הערות לשירי שבח מקומראן

1. Ruchot ha-Mamzerim mentioned, according to Mrs. Nitzan in the 'medieval' book Assaph ha-Rophe, is in actuality part of an early midrash appended as a preamble to the work. A discussion of this paragraph by S. Pines and D. Flusser appeared in their article 'The Oath of Assaph the Physician' etc., in the Proceedings of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, vol. V, no. 9 (1975), p. 41. 2. The text Mrs. Nitzan sees as evidence of a 'novel and surprising phenomenon' represents in fact the earliest practice known to us of 'Shir shel Pegaim' (Ps. 91 and 3) mentioned in the Talmud and midrashim. 3. An enigmatic verse in the text (p. 30, 1.2) is the poet's interpretation to Numbers VII, 1 ויהי ביום כלות משה. It expresses the belief that until the annihilation of evil spirits in the eschatological future, they can only be driven temporarily out of their senses; see Nitzan, ibidem, p. 23. 4 The linkings of the battalions of demons in the text with the Biblical fallen giants who came to earth to choose human mates is essential to the issue, since their half-human origin is what enables them to come into sexual intercourse with humans and lead them astray. The list of demons is therefore not arbitrary but names only those believed to be 'related' to humans.