your covenant.\u201d This expression is not in the Hebrew Bible, but does occur in two other prayer texts from Qumran (Purification Liturgy [4Q284 4 2]; Apocryphal Lamentation [4Q501 1 2]) and the War Rule (1QM 17:8). For members of the sect, this language would affirm their belief that only those who repented and joined their community (the Yahad) belonged to God\u2019s covenant in the Last Days (e.g., 1QS 1:8, 16; CD 2:2).
\n4. divisions of [light \u201cDivisions\u201d is a military term for an army unit. In Num. 2 it refers to the camp formations of Israel in the wilderness (translated \u201cstandard\u201d in NJPS). The Rule of War (e.g., 1QM 5:3; 6:1) describes the battle formations of Israel in the eschatological war, on the model of Israel in the wilderness. In this passage the term probably refers to angelic armies, as in Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice (4Q405 20 ii\u201322 14). Lines 3\u20134 express the idea that the earthly congregation joins the angels in worship to God, as also in two evening prayers in 4Q503: \u201carmies of angels\u201d are \u201cwitnesses with us\u201d (frag. 65); and priestly angels are \u201cpraising with us\u201d at night (frag. 64). Both the use of similar language for the community at war and worship as well as the link between earthly and heavenly worship are found in the Hebrew Bible and in Rabbinic Judaism, but these are especially important for the sectarian movement of the Yahad and are key to their sense of being the people of God\u2019s covenant.
\ntongues of knowledge bless In the context, probably a reference to angelic praise. In Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice, the angels have \u201ctongues of knowledge\u201d with which they bless God, in contrast to humans, whose imperfect praise cannot compare (e.g., 4Q405 23 ii 12; similarly 1QHa 11:23\u201325).<\/p>\n
Fragment 11<\/p>\n
3. we \u2026 exalt Or \u201cwe \u2026 are exalted.\u201d In Hebrew written without vowels, the active and passive forms of this verb look the same (polel or polal). Depending on which is the correct translation here, the community is either praising God or being exalted itself\u2014in this case among the angels, a prominent idea among the sectarian scrolls. In Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice, this verb is commonly used in both active and passive meanings to describe the angels both as exalted beings and as ones who exalt God (see 4Q405 14\u201315 i 3).
\n4. witnesses with us This refers to angels praising God with the human congregation, as also in 4Q503 65 3.
\nin the array The entire company in their positions, here both human and heavenly. In Qumran sectarian texts, the term \u201carray\u201d (ma\u2019amad) often refers to a military unit as well as a congregation at worship. Its use emphasizes that God has predestined everyone and everything for a particular function in a particular place.<\/p>\n
Fragments 15\u201316<\/p>\n
1. most h]oly place in the heav [ens Literally, \u201c[holy of ho]lies in the height[s].\u201d The inner sanctum of the heavenly Temple.
\n4. glory Refers to God\u2019s glory in a heavenly vision. The model for Jewish meditation on God\u2019s heavenly glory is Isa. 6:1\u20134, where the prophet describes the scene of God seated on his throne in the heavenly Temple, surrounded by angels who praise his holiness and glory (the NJPS translates \u201cglory\u201d (kavod) in Isa 6:3 as \u201cpresence\u201d).
\n5. witnesses for us The angels as witnesses in the heavenly realm for the earthly community (see also 4Q503 11 4). It is not clear in what way they are witnesses\u2014perhaps standing up for them in the heavenly court (cf. Job 16:19)\u2014but in a general sense, this has to do with the union between the angelic and human congregations.
\n6. dominion of light The language, from Gen. 1:16, pictures day and night as kingdoms of light and darkness ruled by the sun and moon. The same language is used in other sectarian texts from Qumran to speak of a cosmic battle between forces of good and evil\u2014both earthly and heavenly (e.g., 1QM 13:9\u201311).
\n7. P]eace be upon you, Israel After each prayer addressed to God, this blessing is said over the congregation, probably by a priest. It is a short form of the priestly blessing over Israel (Num. 6:23\u201327). According to the Mishnah the priests blessed the people in the Temple courts every day after the morning incense offering (M. Tam. 7:2).
\n11. division of it\/his Because of the broken context, the line could be interpreted in two different ways. If the pronoun refers to God, then the phrase means the company of all those on God\u2019s side, angels and humans, in their assigned orders. The language is very similar to the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice (4Q405 23 i 7) where \u201chis divisions\u201d are various classes of angels who praise God. In a manifesto of the sectarian community (1QS 4:15\u201316), all humans are also in predetermined divisions belonging either to God or to the spirit of darkness (cf. 1QHa 20:26). Alternatively, since this is an evening prayer, it could refer to divisions of the moon that are light or dark, as is likely in fragments 1\u20133 7. It would be related to the language of parts of the moon found in the evening prayers. In 1QM 10:12, similar language describes divisions of the earth.<\/p>\n
Fragments 1\u20133<\/p>\n
1. when [the sun] rises [to shine in] the dome of the sk[y] The language is from the creation of lights on the fourth day in Gen. 1:14\u201319, where the lights are placed in the \u201cdome of the sky\u201d (NRSV; NJPS translates \u201cexpanse of the sky\u201d) to shine on the earth and serve as God\u2019s timekeepers. The image here and throughout these prayers is a view of the world common in antiquity: that of a dome above the earth, with doors through which the sun, moon, and stars pass in their daily journeys across the sky.
\n2. This d[a]y he renewed Refers to the renewal of light after the darkness of night. In the later synagogue, the blessing recited before the Shema in the morning is known as the Yotzer Or, and it praises God as the one who created the lights and renews them daily (ADPB, 60\u201362).
\n4. -teen div[isions This was probably \u201cfourteen divisions,\u201d so that the number of divisions corresponds to the number of \u201cgates\u201d (see line 3 just above). The phrasing depicts movements of heavenly bodies as the movements of troops.
\n5. he passed over \u2026 [his] mighty hand These are allusions to the Exodus story, in which the angel of death \u201cpassed over\u201d the houses of the Israelites (Exod. 12:27) and God rescued his people from Egypt by a \u201cmighty hand\u201d (Exod. 13:14, 16). This seems to be a prayer for Passover, which was celebrated on the 14th of the month of Nisan.
\n6. On the fif[teenth \u2026 in the ev]ening they shall bless This is a typical formula introducing evening prayers in this scroll.
\n7. who conceals This verb can mean to close or to conceal. Since the evening prayers often refer to the phases of the moon, and there is an explicit reference to the circuit of heavenly lights in line 9, it seems probable that the action for which God is praised is controlling the phases of the moon. According to the calendrical text 4Q317, the phases of the moon are caused by the covering and uncovering of fourteen parts of the moon, similar to what seems to be described in 4Q503.
\nevery division of its glory Grammatically this could refer to God\u2019s glory, in which case the divisions would be classes of glorious angels (see comments on fragments 15\u201316 11 above). The context, however, suggests that it must be the moon\u2019s glory, that is, its light (see preceding note). Throughout this scroll, the evening prayers describe the phases of the moon in terms of fourteen parts which are light or dark.
\n8. for praising him [for] our redemption at the beginn[ing] This prayer, on the 15th of the month, alludes to the Feast of Unleavened Bread, a seven-day festival that begins with a special holy day on the 15th of Nisan (Exod. 12:15\u201320). It celebrates the flight of the Israelites from Egypt, which is associated with the idea that God redeemed, or bought the freedom of, his people (e.g., Exod. 15:13; cf. 13:13\u201315). Nisan was regarded as the beginning of the religious year: \u201cThis month shall mark for you the beginning of the months; it shall be the first of the months of the year for you\u201d (Exod. 12:2).
\n9\u201310. fourte[en] [parts of light Full moon.
\n13. the pilgrim festivals of joy The three feasts (Passover, Weeks, and Booths) for which Jewish adult males were to make pilgrimage to Jerusalem (Exod. 23:14\u201317).
\nappointed times of gl[ory] Other holy days of the calendar, such as the new year and the Day of Atonement.<\/p>\n
Fragments 29\u201330<\/p>\n
6. Jeshuru[n A poetic term for Israel (Deut. 32:15; 33:26; Isa. 44:2). This seems to be in place of the more common blessing \u201cPeace be on you, Israel.\u201d
\n9. God of ligh[t]s God as creator of the sun, moon, and stars (e.g., Ps. 136:7).
\nwho renews The regularity of the daily cycle of light shows God\u2019s continuing creative work. The thought is the same as in the Yotzer Or blessing before the morning Shema in the synagogue service: \u201cin his mercy he makes light shine on the earth and those who dwell on it, and in his goodness he renews continually every day the work of creation.\u201d
\n10\u201311. with u[s] in exclaiming your glory [\u2026] [div]isions of night The congregation praising God at sunrise joins the worship of the angels\u2014the \u201cdivisions of night\u201d\u2014at the end of their nighttime shift.
\n11. in going ou[t probably \u201cin (your) going out and (your) coming in\u201d; the thought would be similar to the promise of God\u2019s protection in Ps. 121:8: \u201cThe LORD will guard your going and coming now and forever.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fragments 37\u201338<\/p>\n
3. holy [ones Angels.
\n4. holiness and rest A reference to the Sabbath as a holy festival and a day of rest.
\n5. from the part of its dominion The start of the day from nightfall. 9. [p]raising with us Joint worship with the angels.<\/p>\n
Fragments 24\u201325<\/p>\n
4. w]ho cho[se] us from all [the] peoples in Probably \u201cin love\u201d or \u201cin mercy.\u201d The idea of election\u2014that God chose Israel out of all the nations on earth to be a special people for him as an unearned act of love\u2014is stated first in Deuteronomy (7:6\u20138; 10:15). It is closely connected with the deliverance from Egypt and the giving of the Torah. The wording of this prayer is almost identical to a Torah blessing by R. Hamnuna in the 3rd century CE: \u201cwho hast chosen us from all the peoples and given us Thy Torah\u201d (B. Ber. 11b). More significant, though, is the similarity between the morning prayer here and the second blessing before the morning Shema in the later synagogue liturgy (Ahavah Rabbah), which also praises God for giving. the Torah: \u201cYou have chosen us from all peoples \u2026 Blessed are you \u2026 who has chosen His people Israel in love.\u201d
\n5. fest[ival of] rest and delight The Sabbath, which is to be a day of rest and a holy festival. Isaiah 58:13\u201314 states that the Sabbath is to be regarded as \u201ca delight\u201d and not a burden. This passage from Isaiah is quoted in Sabbath prayers in the later synagogue. Underlying the teaching about the Sabbath in Jubilees (chaps. 2 and 50), too, is the idea that Sabbath is a privilege and a holy festival to be celebrated with eating, drinking, and blessing God. Similarly, the Mishnah (M. Ta\u2019an. 4:2) states that one should avoid fasting on Sunday so as not to go abruptly from \u201crest and delight\u201d to work and fasting.<\/p>\n
Fragment 34<\/p>\n
4. beginning of the dominion of da[rkness This refers to the part of the moon\u2019s phase when the moon is mostly dark, beginning either with the waning crescent or with the new moon. Either way, this language reflects a connection that the sect saw between the course of the heavenly bodies with alternating light and darkness and the struggle between good and evil. God created angels to govern the domains of light and darkness, and these respectively promote good and evil. According to the Rule of War, the evil angel Belial was created to be a corrupting influence, and his dominion is in darkness (1QM 13:9\u201311). Just as darkness is overtaken by light, so God will ultimately bring to an end evil and all attached to it.<\/p>\n
Fragments 51\u201355<\/p>\n
9. [taug]ht us the songs of praise The congregation believes that God has revealed to them the very words of their prayers: that just as God ordains certain times of prayer, God also ordains the language of prayer. In their worship they join the angels in singing God\u2019s language. This is an important idea in the sectarian scrolls, especially the Thanksgiving Hymns.
\n13. [t]aught us the thought of his gre[at] mind Various Jewish groups emphasize different ways to try to understand the mind of God, including observation of the world, study of the Torah, or mystical practice. This group believes that God directly reveals his mind to them.
\n14. the sign[s] The heavenly bodies as markers of God\u2019s time and intent.<\/p>\n
Festival Prayers<\/p>\n
Daniel K. Falk<\/p>\n
This is a collection of prayers for various festivals and Fast Days throughout the year that survives only in very small scroll fragments (1Q34 + 34bis, 4Q507, 4Q508, 4Q509 + 4Q505). The form of the prayers is the same as in the Words of the Luminaries. After a heading that states the occasion\u2014for example, \u201cPrayer for the Day of Atonement\u201d\u2014the prayer begins by asking God to remember his acts of mercy in the past and by recalling the laws about the festival. The prayers speak directly to God in the second person and typically include praise for God, confession of sin, and petition for mercy. A concluding benediction\u2014now praising God in the third person\u2014sums up a major theme of the prayer; for example, \u201cBlessed is the LORD who gladdens us.\u201d This is followed by the response \u201cAmen, Amen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Authorship and History<\/p>\n
These prayers were written in Hebrew, probably in the 2nd century BCE and in the same community as Words of the Luminaries. Like that work, these prayers are not sectarian in nature, but rather contain typical Jewish motifs focusing on all Israel and the covenant with the patriarchs and Moses. Nevertheless, they were probably used by the sectarian group at Qumran, since four copies were found there, with one copied on the back of the sectarian War Scroll. All four copies date to the 1st century BCE. The fragments numbered 4Q505 belong with 4Q509 as a fourth copy of Festival Prayers and are not, as Baillet suggests, a copy of Words of the Luminaries.<\/p>\n
Significance<\/p>\n
This work is the earliest known collection of prayers for the different festivals throughout the year. It helps fill in some missing details in a large body of evidence for public prayer at festivals and fasts among Jews in general, including songs of praise and petitions. When Josephus, toward the end of the 1st century CE, describes the pilgrimage festivals as times \u201cto render thanks to God for benefits received, to intercede for future mercies\u201d (Ant. 4.203), he summarizes what had been common practice for some centuries. Songs of praise were especially associated with pilgrimage processions as early as the time of the First Temple, for example in Isa. 30:29:<\/p>\n
For you, there shall be singing
\nAs on a night when a festival is hallowed;
\nThere shall be rejoicing as when they march
\nWith flute, with timbrels, and with lyres
\nTo the Rock of Israel on the Mount of the LORD.<\/p>\n
Much evidence exists for a large repertoire of songs at festivals during the Second Temple period, especially songs for professional Temple singers and including some of the psalms. Petitions for personal and community needs at feasts go back to ancient times (e.g., 1 Sam. 1:9\u201311; 1 Kings 8:22\u201353), but communal petitions became much more prominent during the Second Temple period. A distinctive development in the centuries following the return of Jews from Babylon (starting in the late 6th century BCE) was the practice of public prayers of repentance by the community, and these were initially performed at festivals and fasts (e.g., Neh. 9; Bar. 1:10\u20133:8, esp. 1:14).
\nThe prayers in this collection are of the latter type: prose petitions of the community. Although they share some points in common with the later synagogue liturgy, they are not early versions of what later became standard in the synagogue. Instead they give a glimpse of the rich liturgical tradition that was developing in the Second Temple period, part of the broader heritage of early Jewish prayer.
\nIn the scroll here, the prayers differ for each occasion but are of the same type for both festivals and fasts, with expressions of joy, penitence, and petition. If the Words of the Luminaries is part of the same liturgical cycle, which seems likely, this liturgy distinguishes Sabbath prayers from daily and festival prayers by avoiding petition in the former. By contrast, in the later synagogue liturgy, festival prayers are similar to those for the Sabbath, with an emphasis on joy and with restricted petition in both types. Fasts are distinguished as occasions of self-denial and penitence, with expanded petition. Furthermore, the synagogue prayers show a tendency toward greater uniformity: the liturgy for all festivals has essentially the same structure, with mostly minor changes and additions of motifs appropriate to the day.
\nSome similar tailoring of motifs to the specific occasion is apparent in Festival Prayers. Especially notable are allusions to the biblical laws for the festival, as is found in festival prayers of the later synagogue. Its form is also similar to that of later synagogue prayers: both tend to employ opening and closing formulas to frame the prayer, and the closing blessing in both is close in style. Most strikingly, the prayer for the Festival of Booths in this scroll uses a litany style very similar to one used in the later synagogue liturgy.
\nThe calendar of festivals represented in the Festival Prayers\u2014as far as can be determined\u2014seems to have started in the autumn, so that the first of the seventh month, Tishrei, was treated as the New Year, as also in the synagogue liturgy. In the sectarian writings from Qumran, on the other hand, the festival calendar seems to have begun in the spring. Although we cannot be certain, the scroll does not seem to have included festivals that originated in the post-exilic period, such as the festivals of New Wine, New Oil, and Wood Offering described in the Temple Scroll from Qumran, or the festivals of Purim and Hanukkah that were accepted in the synagogue. The new moons are treated as major festivals with their own prayers, as seems to be the case more generally in the ancient period.<\/p>\n
GUIDE TO READING<\/p>\n
Only small parts survive of the manuscripts we have for these festival prayers, but there are numerous overlaps among them. In the translations below, some prayers are pieced together with bits from several different manuscripts, always presenting the best preserved parts. Overlaps with another copy that allow gaps to be filled in appear in italic. Some other gaps are filled in from standard formulas used throughout the prayers and from biblical allusions. We cannot be certain that the different copies of the prayer were identical, but for getting a general sense of the prayers, this hybrid approach seems better than giving only tiny disjointed pieces.
\nIn the translations below, the prayers for each festival are presented separately, sometimes over several fragments, with indication of which fragment is being translated, and (in parentheses) any overlaps with other copies. Where possible, the prayers are presented in the order they appear in the scroll, but in many cases the order is not known, and we also have no assurance that the prayers were in the same order in the different manuscripts. It seems likely that the prayers were probably not presented in a simple chronological order through the year.<\/p>\n
SUGGESTED READING<\/p>\n
Arnold, Russell C. D. The Social Role of Liturgy in the Religion of the Qumran Community, 148\u201357. Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah 60. Leiden: Brill, 2006.
\nBaillet, Maurice. \u201c505. Paroles des Luminaires,\u201d \u201c507\u2013509. Pri\u00e8res pour les f\u00eates.\u201d In Qumr\u00e2n grotte 4.III (4Q482\u20134Q520), 168\u201370, 177\u2013215, plates 9, 11, 12, 15, 17, 19, 21, 22, 28, 54. DJD 7. Oxford: Clarendon, 1982.
\nChazon, Esther G. \u201cPrayers from Qumran and Their Historical Implications.\u201d Dead Sea Discoveries 1 (1994): 265\u201384.
\nDavila, James R. \u201cFestival Prayers.\u201d In Liturgical Works, 15\u201340. Eerdmans Commentaries on the Dead Sea Scrolls 6. Grand Rapids MI: Eerdmans, 2000.
\nFalk, Daniel K. Daily, Sabbath, and Festival Prayers in the Dead Sea Scrolls, 155\u2013215. Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah 27. Leiden: Brill, 1998.
\nMilik, J. T. \u201c34. Recueil de pri\u00e8res liturgiques\u201d and \u201c34bis. Recueil de pri\u00e8res liturgiques.\u201d In Qumran Cave I, edited by D. Barth\u00e9lemy and J. T. Milik, 136, 152\u201355, plate 31. DJD 1. Oxford: Clarendon, 1955.
\nNitzan, Bilhah. Qumran Prayer and Religious Poetry, 99\u2013104 and see index. Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah 12. Leiden: Brill, 1994.
\nSchiffman, Lawrence H. \u201cThe Dead Sea Scrolls and the Early History of Jewish Liturgy.\u201d In The Synagogue in Late Antiquity, edited by Lee I. Levine, 33\u201348. Philadelphia: American Schools of Oriental Research, 1987.
\nWeinfeld, Moshe. \u201cPrayer and Liturgical Practice in the Qumran Sect.\u201d In The Dead Sea Scrolls: Forty Years of Research, edited by Devorah Dimant and Uriel Rappaport, 241\u201358. Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah 10. Leiden: Brill, 1992.<\/p>\n
COMMENTARY<\/p>\n
These fragments are from a prayer at the beginning of the scroll labeled 4Q509, probably a prayer for the autumn New Year, since the following prayer is for the Day of Atonement. In the Bible, the spring month of Nisan is said to be the beginning of the year (Exod. 12:2), and the festivals are discussed in order, beginning in spring (Lev. 23:4\u201344; Num. 28:16\u201329:39). But the agricultural year comes to an end in the autumn (Exod. 23:16; cf. 34:22), and the first of the seventh month came to be regarded as the New Year in Judaism, although it is first called this (Rosh Hashanah, literally \u201chead of the year\u201d) in the Mishnah, edited around 200 CE (M. RH 1:1). In the Bible, the first of the seventh month is referred to as a solemn rest, a day of memorial for the blowing of trumpets and a holy assembly (Lev. 23:23\u201325; Num. 29:1\u20136). In the Second Temple period the festival is called the Day of Memorial, or the Festival of Trumpets. According to the sectarian calendar of Jubilees and Qumran, the first day of each season (roughly the solstices and equinoxes) was a Day of Memorial (Jub. 6:22\u201329). Rule of the Community from Qumran refers to these as \u201cheads of the years\u201d (1QS 10:6). Another text from Qumran mentions the Day of Memorial in a list of times appointed for praising God, but does not give any indication of the content of special prayers (4Q409 1 i 5; cf. 1QS 10:6). The Mishnah (M. RH 1:1) indicates that special blessings were recited\u2014added to the Amidah\u2014with biblical passages that focus on God as king, judge, and redeemer (M. RH 4:5). In the synagogue liturgy, the New Year begins a season of repentance that lasts until the Day of Atonement, during which penitential prayers and cries for help (selichot) are recited that are also used on Fast Days. All of this is very ancient, but the present scroll is the only source earlier than the Mishnah to provide special prayers for the New Year. Nothing here directly relates to the later synagogue prayers, but some motifs are more generally appropriate to the autumn fasts and feasts.<\/p>\n
Fragments 1+2<\/p>\n
3. m]ud of the streets In the Hebrew Bible, this expression is mostly used to describe defeat in war: for example, \u201cI wiped out my foes \u2026 I trod them flat as dirt of the streets\u201d (Ps. 18:41\u201343).
