David, the ‘Ruler of the Sons of His Covenant’ (מושל בבני בריתו): The Expansion of Psalm 151 in 11QPsa

Since, 1965 there has been great debate concerning the provenance of the Great Psalms Scroll (11QPsa). Building off recent analyses by Strawn and Debel, this article argues that Psalm 151A contains the sectarian phrase “sons of his covenant,” which was added to the psalm as part of its Qumranic revision. This puts into question Flint’s position that the 11QPsa-Psalter tradition had a provenance prior to the establishment of the Qumran community. In its final pages, the article examines some of the implications of its findings, particularly concerning the redactional history of Psalm, 151 and how one might interpret Psalm 151A in light of its expansions.