4QNumb X 12 4 omits ing plus.^1055
Q454 MT Num 18:28 omits SV(1) – The MT lacks the object
4QNumb X 12 4 t) marker.
Q455 MT Num 18:30 Mywll SV(2) – The MT has an explicat-
4QNumb X 12 7 hmkl ing plus.^1056
Q456 MT Num 18:30 omits SV(2) – 4QNumb has an expan-
4QNumb X 12 7 hmktmwrt sive plus.^1057
Q457 MT Num 18:30 omits SV(1) – The MT lacks the prepo-
4QNumb X 12 8 Nm sition.
Q458 MT Num 18:30 bqy SV(1) – The MT lacks the definite
4QNumb 12 8 bqyh article.^1058
Q459 MT Num 18:31 Mtlk)w OV(l) – Possible difference in
4QNumb X 12 8 hmtlk)w pronunciation.
Q460 MT Num 18:31 wt) SV(1) – Difference in number.^1059
1055
The phrase in 4QNumb has a different construction, restored to read: r#(mh Nm r#(m tmwrt t), “the
tribute of tenths from the tenths,” against the MT reading: r#(mh Nm r#(m hwhy tmwrt, “a tribute to Yah-
weh, a tenth from the tenths.” The nomens regens is the same between the sources, but the tribute itself is
classified as being Yahweh’s in the MT, while the construct chain is extended to include the following
chain in 4QNumb, namely “a tenth of the tenths.” The phrase is written with the proper noun included in
4QNum 1056 b X 12 5 and 6 (Num 18:29-30).
The MT clarifies the addressee of the speech, namely the Levites, given only as the 2mpl pronominal
suffix in 4QNumb. The Levites are already mentioned as the addressees of the speech in Lev 18:26. The
MT agrees with the SP and the LXX. 1057
4QNumb specifies the “best part of it,” i.e. the tithe of the priests, as “your (the priests’) tribute,” har-
monising with Num 18:27 (see E. Ulrich and F.M. Cross, 1058 Qumran Cave 4. VII, 224).
This variant and Q457 amount to a difference in expression between the sources. The construct chain in
the MT reads: bqy t)wbtc, “like the produce of the winepress.” The same information is differently phrased
in 4QNumb, which is restored: bqyh Nm h)wbtk, “like the produce from the winepress.” This phrasing in
4QNumb finds support in the wording of the LXX which includes the genitive preposition: ως γενημα απο
ληνου 1059 , “as produce from the winepress.”
The pronominal object suffix refers to the singular noun blx, “best part,” in the previous verse. The
scribe possibly read the objects as bqyh Nm t)wbt ... Nrg t)wbt ... blx, “the best part ... the produce of the
threshing floor ... the produce of the winepress.”