\n4. lam[ent The community makes a complaint before God and seeks God\u2019s help. Lament is a common type of prayer in the Hebrew Bible\u2014especially in Psalms\u2014but after the exile in the 6th century BCE, complaints tend to be toned down and there is more emphasis on confessing fault and making humble pleas to God. The prayers in this scroll are typical in showing some features of lament adapted to prayers of penitence and petition.<\/p>\n
Fragment 3<\/p>\n
2. appointed time of our peace Or \u201cfestival of our well-being.\u201d This expression is not found in the Bible or other ancient descriptions of festivals. It may suggest that already by this time the New Year was associated with God\u2019s judgment, marking the beginning of a season of fasting and repentance that lasts until the Day of Atonement. In the synagogue liturgy, an addition to the third blessing of the Amidah praises God who \u201cwilt abolish the rule of tyranny on earth,\u201d and there is an addition to the final blessing of the Amidah for peace, which ends, \u201cBlessed art thou, O LORD, Author of peace.\u201d
\n3. [rejoice] from our grief Refers to the transformation from suffering to joy that is part of God\u2019s blessing, as often in the Prophets, e.g., Jer. 31:13, \u201cI will turn their mourning to joy, I will comfort them and cheer them in their grief.\u201d See the comment on 4Q509 3 8 below.
\n3\u20134 These lines draw on the wording of Isa. 11:12: \u201cHe will hold up a signal to the nations \/ And assemble the banished of Israel, \/ And gather the dispersed of Judah \/ From the four corners of the earth.\u201d The passage from Isaiah is here adapted to a prayer of the community (\u201cour banished ones\u201d), expressing confident hope that God will restore Israel after exile. For two and a half millennia, this has been one of the most common motifs in Jewish prayer. Indeed, the experience of the exile was one of the main factors in the development of penitential prayers recited regularly, first on fast days and at festivals and then eventually in daily prayer. Examples of both uses are found already by the 2nd century BCE: for festivals, Bar. 1:15\u20133:8; and in daily prayers, the Words of the Luminaries found at Qumran (4Q504 1\u20132 v 10\u201313; 1\u20132 vi 12\u201316). It is a major theme of the synagogue liturgy for the new year, in the section on the shofar added to the Amidah for the Additional Service: \u201cOur God and God of our fathers, sound the great shofar for our freedom, raise the signal to bring our exiles together, draw our scattered people together from among the nations; assemble our dispersed from the uttermost parts of the earth\u201d (again based on Isa. 11:12). A similar blessing is included in the daily Amidah.
\n4. turning The seventh month as the turning point of the year. In the Bible, the Festival of Booths is said to occur at the \u201cturn of the year\u201d (Exod. 34:22), understood as the \u201cend of the year\u201d (Exod. 23:16), because it takes place around the autumnal equinox (Josephus, Ant. 3.244). The first of the seventh month is the closest new moon at the turn of the season, and this leads to it being regarded as the New Year in the Mishnah (M. RH 1:1).
\n5\u20136. like ra[in drops \u2026 like showers References to the seasonal rains whose timing is critical for a successful agricultural season. Here, the prayer acknowledges that the community eagerly depends on God\u2019s merciful help as much as on the rain that gives life. From ancient times, prayers for rain have been uttered during the seventh month, especially during the Festival of Booths because it marks the end of the season of ingathering and the beginning of the season of sowing. These fragments show the seasonal motif of rain also in a prayer for New Year.
\nseed-time] \u2026 sprouting time Roughly autumn and winter. A poem at the end of Rule of the Community (1QS 10:7) presents the seasons of the agricultural year as harvest (= spring), summer, planting (= fall), and grass (= winter); the latter two seasons use the same terms as in this passage.
\n8 The concluding blessing summarizes the main theme of the prayer as rejoicing (see also the comment on 4Q509 3 3, rejoice from our grief). To modern Jews, its celebratory tone might seem less than appropriate for the occasion; over the centuries, the New Year liturgy has increasingly taken on the character of a solemn fast, as the beginning of a season of repentance leading up to the Day of Atonement. But in ancient times, the first of the seventh month was equally a joyful celebration. Well before the turn of the era, the Temple Scroll from Qumran adds to the biblical instructions for the Day of Memorial, \u201cyou shall rejoice on this day\u201d (11QT 25:9), as with other festivals. New Year is called a festive day (yom tov) along with the pilgrimage festivals in the Mishnah (M. RH 4:1) and some of the liturgies. The motif of joy came to be overshadowed by the emphasis on repentance in the present, reserving joy for the future restoration of Israel; for example in the Amidah for New Year, \u201cMay now the righteous see this and rejoice.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prayer for the Day of Atonement<\/p>\n
According to the biblical instructions, the purpose of the Day of Atonement was to purify the sanctuary and the people. The priest would offer special sacrifices and confess the people\u2019s sins over a goat sent into the wilderness. It was a most holy day, to be marked by fasting and complete rest from work. In the Second Temple period, the actions of the people came to be increasingly important. Rituals of fasting by the people became so prominent a feature that the day was often called simply \u201cthe Fast,\u201d especially by Greek-speaking Jews (see also note 30). Going beyond anything explicit in the biblical laws, expressions of remorse, confession, and penitential prayers by the people became central parts of the observance in atoning for sin. For example, in the early 1st century CE, Philo states that \u201cthe holy-day is entirely devoted to prayers and supplications \u2026 from morn to eve \u2026 offering petitions of humble entreaty in which they seek earnestly to propitiate God and ask for remission of their sins\u201d (Philo, Spec. Laws 2.196). He regards these prayers as ordained by Moses, although there is no such statement in Torah: \u201cin accordance with our national law also to offer up prayers for a fertile and ample supply of blessings, and for peace of all mankind\u201d (Philo, Embassy 306). This emphasis on the prayer of the people became central to the synagogue liturgy, so that from ancient times the liturgy of the Day of Atonement was famously lengthy. Our scroll gives the earliest example of such a penitential prayer for the Day of Atonement. Some sources indicate that, in addition to being a solemn fast, the Day of Atonement also was regarded as a festival to be celebrated with joy. The later synagogue liturgy drew sharper distinctions between festivals (yom tov) and \u201cdays of awe.\u201d<\/p>\n
1Q34 Fragments 2+1<\/p>\n
6. Prayer for the Day of Atonement Presumably each prayer had a similar formula for naming the festival. The tenth day of the seventh month is called the \u201cDay of Atonement\u201d in Lev. 23:27, and this name is common in the Dead Sea Scrolls, Rabbinic literature, and the synagogue liturgy. In other texts in the Second Temple period, though, it is referred to simply as \u201cthe Fast\u201d or merely by the calendar date.
\nRemem[ber As in the Words of the Luminaries, an important part of each prayer is calling on God to remember his relationship with Israel in the past. The point is not merely to remind God of what he has done in the past, but to urge God to act again. This use of remembrance is common in the Hebrew Bible and central to Jewish liturgy.<\/p>\n
4Q509 Fragments 5\u20136 ii<\/p>\n
2. our blood Those who have suffered a violent death. In the Hebrew Bible, defeat by enemies is one of the curses for failure to keep God\u2019s laws, alluded to in 4Q509 5\u20136 ii 5 below (see Deut. 28:25\u201326). But on the other hand, God promises to avenge the blood of his people: \u201cFor He\u2019ll avenge the blood of His servants\u201d (Deut. 32:43). This motif still has a part in the synagogue liturgy on the Day of Atonement: in the ancient Avinu Malkeinu prayer (\u201cOur Father, Our King\u201d), recited on Fast Days, are petitions for God to \u201cact for the sake of those who were slain for Your holy name\u201d and \u201cavenge before our eyes the spilled blood of Your servants\u201d (ADPB, 98).
\n5. a]ll the curses Refers to the curses for disobeying the covenant, as described in Deuteronomy 28, including such things as famine, infertility, and war. Penitential prayers commonly include a confession that God was just in sending the curses of the covenant, for example in Dan. 9:11: \u201cAll Israel has violated Your teaching and gone astray, disobeying You; so the curse and the oath written in the Teaching of Moses \u2026 have been poured down upon us, for we have sinned against Him\u201d (see also Neh. 9:34; Bar. 1:20; 2:1). Either implicitly or explicitly, they appeal to God\u2019s compassion, asking God to remove the curses. In the Avinu Malkeinu prayer, for example, God is asked to \u201ctear up the evil sentence decreed against us\u201d (ADPB, 94).
\n7. [No]w you are about to lie down A quotation from Deut. 31:16, where God tells Moses that he is soon to die.<\/p>\n
4Q509 Fragment 7<\/p>\n
2. depths This may be a reference to God\u2019s deliverance of the Israelites through the sea (Isa. 63:13, \u201cWho led them through the deeps\u201d) or the drowning of the Egyptians in the Sea of Reeds (Exod. 15:5, \u201cThey went down into the depths like a stone\u201d).
\n4. beloved This term refers to something unique and precious, for example Isaac when Abraham is told to sacrifice him (\u201cTake your son, your favored son,\u201d Gen. 22:2, italics mine), and the Teacher of Righteousness in the Damascus Document (\u201cthe Beloved Teacher dies,\u201d CD 20:1). Here it may refer to Israel generally, or specifically to Moses whose death is mentioned earlier in the prayer.<\/p>\n
4Q508 Fragment 2<\/p>\n
The placement of this fragment is uncertain, but it probably belongs somewhere in the middle of a prayer for the Day of Atonement.
\n2. time of repentance The Day of Atonement as a time ordained by God for repentance is also mentioned in Jubilees, a rewriting of parts of Torah from the 2nd century BCE: \u201cIt has been written and ordained that he will have mercy on all who turn from all their errors once each year\u201d (Jub. 5:17\u201318; cf. 34:18\u201319).
\n3. appointed time of self-denial The Day of Atonement, on which one is to \u201cpractice self-denial\u201d (Lev. 16:29), that is, fasting (see Isa. 58:3). The Damascus Document from Qumran refers to it as \u201cthe day of self-denial\u201d (CD 6:19). The Mishnah forbids the following activities: eating, drinking, washing, anointing, putting on sandals, and sexual intercourse (M. Yoma 8:1).
\nyou established \u2026 a law fore[ver The Day of Atonement is the only fast that is prescribed in Torah. That it is a law forever is repeated three times in the description of the Day of Atonement in Lev. 16:29\u201334, for example, \u201cAnd this shall be to you a law for all time: In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall practice self-denial \u2026\u201d (Lev. 16:29). One feature of the prayers in this scroll is that they mention the biblical laws related to each festival (Nitzan, Qumran Prayer, 99\u2013100).
\n4 To confess that God knows all things and therefore we cannot make excuses continues to be a special motif of the Day of Atonement prayers. For example, an addition to the Amidah on the Day of Atonement admits, \u201cThou knowest whatever is open or hidden. Thou knowest the mysteries of the universe and the dark secrets of every living soul. Thou dost search all the inmost chambers of man\u2019s conscience; nothing escapes thee, nothing is hidden from thy sight.\u201d
\n5 An allusion to Ps. 103:12\u201314, \u201cAs east is far from west, \/ so far has He removed our sins from us. \/ As a father has compassion for his children, \/ so the LORD has compassion for those who fear Him. \/ For He knows how we are formed; \/ He is mindful that we are dust.\u201d This prayer turns Ps. 103 into a petition for forgiveness, appealing to human weakness and God\u2019s compassion (see 4Q508 2 2 and the comment below on 4Q508 22+23 1).
\n6. ou]r [rising] and our lying down All of human activity is known to God.<\/p>\n
4Q508 Fragments 22+23<\/p>\n
1. w]ho had compassion This part of the ending blessing of the prayer, recalling God\u2019s character as merciful, echoes the description of the Day of Atonement service by Ben Sira in the early 2nd century BCE: \u201cAnd the people \u2026 offered their prayers before the Merciful One\u201d (Sir. 50:19 NRSV).<\/p>\n
PRAYER FOR THE FESTIVAL OF BOOTHS<\/p>\n
These fragments belong to the prayer following that for the Day of Atonement, so they probably pertain to the next festival: the Festival of Booths, or Sukkot. In biblical law the Festival of Booths is a seven-day festival beginning on the \u201cfifteenth day of the seventh month,\u201d followed by an additional festival day (Shemini Atzeret, meaning literally \u201ceighth-day solemn assembly\u201d). The festival is intended as an occasion for joy, celebrating the gathering in of the harvest and commemorating God\u2019s care for the Israelites in the wilderness. From the Second Temple period, there is evidence that hymns of thanksgiving were sung during processions. Booths also became a time for public confession of sin (see 1 Kings 8; Neh. 9) and petition for the welfare of the community, especially for rain, good crops, and the return of the dispersed. The prayer in this scroll strongly evokes the traditions of prayer for the community\u2019s welfare at the Festival of Booths.<\/p>\n
4Q509 Fragment 8 (|| 4Q508 22+23 2\u20133; 21 1\u20133)<\/p>\n
5 A \u201craised offering\u201d is one that is lifted up as a gift to God. In biblical law, the first sheaf of the barley crop is raised after the Festival of Unleavened Bread (Lev. 23:11, 15), and that of the wheat crop, on the Festival of Weeks (Lev. 23:17, 20). Here, the prayer indicates that raised offerings are also made of the \u201cproduce of our land\u201d gathered in at the Festival of Booths (see Lev. 23:39).<\/p>\n
4Q509 Fragments 12 i+13<\/p>\n
A poetic prayer with short, repetitive lines drawn from biblical passages. Baillet identified these fragments as part of a prayer for the Day of Atonement, but more likely they belong to the Festival of Booths. In both style and content, this prayer echoes litanies from ancient times called Hoshanot that were recited at Booths during processions around the altar in the Temple. These were pleas for God to help\u2014especially by sending rain\u2014and listed aspects of God\u2019s character, his promises to the patriarchs, or other reasons God should act to save the people. This prayer probably included a plea for God to remember (and do something about) the sorry situation of the people, as in another similar prayer found at Qumran: \u201cRemember that [we are the prisoner] s of Your people, and the abandoned of Your inheritance. Remember the desolate children of Your covenant [\u2026]; the volunteers wandering, and there is no one to bring back; the broken, and there is no one to heal; [the bent over, and there is no one to lif]t up\u201d (4Q501 1 1\u20134, my translation). Similar prayers also came to be recited on the Day of Atonement, and the synagogue liturgy contains a close example in a liturgical poem (piyyut): \u201cFor we are now like wanderers, with no one to seek [them]; like prisoners, with no one to redeem (them); \u2026 like fools, with no one to instruct [them]; like weary ones, with no one to restore (them); \u2026 like those bent over, with no one to raise [them].\u201d<\/p>\n
4Q509 12 i+13<\/p>\n
1. scattered \u2026 to bring back This and the following lines draw on biblical passages that describe God as helper of the needy, especially the contrast between negligent leaders and God as the true shepherd in Ezek. 34: \u201cYou have not sustained the weak, healed the sick, or bandaged the injured; you have not brought back the [scattered], or [sought] the lost \u2026 I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the [scattered]; I will bandage the injured, and I will sustain the weak \u2026\u201d (Ezek. 34:4, 16; modified from NJPS).
\n2. someone to give strength \u201cSomeone\u201d meaning God, as in Isa. 41:10, \u201cBe not frightened, for I am your God; \/ I strengthen you and I help you.\u201d
\n6. friend to prisoners God is the friend, for having compassion for prisoners (see, e.g., Ps. 69:34) and releasing prisoners (e.g., Ps. 68:7; Isa. 61:1).<\/p>\n
UNIDENTIFIED PRAYER<\/p>\n
This prayer directly follows the prayer for the Festival of Booths. It could perhaps be a prayer for Shemini Atzeret, a solemn assembly on the eighth day of Booths (Lev. 23:36; Num. 29:35). There is some evidence from before the turn of the era to suggest the use of special songs for Shemini Atzeret. Nothing in the fragments of this prayer, however, points to a particular festival.<\/p>\n
4Q509 Fragment 16<\/p>\n
4\u20135 Laments the loss of respect for leaders.<\/p>\n
4Q509 Fragments 131\u201332 II<\/p>\n
5. Day of Firstfruits This is the name of the festival in Num. 28:26, also called the \u201cFeast of the Harvest, of the firstfruits of your work\u201d (Exod. 23:16) because it marks the end of the grain harvest with the offering of firstfruits. It is also referred to as the \u201cFeast of Weeks\u201d since it occurs seven weeks after the offering of the first ripe sheaf of grain (Deut. 16:9; cf. Lev. 23:15). During the Second Temple period, the festival came to be associated with the revelation of Torah on Mt. Sinai and the covenant between God and Israel, as it is also in Rabbinic Judaism.
\n6\u20137. freewill offerings \u2026 firstfruits Allusions to the biblical laws concerning the Feast of Weeks. \u201cFreewill offerings\u201d are given voluntarily rather than to fulfill a requirement. Deut. 16:10 stipulates making freewill offerings on the Feast of Weeks \u201caccording as the LORD your God has blessed you.\u201d The phrase \u201cfirstfruits of \u2026 work\u201d alludes to Exod. 23:16.
\n11. offspring According to Exod. 13:12, the first offspring of each animal is to be offered to God, but not in connection with the Feast of Weeks. The reference to offspring in this prayer is likely part of a more general description of God\u2019s blessing, which includes fruitfulness among offspring of animals and produce of the field (Deut. 7:13; 28:4).<\/p>\n
PRAYER FOR THE FESTIVAL OF PASSOVER<\/p>\n
Songs and prayers of the people have played an important role in the observance of Passover (Pesach) since well before the turn of the era. According to Philo in the early 1st century CE, the focus of the Passover ritual is the reciting of ancient prayers and hymns. \u201cThe guests assembled for the banquet \u2026 are there not \u2026 to indulge the belly \u2026 but to fulfill with prayers and hymns the custom handed down by their fathers\u201d (Spec. Laws 2.148). The Mishnah assumes a well-established liturgy of prayers and songs by the end of the 2nd century CE. The prayer here shows some motifs generally associated with Passover.<\/p>\n
4Q505 Fragment 125<\/p>\n
1. night of] vigil An allusion to the description of the Exodus in Exod. 12:42, \u201cThat was for the LORD a night of vigil to bring them out of the land of Egypt; that same night is the LORD\u2019s, one of vigil for all the children of Israel throughout the ages.\u201d This is the only passage in the Bible where the expression occurs, and it comes right before the law concerning the \u201cpassover offering\u201d (Exod. 12:43\u201349). From early centuries, a vigil through the night was an important part of the ritual. A \u201cnight of vigil\u201d for the LORD was also interpreted to mean a special night that had been anticipated since creation and that God guards from evil every year. Motifs related to \u201cnight of vigil\u201d are also found in several liturgical poems (piyyutim) for Passover.
\n2 An allusion to the law of observing Passover in Exod. 12:26\u201327: \u201cAnd when your children ask you, \u2018What do you mean by this rite?\u2019 you shall say, \u2018It is the passover sacrifice to the LORD, because He passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when He smote the Egyptians, but saved our houses.\u2019 \u201d
\n3\u20134 God\u2019s deliverance of the Israelites in the sight of all the nations is a common motif associated with Passover.<\/p>\n
4Q505 Fragment 127<\/p>\n
2\u20133. miracles \u2026 strength References to God\u2019s mighty deeds in the contest with Pharaoh (Exod. 5\u201315) are also prominent motifs associated with Passover.<\/p>\n
1Q34 Fragment 3<\/p>\n
To which festival this prayer belongs is uncertain, and its position in the scroll is also unknown. Baillet suggests it was a prayer for the Day of Atonement, but nothing in the content is particular to one festival, and overall the motifs might be more suitable for Passover.<\/p>\n
2. lot Here, what God has determined for the person\u2019s fate. Lines 2\u20135 contrast the fate of the righteous to that of the wicked. This passage may refer to those Israelites who enter the land versus the rebellious generation that dies in the wilderness.
\n3. a horror to all flesh The carcasses of the wicked as warning, as in Isa. 66:24: \u201cThey shall go out and gaze \/ On the corpses of the men who rebelled against Me \u2026 \/ They shall be a horror \/ To all flesh.\u201d Such a fate falls on the Israelites who rebel in the wilderness: \u201cIn this very wilderness shall your carcasses drop\u201d (Num. 14:29).
\n4. fat by the clouds of heaven Possibly an allusion to manna, as in Ps. 78:23\u201324, \u201cSo He commanded the skies above, \/ He opened the doors of heaven \/ and rained manna upon them for food, \/ giving them heavenly grain.\u201d
\nproduce of the land In a description of the first Passover observed in the land of Canaan, in Josh. 5:10\u201312, the manna lasted until \u201cthey ate of the produce of the land,\u201d on the second day of Passover.
\n5\u20136. the wicked our [r]ansom, and the tr[eacher]ous ones A paraphrase of Prov. 21:18, \u201cThe wicked are the ransom of the righteous; \/ The traitor comes in place of the upright.\u201d God satisfies his anger by punishing the wicked. Here the wicked are enemies of Israel (e.g., Egyptians) destroyed to secure the people\u2019s freedom (see the next comment).
\n6. extermination of all our oppressors Could refer to the destruction of the Egyptian army in the Sea of Reeds specifically or to the removal of enemies in general.
\n7 The reason humans were created is to praise God, as in Isa. 43:21, \u201cThe people I formed for Myself \/ That they might declare My praise.\u201d A blessing to this effect is in the synagogue liturgy, for example in the Closing Service of the Day of Atonement: \u201cBlessed be our God who has created us for his glory.\u201d<\/p>\n
1Q34 Fragment 3 II<\/p>\n
1. great light \u2026 little light An allusion to Gen. 1:14\u201319, where the sun and moon are created to \u201cserve as signs for the set times \u2026 the greater light to dominate the day and the lesser light to dominate the night.\u201d
\n2. not transgress their laws The laws of the heavenly lights, which mark sacred time according to God\u2019s command and whose laws humans must follow by observing festivals at the right time. This phrase reflects a contemporary controversy over different methods of keeping a calendar, which became a topic of intense debate among Jews in the Second Temple period, especially in the 2nd century BCE when the Seleucid calendar was adopted in the Temple. Similar language is used in the book of Jubilees and in Rule of the Community from Qumran to promote a sectarian calendar and to condemn the practices of other Jews. The passage in our prayer shows concern for correctly observing the calendar, but contains no polemic.
\n3. dominion Of the sun and moon over day and night (see the comment on 1Q34 3 ii 1).
\nthe human race did not understand Literally, the \u201cseed of adam\u201d did not understand. Implied here is the universal failure of humans to live up to God\u2019s intentions for them.
