קטע 21 ממגילה 4QJosha ותרומתו לבירור טיבה של המגילה

4QJosh a 21 preserves faint traces of letters in its right margin. This contribution suggests that these are imprints of words found in this very fragment. A crease running through the middle of the fragment indicates that the imprints result from folding. two other fragments of 4QJosha, frags. 17 and 19, exhibit similar phenomena. All three fragments containing Joshua 10 clearly belong to the same column that was folded. It is possible that this column was detached from the scroll and then was folded, yet it is just as likely that it was folded while still a part of the original scroll. The two columns of a rolled scroll that are most susceptible to folding are those found on the outside and the inside of the scroll. The beginning of a given scroll could become folded due to a mishandling. The last column might have been folded if the scroll was not rolled tightly and was then squeezed. Signs of cracking found elsewhere in 4QJosh a suggest that at some point it was indeed under pressure. In any case, whether this scroll was rolled with the column containing Joshua 10 inside or outside, it appears that it was the last column of the scroll. In other words, 4QJosh a possibly contained no more than the first ten chapters of Joshua.