Early Judaism- A Comprehensive Overview

Proverbs 1–9 in 4QBeatitudes and 4QWiles of the Wicked Woman was

meant as authoritative interpretation of scripture, or rather as imitation of

a scriptural example.

In a few cases it is demonstrable that such rewritings of scriptures ac-

tually gained, at least in some circles, some kind of scriptural status. The

quotation of Josh. 6:26 inTestimonia(4Q175; see fig. 49) follows the text of

theApocryphon of Joshua.A series of fragmentary manuscripts called

Pseudo-Jubilees(4Q225-227, but also 4Q217 and perhaps 4Q228) are new

rewritings based on the text ofJubilees.

This phenomenon of interpretative rewriting sheds an interesting

light on the issue of scriptures in the second and first centuryb.c.e.The

very act of interpretation and rewriting endorses the authoritative and

foundational character of “biblical” scriptures, but at the same time ex-

tends this authority to the interpretative reworking of those scriptures.

Expanding Scripture by Ascribing

Traditions to Foundational Figures

Apart from new scriptures that are primarily based on interpretative re-

writing of a scriptural text, there is a group of largely or entirely new com-

positions attributed or closely related to scriptural authors or figures. This

second type is not based primarily on the text of Scripture but consists

largely of a series of compositions, written in Aramaic, and ascribed to

pre-Mosaic figures, from Enoch through Amram. Included in this cate-

gory are several books ofEnoch,theAramaic Levi Document,the Lamech

and Noah sections of theGenesis Apocryphon,a series of very fragmentary

works that have been described as testaments of Jacob and several of his

sons(Testament of Qahat,theVisions of Amram,and possibly theNew Je-

rusalem).Also relevant here were compositions written in Hebrew that are

attributed to Moses (especially theApocryphon of Mosestexts) and to Jere-

miah(Apocryphon of Jeremiah C),and perhaps also those attributed to Da-

vid (noncanonical psalms in 11Q5; theApocryphal Psalmsof 11Q11).

The Aramaic texts ascribed to Enoch, Noah, and the pre-Mosaic patri-

archs should be considered a separate group of compositions. Here we find

first-person narrative, generally with ancestral instruction, sometimes vi-

sionary reports, and, more rarely, exegetical expansions of scriptural narra-

tive. The use of first-person narration is a feature common to other Ara-

maic literature (Ahiqar, Tobit) and may be regarded as a stylistic preference.

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The Dead Sea Scrolls

EERDMANS -- Early Judaism (Collins and Harlow) final text
Tuesday, October 09, 2012 12:04:03 PM