\n4\u20135. You take no pleasure in sin Refers to God\u2019s opposition to evildoers, similarly expressed in Ps. 5:5: \u201cFor You are not a God who desires wickedness; \/ evil cannot abide with You.\u201d
\n5. You chose for Yourself a people \u2026 As expressed in the Hebrew Bible, God\u2019s solution to the failure of humans to live up to his intentions was to choose Israel for a special relationship with God defined by Torah, as well as to make of them a model for the rest of humanity.
\nYou remembered your covenant The covenant with the patriarchs; see the next comment.
\n6. set apart \u2026 as holy Similar to Lev. 20:26: \u201cYou shall be holy to Me, for I the LORD am holy, and I have set you apart from other peoples to be Mine.\u201d
\nyou renewed your covenant Refers to the covenant with Moses as a renewal of the covenant with the patriarchs. At least by the 2nd century BCE, the Feast of Weeks was associated with renewal of the covenant, as in the book of Jubilees: \u201c\u2026 it has been ordained and written on the heavenly tablets that they should celebrate the festival of weeks during this month\u2014once a year\u2014to renew the covenant each and every year\u201d (Jub. 6:17).
\nan appearance of gl[or]y The manifestation of God\u2019s Divine Presence (Shekhinah) on Mount Sinai, as in Exod. 24:17, \u201cNow the appearance of the glory of the LORD was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain\u201d (NRSV).
\n6\u20137. and the words of your holy [spirit] That is, by the words of Moses, enabled by God\u2019s spirit. The idea that prophets are enabled by God\u2019s spirit is common in the Second Temple period and in the Rabbis.
\n7. the writing of your right hand The two tablets of the Ten Commandments, which according to Deut. 9:10 were \u201cinscribed by the finger of God.\u201d
\nglorious instruction Torah.
\n8. faithful shepherd Possibly David, who is referred to as a shepherd of the nation in the Bible. In context, though, it may instead refer to Moses. Moses is not explicitly called a shepherd in the Hebrew Bible, but he is working as a shepherd when God calls him in Exod. 3:1, and as his death approaches, Moses asks God to appoint another leader so that the people will not be left without a shepherd (Num. 27:17).<\/p>\n
4Q508 Fragment 3<\/p>\n
This prayer is best suited for a season of repentance (New Year to Day of Atonement), but it could apply to any festival.
\n1. we have done evil Recalls the language of late biblical confessions of sin such as that in Ps. 106:6: \u201cWe have sinned like our forefathers; we have gone astray, done evil\u201d (see also Dan. 9:5; Neh. 9:33; 1 Kings 8:47). Communal confessions like this became a feature at various festivals and fasts in the centuries following the return from exile in Babylon (6th century BCE). At Qumran, such a confession was a central part of an annual covenant ceremony (1QS 1:24\u201326; CD B 2:27\u201330). The Day of Atonement became especially a time for the community to confess sins, and these biblical prayers were used as models (see T. Yoma 2:1, B. Yoma 36b) for extended confessions incorporated into the Amidah of the later synagogue service.
\n2. [a covenant] with Noah A reference to Gen. 9:11, God\u2019s promise never to destroy the world again by means of a flood (cf. Isa. 54:9\u201310; Sir. 44:17\u201318).
\n3. yo[ur] agreement God\u2019s promise, to Abraham and his descendants, of land and blessing (Gen. 12:1\u20133; 15:18; 17:4\u20138) as the foundation of a special relationship with God (e.g., Ps. 105:8\u201311; Sir. 44:19\u201323). This promise is the subject of the first blessing of the Amidah, which praises the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God\u2019s remembrance of the covenant with Noah and with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is a motif in the Remembrance section of the Amidah for the additional service on New Year.<\/p>\n
4Q507 Fragment 1<\/p>\n
This prayer is best suited for a season of repentance (New Year to Day of Atonement), but could be for any festival.
\n2. from the womb \u2026 from the breast The thought and expression are similar to the confession of sin in Ps. 51:7: \u201cIndeed I was born with iniquity; \/ with sin my mother conceived me.\u201d Both prayers give voice to a sense of such great weakness and shame before God that they speak of human nature in general as sinful. They do not, however, express the Christian concept of \u201coriginal sin,\u201d in which humans inherit at birth a defective nature that is both prone to sin and guilty of sin. Rather, the authors of these prayers express humility as humans in contrast to God, and gratitude for God\u2019s kindness in helping and forgiving humans. Even in the sectarian scrolls from Qumran, where the awareness of human weakness and shame is a major motif, such expressions serve as a contrast to statements of wonder that God exalts humans to share with angels.<\/p>\n
4Q508 Fragment 4<\/p>\n
1 Jerusalem personified as a woman with children devastated by war. The image is used in Lamentations (e.g., 1:4; 2:10, 19) and Ezekiel (e.g., 23:4) to depict the Babylonian exile. Closer to the language here is a lament over Jerusalem among the Dead Sea Scrolls: \u201cThe sons of [my] peo[ple] are desolate\u201d (4Q179 1 7); \u201cthe princess of all the nation[s] has become desolate like an abandoned woman; all her [daug]hters have been aban[doned]\u201d (4Q179 2 5). The image is also used in the so-called Psalms of Solomon from the 1st century BCE to depict the conquest of Jerusalem by the Romans in 63 BCE (Pss. Sol. 2).
\n2 This line is part of a closing blessing, which summarizes the major theme of the prayer: God\u2019s choice of Israel for a special relationship based on a covenant.<\/p>\n
4Q508 Fragment 13<\/p>\n
Although the festival to which this prayer belongs is uncertain, the mention of \u201cgrain and new wine and oil\u201d evokes the Feast of Weeks.
\n3 Refers to the gifts of firstfruits of the harvest that are to be brought by the people for the priests (e.g., per Deut. 18:4). The Feast of Weeks celebrated the beginning of the harvest with offerings of firstfruits of the produce, and it was known as the \u201cFeast of the Harvest\u201d (Exod. 23:16) and the \u201cday of the firstfruits\u201d (Num. 28:26).<\/p>\n
4Q508 Fragment 32<\/p>\n
In ancient times, the beginnings of the months were solemn feasts with special sacrifices in addition to Sabbaths and festivals (Num. 28:11\u201315). According to some texts, in the Temple these feasts were accompanied by the blowing of trumpets as a \u201creminder\u201d (Num. 10:10), and songs of praise by the Levites (1 Chron. 23:30\u201331). The new moons are listed as times for praise in Rule of the Community (1QS 10:3\u20135), and a nonsectarian writing from Qumran mentions psalms for the new moons (11QPs 27:7\u20138). This scroll treats the New Moon as a significant festival with its own prayers. Although the New Moon eventually lost its status as a solemn feast day, it continues to have special blessings in the synagogue.
\n3. memor[ial In the synagogue, the additional blessing in the Amidah for new moons asks God to remember the people for their benefit (see ADPB, 83\u201386).<\/p>\n
4Q509 Fragment 4<\/p>\n
Lines 4\u20135 are the closing benediction of a prayer that praises God for giving knowledge.<\/p>\n
Words of the Luminaries<\/p>\n
Daniel K. Falk<\/p>\n
This text, from scrolls 4Q504 and 4Q506, is a collection of lengthy prayers, one for each day of the week. They were probably recited at sunrise and sunset, and repeated for each week of the year. Those for Sunday through Friday are petitions, with a consistent form. They begin by calling God to remember his dealings with his people, and over the course of the week they summarize the biblical story from Creation through the return from exile and up to the author\u2019s time. The tone is humble, confessing sin and then petitioning God to forgive, to help the people keep God\u2019s law, and to rescue them from spiritual or physical distress. They close with a blessing to God that reinforces the major theme of the prayer, followed by a response: \u201cAmen, Amen.\u201d On the Sabbath, things are different; there is instead a hymn of praise to God. Because the prayers are long and complicated, a prayer leader probably recited them, and the congregation responded affirmatively with \u201cAmen, Amen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Authorship and History<\/p>\n
Words of the Luminaries were written in Hebrew, probably before the development of the sectarian community at Qumran, but this group likely used them. Of two copies found at Qumran, one dates from the middle of the 2nd century BCE (4Q504) and the other from the middle of the 1st century CE (4Q506). Nothing in the prayers suggests that they were written by a sectarian group; they reflect typical Jewish concerns for Israel\u2019s covenant with God. Their style is very similar to those in the Festival Prayers collection, also found at Qumran.<\/p>\n
Significance<\/p>\n
These are the earliest known collection of daily prayers, and indeed the earliest evidence for the practice of groups of Jews gathering daily to pray together. Because they are recited daily, there is no direct connection between the requests for forgiveness and help and any immediate sin or situation of distress. This is an extraordinary change from prayer in the Hebrew Bible, where people pray mainly when they feel they need to. Luminaries is the earliest clear example of a new attitude toward prayer that became the hallmark of the synagogue: prayer as a religious service to God. Together the community confesses sin and prays for spiritual and physical help at regular times, bringing all of life before God and expressing complete dependence on God.
\nThese prayers show many general and specific similarities with certain prayers of the synagogue. There are some similarities with the Amidah (also known as the Eighteen Benedictions), which is one of the two central prayers of the synagogue liturgy. It is a series of short petitions framed with blessings to God. Now it is recited three times a day, but originally it was recited twice a day at the times of sacrifice. When it originated is a matter of debate, but it seems that the Amidah as known in the synagogue developed after the destruction of the Temple, drawing on the heritage of various petitions from the Second Temple period. As may be gathered from the Mishnah, the Amidah was originally a collection of petitions with certain general themes but not yet fixed wording (M. Ber. 4\u20135). It was a public prayer recited by a leader, and the congregation affirmed each blessing by responding \u201cAmen.\u201d
\nWords of the Luminaries contains the same basic type of prayer with a similar function. The collection shows an early attempt to frame each prayer with formulas at the beginning and end, and the ending formula appears to be a transition between formulas found in the Bible and those in later synagogue prayer. Many of the themes in the Amidah appear in these prayers, including knowledge, repentance, forgiveness, redemption, healing, concerns about the righteous and the wicked, and restoration of Jerusalem and the Davidic dynasty. Even some specific expressions are very similar (see commentary below).
\nNevertheless, Words of the Luminaries is not an early version of the Amidah. It comprises seven long prayers, a different one for each day of the week; the Amidah is a series of blessings recited in its entirety every day. Still, together with other pieces of evidence, this shows that by the 2nd century BCE there had developed a widespread practice of pious Jews reciting groups of petitions with some common themes. The most important of these are prayers from Wisdom of Ben Sira (Sirach), a book of wisdom from the early 2nd century BCE, which show some of the same motifs grouped together, as in Words of the Luminaries and the Amidah.
\nIn the synagogue service the Amidah is followed by a collection of supplications\u2014known as Tachanun\u2014that also have some similarities to the style and content of the prayers in Words of the Luminaries: asking God to remember the weakness of humans and his saving acts in the past, repenting and pleading for forgiveness, and petitioning for help to keep God\u2019s law. The Tachanun were at first private prayers of the individual for various personal needs, both physical and spiritual, but they came to have a place in the synagogue liturgy as people imitated the prayers of esteemed Rabbis.
\nThere were two main public settings for supplications and penitential prayer in Second Temple Judaism: public prayers for the nation on fast days and at times of special need, for which there were biblical models; and personal prayers at the daily incense offering at the Temple. Both forms of prayer left their mark on the later daily liturgy of the synagogue, particularly on the Amidah and the supplications following it. Luminaries shows how advanced and lively such prayer traditions were already in the 2nd century BCE.
\nBy having a hymn for Saturday rather than a petition, Luminaries demonstrates that Sabbath prayer should be special and set apart from the rest of the week: it is especially fitting to praise God on this day. This attitude seems to have been typical in ancient Judaism, and is reflected in later synagogue liturgy.<\/p>\n
GUIDE TO READING<\/p>\n
The translation below presents the best preserved copy (4Q504), marking with italics where a few small pieces of the second copy (4Q506) overlap. Because the manuscripts are in pieces, none of the prayers is complete. By carefully comparing the bits that survive, scholars have been able to put most of the pieces of 4Q504 in the right order and to fill in many of the gaps. Each day\u2019s prayer is presented separately, which often covers several fragments.
\nThe beginning of Wednesday\u2019s prayer gives the clearest idea of how the weekday prayers start; compare this with the beginning of the Sabbath hymn. Then read Friday\u2019s prayer, and then Thursday\u2019s, since these are the best preserved and convey the nature of the prayers. Then start at the beginning and try to trace the progression of the story from Creation to the congregation\u2019s presence in the Hellenistic period. Note how they tell the story: what is prominent and what is left out. Also pay attention to what sins the congregation confesses and what it asks of God. Finally, read the prayer for the Sabbath, noting the different tone from the weekday prayers, and which characteristics and actions of God they praise.<\/p>\n
SUGGESTED READING<\/p>\n
Arnold, Russell C. D. The Social Role of Liturgy in the Religion of the Qumran Community, 130\u201333. Studies on the Text of the Desert of Judah 60. Leiden: Brill, 2006.
\nBaillet, Maurice. \u201c504. Paroles des Luminaires (premier exemplaire: DibHama)\u201d and \u201c506. Paroles des Luminaires (troisi\u00e8me exemplaire: DibHamc).\u201d In Qumr\u00e2n grotte 4.III (4Q482\u20134Q520), 137\u201368, 170\u201375, and plates XVIII, XX, XXIV, and XLIX\u2013LIII. DJD 7. Oxford: Clarendon, 1982.
\nChazon, Esther G. \u201c4QDibHam: Liturgy or Literature?\u201d Revue de Qumran 15 (1992): 447\u201355.
\n\u2014\u2014\u2014. \u201cDibre Hamme\u2019orot: Prayer for the Sixth Day (4Q504 1\u20132 v\u2013vi).\u201d In Prayer from Alexander to Constantine: A Critical Anthology, edited by Mark Kiley, et al., 23\u201327. London: Routledge, 1997.
\n\u2014\u2014\u2014. \u201cA Liturgical Document from Qumran and its Implications: \u2018Words of the Luminaries\u2019 (4QDibHam)\u201d [Hebrew]. Unpublished PhD Dissertation, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, 1991.
\nDavila, James R. \u201cThe Words of the Luminaries.\u201d In Liturgical Works, 238\u201366. Eerdmans Commentaries on the Dead Sea Scrolls 6. Grand Rapids MI: Eerdmans, 2000.
\nFalk, Daniel K. Daily, Sabbath, and Festival Prayers in the Dead Sea Scrolls, 59\u201394. Studies on the Text of the Desert of Judah 27. Leiden: Brill, 1998.
\n\u2014\u2014\u2014. \u201cQumran and the Synagogue Liturgy.\u201d In The Ancient Synagogue from Its Origins until 200 C. E., edited by Birger Olsson and Magnus Zetterholm, 420\u201325 [404\u2013434]. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell, 2003.
\nNitzan, Bilhah. Qumran Prayer and Religious Poetry, 89\u2013116, and see index. Studies on the Text of the Desert of Judah 12. Leiden: Brill, 1994.
\nWeinfeld, Moshe. \u201cPrayer and Liturgical Practice in the Qumran Sect.\u201d In The Dead Sea Scrolls: Forty Years of Research, edited by Devorah Dimant and Uriel Rappaport, 241\u201358. Studies on the Text of the Desert of Judah 10. Leiden: Brill, 1992.<\/p>\n
COMMENTARY<\/p>\n
1. Words of the Luminaries This is the title of the scroll, written across the edge on the outside of the scroll. It probably implies that the prayers are words to be recited at times determined by the lights in the sky, presumably, at sunset and sunrise. The term \u201cwords\u201d was sometimes used in Rabbinic literature to refer to private petitions in the synagogue service (e.g., T. Ber. 3:6).<\/p>\n
4Q504 Fragment 8 recto<\/p>\n
1. Prayer on the first day This heading, as well as the headings for most of the prayers, does not survive. The only complete heading is that for Sabbath: \u201cA song of praises on the day of the Sabbath\u201d (1\u20132 vii 4). Of the weekday prayers, only part of one heading survives: \u201c[\u2026] the fourth [da]y\u201d (3 ii 8). The form of the weekday prayers is the same as that in the Festival Prayers, for which one of the headings survives: \u201cPrayer for the Day of Atonement\u201d (1Q34 2+1 6). On the basis of these clues, it is probable that each of the prayers in Luminaries had a similar heading.
\nRemem]ber O L[o]rd Each of the weekday prayers begins with a formula calling God to remember his past dealings with his people. This can include the frail nature of humans, God\u2019s character, his promises, and his acts of mercy in the past. In this prayer for the first day of the week, the prayer calls to God\u2019s remembrance his creation of humans and his dealings with Adam, the generation of the Flood, the Exodus from Egypt, and the giving of Torah on Sinai. Throughout the remaining weekday prayers, the remembrance rehearses in sequence the history of the covenantal relationship between God and Israel, both negative and positive, from the patriarchs through to the exile and return. The appeal to remembrance in prayer is common in prayers of the Hebrew Bible (e.g., Exod 32:13; Deut 9:27) and of the later synagogue, but Words of the Luminaries and Festival Prayers are unique in adapting it to a consistent formula.
\nfrom du[st you formed us The exact wording of the first two lines is uncertain, but the idea is clear enough, particularly when taken in context of the prayer as a whole. The prayer begins by recalling the creation of humans, alluding to the story in Gen. 2\u20133. It contrasts the short and frail life of humans made of dust with the eternity and glory of God. This contrast not only allows the author to express wonder and gratitude that God allows humans to share in God\u2019s glory (4Q504 8 4), but it also serves as a basis for appealing to God\u2019s kindness and forgiveness (see frag. 4). Juxtaposing human frailty with God\u2019s glory is also a common motif in sectarian songs of praise at Qumran, but there the emphasis is mostly on rejoicing that God has exalted their community alongside the angels. Here, the reflection is on God\u2019s dealings with humans in general, and the emphasis on humble appeal for mercy. A similar use of this motif remains in the daily Tachanun of the synagogue liturgy: \u201cBe gracious to us, O LORD, be gracious \u2026 In wrath remember to be merciful. For He knows how we were formed; He remembers that we are dust.\u201d
\n2. to dust is] our [lon]ging Humans decay and return to dust. The thought is from Gen. 3:19, and is expressed again in 4Q504 8 9.
\n4. likeness of [Your] glory An allusion to Gen. 1:26, where humans are created in the \u201cimage\u201d and \u201clikeness\u201d of God, a status of privilege and responsibility as God\u2019s representatives in the world. By the time of these prayers, Jews respectfully avoided speaking directly about God in human terms, and so used indirect expressions like \u201cglory\u201d of God.
\n5. understanding and knowledge God\u2019s gift of knowledge is a common motif in these and other prayers from Qumran and has also had a prominent place in the daily synagogue liturgy since before 200 CE, in one of the petitions in the Amidah (see M. Ber. 5:2). Knowledge in these contexts has to do with understanding God\u2019s laws, which is necessary in order that a person might recognize sin and repent.
\n6. domini[on An allusion to Gen. 1:26, 28, where humans as God\u2019s representatives maintain order in the natural world. The ideal where peace reigns throughout the natural world is viewed as established by God at Creation, lost because of human folly, but still a hope for the future.
\n8. st[ray To disobey God\u2019s laws.
\n9. flesh \u2026 dust An allusion to Gen. 3:19, which conveys that decay and death are part of being human (\u201cUntil you return to the ground\u2014\/ \u2026 For dust you are, \/ And to dust you shall return\u201d).
\n14. fill the] earth [with vio]lence \u2026 she[d innocent blood A reference to the violence that led to God destroying the world by a flood. This was probably followed by a reference to God\u2019s deliverance of Noah and his family.<\/p>\n
4Q504 Fragment 6<\/p>\n
6. Re]member In the following lines, the author quotes and paraphrases Scripture (see following comments) to remind God of his past commitment to Israel, as an appeal for his continued help in the present. The style draws on Moses\u2019s prayers when he pleads with God not to abandon the people in the wilderness. Moses reminds God that \u201cthis nation is Your people\u201d (Exod. 33:13); here this is paraphrased \u201call of us are your people.\u201d Throughout the prayer, the congregation speaks as the very children of Israel rescued from Egypt, just as those attending a seder would in using the Passover haggadah.
\n6\u20137. You bore us up \u2026 brought us to Yourself A paraphrase of Exod. 19:4, in which God describes how he rescued the Israelites from the Egyptians.
\n7\u20138. as an eagle rouses its brood \u2026 and lifts them on [its pinions A direct quotation of Deut. 32:11, in which God is described as a strong eagle protecting and caring for its young.
\n9. [l]ive apart \u2026 among the nations A paraphrase of Num. 23:9, in which the people of Israel are described as unique and separate from other peoples. As commonly in ancient Judaism, the main division of humans is between Israel and all other peoples. This is in contrast to the sectarian texts from Qumran, which focus more on the division between \u201cChildren of Light\u201d (those who join the sectarian covenant) and the \u201cChildren of Darkness\u201d (everyone else, both Jew and Gentile).
\n10. column of fire and cloud An allusion to the journey of Israel from Egypt to Mount Sinai, when God guided and protected them by a cloud during the day and a pillar of fire at night. This is from the prayer of Moses in Num. 14:14, which is also cited in the prayer for Wednesday in 4Q504.
\n11. Your [holi]ness \u2026 Your glory The congregation speaks of God with them in the present just as God was with the people of Israel on the way out of Egypt. To avoid speaking of God in human terms, they refer to God\u2019s \u201choliness\u201d and \u201cglory\u201d with them, associating these with the \u201ccloud\u201d and \u201cfire\u201d that led the people of Israel in the wilderness (see Exod. 24:16; 40:34\u201338). Much of this prayer is drawn from Moses\u2019s arguments with God when God threatened that he would not go with the people (see Exod. 33; Num. 14).
\n14. not declare innoc[ent Alludes to Exod. 34:6\u20137, where God reveals his character to Moses as merciful and forgiving but holding the guilty to account. See also the comment on 4Q504 4 6.
\n16. holy \u2026 and pure Refers to the laws of Torah; see the comment on the prayer for Wednesday, 4Q504 3 ii 15.
\n17. live by them That is, live by Torah, which is a way of life and source of life for the people (see, e.g., Lev. 18:5).
