Scriptural Interpretation
Throughout early Judaism, interpretation of older scriptures was an im-
portant exercise. This is evident in the Hebrew Bible (e.g., Daniel 9) and
outside it. Among the most interesting examples are a series of commen-
taries found at Qumran. These pesharim or interpretations offer com-
ments on scriptural prophetic texts; they cite a passage and then explain it
before proceeding to the next passage in the book (occasionally more than
one book is involved). The best-preserved examples are the commentaries
on Nahum (4Q169) and Habakkuk (1QpHab; see fig. 43); altogether seven-
teen copies of pesharim have been identified (1QpHab; 1Q14-16; 4Q161-71,
173), treating Isaiah, Hosea, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, and
several Psalms. These lemmatized commentaries allow the reader to see
how the Qumran community understood the ancient prophecies to be
coming true in their own day; they also disclose some information about
that time and important characters in their world. Other types of com-
mentaries are not tied to particular texts but are more thematic and thus
treat texts from various places in the scriptures. Among them are the
Florilegium(4Q174) and theMelchizedektext (11Q13).
Scriptural interpretationmay be the rubric under which to survey a set
of works called by scholars Rewritten Bible or, better, Rewritten Scriptures.
These texts take the contents of an older scriptural work, in whole or in
part, and re-present them. At times the representation is so close to the
original that the difference is practically negligible (Reworked Pentateuch
from Qumran is an example), while in others there is a wide difference
(such as in theBook of the Watchers[1 Enoch1–36]). The representation can
accomplish several goals, such as clarifying obscure passages, adding to or
subtracting from the older text in various ways to communicate the old
message in a new form. Familiar examples that fall into this broad and di-
verse category are parts of1 Enoch,theAramaic Levi Document,theGenesis
Apocryphon,theBook of Jubilees,and theTemple Scroll. 1 Enoch1–36 (the
Book of the Watchers) in part treats passages about Enoch and the immedi-
ate pre-flood period in Genesis 5–6 but expands considerably through an
elaborate story of angels who descend, marry women, and have gigantic
children whose misdeeds, with the illicit teachings of the angels, cause the
flood. Enoch is presented as a mediator between God and the sinful angels
and also as a traveling companion of angels on a tour of the world. TheAr-
amaic Levi Documenttakes the rather problematic scriptural character
Levi and greatly exalts him as a divinely appointed priest, the ancestor of a89Judaism in the Land of IsraelEERDMANS -- Early Judaism (Collins and Harlow) final text
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