The Dead Sea Scrolls Rewriting Samuel and Kings

Ariel Feldman

• Publisher: De Gruyter
• Year: 2015
• ISBN:
  9783110389494
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Criticism & Interpretation

Long neglected by scholars, the Dead Sea scrolls rewriting Samuel-Kings shed precious light on the ancient Jewish interpretation of these books. This volume brings all these texts together for the first time under one cover. Improved editions of the fragments, up-to-date commentary, and detailed discussions of the exegetical traditions embedded in these scrolls will be of interest to both scholars and students of Second Temple Jewish literature.

Chapter 1: Samuel and Kings in Second Temple Literature

This survey of the use of Samuel and Kings in Second Temple literature pursues two goals.9 First, it maps the literary and exegetical landscape in which the Qumran rewritings of Samuel-Kings ought to be situated. Second, it assesses the contribution of other Dead Sea Scrolls to the study of the transmission and interpretation of Samuel-Kings.10 To keep this overview within manageable limits, writings that came to be a part of the Jewish canon, as well as those composed after 70 CE, are excluded from it.11 Two notable exceptions are 1–2 Chronicles and Josephus’s Jewish Antiquities, vital for any study of the rewritings of Samuel-Kings.12 This chapter begins with a brief analysis of the Qumran copies of Samuel and Kings. A survey of Second Temple writings alluding to, quoting from, and expanding on these books follows. To make sure the “forest is seen for the trees,” these texts are grouped according to the way they use Samuel-Kings.13 First, instances of expositional use are scrutinized.14 Next come compositional uses of Samuel-Kings, including allusions, references to figures and events, pseudepigraphy, and rewritings. The discussion of each type of use begins with texts that were known prior to the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and then proceeds with writings that have emerged from the caves of Qumran.

The Qumran Copies of Samuel and Kings

Before the Dead Sea Scrolls came to light, the scholarly quest for the early textual history of Samuel-Kings focused on meticulous comparison of medieval copies of the Masoretic Text (henceforth: MT) with ancient translations. However, since the Hebrew texts underlying the Aramaic Targum, Latin Vulgate, and Syriac Peshitta seem to be close to the MT, they reveal little about the time before it emerged as the dominant textual tradition.15 Even the contribution of the earlier Septuagint (henceforth: LXX) version of Samuel-Kings (1–4 Kingdoms/Reigns) is limited,16 for in 2 Sam 11:2—1 Kgs 2:11 and 1 Kgs 22—2 Kgs 1–25 the LXX features the so-called kaige revision of the Old Greek toward a Hebrew text also close to the MT.17 Still, the Old Greek sections of Samuel-Kings, limited as they are, yield valuable data. In the case of Samuel, several passages of the non-kaige Greek differ considerably from the MT. Some of the best known deviations are found in the Song of Hannah (1 Sam 2) and the account of David’s combat with Goliath (1 Sam 16–18). Since these divergences appear to originate with the translator’s Hebrew text, this putative Hebrew Vorlage of the Old Greek Samuel is considered to be a different, earlier (in comparison to the MT), edition of this book.18 No less significant is the evidence offered by the Old Greek of 1 Kgs 2:12–21:43, featuring diverse textual phenomena absent from the MT, e.g., duplications, alternative accounts, re-arrangements, and theme summaries. Again, rather than reflecting the translator’s tampering with the text, these seem to have been found in his Vorlage, which, according to some scholars, is a rewriting of an MT-like text.19 As to the kaige sections of Samuel-Kings, the closest attainable approximation of the Old Greek translation thereof seems to be preserved in the Antiochene or proto-Lucianic manuscripts, as well as in the Vetus Latina translation made from the Greek. In the case of Kings, the analysis of these witnesses may also indicate a different literary edition of this book, likely to be dated earlier than the MT.20

The copies of Samuel and Kings from Qumran shed further light on the textual histories of these books in late Second Temple times.21 Four manuscripts of Samuel were identified among the Dead Sea Scrolls:22

– 1QSam (1Q7), extant in seven fragments dated to the early Herodian period, preserves 1 Sam 18:17–18; 2 Sam 20:6–10; 21:16–18; 23:9–12.23