\n18. o]a[t]h God\u2019s promise that the descendants of Abraham would have a special land (Deut. 8:7; see also Gen. 12:1; 15:7; 17:8). Moses refers to this promise in his plea to God not to abandon the people (Num 14:16; cf. v. 23). Moses\u2019s example is followed in this prayer: the congregation appeals to God for help on the basis of ancient promises to Abraham.<\/p>\n
4Q504 Fragment 4<\/p>\n
This section overlaps with fragments 131\u2013132 of 4Q506, the other manuscript of Luminaries. The overlap helps scholars fill in some of the gaps in the text.
\n4. God of knowledge God as source of knowledge. The expression \u201cGod of knowledge\u201d is especially important in the sectarian texts from Qumran. The motifs of knowledge, repentance, and forgiveness in lines 4\u201312 show that this combination of elements is very ancient in Jewish prayer. It appears in the earliest known summary of the Amidah, mentioned in the Talmud (B. Ber. 29a): \u201cGive us discernment, O LORD, to know Thy ways, and circumcise our heart to fear Thee, and forgive us so that we may be redeemed \u2026\u201d The combination has been a central unit in the Amidah of the synagogue ever since. The three motifs are connected in that knowledge of God\u2019s law is necessary for repentance, and repentance is necessary for forgiveness.
\n5. Your h[oly] spirit God\u2019s spirit. The idea within this line is similar to Ezek. 36:27 (cf. Jer. 31:33), where the solution to the problem of human failure is for God\u2019s spirit to be placed in humans so that they understand and keep God\u2019s laws. God\u2019s holy spirit connected with knowledge and repentance is common in the sectarian Dead Sea Scrolls and in the New Testament, where knowledge is a supernatural gift. For the restoration \u201cYour holy spirit,\u201d cf. 1Q34bis 3 ii 7, which belongs to a closely related collection of prayers for festivals.
\n6. the sins of the ancestors Underlying this prayer is the belief that the people\u2019s troubles are, at least in part, a punishment from God for the sins of their ancestors (see Exod. 34:6\u20137, alluded to in 4Q504 6 14; see also the comment on that line). Therefore, the congregation seeks to break this cycle by confessing that their ancestors were guilty and pleading for God to stop punishing their descendants. They bolster their plea by quoting Ps. 79:8 (NJPS: \u201cDo not hold our former iniquities against us \u2026\u201d). This passage is also quoted in the individual Tachanun of the synagogue.
\n7. stu] bborn Literally, \u201cstiff-necked\u201d; the image is of an ox that cannot be turned by a yoke. This is a frequent description of Israel as unresponsive to God (e.g., Exod. 33:3; Jer. 7:26) and is common in prayers of confession (Exod. 34:9; Neh. 9:16, 29).
\n10. kingdom] of priests and holy nation A quotation of Exod. 19:6, where God chooses Israel to be a special people, set apart from and yet representing the whole world.
\n11\u201312 These two lines are a paraphrase of Deut. 10:15\u201316, where Moses reminds the people that God chose Israel to be a special people, and therefore they should \u201ccircumcise the foreskin of your heart, and do not be stubborn any more\u201d (NRSV). Here, this admonishment is turned into a prayer that God might bring about the change in the people. The perspective is similar to that in Jeremiah, where the people cannot change themselves (Jer. 13:23), but God must transform the people from within (31:31\u201334). Circumcision of the heart is a metaphor for spiritual cleansing (cf. Jer. 4:4). Almost the same petition appears as a prayer for repentance in the earliest known version of the Amidah (B. Ber. 29a).
\n12. Strengthen our heart A petition for spiritual empowerment to keep God\u2019s laws.
\n14. who has made [us] to kn[ow The prayer for Sunday closes with a blessing that sums up its main theme: requesting knowledge and strength to keep God\u2019s laws.
\n15. Amen, Amen The congregation agrees with the prayer (as in Neh. 8:6).<\/p>\n
4Q504 Fragment 4<\/p>\n
16. Your holy name As Moses argued that God should spare the people of Israel for the sake of God\u2019s reputation (Num. 14:13\u201316), the congregation here appeals to God to show kindness for the sake of his name (see also Ps. 25:11). Underlying this petition is the belief that the people cannot claim to deserve mercy; rather, God would be justified in punishing their sin. Asking God to have mercy and help the people for the sake of God\u2019s name is very common in petitions in the daily synagogue liturgy, including the Amidah and the Tachanun that follow it.<\/p>\n
4Q504 Fragment 26<\/p>\n
5. firstborn Refers to God\u2019s special choice of Israel in rescuing them from Egypt (Exod. 4:22). The blessing after the morning Shema in the synagogue liturgy praises God for freeing Israel his firstborn from Egypt (ADPB 70\u201374).
\n7. provoke In the Hebrew Bible, this expression is used in reference to angering God by idolatry; here it probably alludes to the incident of the Golden Calf (see Deut. 9:18 [NRSV]: \u201cbecause of all the sin you had committed, provoking [NJPS: \u201cvexing\u201d] the LORD by doing what was evil in his sight\u201d).<\/p>\n
4Q504 Fragment 5 ii<\/p>\n
1. their descendants This is probably a reference to God choosing the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to be a special people, as in Deut. 10:15.
\n2. standing before That is, the people of Israel are ready to serve God or to pray. Standing was a common posture for prayer (e.g., Matt. 6:5), and at least by the 2nd century CE, \u201cstanding\u201d became a technical term for reciting the Amidah (hence the name, which means \u201cstanding\u201d). See also M. Ber. 5:1; B. Ber. 26b.
\n4. festival of [our] freedom The last word is literally \u201credemption,\u201d freedom gained at a price, such as buying a slave\u2019s freedom. The festival in view is Passover, which celebrates the freedom of Israel from slavery in Egypt. According to the calendar used by some pious Jewish groups including the Qumran sect, Passover on the 14th day of the first month would always fall on a Tuesday. The group that wrote these prayers may have used the same calendar and honored Passover in their prayers on Tuesday. God as redeemer of Israel is the subject of the seventh prayer in the Amidah of the synagogue liturgy, and also appears in the benediction following the morning Shema (ADPB, 72, 80).
\n5. stray \u2026 stubbornness of our heart Meaning a deliberate rebellion against God (cf. Deut. 29:18\u201320; Jer. 7:24\u201325). In the context of this prayer, the phrase probably alludes to the Israelites\u2019 rebellions in the wilderness. In Qumran sectarian texts, this phrase commonly refers to all those who refuse to join their community or who defect from it (see, e.g., CD 3:11; 1QS 2:25\u20133:3; 1QHa 12:16).<\/p>\n
4Q504 Fragment 3 ii<\/p>\n
5. rest That is, peace and safety from enemies; \u201crest\u201d also often refers to settlement in the land (e.g., Exod. 33:14, NRSV: \u201cHe said, \u2018My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest\u2019 \u201d; Deut. 12:10).
\n6. holy Either a reference to an attribute of God (\u201cyour\u201d) treated as holy, or someone or something consecrated as holy.
\n7. face to face Literally \u201ceye to eye,\u201d this phrase describes how directly God revealed himself to the Israelites at Mount Sinai. The author is paraphrasing from the prayer of Moses in Num. 14:14 (see also Deut. 5:4\u20136).
\n8. Your holy words The Ten Commandments, literally the \u201cten words\u201d in the Hebrew Bible (Exod. 34:28; Deut. 4:10\u201313; 10:4; cf. Exod. 20:1). These are the only words of God said to have been heard directly by the whole congregation of Israel (Deut. 4:13; 10:4; cf. Exod. 20:19 [NRSV: 20:22]); other instructions were passed on through Moses.
\n8\u20139. to test us \u2026 that we might not s[in This restoration is by Chazon (\u201cA Liturgical Document,\u201d 206) on the basis of the wording of Exod. 20:17 (20:20 in NRSV), \u201cMoses answered the people, \u2018Be not afraid; for God has come only in order to test you, and in order that the fear of Him may be ever with you, so that you do not go astray\u2019.\u201d After hearing the Ten Commandments from the voice of God, the people are afraid they will die. Moses tries to comfort the people by replying that God spoke directly to them so that they would obey him, but the people do not want to hear directly from God anymore.
\n10 Praise of God\u2019s great and holy name is also a motif in the second blessing before the morning Shema (ADPB, 64).
\n12\u201313. so that we may believe [\u2026] forever According to Exod. 19:9, God appeared dramatically to all the people in a cloud at Mt. Sinai so that they would always believe Moses.
\n13. covenant at Ho[reb Horeb is an alternative name for Sinai.
\n15. good \u2026 and holy things Refers to the laws of Moses. This description of the Law is not found in the Hebrew Bible, where sacred objects, times, and people are described as \u201choly,\u201d but not the laws themselves. It is, however, in the spirit of Ps. 19:8\u201311, and in postbiblical Judaism, the laws of Torah are commonly referred to as holy and good. Very similar is the expression by the Pharisee Paul in Rom. 7:12: \u201cthe law is holy, and the commandment is holy and just and good\u201d (NRSV).
\n16. commanded through] Moses According to Exod. 20:15\u201319 (NRSV: 20:18\u201322), the people heard only the Ten Commandments directly from God, and the rest of the laws were mediated through Moses.
\n17. face to face An allusion to Exod. 33:11, which notes that God would speak with Moses \u201cface to face, as one man speaks to another.\u201d
\nYou made [Your] glor[y pass before his face] An allusion to Exod. 33:18\u201319 (\u201cI will make all my goodness pass before you\u201d), where God reveals his character to Moses.
\n18. they found [favor This line is based on Moses\u2019s prayer that God will go with the people and God\u2019s response in Exod. 33:12\u201317. Here, however, the author clarifies that the people as well as Moses have found favor with God, only hinted in Exodus (33:16).
\n19. by his hand Refers to the stone tablets, carved and written upon by Moses (see Exod. 34:1\u20134, 27\u201328).<\/p>\n
4Q504 Fragment 7 + 18<\/p>\n
2. wond]ers Mighty deeds done by God in bringing the Israelites to the land of Canaan, as promised in Exod. 34:10.
\n3. generations will recount Remembering the great deeds of God in the past and telling the next generation are central to the idea of covenant in the Hebrew Bible (e.g., Deut. 6:20\u201325). This focus is at the heart of penitential prayer from the beginning, as seen in the earliest examples (Ezra 9; Neh. 9; Dan. 9 and Ps. 106), and it is central to the Jewish liturgy in general, especially in the blessing after the morning Shema (ADPB, 72) and in the Passover seder.
\n6. it will not be shortened Refers to God\u2019s hand, as in Num. 11:23 (NJPS: \u201cIs there a limit to the LORD\u2019s power?\u201d Or, literally, \u201cIs the LORD\u2019s hand too short?\u201d), where God counters Moses\u2019s doubts that the Israelites can be sustained on their journey through the wilderness.
\n7. nothing [will be im]possible Affirms that God is all-powerful, as in Job 42:2.
\n10\u201311. Do not abandon us \u2026 in Your mercies A paraphrase of Moses\u2019s prayer in Deut. 9:26\u201329. There, Moses asks that God not destroy the people, but here the author asks that God not \u201cabandon\u201d the people, with language similar to the penitential prayer in Neh. 9. The specific verb used is the same as in Isaiah (2:6) and Jeremiah (7:29; 12:7) where the prophets announce that God has abandoned the people, but also in the claim of Ps. 94:14 that God certainly \u201cwill not forsake His people \u2026\u201d A similar use of Moses\u2019s prayer is found in Jubilees (1:19\u201320) and the prayer of Communal Confession from Qumran (4Q393 3 3\u20135). Underlying these prayers is an attempt to guard against national calamity as divine punishment.
\n14\u201317. in the wild]erness \u2026 they tested You This passage recounts the rebellion of the Israelites in the wilderness, when they \u201ctested\u201d God\u2019s patience and forgiveness (Num. 14:22; see also Deut. 6:16). These lines juxtapose the people\u2019s failure to obey with the reminder that God gave them the ability to obey (heart to know, eyes to see, ears to hear), thus confessing that their ancestors sinned without excuse. Rather, their sin was deliberate: they \u201cspurned\u201d God\u2019s law (line 14), and covered their eyes (line 17).<\/p>\n
4Q504 Fragments 1\u20132 i recto<\/p>\n
9\u201310 The historical summary that appeared in this section is almost completely lost, but apparently extended until line 6 in the following column. It described the people\u2019s flight to the wilderness and the great deeds of God to protect them; that is, primarily the story of Numbers.<\/p>\n
4Q504 Fragments 1\u20132 ii recto<\/p>\n
7\u201310 Just as in Dan. 9:4, the petition in these lines begins with a sigh of anguish. This petition is based especially on Moses\u2019s prayer for God to forgive the Israelites in Num. 14:13\u201319, but alludes to other biblical passages about Israel\u2019s sin and repentance as well. It offers several different motivations for God to have mercy and help the people: his character, his reputation, precedent, obligation, and fairness. First, the prayer asks for God to act \u201cas befits you,\u201d that is, according to his character, as summarized by Moses in Num. 14:18: slow to anger, forgiving, and so on. Second, God is asked to live up to his reputation of great acts of deliverance in the past (see Num. 14:16\u201317; see also 4Q504 1\u20132 ii, lines 10 and 12). The phrase \u201caccording to Your great strength,\u201d is from Nehemiah\u2019s prayer of confession (Neh. 1:10), and substitutes for \u201cYour great kindness\u201d in Num. 14:19. Third, the prayer appeals to the precedent of God\u2019s forgiveness of the Israelites in the wilderness (e.g., Num. 14:20).
\n8. defied Your command Alludes to the rebellion at Meribah in the wilderness (Num. 27:14).
\n9. for the sake of Your covenant As a fourth motivation, the prayer appeals to God\u2019s commitment to the covenant.
\n[M]oses had atoned God accepted Moses\u2019s prayer on behalf of the people (Num. 14:13\u201319; cf. Exod. 32:30) and forgave them (Num. 14:20). Because the current prayer is modeled on Moses\u2019s prayer, this is an implicit appeal to God\u2019s fairness as a fifth motivation for accepting this prayer as atonement for sin.
\n11. May Your anger and Your wrath turn away A quotation from the penitential prayer in Dan. 9:16, but here \u201cfrom your people Israel\u201d in general rather than specifically \u201cfrom your city Jerusalem.\u201d
\n12. before the eyes of the nations The prayer appeals to the values of an honor-shame society to motivate God. God\u2019s reputation among other nations is tied to the welfare of Israel (see Num. 14:13\u201316), since \u201cwe bear your name.\u201d Literally \u201cyour name is called over us,\u201d this is an expression of ownership, that Israel is God\u2019s chosen people (e.g., Deut. 28:10) and therefore God will protect them. Here it is used to motivate God to be merciful, as in Jer. 14:9, since God\u2019s honor is at stake with them.
\n13. with all (our) heart and \u2026 soul Recalls the instructions for how to restore the covenant in Deut. 30:2, \u201creturn \u2026 with all your heart and soul \u2026\u201d This passage (cf. Deut. 4:29) is one of the major motivations for the development of penitential prayer in Judaism, as it is taken as a prescription for how to repent in order to reverse and guard against the curse of exile. The petition for God to \u201cimplant Torah in our heart\u201d is a prayer for instinctual knowledge of Torah. The thought is from Jer. 31:33, where God promises that \u201cafter these days \u2026 I will put My Teaching into their inmost being and inscribe it upon their hearts,\u201d so that people will understand God\u2019s laws without needing to be taught. This prayer is the earliest use of the phrase \u201cto implant \u2026 Torah in our heart,\u201d which found a home in the synagogue liturgy in the blessing after the Torah reading, and was also taken over into an early Christian prayer by the 4th century CE.
\n14. turn \u2026 to the right or left From Deut. 28, where Moses lays out the blessings that will result if the Israelites follow God\u2019s laws without turning \u201cto the right or to the left\u201d (Deut. 28:14), but warns of curses if they fail. Here, the congregation looks to God to transform them spiritually so that they do not turn from Torah and might be equipped to fulfill it. The thought is similar to that of Jeremiah\u2019s \u201cnew covenant\u201d (Jer. 31:31\u201334), which had an especially large influence on the sectarian movement seen in the Dead Sea Scrolls and early Christianity.
\nmadness, blindness and bewilderment A quotation from Deut. 28:28, where Moses lists curses (\u201cmadness, blindness, and dismay\u201d) that will come on the people as punishment from God if they fail to keep God\u2019s laws. Because they have repented (4Q504 1\u20132 ii 13), the congregation claims God\u2019s promise to reverse the curses of the covenant (cf. Deut. 30:1\u20133).
\n15. we were sold, but \u2026 You called us Adapted from the rebuke of Israel in Isa. 50:1, but instead of utter rejection, the prayer finds hope that despite the people\u2019s rebellions, God still calls. Cf. Isa. 50:1\u20132, where God says: \u201cYou were only sold off for your sins, \/ \u2026 Why, when I called, would none respond?\u201d
\n16. You will rescue us from sinning This turns around the language of Isa. 50:2, \u201cIs my arm, then, too short to rescue, \/ Have I not the power to save?\u201d Instead of the exile as a consequence of sin, it is the spiritual weakness for sinning from which God rescues the people. Protection from sinning combined with prayer for knowledge is a common motif in early Jewish prayer, including private prayers of Rabbis that became traditional in the synagogue. The biblical inspiration for these prayers was Ps. 119:133: \u201cdo not let iniquity dominate me.\u201d Such prayers focus on human weakness as a spiritual problem against which one needs divine help.
\n17. make us understand the requirements That is, give us knowledge of Torah. The language is similar to Ps. 119:27: \u201cMake me understand the way of Your precepts, \/ that I may study Your wondrous acts\u201d (NJPS).<\/p>\n
4Q504 Fragments 1\u20132 iii recto<\/p>\n
2 The prayer resumes its summary of the story of Israel up to the kingdom of David and Solomon.
\n3. void and null This description of the nations is adapted from Isa. 40:17, which rejects the worship of other gods by the surrounding nations.
\n4. only on Your name Emphasizes that Israel is not to worship the deities of other nations (see Josh. 23:7). On the basis that the people faithfully worship only the LORD, the congregation makes its appeal to God for help, as similarly in Bar. 3:6\u20137, from about the same time period.
\nYou created us for Your glory The language is from Isa. 43:7 (see also 43:1, 15, 21; 44:1\u20132). The focus here is not the creation of humans in general, but rather the formation of Israel as a people for a particular purpose, to bring glory to God. In Isa. 43, it is in relation to the Exodus that Israel is made into a people.
\n5. in the sight of all the nations Meaning that God\u2019s action for the Israelites in the international conflicts related to the Exodus and settlement in Canaan (e.g., Lev. 26:45) publicly demonstrated God\u2019s special care for Israel as his \u201cchildren\u201d (see Deut. 14:1).
\n6. my son, my firstborn From God\u2019s speech to Pharaoh (via Moses) in Exod. 4:22. This is language of a special relationship. Israel is named God\u2019s son in relation to the great acts that God does on behalf of Israel in the Exodus and settlement. The firstborn male in Israel had a unique place in the family, with greater inheritance rights and responsibilities. The stories about the patriarchs in Genesis show a reversal of the expected order, so that Isaac and Jacob receive the main inheritance and special blessing of the firstborn. This serves as the model for the idea of God\u2019s choice of Israel, a relatively small and young nation, to receive a special inheritance of land and unique relationship. As in the prayer in Sir. 36:17, Israel\u2019s status as \u201cfirstborn\u201d is here used in a petition to motivate God to show compassion.
\nYou disciplined us Adapted from Deut. 8:5, where the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness are presented as firm but caring discipline.
\n8\u20139. severe illness \u2026 sword [of vengeance These are some of the curses for breaking the covenant with God that are threatened in two key warning passages, Deut. 28 and Lev. 26 (see Deut. 28:48, 59; Lev. 26:25). The prayer for Thursday summarizes the history of Israel since the Exodus as a fulfillment of those warnings, as do other penitential prayers of the Second Temple period and later synagogue prayer. The \u201csword of vengeance\u201d (reading the Heb. as whrb [nqm nq]mt) refers to war as a punishment.
\n9\u201310. Because You have chosen us \u2026 You poured out on us Your wrath The motif of Israel as chosen by God to be distinct from other nations (see Deut. 7:6; 10:15) is often connected with Torah and the covenant. On the one hand, Israel\u2019s election brings the blessing of God\u2019s care, and on the other hand, it brings the responsibility to keep God\u2019s law. In prayers from the Second Temple period and in the later synagogue, Israel\u2019s special status is a common motif in giving thanks for God\u2019s care and as a basis for appealing to God for help. Here, less typically, Israel\u2019s accountability is in view (see also 4Q504 1\u20132 iii 6\u20137; and cf. Amos 3:2). The phrase \u201cpoured out \u2026 your wrath\u201d echoes Ezek. 20:13, in which God recounts his fury with Israel in the wilderness.
\n11. You made stick to us \u2026 plagues This phrasing is adapted from Deut. 28:21: see also the penitential prayer in Bar. 1:20.
\n12. [the curse] of Your plagues This reading is adapted from Vermes.
\n12\u201313. [pl]agues of which Moses \u2026 wrote Referring especially to the covenant warnings in Deut. 28:15\u201368 and Lev. 26:14\u201339, as well as such passages in the prophetic books as Jer. 11:3\u20138 and Ezek. 20:8\u201326. That the people\u2019s troubles throughout generations are the fulfillment of the covenant warnings by Moses and the prophets is a common motif in Second Temple penitential prayers (e.g., Neh. 1:7\u20138; Dan. 9:11\u201313; Bar. 1:20; 2:2).
\n13\u201314. evil a[ga]inst us in days to come Disaster as punishment for breaking God\u2019s law. This is adapted from Moses\u2019s warning in Deut. 31:29 (cf. 4:40).<\/p>\n
4Q504 Fragments 1\u20132 iv recto<\/p>\n
3. Jerusa[lem, which] You [ch]ose The choice of Jerusalem as the place to symbolize God\u2019s presence among Israel is a common motif in Deuteronomy. The wording here is very close to that used in Kings and Chronicles (e.g., 2 Kings 21:7 || 2 Chron. 33:7: \u201cJerusalem, which I chose out of all the tribes of Israel, I will establish My name forever\u201d; see also 2 Chron. 6:6). This prayer, however, stresses Jerusalem\u2019s universal importance: chosen from \u201call the earth\u201d rather than from \u201call the tribes.\u201d The specific language of God choosing Jerusalem, as here, is found also in the prayer in the Hebrew version of Sirach 51:12ff. (2nd c. BCE) and the prayer in 3 Macc. 2:9 (1st c. BCE), but more common, particularly in the prayers of the later synagogue, are petitions for the welfare of Jerusalem. Also common in prayers is the motif of God\u2019s care for Jerusalem combined with the motifs of the Temple and David as king, as here (4Q504 1\u20132 iv 6, 12).
