Three Philological Notes on Demonological Terminology in the Songs of the Sage (4Q510 1 4-6)

This paper discusses demonological terms occurring in the Songs of the Sage (4Q510 1 4-6, with special attention to line 5), which are all derived from an exegetical conflation of Isa 13:21-22 and 34:14, also recorded in rabbinic demonology. Based on the orthographic conventions of Qumran Hebrew, it is argued that the reading שד אים should be preferred over שדאים and interpreted as comprising two different terms. It is further argued that אים is to be understood as a phonetic spelling of MT’s אִיִּים (occurring in both Isa 13:22 and 34:14), while שֵׁד is the Aramaic counterpart of שָׂעִיר (in the singular, as occurring in Isa 34:14), in accordance to a tradition that is independently documented in Targum Pseudo-Jonathan.