– 4QSama (4Q51), dated to 50–25 BCE, is comprised of eleven partially preserved columns, some 165 fragments with identified contents, and multiple unidentified fragments. These contain 1 Sam 1:9, 11–13, 17–18, 22–26, 28; 2:1–10, 16–3:4; 3:18–21; 4:3–4, 9–10, 12; 5:8–6:13, 16–18; 6:20–7:1; 8:7, 9–14, 16–20; 9:6–8, 10–12, 16–24; 10:3–12, 14, 16, 18; 10:24–11:2, 7–12; 12:7–8, 10–19; 14:24– 25, 28–34, 47–51; 15:20–21, 24–32; 17:3–8, 40–41; 18:4–5; 20:37–40; 22:10–11; 24:3–5, 8–10, 14–23; 25:3–12, 20–21, 25–27, 38–40; 26:9–12, 21–24; 27:1–2; 27:8– 28:3; 28:22–29:1; 30:22–31; 31:1–4; 2 Sam 1:4–5, 10–13; 2:5–16, 25–28; 2:29–3:15; 3:17, 21; 3:23–4:4; 4:9–5:3, 6–16, 18–19; 6:2–18; 7:6–7, 22–29; 8:1–8; 9:8–10; 10:4–5, 6–7, 18–19; 11:2–12, 15–20; 12:1, 3, 4–6, 8–9, 13–14, 14–20; 12:29–13:6; 13:13–34, 36–14:3; 14:14, 18–19, 33; 15:1–7, 20–23, 26–31, 37–16:2; 16:6–8, 10–13, 17–18, 20–23; 17:2–3, 23–25; 17:28–18:11; 18:28–29; 19:6–12, 14–16; 19:25, 27–29, 38; 20:1–2, 4, 9–14, 19, 21–25; 21:1, 3–6, 8–9, 12, 15–17; 22:17, 19, 21, 24, 26–28, 30–31; 22:33–23:6; 23:14–16, 21–22, 37–39; 24:16–22.24

– 4QSamb (4Q52), preserved in twenty three fragments, is dated to around 250 BCE. It contains 1 Sam 12:3, 5–6; 14:41–42; 15:16–18; 16:1–11; 19:10–13, 15–17; 20:26–21:3, 5–10; 22:8–9; 23:8–23.25

– 4QSamc (4Q53), dated approximately to 100–75 BCE, survives in three partially preserved columns and four small fragments. The following passages are extant: 1 Sam 25:30–32; 2 Sam 14:7–21, 22–15:15.26

Of these four manuscripts, 1QSam seems to be the closest to MT Samuel. Yet, this description must be qualified: the scroll is highly fragmentary and its meager remains at times disagree with the MT. For instance, its wording of 2 Sam 20:8 is significantly shorter than that of the MT and other textual witnesses. 4QSamb shares several readings with the putative Hebrew Vorlage of the Old Greek, yet also contains multiple unique readings.27 4QSamc features an array of variants, some supported by the Old Greek, some unique to this scroll.28 The largest manuscript, 4QSama, preserves a significant number of variant readings, some of which are quite extensive. Since its publication, several approaches to this scroll have emerged. One of these highlights the readings that 4QSama shares with the presumed Vorlage of the Old Greek of Samuel and places this scroll within the same textual tradition.29 Another approach emphasizes its multiple secondary readings reflecting exegetical techniques common to the rewritten Scripture. Among these are the nomistic reading of Eli’s sons’ misconduct, Hannah’s vow for Samuel to become a Nazirite, the story of Nahash the eye-gouger, the account of the plague at the census, which employs phraseology found in Chronicles, and the story of David’s transfer of the Ark, which aggrandizes sacrifices offered at that occasion. According to the chief proponent of this approach, the preponderance of such “midrashic” elements suggests that 4QSama is an early commentary on Samuel, rather than a copy thereof.30 To be sure, there are also several middle-course opinions accounting for the aspects of 4QSama highlighted by these two approaches. One such view considers the similarities and divergences between the MT, LXX, and 4QSama to be the outcome of scribal mishandling of the text (in the case of MT) and its expansion with midrashic elements (in the case of LXX and, to a greater extent, 4QSama).31 Another scholar describes 4QSama as an attempt “to produce a perfect manuscript” by an amplification of the base text, which was closer to the Vorlage of the LXX, with materials originating in all kinds of sources, including Chronicles.32 Yet another view classifies 4QSama as a codex mixtus including some readings that are in agreement with the Old Greek, as well as previously unknown developments.33 All in all, the prevalent scholarly opinion is that this manuscript contains a third edition of the book of Samuel, along with the MT and the Hebrew Vorlage of the Old Greek.34

The Books of Kings are extant at Qumran in three manuscripts:

– 4QKgs (4Q54) survives in nine fragments, seven identified and two non-identified, dated to the middle of the first century BCE.35 The fragments preserve 1 Kgs 7:20–21, 25–27, 29–42, 50–8:9, 16–18.

– 5QKgs (5Q2) is extant in three fragments inscribed in a Hasmonean hand.36 Belonging with the first ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Abbreviations
• Preface
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Samuel and Kings in Second Temple Literature
• Chapter 2: 4Q160
• Chapter 3: 4Q382
• Chapter 4: 4Q481a
• Chapter 5: 6Q9
• Chapter 6: The Dead Sea Scrolls Rewriting Samuel and Kings
• Endnote
• Bibliography
• Index of Sources
• Index of Names and Subjects