\n4\u20135. You loved Israel more than all the peoples A paraphrase of Deut. 7:6\u20138, 13\u201314; Ps. 78:68.
\n5\u20136. You chose the tribe of Judah This, along with the covenant with David mentioned in 4Q504 1\u20132 iv 6\u20138, is a paraphrase of Ps. 78:68\u201372 (cf. 1 Chron. 28:4). Psalm 78 recounts the history of Israel\u2019s failings and God\u2019s mercy, which became an important feature in penitential prayers.
\n5\u20138. You chose \u2026 Judah, and \u2026 David Although lines 5\u20138 about Judah and David are a paraphrase of Ps. 78:68\u201372, the specific language is drawn from other biblical passages, especially the covenant with David in 2 Sam. 7:8\u201312 and Solomon\u2019s prayer at the dedication of the Temple in 1 Kings 8:24\u20135. Asking God to restore the Davidic dynasty is a common motif in petitionary prayers. Here the request is only implicit, in mentioning God\u2019s covenant that a descendant would \u201csit on the throne of Israel before you always.\u201d
\n8\u201311. All the nations saw Your glory That is, they saw a manifestation of God associated with the Temple. The Hebrew Bible contains numerous examples of God\u2019s glory appearing to the people of Israel at the Tabernacle or Temple (e.g., Num. 14:10; 1 Kings 8:11). In this prayer, \u201cthe nations\u201d refers to foreigners who visited and were awed by the splendor of Solomon\u2019s kingdom and the Jerusalem Temple (see 1 Kings 5:14 [= 4:34 in Christian Bibles]; 10:1\u20135, 23\u201325). This passage describes the idealized \u201cglory days\u201d under Solomon, but draws on the hope that all nations will come to acknowledge Israel\u2019s God and that the Temple will become a focal point of worship for all nations (see, e.g., 1 Kings 8:41\u201343; Isa. 60; 66:18\u201319).
\n10. offerings Contributions from foreigners to the construction of the Temple and Solomon\u2019s kingdom (1 Kings 5:7\u201310; 7:13\u201314; 10:23\u201325), seen as honoring Israel\u2019s God (as in Isa. 60:6, 10\u201313, 17).
\n12. Zion The mythical term for Jersualem as the city of God.
\nbeautiful Temple The phrase is from Isa. 60:7, in the context of a vision of all nations drawn to worship Israel\u2019s God.
\n12\u201313. no adversary nor evil plague Heb. satan is translated literally as \u201cadversary.\u201d Here, \u201cadversary\u201d and \u201cevil plague\u201d refer to misfortunes suffered as curses for breaking the covenant (see 4Q504 1\u20132 iii 8\u201313; cf. Deut. 28:15\u201369), but the same language appears in a number of other early Jewish prayers concerned about attacks by evil spirits or other spiritual trouble such as the \u201cevil inclination.\u201d Protection from evil\u2014whether physical, demonic, or spiritual\u2014is a common motif in early Jewish prayer.
\n14. They a[t]e and were satisfied Enjoyment of blessing without loyalty or expression of gratitude is the turning point where things go wrong, drawing on the warnings of Deut. 31:20 and Neh. 9:25\u201326. This motif (see also the warning in Deut. 8:11\u201320) forms the basis of the Grace after Meals in Judaism.<\/p>\n
4Q504 Fragments 1\u20132 v recto<\/p>\n
This prayer is a collage of language from passages about sin, exile, repentance, forgiveness, and restoration, especially the covenant warning of Lev. 26 and visions of restoration in Isaiah. The prayer confesses that the warnings about disaster and exile have come to pass as punishment for the sins of the ancestors. It also boldly states that the congregation has followed the directions of Lev. 26:40 to confess sin, and lays claim to God\u2019s promise to forgive, deliver, and restore.
\n1\u20132. they abandoned] the spring of living waters Adapted from Jeremiah\u2019s charge of idolatry against the people of Judah (Jer. 2:13). God as the source of all life is compared to a continuous spring, in contrast with other deities, who are compared to a cracked cistern that cannot even hold water.
\n3. they served a foreign god in their land From Jer. 5:19.
\n4. devastated by their enemies Adapted from the covenant curses in Lev. 26:32.
\n4\u20135. Your wrath \u2026 Your jealousy This language is especially typical of Ezekiel\u2019s warning that the Babylonian attack on Judah is God\u2019s judgment on idolatry (e.g., Ezek. 16:35\u201342; 36:16\u201319). Here it is used to describe the exile in the past as the venting of God\u2019s fury.
\n6\u20138 A paraphrase of Lev. 26:44, where this promise is delivered in the midst of the covenant curses. The point is that God does not bring devastation on Israel as vengeance based on hatred, but as discipline resulting from a committed relationship.
\n9. there is none beside You. You remembered As a motivation for God to heed the prayer, the congregation confesses that God is the only one who can help; the ideas and some of the language come from polemic against idolatry in Isa. 44\u201345 (e.g., Isa. 44:6: \u201cI am the first and I am the last, \/ And there is no god but Me\u201d; Isa. 45:5: \u201cBeside Me, there is no god\u201d). And it also appeals to the precedent of God\u2019s help in the past: \u201cYou remembered your covenant.\u201d
\n10. (You) who brought us out From Egypt, a reference to the Exodus. As further motivation for the prayer, the congregation appeals to God\u2019s reputation: the world is watching how God treats his people Israel. That God \u201cdid not abandon\u201d Israel in the past is used as a precedent for God\u2019s help in the present, as also in the penitential prayers in Ezra 9 (v. 9) and Neh. 9 (vv. 17, 19, 31).
\n12. You banished them Explains that God caused the Diaspora of the Jews by banishing them from the Holy Land because their sins defiled the land. The idea comes from the covenant warnings (Lev. 26:40\u201343; Deut. 30:1, 3) and is common among early penitential prayers (e.g., Dan. 9:7; Bar. 2:4, 13, 29). It is not a prominent motif in prayers of the later synagogue liturgy, which ask God to gather the dispersed but tend not to say that God scattered them.
\n12\u201314. to turn \u2026 to obey \u2026 through Moses Your servant Adapted from Deut. 30:1\u20132, where repentance is the remedy for exile. In this prayer, the purpose of exile is to produce repentance.
\n15\u201317. You poured out Your holy spirit \u2026 that we might whisper (prayers) Adapted from the vision of restoration in Isa. 44:3 (\u201cEven as I pour water on thirsty soil, \/ \u2026 So will I pour My spirit on your offspring \u2026\u201d), which includes the pouring out of God\u2019s spirit and blessing on the descendants of Jacob. In this prayer, Isa. 44:3 is combined with Isa. 26:16 (\u201cIn their distress, they sought You; \/ Your chastisement reduced them \/ To anguished whispered prayer\u201d) so that the pouring out of God\u2019s spirit is to enable repentance, which will lead to blessing.
\nwhisper To pray in a private voice. Similarly, the Amidah is to be recited in a whisper according to both the Talmud (B. Ber. 24b) and the earliest known prayer book for the synagogue, by the Gaon R. Amram in the 9th century CE.
\n18. wrath of the oppressor From Isa. 51:13. Here it refers to God as the one who applies \u201cpressure\u201d on his people (see the previous line in this prayer), by means of \u201ctests\u201d and \u201cblows\u201d (see 4Q504 1\u20132 vi 7), to move them to repent.
\n19\u201321 These lines combine Isa. 43:23\u201324 with Isa. 48:17\u201318. The former passage states that God did not burden Israel with sacrifices, but the people burdened God with sins. God declares in the next verse, \u201cIt is I, I who \u2026 \/ Wipe your transgressions away \u2026\u201d (Isa. 43:25). It is to this promise that the congregation wants to appeal.
\nthe Rock A title for God in the Hebrew Bible that emphasizes God\u2019s stability (e.g., Deut. 32:4).<\/p>\n
4Q504 Fragments 1\u20132 VI recto<\/p>\n
2. You [thre]w away \u2026 ou[r] transgressions Adapted from Ezek. 18:31, where God urges the people to repent and throw away their sins. In this prayer, the congregation looks to God to enable them to repent.
\n3. justice Confessing that God was in the right in punishing Israel is a common feature in penitential prayer after the exile. In fact, this is the main feature that sets penitential prayer apart from lament, which was prominent before the exile. In lament, the people complain to God, protesting their innocence and asking God to do the right thing by helping them. In penitential prayer, the people confess that they are in the wrong and that they justly deserve their hardships; they appeal to God\u2019s mercy. In the history of Jewish prayer, there has been a general tendency away from lament toward humble penitential prayer.
\n5\u20136. when our heart is humbled, we have atoned Adapted from Lev. 26:40\u201343. By confessing their sins and the sins of their ancestors, members of the congregation claim to have repented in the way prescribed in Lev. 26:40\u201343, and thus can say: \u201cwe have atoned for our sins and the sins of our ancestors.\u201d
\n6\u20137. We have not rejected \u2026 did not detest Adapted from Lev. 26:43, which states that the Israelites suffered exile because they dared to reject and detest (NJPS: \u201cspurn\u201d) God\u2019s laws. This prayer assumes that to resist God\u2019s punishment would be equally insulting; instead, one should submissively accept hardship as deserved discipline. This attitude is very different from the protest against suffering seen in the many laments in the Psalms (e.g., Ps. 44).
\n7\u20138. breaking Your covenant This turns around the language of Lev. 26:44, where God says that despite the people\u2019s sins, he will not reject or detest them to the point of breaking his covenant with them. In this prayer, because the congregation confesses sin and accepts God\u2019s punishment, it can claim that it has not broken the covenant.
\n12\u201313 Gathering of Jews dispersed throughout the world is a common motif in prayers of the Second Temple period, including penitential prayers, petitions for the nation, and thanksgiving. It continues to have a prominent place in prayers of the synagogue, especially in the Amidah. The motif is based on hopes for the future restoration of Israel, as foretold in the Prophets.
\n14. book of life The expression is from Ps. 69:28, where the psalmist asks God to exclude his enemies from the \u201crighteous\u201d recorded in the \u201cbook of life.\u201d By the late Second Temple period, this expression is used for inclusion versus exclusion: to distinguish between the righteous who will be saved by God and the wicked who will be destroyed. The motif of praying for God to protect the righteous and exclude the wicked continues in the liturgy of the synagogue in the Amidah (benedictions 12\u201313) and in the Avinu Malkeinu prayer on days of penitence following the Amidah.<\/p>\n
4Q504 Fragments 1\u20132 VII recto<\/p>\n
1\u20132. Blessed be the LORD who delivered us This is similar to the benediction recited on public fast days.<\/p>\n
4Q504 Fragments 1\u20132 VII recto<\/p>\n
Unlike the prayers for the weekdays, the prayer for the Sabbath consists of a song of praise without any petitions. This reflects certain attitudes toward Sabbath prayer that seem to be most strongly felt in early Judaism but are still noticeable in Jewish prayer today: that prayer on the Sabbath should be different from the rest of the week, that the Sabbath is especially a time for praising God, and that it is not appropriate on the Sabbath to petition God. The style of the song is similar to Ps. 148, which calls upon all of creation to praise God: both in heaven and on earth, both animate and inanimate.
\n4. A song of praises Similar to the title line of Ps. 92: \u201cA psalm. A song; for the Sabbath day.\u201d
\n5. continually See also 4Q504 1\u20132 vii 9 (\u201call his creatures continually\u201d). The idea of continuous praise for God is especially connected with angels (e.g., 1 En. 39:12\u201313; Rev. 4:8). In both Judaism and Christianity, the congregation\u2019s joining with that continuous angelic praise has become a central part of the liturgy. In the synagogue, the idea of unceasing praise appears in the angelic song known as the Kedushah (based on Isa. 6:3 and Ezek. 3:12) attached to the Shema and the Amidah (ADPB, 62\u201364, 78); for example: \u201cYour praise \u2026 shall never depart from our mouth.\u201d<\/p>\n
Angelic Liturgy<\/p>\n
Michael D. Swartz<\/p>\n
Angelic Liturgy, also known as Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice or 4QShirShabba is a set of hymns from the Dead Sea Scrolls that were meant to be recited on the Sabbaths of the first 13 weeks of the year. The hymns praise God as ruler of heaven and earth, but more significantly, they describe a heavenly Temple in which angelic beings, sometimes called elohim or \u201cgodlike creatures,\u201d hold sacrifices. The text seems to depict a heaven in which there are seven Temples, where angelic priests serve in seven separate hierarchies. The text that has survived does not describe the actual sacrifices performed by the angelic priests, but it does describe the elaborate praise offered by the angels each Sabbath at the time of the sacrifices.
\nAngelic Liturgy is significant as a rare example of Hebrew prayer in the Second Temple period. It is also significant because of its unusual cosmology and concepts of angels. The text may also have influenced the later history of Jewish mysticism.<\/p>\n
Authorship and History<\/p>\n
The text was probably entitled Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice (Serekh Shirot Olat Ha-Shabbat). Nine copies of the text were found at Qumran and one at Masada. However, no complete copy exists. The original date and authorship of the text are difficult to determine; these questions are discussed under \u201cauthorship\u201d below. It was certainly written in Judea sometime before the 1st century BCE. If the text was written before the founding of the community at Qumran, it would have been written in the middle of the 2nd century BCE.
\nIt is also difficult to tell whether Angelic Liturgy circulated after the 1st century CE. The text does contain several ideas that also appear in the Jewish mystical literature that flourished in the time of the Talmud. These ideas include the concept of several chambers in a heavenly Temple and organized groups of angels singing praise. This may be evidence that the text circulated after its use at Qumran and influenced later generations of Jews.
\nAngelic Liturgy is not attributed to any historical or biblical figure or any member of the Qumran community. The text, unlike the Qumran Thanksgiving Hymnsa (1QHa), does not speak in the first-person singular, although it does use the first-person plural to describe worshipers on earth (see, e.g., 4QShirShabba 2:24\u201326). Therefore, we must rely on evidence for the text\u2019s function and its similarity with other Dead Sea Scrolls to guess at its origin.
\nAngelic Liturgy was probably used as part of the liturgy of the Qumran community. However, scholars have debated whether it was written by its members. Many ideas in the text are common to the Dead Sea Scrolls, among them the correspondence of the angels with human beings and God\u2019s foreknowledge of history, as well as such technical terms as maskil, \u201cmaster\u201d or \u201cinstructor,\u201d and temime derekh, \u201cthose whose way is perfect,\u201d a common term for the community. But the text makes no explicit arguments or polemics against other Jewish parties, a common feature of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Furthermore, the text is not dominated by much of the specific terminology used in the Scrolls.
\nSome scholars have suggested that because a copy was found at Masada, the text was written by an author or group that influenced both the zealots at Masada and the Qumran community separately. Others have suggested that it was written at Qumran and that members of that community fled to Masada during the revolt and brought a copy with them. Carol A. Newsom, who has written the definitive study of Angelic Liturgy, argues that it was written by someone outside the community and later adopted at Qumran. She bases this especially on the terminology for God in the text. The liturgy uses the word Elohim for God, whereas most of the Dead Sea Scrolls originating in the Qumran community avoid this word. Others argue that these differences may be due to the community\u2019s decision to use different terms in prayer from those they used in polemical or legal literature. Moreover, Newsom emphasizes that although the composition may not have been written at Qumran, it was integrated fully into the literature and prayer of the community.
\nThe sectarians themselves may have believed that David composed these songs. The Psalms scroll states that David wrote, \u201cSongs to Be Sung before the Altar over the Daily Burnt Offering for every day for all the days of the year, 364, and for the Sabbath offerings 52 songs\u201d (11qpsalmsa 27:5\u20137). This text also suggests that the songs were meant to accompany the sacrificial ceremony (see 2 Chron. 29:27\u201328; Luke 1:10).<\/p>\n
Significance<\/p>\n
Angelic Liturgy is one of the most extensive prayer texts found among the Dead Sea Scrolls outside of the Thanksgiving Hymnsa and Non-Canonical Psalms (4Q380\u2013381). Unlike those prayer texts, it explicitly designates a song for each of the 13 Sabbaths. This gives us a possible idea of how the community used prayer on a regular basis.
\nIts cosmology and angelology are also significant. The idea of a celestial abode for God is an integral part of biblical theology, but this is the most explicit exposition in Second Temple literature of a heavenly Temple in which sacrifices are offered. Later Rabbinic literature, Midrash, and esoteric Hebrew texts also discussed the existence of a heavenly Temple. The description of angels and other godlike beings in the text is also unique, even among the Dead Sea Scrolls, in which ideas of angels are highly developed. The text does use the standard term for angel, mal\u2019akh. However, it uses terms such as elohim, \u201cgodlike beings,\u201d mesharte panim, servants of [God\u2019s] presence,\u201d and kedoshe kedosim \u201cthe most holy ones,\u201d more frequently. It does not describe the physical appearance of the divine beings in detail, but only their role as priests and participants in the heavenly worship of God.
\nAngelic Liturgy is also significant for the history of Hebrew poetry. In biblical literature, poetry is represented in several places: the Psalms; most of the prophetic books, such as Isaiah and Amos; and here and there in the Torah. But little evidence for Hebrew poetry had existed between the biblical period and the 3rd to 4th centuries CE, when the Hebrew poetry of the synagogue (known as piyyut) began to flourish. With the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, we now know that many types of Hebrew poetry existed. We find it in the Thanksgiving Hymnsa, in the Non-Canonical Psalms, and in several poetic passages attached to treatises such as Rule of the Community and War Scroll. Most of these poetic compositions resemble biblical poetry closely in style and function. Angelic Liturgy expands our knowledge of Hebrew poetry in the Second Temple period considerably.
\nThe hymns are written in a variety of styles, not all of them based on biblical parallelism (in which two lines balance each other in rhythm, syntax, and meaning). These styles range from the highly formulaic\u2014in which phrases such as \u201cPraise God of the divine beings, O inhabitants of the highest heights\u201d (4QShirShabba 6:2) are used to begin a section or stanza\u2014to a more free-flowing style in which verbs and adjectives follow one another in quick succession. This latter style is historically significant because it is also characteristic of the literature of early Jewish mysticism of later centuries (see below in this section).
\nThat prayers existed at Qumran should not be taken for granted. In the ancient world the primary form of worship was sacrifice. Prayer was, if anything, a minor form of worship. However, the Qumran community believed that the Temple in Jerusalem at the time was hopelessly corrupt, polluted, and run by wicked priests. They believed that only after the war between the forces of light and the forces of darkness would the Temple be purified and the proper priests installed. Therefore, the Temple was unavailable to them until the final apocalypse. The Qumran community probably believed that the liturgy would allow them to participate vicariously in the heavenly worship of God while being on earth and away from the earthly Temple. Whether or not the community themselves wrote Angelic Liturgy, it served their purposes. Furthermore, Angelic Liturgy probably inspired liturgists at Qumran to write at least two prayer texts: the Words of the Maskil and the Berakhot.
\nTwo of the main ideas in Angelic Liturgy appear in Rabbinic literature. Many legends in Talmud and Midrash say that there is a heavenly sanctuary. Moreover, the idea of an angelic priest performing sacrifices in heaven appears in several statements in the Babylonian Talmud and in Midrash. However, there is no sign that Angelic Liturgy itself influenced the early Rabbis.
\nOn the other hand, Angelic Liturgy has played a significant role in the study of Jewish mysticism. After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE and the rise of the ancient Rabbis as a class of intellectual and religious leadership in Palestine, a form of mystical literature developed that described journeys to heaven supposedly undertaken by prominent Rabbis. In this literature, individuals travel through the seven chambers of heaven, known as hekhalot, \u201cpalaces\u201d or \u201ctemples,\u201d to the divine chariot throne, or merkabah. Along the way they encounter angelic guards who test their knowledge of the angelic hierarchy and esoteric names of God. If they succeed in reaching the throne room, they are privileged to witness the angelic praise of God (see Isa. 6; Ezek. 3), and perhaps participate in that celestial liturgy. These texts are called hekhalot literature, and the phenomenon they represent has been called merkabah mysticism, because many scholars believe that the authors sought to experience ecstatic visions of that journey and recorded those experiences as stories of Rabbis ascending to heaven. They were probably written in several stages between the 3rd and 7th centuries CE, around the time the Talmud and the most important Rabbinic texts were being written.
\nAngelic Liturgy is not identical to the literature of merkabah mysticism. For example, it does not contain the element of ascent to heaven. However, many similarities and one or two more direct parallels exist between the two literatures. For example, Ma\u2019aseh Merkabah, one of the main hekhalot texts, contains many hymns that emphasize the correspondence between angels and human beings and envisions the angels arrayed in successive chambers of heaven. As does Angelic Liturgy, this text posits the existence of multiple merkabot, or celestial chariots. A more striking similarity between the two is in the style of praise, especially in 4QShirShabba 6 and 7. Rather than use biblical parallelism common to Qumran poetry, these songs employ repetition and series of verbs or adjectives, and are not organized into complete sentences.
\nIt is therefore possible that some version of Angelic Liturgy, or at least some of its main ideas, found their way to the circles of merkabah mystics. Since Angelic Liturgy emphasizes priestly concerns, such as a celestial sacrifice and the hierarchy of an angelic priesthood, it has also helped us understand how priestly piety influenced early Jewish mysticism.
\nFinally, the premise of Angelic Liturgy\u2014the idea that human beings praise God at the same time that the angels bless him in heaven\u2014is echoed in one of the most important prayers in the traditional Jewish prayer book, the Sanctification or Kedushah which frames the congregation\u2019s recitation of Isa. 6:3. One version of this prayer encapsulates this idea: \u201cWe sanctify your name on earth as they sanctify it in the heavenly heights, as it is written: \u2018One would call to the other, \u201cHoly, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of Hosts; His presence fills all the earth!\u2019 \u201d While no one knows whether Angelic Liturgy influenced the traditional prayers, it does testify to the presence of this idea in the Second Temple period.<\/p>\n
GUIDE TO READING<\/p>\n
Because no single copy of the entire Angelic Liturgy exists, the translation that appears in this volume has been reconstructed from the existing fragments (see also under Source of Translation, below) to give the reader the closest possible estimation of how the original text may have read. Several large sections of the text are lost completely. The liturgy is divided into 13 songs, each of which begins with the same formula: \u201cSong of the sacrifice of the [first] Sabbath on the fourth of the [first] month,\u201d with the particular day inserted in each case. The style and subjects of the individual songs vary, however, from the description of the legal and ritual duties of the angels, as in Song 1, to the ecstatic hymns sung by successive ranks of angels, as in Songs 6 and 7.
