הערה לתפילה לשלומו של יונתן המלך

In Tarbiẕ ('A Scroll from Qumran which includes Part of Psalm 154 and a Prayer for King Jonathan and his Kingdom', Tarbiẕ, LX [1991], pp. 295-324) a fragment from Qumran was published by Esther and Hanan Eshel and Ada Yardeni containing a prayer for the king Jonathan. There is no doubt that he is to be identified as the Hasmonean King Alexander Jannaeus (103-76 BCE.). The Qumran Covenantors disliked this king, but the presence of a prayer in his honour can be understood if one assumes that the scroll was not composed by a member of the sect. The prayer is highly interesting, especially because its author prays not only for the king and the holy city of Jerusalem, but for the people of Israel in the whole world. The ties between Jerusalem and the dispersion were strengthened as a consequence of the Maccabean victories, and the new prayer is one of the oldest witnesses of this change.