על חשיבותן של גרסאות משניות: לשחזור ההתהוות הספרותית של ישעיה סא 1–7 לאור מגילת ישעיה מקומראן (4Q66)

This study maintains that versions considered secondary from the perspective of textual history can nonetheless contribute to the reconstruction of the compositional and redactional history of biblical texts. They do so by drawing attention to points of stylistic friction and literal seams between units that were originally independent and only later integrated into a unified text. This theoretical insight is illustrated by a detailed analysis of a specific case study, namely, a variant reading witnessed by 4QIsam (4Q66), frgs. 4–5, line 4, corresponding to Isa 61:5. The variant pertains to a pronominal suffix, and, upon first glance, might seem of only minor importance. However, systematic examination of Isa 61:1–7 reveals that the distribution of deictic elements (words and morphemes pointing to specific persons or contexts) signals the interpolation of one prophetic unit into another—a finding that is corroborated by shifts of content, style, and ideological outlook between the two units. Ancient scribes and translators resolved the deictic mismatch caused by integrating the two strata in different ways, and the various textual witnesses help contextualize the peculiar reading of 4Q66 within its broader literary and textual context.