\nReaders should be aware of the underlying assumptions about the heavenly world and its inhabitants in Angelic Liturgy, which is based on the idea that God resides in the innermost chamber of an elaborate Temple in heaven. As Newsom observes, \u201cthe heavenly temple was in some way considered to contain or consist of seven holy places in which served seven angelic priesthoods, headed by seven angelic high priests and their deputies.\u201d These angelic officials, also known as \u201cdivine beings\u201d or \u201cgodlike beings,\u201d praise God with specific types of song at specific Sabbaths of the year. The Hebrew title of the text, Serekh Shirot Olat Ha-Shabbat, \u201cSongs of the Sabbath Sacrifice, tells us that sacrifices are to be offered in this celestial Temple. However, the text does not describe these sacrifices or the role the angels play in offering them. Another curious paradox lies in how the songs describe the angelic hymns extensively but do not actually quote them. So the reader is left knowing that angels sing hymns, but does not hear the hymns themselves.
\nReaders should also pay attention to the styles of poetry used in the text. Because these compositions were probably meant to be sung by the congregation on earth, rhythm, parallelism, repetition, and vivid images all play a part in the text. Although we can never hear the original melodies, we can listen to the \u201cmusic\u201d that the poetry conveys.
\nThe structure of the liturgy deserves special attention. The text can be divided into three sections. Songs 1 through 5 mostly concern the angelic priesthood. The second section consists of Songs 6 through 8, which enumerate the types of praise and blessing that each rank of angels offers. The individual songs increase in length, ornamentation, and religious fervor until Song 7, at which point they decrease again. This means that Song 7 was meant to be the stylistic culmination of the song cycle. This corresponds to the idea that God resides in the innermost sanctuary and that the highest rank of angels is appointed to serve him. The third section, Songs 9 through 13, describe the heavenly Temple and its chambers in detail, following them from the outer entrance to the inner sanctum or Holy of Holies. Song 13 concludes with a description of the angelic sacrifice itself and the glorious vestments worn by the heavenly priests.
\nFinally, the reader should be aware of the importance of Angelic Liturgy to the Qumran community, and perhaps to the author. Because the Qumran community lived in voluntary exile from the earthly Temple, they could not worship there. However, they believed that God\u2019s permanent abode was in heaven, where angelic priests offered sacrifice and praise. After the Temple was destroyed in 70 CE, Jewish mystics believed that it was actually possible to travel up to heaven, enter the inner sanctum of the divine habitation, and participate with the angels in the praise of God. The people who wrote and preserved Angelic Liturgy held out no such hopes. But they did try to make the celestial world and its priesthood as vivid as possible to the community of worshipers.<\/p>\n
SUGGESTED READING<\/p>\n
Alexander, Philip S. Mystical Texts. Library of Second Temple Studies 61. London: T & T Clark International, 2006.
\nDavila, James A. Liturgical Works. Grand Rapids MI: Eerdmans, 2000.
\nDavidson, Maxwell J. Angels at Qumran: A Comparative Study of 1 Enoch 1\u201336, 72\u2013108 and Sectarian Writings from Qumran. Sheffield, England: JSOT, 1992.<\/p>\n
Eshel, Esther, Hanan Eshel, Carol Newsom, Bilhah Nitzan, Eileed Schuller, and Ada Yardeni. Qumran Cave 4.VI: Poetical and Liturgical Texts, Part I. Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 11. Oxford: Clarendon, 1998.<\/p>\n
Falk, Daniel K. Daily, Sabbath, and Festival Prayers in the Dead Sea Scrolls. Lieden: Brill, 1998.
\nNewsom, Carol. Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice: A Critical Edition. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1985.
\n\u2014\u2014\u2014. \u201cMerkabah Exegesis in the Qumran Sabbath Shirot.\u201d Journal of Jewish Studies 38 (1987): 11\u201330.
\nNitzan, Bilhah. Qumran Prayer and Religious Poetry. Leiden: Brill, 1994.
\nSchiffman, Lawrence H. Reclaiming the Dead Sea Scrolls: The History of Judaism, the Background of Christianity, and the Lost Library of Qumran, 351\u201356. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1994.
\nWolfson, Elliot R. \u201cMysticism and the Poetic-Liturgical Compositions from Qumran: A Response to Bilhah Nitzan.\u201d Jewish Quarterly Review 85 (1994): 185\u2013202.<\/p>\n
COMMENTARY<\/p>\n
Song 1<\/p>\n
This song sets the stage for the liturgy. It describes an inner sanctum in a heavenly Temple where angelic priests serve to conduct the sacrifices as well as teach and enforce the laws made in heaven.
\n1. For the Master. Song of the sacrifice The editors of the text have restored this title based on the phrase that introduces each of the songs, which appear in full form in the manuscripts in Songs 6 and 7. The beginning of the text sets out the basic outline of the liturgy and tells us much about its purpose and the main ideas behind it. The heading at the beginning of the first song tells us that the song is to be recited at the fourth day of the first week of the year. By beginning the songs with the command \u201cpraise\u201d (hallelu), the song tells us that the earthy community of worshipers is calling on the angelic chorus to praise God.
\nFor the Master It is not clear who exactly this Master or Instructor is. The Hebrew word is maskil, \u201cone who makes wise or enlightens.\u201d At Qumran, the maskil was a teacher who supervised biblical interpretation and doctrine for the community. One of his duties was to bless the congregation. Thus the title may mean that the maskil is the one who recites these songs as a blessing before the community.
\nthe first [Sabba]th As Newsom notes, the liturgy is based on a solar calendar in which the first day of the month falls on a Wednesday, and the Sabbath falls on the fourth day of the month. The songs are to be recited for the first 13 weeks of the year, that is, for one quarter of the year. Although some scholars have speculated that there were cycles for the other three quarters, no one has found any evidence among the Dead Sea Scrolls for texts for those other quarters. Possibly the first-quarter cycle was repeated for the other quarters of the year.
\nPraise The song, like almost all in the liturgy, begins with an exhortation to praise God, addressed to the angels. God is then usually described in a variety of ways, such as \u201cGod of the divine beings\u201d or \u201cGod of the exalted heights.\u201d
\n2. godlike beings The word used to describe this class of angelic priestly beings is elohim. In the Hebrew Bible, the word is used as the common term for God. However, the word is grammatically plural and can mean \u201cgods\u201d or \u201cdivine beings\u201d as well (see, e.g., Ps. 8:6 and 82:1). Angelic Liturgy describes various classes of angels using several terms, such as kedoshe kedoshim, \u201cthe most holy ones\u201d; mesharte panim, \u201cthose who serve (God\u2019s) presence\u201d; and ele da\u2019at, \u201cdivine beings of knowledge.\u201d The text does not spell out the differences among these classifications, but it is clear that they are all ranks of the angelic priesthood and their assistants. Although the term \u201cangel\u201d (mal\u2019akh) is used infrequently in Angelic Liturgy, this commentary will use the word \u201cangel\u201d for the variety of heavenly beings depicted in the songs.
\n4. ministers of the presence The term translated as ministers, meshartim, is used in the Bible either for servants of human beings (Joshua is known in Num. 11:28 and Josh. 1:1 as \u201cMoses\u2019s attendant,\u201d mesharet Moshe) or Levites and priests serving God in the Temple (mesharte YHWH or mesharte bayit). In Ps. 104:4 it is said that God \u201cmakes the winds His messengers (mal\u2019akhav), fiery flames His servants (meshartav).\u201d However, in the classical Jewish liturgy, the angels who attend God in are described as meshartim, especially in the Kedushah, the liturgy of sanctification of God that describes the heavenly praise of God depicted in Isa. 6 and Ezek. 1\u20133. The term malakh panav, the \u201cangel of His presence,\u201d appears in Isa. 63:9 and in the Second Temple period designated a chief angel whose function is to reveal God\u2019s word to a human being. This figure plays a major role in the book of Jubilees, which was read by the Qumran community and its contemporaries.
\nglorious inner room Hebrew devir kevodo, which may also mean \u201cthe inner [habitation] of his glory.\u201d In the Bible, the term devir means the inner sanctum of the Temple.
\n4\u20135. In the congregation of all the divine beings of [knowledge] Here the poet depicts the angels as a community of worshipers. The word \u201cknowledge\u201d in this phrase is restored but appears elsewhere in the liturgy (e.g., Song 2 line 19). It may refer to the angels\u2019 knowledge of the rituals and hymns they perform, or perhaps direct knowledge of God in whose presence they serve.
\n5. statutes Here the hymn mentions laws for the angels engraved on heavenly tablets. In the book of Jubilees, which was read by the Qumran community, there are several laws, such as those regarding circumcision and the Sabbath, that are shared by both Israel and the angels. On the other hand, the ancient Rabbis disagreed on the extent to which laws apply to the angels. In a talmudic legend (B. Shab. 88b\u201389a), the angels object to Moses receiving the Torah for Israel. Moses refutes them by asking them if they can observe laws like the Sabbath and honoring father and mother. On the other hand, some Rabbis say that there are rules of etiquette and courtly protocol in heaven. The daily morning Kedushah says that the angels \u201cgive one another permission\u201d to praise God; this protocol is also the basis for the blessing in the Kaddish: \u201cMay He who makes peace in His heavenly heights make peace for us and for all Israel.\u201d Here the laws may concern such matters as the order of the angelic hierarchy, the songs the angels sing, and the rituals they perform in the heavenly Temple.
\n14. any [who] pe[rvert] the way This is a term used at Qumran for opponents of the sect, but may refer here more generally to the immoral or impure whom the angels will not tolerate in heaven.
\nno]thing unclean Uncleanness or ritual impurity is a condition in biblical law that can be caused by contact with things like certain animals, menstruation or seminal flux, or the dead (see, e.g., Lev. 15). It was absolutely necessary for anyone who entered the Temple in Jerusalem to be ritually pure. This would be even more important for the heavenly Temple. The Qumran community was very concerned with ritual uncleanness. They accused the priests in Jerusalem of polluting the Temple. They also believed that impurity was caused by such \u201cethical\u201d sins as theft or murder. Not only does the author stress that heaven is a purely clean and moral place, but this phrasing may imply that humans who travel to heaven must also be free of sin. This is also a major theme in hekhalot literature, which describes journeys taken by human beings to heaven.
\n16\u201317. they propitiate his goodwill for all who repent These two lines describe duties of the angelic priests, duties that also pertained to the Jewish priesthood at the time the songs were written. They are to atone for sinners and teach the laws. In this context those who \u201cpervert the way\u201d are probably human beings who are to be punished by the angelic priests (see lines 18\u201319), although in some texts angels are capable of sin. The laws about \u201choly things\u201d may be the rituals of the heavenly Temple or the laws of the Torah applicable to all.
\nThe rest of the song is very fragmentary, but it provides some clues to the cosmology and angelology of the text.
\n24. your realm Newsom notes that the second-person address to God directly is rare in Angelic Liturgy. She argues that it is the human community members, not the angels, that are addressing God in this way.
\n28. king of the godlike beings This phrase probably refers to God, who rules over the angels, who, as we have seen, are called elohim, or \u201cgodlike beings.\u201d
\n30. assembly of the divine [beings Here the angelic beings are said to constitute a council or assembly. Biblical literature speaks of councils of the gods over which God presides (see especially Ps. 29 and 82).
\n31. to seven path[s It is unclear what these paths are. As Newsom suggests, they must be a feature of the heavenly sanctuary. They do not appear elsewhere in the fragments of Angelic Liturgy that we have. However, the idea of paths within heaven appears in hekhalot literature. Hekhalot Rabbati describes the \u201cRivers of joy \u2026 [that] go forth from before the throne of glory and rise up and go through the gates of the paths of the \u2018aravot of the firmament,\u201d referring to one of the layers of heaven. Ma\u2019aseh Merkavah describes \u201cpaths of heaven\u201d on which heavenly creatures stand. These may be identified with the bridges described in the next paragraph that span the rivers of fire before the divine throne (cf. Dan. 7:10).<\/p>\n
Song 2<\/p>\n
The theme of this song is the common participation of angels and humans in the praise of God.
\n17. For you are honored This song also addresses God directly, which is unusual in Angelic Liturgy.
\n20. among all the camps A theme of this song is that the angels and human community participate in the praise of God together. As the next passage shows, the song compares the two as well. This line therefore stresses that the chief angels described in line 18 (\u201cthe chiefs of the dominions\u201d) are honored by \u201cgodlike beings\u201d and \u201chuman assemblies\u201d alike, which places the two together.
\n21. according to their knowledge One of the themes of Angelic Liturgy is that angels and human worshipers possess special knowledge of God\u2019s laws, the heavenly Temple, and the proper way to praise him. This line probably refers to their knowledge of the hymns sung before the divine throne.
\n24. how shall we be accounted [among] them In this remarkable poetic passage, the author of the songs compares himself and the human community with the angels through a series of rhetorical questions. The point is that human beings, with their imperfect knowledge of the divine worship and their \u201ctongue of dust,\u201d cannot compare to the pure, godlike beings that inhabit the heavenly Temple. This passage shows how Angelic Liturgy understands the earthly Temple and the heavenly Temple to be parallel, although not equal in holiness. The author asks how the human priesthood can compare to the angelic priesthood \u201cin their dwellings.\u201d The hymns that the human and angelic worshipers sing are also designated terumat lashon, \u201cthe offering of the tongue,\u201d perhaps the verbal equivalents of contributions (terumah) used for sacrifices or collected by priests. At the same time, this modest statement may be intended to implore God to accept the community\u2019s praise even in the light of all their flaws. The passage bears a resemblance to confessional prayers from the talmudic period recited at the High Holy Days in the traditional Jewish liturgy: \u201cWhat are we? What is our life? What is our mercy? What is our righteousness \u2026 are not all the mighty as nothing before you, and famous people as if they did not exist?\u201d
\n26. God of knowledge The following lines are very fragmentary, but they stress the idea that God imparts special knowledge of laws and statutes to privileged beings. The knowledge referred to in these lines could be laws of nature and heavenly protocol, or the text could also be referring to the knowledge of God\u2019s Law given in the Torah.<\/p>\n
Songs 3 and 4<\/p>\n
These songs are too fragmentary to analyze, but Song 4 does mention the chiefs of godlike beings that appear elsewhere in Angelic Liturgy.<\/p>\n
Song 5<\/p>\n
This song stresses the themes of God\u2019s prior knowledge of future events and, apparently, angelic participation in a war at the end of history. These themes are common to the ideology of the Dead Sea Scrolls but are not prominent features of Angelic Liturgy.
\n5\u20139. he apportioned knowledge \u2026 [his] plan At Qumran and among apocalyptic movements it was believed that God had formulated a plan for history. This plan was imparted by God to the angels, who would then reveal it to a select community within Israel. This fragmentary passage seems to be stating this idea. These secrets are apparently entrusted to those who \u201csustain [his] plan.\u201d
\n8. together It is possible that that this word, le-yahad, may be a reference to the Qumran community, which called itself yahad. If so, it is the only explicit reference to the Qumran community in Angelic Liturgy. However, the line is too fragmentary to constitute evidence that Angelic Liturgy was written at Qumran.
\n10. war This fragmentary reference to war reminds us that the basic arrangement of angels in this text is a military one, based in part on the military organization of the tribes of Israel in Num. 2 and 10. Here the song seems to be extending this organization into the realm of an eschatological war between good and evil, that is, one that will occur at the end-time. War Scroll from Qumran is a detailed description of the community\u2019s vision of such a military operation, in which angels and members of the community fight together against the forces of darkness.
\n12. run to [his] muster The godlike beings are depicted here as running to fulfill God\u2019s commands, probably to enlist in the eschatological battle.
\n14. according to his merciful plan With lines 14\u201318, the song returns to the theme of God\u2019s fixed plan for the future. This includes the idea that everything was created at \u201ceternally fixed times\u201d that have been \u201cappointed\u201d and \u201cpart of his design\u201d before Creation.<\/p>\n
Song 6<\/p>\n
Beginning with this song, the style of the poetry changes. Instead of the measured parallelism of the previous songs, Songs 6\u20137 consist of formulaic, repetitious descriptions of the songs that the angelic hosts utter during the sacrifices. These songs do not actually quote or repeat what the angels sing. Rather, they describe the hymns and which angels recite them in what order. The song can be divided into four sections: lines 19\u201338; lines 38\u201342; lines 43\u201359; and lines 59\u201362. These four sections are described below.
\n19\u201338. [Psalm of blessing \u2026 wondrous praise[-songs.] This section of the song employs a repetitive formula that can be illustrated by the fourth stanza. The standard words of the formula are set in normal typeface and the interchangeable words are in italics:<\/p>\n
Psalm of lauding by the tongue of the fourth
\nto the Warrior (who is) above all godlike beings
\nwith its seven wondrous powers
\nand he will laud the God of powers
\nseven times with words of wondrous lauding.<\/p>\n
The interchangeable elements are a leading term for praise (here, \u201claud\u201d), which is repeated in the first, fourth, and fifth lines of the stanza; the number of the rank of angelic being in the hierarchy (here, \u201cthe fourth\u201d); and epithets for God, such as \u201cWarrior\u201d and \u201cGod of powers.\u201d The term \u201cpowers\u201d in the third line is repeated in the epithet \u201cGod of powers\u201d in the fourth line.
\n19. the first This is one of seven ranks of angelic beings who are described in this section.
\n38\u201342. Seven psalms of his blessings \u2026 wor[ds of \u2026]m The song then moves to a simple repetitive formula such as \u201cseven psalms of the exultation of his kingship.\u201d The phrase \u201cseven psalms\u201d is followed by a two-word phrase, the first word being a word for praise (such as \u201cexultation\u201d) and the second, an attribute for God (such as \u201ckingship\u201d). This may be a specification of the reference to \u201cseven times with seven\u201d psalms in the previous section.
\n43\u201359. the ch[ief] princes [will bless \u2026 for eternal peace This section likewise consists of seven stanzas that follow a pattern. It describes the praise sung by each of the seven \u201cchief princes,\u201d who bless God with seven words. Each chief prince\u2019s praise is then to be followed by a different class of divine beings. The stanzas keep to the same basic form despite some variation among them.
\n59\u201362. And all the [chief] princes [will bless toget]her \u2026 the everlastingly blessed ones In this final section, after all of the chief princes and their choirs sing God\u2019s praise individually, they all join together with \u201csevenfold testimonies.\u201d Then the author blesses God and utters his assurance that God will \u201cbless all the Holy Ones\u201d who praise him.<\/p>\n
Song 7<\/p>\n
This song represents the stylistic culmination of Angelic Liturgy. Its poetry is the most elaborate and detailed of all of the songs. Beginning with this song, the heavenly sanctuary is described in more detail. Newsom argues that given the importance of the number seven in Angelic Liturgy, this song is the climactic unit in the cycle precisely because of its position as the seventh. The songs thus lead up to this one in the elaborateness of their language and their religious fervor, and gradually wind down from this point.
\n7:1\u201311 This first section of the song is cast in the form of stately poetry. Although it does not employ parallelism as in biblical poetry, it does maintain a fairly regular rhythm. This unit consists of seven calls to the angels to praise God, corresponding to the seven classes of angels that form the basis for the text. Each class is apparently addressed with a separate call to prayer.
\n2. king of glory The term \u201cglory\u201d (kavod) designates the Divine Presence in the Bible. The phrase \u201cKing of glory\u201d also appears in Ps. 24, which announces the triumphant arrival of God\u2019s presence in the Temple.
\n3\u201311 This passage abounds in assonant phrases and often uses several words from the same Hebrew root to echo one another. For example, in line 3 the words hod (majesty) and hadar (splendor) echo each other and are often found in biblical poetry together. The root \u0161-b-\u1e25, \u201cto praise,\u201d is used for the verb \u201claud\u201d (shab\u1e25u) and the noun \u201clauding\u201d (tishba\u1e25ot). In line 5 the term rom, \u201cexalted,\u201d is also used in several ways.
\n4\u20138 This passage emphasizes that despite the elaborate angelic hierarchy depicted in the songs, God is supreme over all the angels. This idea is reinforced by the declaration that God is the \u201cjudge\u201d of the angels (or \u201cspirits of discernment\u201d).
\n9. Confess This translation uses the word \u201cconfess\u201d to mean \u201cacknowledge a truth\u201d rather than \u201cadmit to one\u2019s sins.\u201d The Hebrew word (hodu\/yodu) can also mean \u201cthank.\u201d
\n11. spiritual portion This phrase may mean that the praise that the angels present is equivalent to the portions of produce (such as firstfruits) that worshipers on earth must bring to the Temple.
\ndivine \u2026 Holy Ones \u2026 ete[rnal] Although Hebrew poetry did not use rhyme until several centuries later, the assonance used in this section does sometimes resemble rhyme. For example, in this line the word elohim (divine) is echoed by the words kedoshim (Holy Ones) and \u2018olamim (eternal) at the end of smaller rhythmic units. In Hebrew this is easy to do since most masculine plurals use the same endings. This tendency is also characteristic of poetry in hekhalot literature. The tendency to use assonance to the point where it approaches rhyme is particularly noticeable in the second section (lines 12\u201318), in which words or phrases ending in plurals are used often in succession.
\njoy Words such as \u201cjoy,\u201d \u201cexultation\u201d (line 7), and \u201cpraise-songs\u201dshow a heightened sense of ecstasy in the seventh song. The second section of the Song (lines 12\u201318) then calls on the heavenly Temple as well as the angels to praise God. This remarkable idea, that the Temple itself praises God, is echoed in early Jewish mystical literature, in which the throne of God sings a song of praise to God. The third section (lines 19\u201339) is a description of the praise recited by the angels that surround the divine throne, especially the heavenly chariots (merkabot), cherubim, and ophannim (see comments on 7:38, chariots and cherubim \u2026 ophannim). Unlike the first section and most of the previous songs, which call on the angels in the imperative to praise God, this section is cast in the third person. This section draws heavily from Ezek. 1\u20133 and, less directly, from Isa. 6. The style of this section is also different, relying on series of words and phrases in succession. In fact, the rest of Angelic Liturgy is taken up largely with this type of third-person description of the heavenly retinue and its luminous appearance.
