לשון, תפילה ונבואה במגילות מדבר יהודה

The article discusses the role of language as a medium for communication between the human and the divine. Both directions of communication are studied here: prayer and prophecy. The Hebrew Bible and the Dead Sea Scrolls, as well as several rabbinic texts, show an awareness of the analogical character of these two directions, and therefore many of the phenomena described in one direction may also apply to the other. An awareness of the problems with human language as medium for contacting the Divine is attested in several statements in 1 Enoch: 14:1–2 (concerning prophecy), and 84:1 (concerning prayer). The article begins with an examination of the role of prayer in biblical prophecy, with special emphasis on Isaiah chapters 6, 8, and 28, and Ezekiel 3. The Hodayot are surveyed next, first those (cols. 10, 12) that develop the imagery of Isaiah 28. The Hodayah of column 9 is then studied. This poem contains a short hymn on the creation of language, which is studied here in its literary context. The general outcome of the study is that the Qumran scrolls reveal a special awareness of the role and efficacy of language, but emphasize that this language must be properly measured and quantified, in a similar way to the sectarian treatment of the theme of creation.