\n12. pillars At this point the song turns to a call to the Temple itself to praise God. In the course of this passage the song describes the physical structure of the heavenly Temple. It declares that the foundation of the holy place (probably referring to the inner sanctum, the Holy of Holies), the pillars, and other architectural elements of the Temple will praise God. As Davila suggests, the pillars mentioned here are probably meant to be the heavenly counterpart to the pillars Jachin and Boaz that stood in Solomon\u2019s Temple, according to 1 Kings 7:21.
\n19\u201323 These fragmentary lines probably contained the beginning of the third section of the seventh song. The text resumes at line 24 with a third-person description of the divine light and glorious angels that surround God\u2019s throne.
\n24. perfect light \u2026 mingled colors These phrases are tentative translations of two rare Hebrew words, \u2018wrtwm and rwqmt, which describe the dazzling light in the heavenly sanctuary.
\n25. at his footstool God\u2019s \u201cfootstool\u201d is an image from biblical poetry. It can refer to the earth itself, as in Isa. 66:1, but can also refer to refer to the Temple, or the Ark, as in Ps. 132:7, or Zion, as in Lam. 2:1.
\n27\u201339 This passage draws from the language and imagery of Ezekiel\u2019s vision of God, his throne, and his attending angels in Ezek. 1\u20133. It also draws implicitly on Isaiah\u2019s vision of God in the Temple in Isa. 6. Such terms as \u201cappearance,\u201d the use of light and fire as characteristics of the shrine and the angels, and the image of the angels \u201crunning\u201d (4QShirShabba 7:29) and \u201cmaking haste\u201d (line 36) to bless God are influenced by the language of Ezekiel (e.g., 1:13\u201314).
\n38. chariots The most unusual detail in this line is the description of multiple chariots praising God. In 1 Chron. 28:18, the structure formed by cherubs that frame the Ark of the Covenant is called \u201cthe figure of the chariot\u201d (tavnit ha-merkabah). Ben Sira (Sir. 49:8) writes of Ezekiel that he saw \u201ca vision, and described the different creatures of the chariot throne.\u201d Thus in postbiblical Jewish tradition, the heavenly throne came to be known as the merkabah. In addition, Isa. 66:15 attributes multiple chariots to God. It may be that each of the seven sanctuaries has its own chariot, as in the mystical midrash The Visions of Ezekiel. The idea of multiple chariots also reappears in hekhalot literature. In Ma\u2019aseh Merkabah, one passage enumerates vast numbers of chariots standing in each layer of heaven (known in that literature as \u201cpalaces,\u201d or hekhalot). The text goes on to list the songs of praise that the chariots sing in each layer. The appearance of this striking detail in both texts has led to speculation about whether merkabah mysticism was influenced by Angelic Liturgy, and perhaps by the Qumran community itself. However, no definitive answer to this question has been reached.
\ncherubim \u2026 ophannim Ezekiel 1 describes four creatures (hayyot) that he identifies as \u201ccherubs\u201d in Ezek. 10:15. The cherubim also formed the divine throne in the Tabernacle (Exod. 25:18\u201320; 37:7\u20139) and in Solomon\u2019s Temple (1 Chron. 28:18). The ophannim are described in Ezek. 1:15\u201321 as wheels that \u201cgleamed like beryl\u201d with rims that were \u201ctall and frightening.\u201d<\/p>\n
Song 8<\/p>\n
This song details the author\u2019s conception of the heavenly Temple\u2019s structure: seven sanctuaries staffed by seven priesthoods. Because of this structure, the liturgy speaks of multiple architectural features, including Temple chambers, veils, and chariot-thrones. This structure is elaborated in more detail in the third section of Angelic Liturgy, Songs 9\u201313.
\n1\u20139. Praise the God of all The song begins with a call to the chief angelic priests in each of the seven precincts of the heavenly Temple to praise God.
\n2. second Referring to a secondary rank of angelic priests. This rank may correspond to the \u201cpriests of the second rank\u201d or \u201cdeputy priests\u201d mentioned in 2 Kings 23:4 and elsewhere in biblical literature.
\n2\u20133. knowledge of eternity In the Dead Sea Scrolls, apocalyptic, and Jewish mystical literature, angels are the custodians of cosmic and esoteric knowledge, which they impart to prophets or human beings who visit heaven.
\n10\u201313. the tongu]e of [the first will grow strong sevenfold The song now declares that each of the seven groups of priests will praise God seven times as loudly as the one before it. A similar pattern appears in Ma\u2019aseh Merkabah, in which seven groups of celestial chariots sing increasingly elaborate hymns of praise to God (cf. 4QShirShabba 7:38).
\n13\u201323 These fragmentary lines seem to be a repetition of a formulaic passage in 6:25\u201338, with some variations. See the comment on 6:19, the first.
\n33\u201340 These lines likewise seem to be repeating the formula in 6:38\u201342, which specifies the type of blessing sung by the leader of each rank of angelic priests. However, instead of the chief princes of each group, in Song 8 the deputy princes recite those blessings.<\/p>\n
Song 9<\/p>\n
Songs 9 through 12 describe the architectural features of the heavenly sanctuary, from the entrance to the divine throne. Song 9 tells how the ornamental figures on the entrance of the Temple utter praise of God. The reconstruction of the first part of this song (lines 4\u201310) is uncertain. However, it is clear that this passage, indeed the text of the songs as a whole, is influenced by the descriptions of Solomon\u2019s Temple in 1 Kings 6 and 1 Chron. 28:11\u201319 as well as Ezekiel\u2019s vision of the ideal Temple in Ezek. 40\u201344. Another remarkable feature of these songs is how the figures of angelic beings carved on the walls of the Temple are animated and participate in the chorus of praise for God.
\n5. vestibules This term, \u2018ulam, is also translated by NJPS as \u201cporch\u201d or \u201cportico.\u201d Here the term could refer to the celestial equivalent to the portico in Solomon\u2019s Temple (cf. 1 Kings 6:3) or the vestibule through which the prince is to enter in Ezekiel\u2019s vision (Ezek. 44:3).
\n14. figures of luminous spirit \u2026 of glorious li[ght,] The song describes images of the \u201cliving godlike beings\u201d inscribed on the entrance to the sanctuary. In 1 Kings 6:29, Solomon decorates the walls of the Temple and the doors of the inner sanctuary with images of cherubim. Likewise, Ezek. 41:15b\u201320 depicts cherubs carved on the walls of the portico next to the court in the visionary Temple. This passage elaborates on that image by rhapsodizing on the glorious appearance and dazzling colors of the creatures. In addition, the engraved creatures seem to be alive and able to offer active praise.<\/p>\n
Song 10<\/p>\n
5. river of fire Cf. Dan. 7:10, in which a \u201criver of fire streamed forth\u201d before God, seated on his throne. Ma\u2019aseh Merkabah describes multiple rivers of fire over which there are bridges on which angels enter to utter praises.
\n6. veil A curtain (parokhet) hung in front of the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle and Temple to divide it from the outer chamber (Exod. 26:31\u201335). Song 10 dwells on details of this curtain, including, apparently, a \u201cfringed edge\u201d (line 4) and elaborate engravings of \u201cfigures of godlike beings\u201d (line 7). In the Babylonian Talmud, a curtain (pargod) is said to hang between the Divine Presence and all other creatures, but is not closed off to students who are diligent but poor (B. Sota 49a; cf. B. BM 59a; B. Ber. 18b). In another Talmudic story, a voice from behind the curtain warns the arch-heretic Elisha ben Abuya that he may not gain atonement (B. Hag. 15a). The 8th-century midrash Pirke Rabbi Eliezer, retelling the vision of Ezekiel, says that a curtain is spread before God and seven angels serve God in front of it. Hekhalot literature also mentions a celestial curtain in front of the divine throne. In one passage Rabbi Akiva says that when he arrived at the curtain, angels of destruction emerged from behind it, but God told them not to harm him. Like the carved figures in Song 9, the images embroidered on the curtain in this song seem to be alive and praising God actively.
\n8. veils Apparently, each of the Temple shrines has its own veil.
\n13. eternal thrones Note the reference to multiple thrones here, in light of the reference to multiple chariots in Song 7 and Songs 11 and 13 below.<\/p>\n
Song 11<\/p>\n
10. And the figures \u2026 laud him This line contains the most explicit statement in the surviving fragments of the text that the \u201cfigures,\u201d which are engraved and embroidered on the walls of the Temple and its furnishings, engage in the act of praise.
\n11. rooms In 1 En. 14, the hero is taken into two buildings of the heavenly palace complex consisting, like the Temple of the songs, of an outer nave and an inner building. The floor of the first building is of crystal, and the floor of the second, of fire.
\nfirmament In Ezek. 1:22 and 10:1, a firmament or, as NJPS renders it, \u201cexpanse,\u201d extends over the heads of the cherubim and beneath the chariot-throne of God. Likewise in Exod. 24:10, Moses, Aaron, their two sons, and the elders ascend Mount Sinai and see God, and \u201cunder His feet there was the likeness of a pavement of sapphire.\u201d
\n13. mosaics 1 Enoch describes the walls of the heavenly palace as covered with mosaics of white marble (1 En. 14:10). In one of the hekhalot texts, four travelers to heaven see shining marble plates, which might be mistaken for sheets of water, covering the walls of the celestial court.
\n15. stillness This word, demamah, appears in various phrases in Angelic Liturgy. It is an echo of Elijah\u2019s revelation of God in 1 Kings 19:12, in which he hears a \u201csoft murmuring sound\u201d (so NJPS), often translated as \u201ca still, small voice.\u201d As scholars have noted, this detail may seem paradoxical, because the entire description of the heavenly liturgy is one of loud singing and rejoicing. However, the poet seeks to include as many words for the sound of divine praise and revelation as possible. The NJPS translation implies a kind of murmur that might be soft but would nevertheless add to the chorus of voices in the divine sanctuary. A liturgical poem for the High Holy Days composed somewhat after the Talmud depicts the heavenly court in which the announcement is made that the Day of Judgment has arrived: \u201cThe great ram\u2019s horn [shofar] is sounded \/ and a soft murmuring sound is heard.\u201d
\n22\u201326 After six fragmentary and missing lines, the song continues its description of the heavenly architecture and concludes with the angels and chariots and their movement.
\n22. do [no]t delay Cf. this line with 4QShirShabba 5:12, in which the angels run to do their Master\u2019s bidding.
\ninner sanctum At this point the song moves from the outer precincts of the Temple structure to the threshold of the inner sanctum and the chariot-throne of God housed in it. 1 Chron 28:18 describes \u201cthe figure of the chariot\u2014the cherubs\u2014those with outspread wings screening the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD.\u201d
\n23. By statute As we have seen above, the angels are subject to strict protocols and are knowledgeable about divine laws.
\n26. As they move [the]y shall n[ot] turn In Ezekiel\u2019s vision, each of the creatures supporting the throne has one straight leg and does not turn when it moves (Ezek. 1:7\u20139, 17).<\/p>\n
Song 12<\/p>\n
This song continues the description of the chariot-throne (merkabah) and the angelic praise surrounding it, based on Ezek. 1; 10; 46. This theme is particularly prominent in lines 1\u20139 of this song. After several fragmentary lines, the song continues (lines 23\u201333) with a description of the collective activity of the angelic hosts.
\n1\u20132. Praise the God \u2026 O wondrous [de]puty [princes] The song begins with the customary call to praise, this time probably addressed to the deputy princes. The text goes on (lines 2\u20134) to describe the praise of the cherubim before the merkabah.
\n2. tabernac[le] This term (mishkan) usually refers to the traveling sanctuary used by the Israelites in the wilderness. Here, the poet uses it to mean the Temple.
\n2\u20134 The poetry returns to parallelism in this portion of the song. The assonance created by the repetition of plurals at the end of a phrase can also be heard in line 3 (elohim, \u201cdivine\u201d \/ mevarekhim, \u201cbless\u201d \/ keruvim, \u201ccherubim\u201d).
\n3. a tumult of exultation \u2026 the sound of divine [stillne]ss The author identifies the sound made by the wings of the cherubim with a form of blessing. This identification may come from a confluence of verses and interpretations. In Ezek. 3:12\u201313, the Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Bible describes the movement of the holy creatures: \u201cI heard a great roaring sound (ra\u2019ash gadol): \u2018Blessed (Barukh) is the Presence of the LORD, in His place,\u2019 with the sound of the wings of the creatures beating against one another \u2026\u201d This blessing has been incorporated into the Kedushah in the Jewish prayer book. However, scholars believe that the blessing in this version of the biblical text may be a scribal error for the phrase \u201cas the Presence of the LORD rose (be-rum) from where it stood.\u201d Newsom suggests that the poet may have been aware of both versions and played on both associations by describing how the wings \u201clift up\u201d (be-rim), and at the same time by describing their beating as a kind of praise. In addition, the sound of the cherubim is called \u201cthe sound of divine stillness,\u201d which as we have seen, is based on Elijah\u2019s revelation in 1 Kings 19:12. In that revelation, the \u201csoft murmuring\u201d is preceded by an earthquake (ra\u2019ash), the word used to describe the sound Ezekiel hears before the beating of the creatures\u2019 wings.
\nform of the chariot throne A direct echo of 1 Chron. 28:18, on which see the comments on 4QShirShabba 7:38, chariots and cherubim \u2026 ophannim.
\n4. luminous firmament Referring to the firmament above the heads of the holy creatures in Ezek. 1:26, on which the throne rests.
\nophannim The passage now turns to the ophannim, animated wheels that support the throne in Ezek. 1:15\u201321; see also 4QShirShabba 7:38 above.
\n5. glorious [h]ubs Beings classified as wheels or hubs (galgalim) are mentioned in hekhalot literature as a type of angel. See Ezek. 10:2 as well as Dan. 7:9\u201310, which describes the throne and its wheels over a river of fire. Newsom suggests that Dan. 7:9\u201310 influenced this line, which combines the wheels and the \u201cpaths of fire.\u201d
\n8. The \u2026 rejoicing falls silent At this point the cherubim and ophannim conclude their song, and the entire company of angelic camps sings together. As Alexander observes, this and other references in this song suggest that the angelic praise occurs only at specific times. A version of the Kedushah of the classical Jewish liturgy envisions the angelic chorus singing antiphonally, the seraphim of Isa. 6:1 alternating with the holy creatures and ophannim of Ezek. 1\u20133.
\n8\u20139. camps \u2026 divisions \u2026 mustered troops As is also apparent from Song 5, line 10 above, the organization of the angels is a military one. The angels are arranged in camps and organized into divisions (literally, \u201cbanners\u201d or \u201cstandards\u201d), like the troops of the tribes of Israel in the wilderness according to Num. 1\u20132. This angelic organization lies behind the terms used for angels in such documents as the Aramaic Enoch fragments and is spelled out in detail in War Scroll.
\n11\u201319. wondr[ous] firmaments This fragmentary passage apparently deals with the \u201cfirmaments\u201d that extend under the divine throne.
\n14. foundations Newsom suggests that these are associated with the four cherubim who support the throne.
\n21. th]eir tasks This word (mas\u2019ehem) may also mean \u201cutterance of praise,\u201d which in any case is the task of the angels. From here to the end of Song 12 the theme turns to the angels\u2019 performance of their missions and their obedience to God\u2019s laws.
\n25. whole offering This word (kelilo) can also be translated \u201ccrown.\u201d Either meaning is possible in this fragmentary line, since the following song (Song 13) describes both the priestly vestments of the angels and the sacrifices that the angels offer.
\n28\u201329. enter by the portals of glory \u2026 go out to their dominion From this point the poetry uses strong parallelism. These two lines provide an excellent example of this technique.
\n28\u201330. Whenever the divine beings of knowledge enter This passage shows that not all the angels are stationed permanently, but that the angels enter the divine throne-room to carry out their sacrifices and praise God at those times. The \u201cportals\u201d mentioned here and in Song 9 are therefore for the angels to enter and exit.
\n30. statute The song returns to the theme\u2014introduced in Song 1\u2014that there are laws that apply in heaven as well as on earth and that the angels are diligent in obeying them.
\n32. annihila[ting wra]th The song may be returning to a theme introduced in Song 1, God\u2019s judgment of humanity at the end-time. That is, it is asserting that God will have no mercy on the disobedient but will withhold his wrath from those who \u201care turned back,\u201d or repent. However, in the context of the angelic sacrifice, the poet may be referring to God\u2019s punishment of any being, angelic or human, who violates the divine protocols (the \u201cstatutes\u201d mentioned in the previous line). In the Bible, God\u2019s wrath is ignited when unauthorized persons approach his presence or when an unauthorized ritual is performed. The most notable example of this idea is in Lev. 10:1\u20133, when Aaron\u2019s sons offer an unauthorized fire and are burned to death by a fire from God. Thus the line may be saying that those who avoid, or are \u201cturned back\u201d from, God\u2019s wrath are spared.<\/p>\n
Song 13<\/p>\n
The last song in this cycle is fragmentary, but it goes into more detail about the classifications of sacrifice at the heavenly altar and introduces the theme of the vestments of the angelic priests. Although the subject of the entire text is the celestial Temple and its rituals, details of the sacrifices themselves do not appear until this final song.
\n4. goodwill This fragmentary line could be referring to freewill offerings given by the community (cf. 1QS ix, 5), or offerings that are accepted by God as a sign of His goodwill (cf. CD ix, 21). This term (ratzon), sometimes translated as \u201cfavor.\u201d is used in biblical Hebrew for God\u2019s acceptance of a sacrifice. The term survived in later Jewish prayer in the daily Amidah, which asks that God restore the sacrifices to the rebuilt Temple and that the sacrifice of Israel be accepted favorably (u-tehi le-ratzon tamid \u2018avodat yisra\u2019el).
\n5. sacrifices This verb, z-b-\u1e25 means \u201cslaughter\u201d and is used in the Hebrew Bible to refer to animal sacrifice. However, the surviving fragments do not tell us what, if anything, is sacrificed in heaven. In the Babylonian Talmud the archangel Michael is said to perform sacrifices on a heavenly altar (B. Men. 110a and other sources cited in the Introduction). However, early Rabbinic tradition does not specify what exactly Michael sacrifices. In some early medieval traditions, he sacrifices the souls of the righteous.
\n7. breastplates See Exod. 28:15\u201329; 39:8\u201321. These fragmentary lines begin the song\u2019s description of the angelic priests\u2019 vestments. The Torah prescribes the elaborate garments of the high priest in great detail in Exod. 28; 39. In addition, the vestments were the subject of a great deal of attention and interpretation in the Second Temple and Rabbinic periods. For example, the Jewish philosopher Philo and the Jewish historian Josephus both wrote extensive symbolic descriptions of them (see Josephus, Ant. 3.151\u201378 and Bell. 5.227\u201336; Ep. Arist. 96\u201399; Philo, de Vita Mosis 2.109\u201335; Spec. Laws 1.82\u201397). In the 4th to 6th centuries CE, the liturgical poems for Yom Kippur known as the avodah piyyutim devoted many stanzas to it as well.
\n16. their ephodim See Exod. 28:6\u201312; 39:2\u20135. The ephod was a richly ornamented garment worn by the high priest over his robe. It contained the breastplate described above, which was embedded with 12 stones representing the tribes of Israel. The use of the plural shows that more than one angelic priest wore the sacred vestments.
\n18. mingled colors The song emphasizes the dazzling colors and beautiful embroidery of the garments worn by the angels. The phrase \u201cwoven work\u201d comes from the Torah\u2019s description of the ephod and other priestly robes in Exod. 28:32; 39:22; 39:27. However, the robes of the earthly priests are blue, while the angelic priests wear multicolored robes. This is an example of how Angelic Liturgy uses the earthly ritual as a model but depicts the heavenly liturgy as visually more impressive.
\n23. chiefs of offerings The glorious garments are worn by the chief priests who offer the sacrifices and at the same time praise God. The phrase \u201cchiefs of offerings\u201d (rashe terumot) coupled with the phrase \u201ctongues of knowledge\u201d (leshone da\u2019at) recalls the phrase \u201coffering of the tongue,\u201d (teru-mat lashon) in Song 2, where it evidently refers to the verbal equivalent of sacrifice.
\n26\u201333 These fragmentary lines conclude the surviving text of Song 13. They seem to be a recapitulation of the scenario developed in the song\u2014that of the angels in the complex chambers of the heavenly Temple. The final lines seem to be moving outward almost cinematically, from the \u201cinner rooms\u201d to the \u201cglorious temples\u201d and finally to the \u201cfirmaments\u201d that support them.<\/p>\n
Thanksgiving Hymns (Hodayot)<\/p>\n
Angela Kim Harkins<\/p>\n
The Thanksgiving Hymns scroll (1QHa) from Cave 1 was one of the first scrolls to be discovered at Qumran. It is a sizable scroll containing anywhere from 28 to 34 individual compositions. The scroll takes its name, Thanksgiving Hymns (Hebrew Hodayot, and hereafter Hymns), from the formula that opens a significant number of the hymns: \u201cI give thanks to you, O LORD.\u201d With 41 to 42 lines per column, this Cave 1 scroll is among the few non-biblical scrolls copied with a large writing block and with generous margins. The careful manuscript preparation and the multiple copies of the text among the scrolls at Qumran suggest that this collection enjoyed some authority in the Qumran community.<\/p>\n
History and Shape of the Text<\/p>\n
Eliezer Sukenik\u2019s early description of the scroll revealed many important details. He found it in two separate clumps. The first consisted of several parchment sheets not rolled up in the tidy manner expected for a scroll but rather as folded-up sheets with one sheet compressed and indiscriminately inserted into the folds of another. The second bundle contained many crumpled fragments of varying size.
\nIn an effort to make this scroll accessible to scholars as soon as possible, Sukenik\u2019s early publication of the Hymns was strictly a material look that began with the largest, most complete sheets and ended with the smallest fragments. This order was then followed by other scholars, even though it was obvious that this reconstruction was inaccurate. There are at least two scribal hands in this scroll, with a third hand that was responsible for some editing changes. There is a clear shift in scribal hands at 19:25, which means that the sheets and fragments can easily be sorted accordingly. Even though Sukenik\u2019s edition did not sort the sheets and fragments according to the scribal hands, the popular ordering of this edition remains the most recognizable ordering of 1QHa. It would be more than 60 years from the time of its discovery before a complete critical edition of the reconstructed scroll was to be made.
\nToday scholars agree generally upon a reconstruction of 1QHa based on a careful study of the physical signs of damage in the parchment and the location of its nearly 70 fragments, first achieved by Hartmut Stegemann in his unpublished 1963 dissertation. This reconstruction became the basis for the new critical edition, and it differs from Sukenik\u2019s numbering system by roughly nine columns and a few line numbers.
\nGiven the complex history of the material reconstruction of 1QHa, few scholars have had sufficient familiarity with the technical aspects of the scroll and the scribal practices within it to synthesize its literary elements with its physical features. Many propose various systems of dividing the compositions within the scroll, but no other scholar contributed as much to the understanding of the scroll and its unit divisions as did Stegemann. His reconstruction and his numbering system are followed here.
\nToday scholars commonly see 1QHa as a tripartite collection: (1) Community Hymns I, (2) Teacher Hymns, and (3) Community Hymns II. Community Hymns I spans the first two sheets of parchment and consists of the first eight columns. It is characterized by a condensed system of spelling, which is unusual for the scroll as a whole. While two different scribal hands copied the Teacher Hymns, the orthographic system in this collection generally resembles that of the Community Hymns II. Although it is inconsistently followed, there is a preference for expanded spelling in these two groups. In addition to orthography, other literary elements, such as the theme of communion with angels, are shared by these two collections.
\nLike many before him, Stegemann noted various distinctive scribal procedures within the group traditionally called the Teacher Hymns (10:5\u201317:36). The 13 compositions here consistently avoid the introductory phrases \u201cblessed are you\u201d and \u201cfor (the) instructor\u201d (lemaskil), whereas both of these appear with some regularity in the two groups of Community Hymns. Instead, the Teacher Hymns regularly begin with the phrase \u201cI give thanks to you, O LORD,\u201d although there is one exception in 13:22, where an editor replaced it with \u201cblessed are you.\u201d The distinct formal unity found in the Teacher Hymns is not so in the case of the two groups of Community Hymns.
\nThe Hymns is attested in as many as eight different manuscripts. In addition to the large scroll from Cave 1, at least one other manuscript has been identified from the same cave (1Q35). The publication of six manuscripts from Cave 4 (4Q427\u20134Q432) in the late 1990s contributed greatly to the scholarly understanding of these texts, which was based previously on the Cave 1 manuscript alone. The Cave 4 manuscripts provided comparative data for the reconstruction of poorly preserved or missing portions of 1QHa and for the study of the order and arrangement of the collection. The data suggest that there was relative stability to the wording of individual compositions but variation among the arrangement of the collections. The multiple attestation of this collection and the careful copying and editing of the 1QHa scroll suggest that this collection of texts was important among the members of the Qumran community.<\/p>\n
Authorship<\/p>\n
In his earliest publications on this scroll, Sukenik wondered if these texts should be associated with the Teacher of Righteousness known from 1QpHab and the Damascus Document, because of the vivid accounts and strong claims of inspiration found in them. He hypothesized that the scroll was a unified collection of personal meditations authored by a single individual, the Teacher of Righteousness himself. This would make the scroll a literary and not a liturgical collection. Many early scrolls scholars, motivated by the desire to reconstruct the life and practices of this Judean community, looked with expectation to this scroll for details about the founding of the Qumran community, insofar as they could be known from the faint historical references in the Hymns scroll. Sukenik\u2019s hypothesis was supported by the sharp and intense experiences referenced in these hymns. One of the most important psalms for those who favor the Teacher Hypothesis is found in 12:6\u201313:6, where the speaker describes how he was driven into exile by his opponents. Other psalms presume that the speaker is being persecuted or mocked by opponents (10:5\u201321; 10:22\u201332; 10:33\u201311:5; 15:9\u201328), with one interesting psalm describing a scenario in which the speaker has been rejected by his own community (13:22\u201315:8).
\nWhile many of Sukenik\u2019s views have had long-lasting influence, scholars disagree most with his early assessment of the authorial unity of the scroll. One who strongly disagreed with Sukenik\u2019s Teacher Hypothesis and the single authorship was Svend Holm-Nielsen, who studied the scroll in light of the biblical Psalter. He concluded that the scroll, like the book of Psalms, was authored by multiple people and likely used in a liturgical context.
\nWhile Sukenik\u2019s views on the unity of the scroll were abandoned early on, his Teacher Hypothesis has had an enduring influence. Scholars in the early generation went on to refine his hypothesis by demonstrating on literary grounds how at least one group of hymns, today known as the Teacher Hymns in 10:5\u201317:36, could be distinguished from the rest of the scroll. Sukenik\u2019s hypothesis that the Teacher of Righteousness authored the texts of 1QHa was not the consensus view in neither his day nor today, but the association of the scroll, in particular the central Teacher Hymns portion, with the figure known from 1QpHab and CD continues to loom large in the imagination of many. While some scholars continue to accept the authorship of at least some of the compositions from the scroll as that of the putative founder of the Qumran community, the Teacher of Righteousness, serious challenges to the Teacher Hypothesis have been voiced in recent years.
\nRecent study of the non-Teacher Hymns emphasizes their significant diversity. Furthermore, the publication of the Cave 4 manuscripts brings to light copies of the Community Hymns that show strong possibilities as liturgical collections (esp. 4Q427). These manuscripts provide some of the missing context for the curious first person plural forms that were noticed in 1QHa but lacking context because of their extremely fragmentary form. While these Community Hymns do not replicate the arrangement of psalms in 1QHa, the question of whether these psalms functioned in a liturgical capacity cannot be dismissed easily. In addition to references to music and joyful songs of praise in the scroll (e.g., 7:17\u201318; 11:23\u201324; 19:7\u20138, 17, 26\u201329), there is also mention of communion with angels (11:22\u201324; 12:25\u201326; 14:15\u201316; 19:14\u201317; 23:30) and participation in angelic worship (e.g., 11:22\u201324; 19:16), with one composition, the Self-Glorification Hymn (1QHa 25:34\u201327:3), making extraordinary claims about the speaker\u2019s elevated status within the angelic assembly. More recently, Carol Newsom\u2019s rhetorical study of the scroll shows that the psalms, even those describing the intense personal experiences of the leader, could have functioned purposefully in the formation of communal identity.<\/p>\n
Significance<\/p>\n
The Hymns scroll is identified as one of the key manuscripts for the scholarly understanding of the history and theological perspectives of the community and, of course, the Teacher of Righteousness. A disproportionate number of the studies on the Hymns in the past 60 years have focused on historical questions surrounding those hymns associated with the Teacher of Righteousness, which are centrally located in 1QHa 10\u201317. Much of the early interest in the scroll was fueled by the belief that they were composed by the Teacher of Righteousness, and also by the remarkably well-preserved condition of these texts (in contrast to the extremely fragmentary first and second groups of Community Hymns). Their dramatic language also made them popular for scholars\u2014quite different from the monotony and repetition of the non-Teacher compositions. The centrality of the Teacher Hymns to the popularity of 1QHa was so great that these compositions, first classified as \u201cThanksgiving Hymns\u201d on account of the speaker\u2019s use of the formula (among other reasons), gave the scroll its name. Because the most interesting part of 1QHa, the Teacher Hymns, was so well preserved, a full reconstruction of all parts of the scroll was not pursued for quite some time.
\nBecause of the fragmentary state of 1QHa, early scholars presumed that its literary features could be understood based on biblical examples of psalms and prayers. The techniques of parallelism, repetition of words, literary structures, meter, and use of opening formulas were presumed to function in the Hymns in the same way as in biblical and non-biblical poetry, but the absence of these poetic techniques was duly noted by the early generation of scholars as signs that they were free-form poetry or even very poor poetry. Some even describe the literary style of the hymnist as \u201cmonotonous\u201d or \u201cchaotic.\u201d In the 1980s, Bonnie Kittel proposed that a theological understanding would be greatly enriched by a careful literary analysis of the poetic maneuvers of the hymnist, and her study represents one of the first major systematic analyses of the poetic features in the Hymns. She concludes that the psalms reflect poetic techniques familiar from biblical poetry, including the repetition of key words and images and the use of other literary devices. These features proved to be important in determining the proper division between compositional units. The literary study of these texts served to enrich scholarly understanding of Hebrew poetry in antiquity by offering a great sample of compositions for comparison.
\nThe Hymns also provide important data for the study of compositional techniques in early Hebrew poetry. The scroll makes many allusions to biblical phrases and images, but contains only one direct quotation of Scripture (Ps. 26:12), in 1QHa 10:31\u201332. The scroll\u2019s use of scriptural language, creating a pastiche of familiar and recognizable references, proves to be typical of the scripturalization of prayer that appears during the Second Temple period.<\/p>\n
GUIDE TO READING<\/p>\n
The Teacher Hymns collection is the most coherent section of the scroll, and readers should be able to see this easily in the regularity of the introductory formula \u201cI give thanks to you, O LORD,\u201d and the characteristic style. The speaker uses vivid images in his laments and makes extraordinary claims about his special insights. At least one Cave 4 manuscript suggests that this collection may have circulated independently at some time. There is good reason to see 1QHa 9:1\u201310:4 as an introduction to the Teacher Hymn collection and 17:38\u201319:5 as either a concluding psalm to the Teacher collection or a transitional composition to the second group of Community Hymns, which begins in 19:6. Another notable text in the scroll is a famous psalm in Community Hymns II, popularly known as the Self-Glorification Hymn (25:34\u201327:3). It has been reconstructed from Cave 4 manuscripts and is presented separately in these volumes.
\nA number of scribal peculiarities in the Hymns are worth mentioning. The beautiful scribal hand that begins the scroll abruptly ends in 19:25 and is replaced by one that is not as elegant; however, while not as aesthetically pleasing, it cannot be concluded that the scribe\u2019s work at copying was less accurate. There are three curious instances in the scroll where the paleo-Hebrew letters for \u201cGod\u201d are used (7:38; 9:26; 10:36). The relative infrequency of their appearance in the scroll as a whole suggests that the scribe was strictly copying his text, and that the words appeared as such in his exemplar. There are also two peculiar instances where the voice of the speaker shifts from the first person singular to the first person plural (5:13\u20136:29) and there is a single instance of the plural at 6:13; 7:12\u201320; 25:34\u201327:3). The scribe also made deletion marks in the text, as indicated using \u201ccurly\u201d brackets.<\/p>\n
SUGGESTED READING<\/p>\n
Douglas, Michael C. \u201cThe Teacher Hymn Hypothesis Revisited.\u201d Dead Sea Discoveries 6 (1999): 239\u201366.
\nHarkins, Angela Kim. \u201cA New Proposal for Thinking about 1QHA Sixty Years after Its Discovery.\u201d Qumran Cave 1 Revisited, 131\u201334. Texts from Cave 1 Sixty Years after Their Discovery. Proceedings of the Sixth Meeting of the IOQS in Ljubljana. Edited by Daniel K. Falk, Sarianna Metso, Donald W. Parry, and Eibert J. C. Tigchelaar. STDJ 91. Leiden: Brill, 2010.
\n\u2014\u2014\u2014. Reading with an \u201cI\u201d to the Heavens: Looking at the Qumran Hodayot through the Lens of Visionary Traditions. Ekstasis: Religious Experience from Antiquity to the Middle Ages 3. Berlin: de Gruyter, 2012.
\nHolm-Nielsen, Svend. Hodayot: Psalms from Qumran. Aarhus: Universitetsforlaget, 1960.
\nHughes, Julie A. Scriptural Allusions and Exegesis in the Hodayot. STDJ 59. Leiden: Brill, 2006.
\nNewsom, Carol. The Self as Symbolic Space: Constructing Identity and Community at Qumran. Leiden: Brill, 2004.
\nPuech, \u00c9mile. \u201cHodayot.\u201d Encyclopedia of the Dead Sea Scrolls 1: 365\u201369. Edited by L. Schiffman and J. VanderKam. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.
\nSchuller, Eileen. \u201c4QHodayota\u2013e and 4QpapHodayotf.\u201d In Qumran Cave 4.XX: Poetical and Liturgical Texts, Part 2, 472\u201332 and 69\u2013254. Edited by Esther Chazon, et al. Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 29. Oxford: Clarendon, 1999.
\nStegemann, Hartmut, with Eileen Schuller. Qumran Cave 1.III: 1QHodayota with Incorporation of 1QHodayotb and 4QHodayota\u2013f. Translation by Carol Newsom. Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 40. Oxford: Clarendon, 2008.
\nSukenik, Eliezer. The Dead Sea Scrolls of the Hebrew University. Prepared for the press by N. Avigad. Jerusalem: Magnes, 1954.<\/p>\n
COMMENTARY<\/p>\n
4:13\u201340 It is not clear how many compositions are in column 4 because the scroll is poorly preserved. There may be as many as three short psalms, or this column may be a single composition with multiple units. Because of the repetition of images and themes, it makes sense to read this column together. Noteworthy is the explicit reference to Moses in 4:24, a citation that is unusual for the scroll as a whole but that fits well with the repeated Deuteronomic theme of loving what God loves and hating what God hates. In this composition, there is a confession of sin and an acknowledgement that God alone is able to restore the speaker from his depravity.
\n4:17. suddenly, in an instan[t This expression may be an allusion to Isa. 29:5; particularly when read in conjunction with the word \u201cconsuming\/devouring\u201d that appears in 1QHa 4:15 (cf. Isa. 29:6).
\n4:21. [Blessed are you, O God of knowledge Stegemann proposes this reconstruction in \u201cNumber of Psalms\u201d; see also Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 40.68.
\n4:24. Moses [your] servant An appeal to a named individual appears nowhere else in this scroll. This is the only appearance of Moses in the scroll but it fits well the Deuteronomic emphasis here and also in 4:36.
\n4:27. all the glory of man (or Adam) This peculiar expression appears only in 1QS 4:23 and CD 3:20. There may also be an allusion to this expression in 4Q504 1:4.
\n4:28 This is one of only three full blank lines in the entire scroll. The other two lines appear at 17:37 and 18:15. While it is not entirely clear what these blank lines signify, they may be signs of the collection\u2019s textual development from smaller collections. They may have existed in the text that the scribe was copying.
\n4:29. [Blessed are you, O God of compassi]on Stegemann proposes this reading in \u201cNumber of Psalms\u201d; see also Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 40.70 (cf. the readings at 18:16 and 19:32).
\n4:36. all that you love, and to reject all that you hate Other places where this language appears are 6:21\u201322 and 1QS 1:3\u20134.
\n4:38. [Blessed are you, O God Most High Stegemann proposes this reconstruction in \u201cNumber of Psalms\u201d; see also Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 40.72.
\n4:39. I will consider every human covenant This is the only place in 1QHa where this unusual expression for a human covenant appears. In all other places in the scroll reference is made to God\u2019s covenant or to the speaker\u2019s covenant. Unfortunately, not enough literary context survives to explain fully the meaning of this expression.
\n5:12\u20136:33 This composition contains an interesting combination of sapiential elements. Creation language, emphasis on the divine source of knowledge, and wisdom themes and vocabulary are featured alongside literary elements commonly associated with Wisdom Literature, such as rhetorical questions. One of three rare first-person plural references appears in 6:13. The combination of sapiential elements with rhetorical questions and the use of the first-person plural can also be compared to 1QM 10:8b\u201316 and 4Q392. Other notable references include the stereotypical language in 5:32\u201333 to describe human lowliness and unworthiness: \u201cborn of woman,\u201d \u201can edifice of dust, kneaded with water.\u201d Such expressions will appear again later in the scroll (9:23\u201324; 21:11\u201313; and others). 1QHa 5:20\u201324 resembles the two ways motif familiar from 1QS 3:12\u20134:14. Covenant language and Deuteronomic formulations familiar from 1QHa 4, such as loving what God loves and hating what God hates, are also repeated in 1QHa 6. The psalm concludes with a discussion of who may and who may not be brought into the community. Unfortunately, the first 11 lines of 1QHa 5 have not survived. The beginning of this lengthy psalm was reconstructed by joining the large fragment 15 to what remains of 1QHa 5. Even though there is an empty space between 6:18 and 6:19, Stegemann reasons that there were not multiple compositions here. Instead, this was a single lengthy psalm based on his understanding of the use of \u201cthese things,\u201d which appears in 6:20, as referring to things already mentioned. According to Stegemann, this term always refers to previously mentioned matters, and therefore this is a single lengthy psalm and not more.
\n5:12. [A chant for the Instr]uctor This heading has been reconstructed. There are three other instances where a heading to the \u201cinstructor\u201d appears in this scroll (7:21; 20:7; 25:34). \u201cInstructor\u201d may be a reference to an office that was responsible for both teaching and liturgy. The section known as the \u201cTwo Spirits Treatise\u201d begins by stating that \u201cthe instructor should instruct and teach all the sons of light\u201d (1QS 3:13). Regulations concerning the instructor are outlined in 1QS 9:12\u201310:5, and there the liturgical responsibilities of the instructor are described. Some compositions in the Songs of Sabbath Sacrifice and the Songs of the Maskil are dedicated to the instructor. In the biblical book of Daniel, the task of the instructors is to teach understanding. Eventually, the instructors will fall by the sword and flame, and their suffering will be seen as a purification. During this time of suffering, the instructors will be accompanied by insincere followers (Dan. 11:33\u201335). These instructors who have fallen will eventually shine like the lights in the sky (12:3).
\n5:14\u201315. and that a mortal might understand The word \u201cmortal\u201d can also be rendered \u201cEnosh,\u201d the name of the son of Seth and the grandson of Adam. The generic understanding of \u201cmortal\u201d appears in 7:26: \u201cnor is a mortal able to determine his step\u201d; and 9:27: \u201chow can a mortal explain his sin?\u201d
\n5:15. a spirit of flesh This expression also appears in 4Q416 1 12 and 4Q417 2 17. In that latter reference, also known as \u201cThe Vision of Hagu,\u201d a contrast is made between the \u201cspirit of flesh\u201d and \u201cthe people of spirit.\u201d In 4Q417, the figure of Enosh (also at 5:14) is associated with \u201cthe people of spirit\u201d and not with the \u201cspirit of flesh.\u201d That 4Q417 2 17 refers to Enosh and not the generic \u201cmortal\u201d may be likely given what appears to be a reference to \u201csons of Seth\u201d in 1QHa 5:14.
\n5:17. the mysteries of the plan The Hebrew word raz (mystery) appears twice here and also in 5:19, 30; 10:15; and 12:28. While reference is made here and in other places to divine mysteries that have been revealed to the speaker, it serves the purpose of highlighting the status of the speaker. The content of the mysteries themselves is not disclosed to the reader.
\n5:19. and in the mysteries of your wonder This expression also appears in 10:15 (\u201cin mysteries of wonder\u201d) and 12:28\u201329 (\u201cthe mysteries of your wonder\u201d); see also 4Q428 9 1 and 4Q417 2 i 2, 13.
\n5:20. you have revealed the paths of truth and the works of evil Cf. the \u201ctwo Spirits Treatise\u201d in 1QS 3:13\u20134:26.
\n5:31\u201333. and what is one born of woman among all [your] fearsome grand deeds \u2026 over him A similar piling up of rhetorical questions and self-deprecating statements also occurs in 7:34; 9:23\u201325; 11:24\u201326; 12:30\u201331; 18:5\u20139; 20:27\u201331; 21:11\u201313 and serves to heighten the contrast between the creaturely humility and the glory of the heavenly beings. Notice also the very close language in 20:28: \u201ca font of filth and obscene shame.\u201d Stereotypical language that describes human mortality appears in 15:39\u201340; 22:12; and 23:12 but without rhetorical questions.
\n5:35. and I, your servant While reference to God\u2019s servant appears throughout all parts of the scroll, the construction \u201cI, your servant,\u201d which could also be rendered \u201cI am your servant,\u201d appears only here and in the following composition at 6:36.
\n6:13. our ears \u2026 men of truth This is one of the rare instances of the first person plural in this scroll. Another reference appears in the psalm found in 7:12\u201320 (= frag. 10), which includes two references to the first person plural in 7:17\u201319: \u201cAnd we are gathered together in the yahad, and with knowing ones we are inst[ru]cted by you and we si[ng joyfully about the multitude] of [yo] ur mercies [ ] with your warriors and wonderfully we will recount together the knowl[edge of God] in the congregation.\u201d The first person plural references also appear in the extraordinary Self-Glorification Hymn (26:32\u201334, 37\u201339), which is reconstructed with the aid of 4Q427. First person plural references are a strong marker of a possible liturgical function for these compositions.
\n6:15. who] restrain themselves This verb form appears only here and in 6:20\u2014perhaps an additional reason to see 6:19\u201333 as part of the preceding psalm.
\n6:21\u201322. [to choose all tha]t you love and to despise all that [you hate] Cf. the Deuteronomic language in 4:36. See also the formulation in 1QS 1:3\u20134: \u201cHe (God) commanded through Moses and through all his servants the Prophets to love everything that he chooses and to hate everything that he rejects; in order to keep oneself at a distance from all evil.\u201d
\n6:25. your commands Literally \u201cyour mouth,\u201d but it is translated here in the plural as \u201ccommands\u201d in order to set it in parallel with the following phrase: \u201cyour words.\u201d
\n6:30\u201331. I will not regard an evil man \u2026 nor any of your judgments for a bribe Similar language appears in 7:36 although there, the text describes the righteousness of God, whereas here the speaker promises God that he will avoid any illicit behavior. There is nothing unusual about the condemnation of bribery and other treachery. Similar views appear also in 11QT 51:11\u201318, a passage that expands on Deut. 16:18. In 11QT, the speaker, God, specifies that good judges may not take a bribe and pervert justice.
\n6:34\u20137:11 This psalm is extremely fragmentary. It is possible, however, to recognize the familiar Deuteronomic language in what has survived, namely, loving what God loves and hating what he hates (6:36\u201337). There is also reference to God forgiving the sins of the repentant. Presumably, this psalm continued until 7:11 but none of the text from the top of 1QHa 7 survives.
\n6:36. and I, your servant See comment on 5:35.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
9. we his holy people In the Torah, the Israelite tribes are chosen to be God\u2019s holy people in that God has set them apart from other peoples by giving them special laws. Some ancient writers looked forward to this destiny being fully realized in a future where Israel would faithfully keep God\u2019s laws (e.g., … <\/p>\n