The Meaning of the Key ('Demetrius')-Passage of the Qumran Nahum-Pesher

The paper demonstrates that the key-passage of the Qumran Nahum-Pesher (4QpNah 3-4 1:1-2) has been misconstrued and mistranslated. With the passage correctly read, the "Demetrius" therein mentioned is shown to be alone identifiable as Demetrius I Soter (162-150 B.C.E.)-not, as now generally believed, Demetrius III Eucaerus (ca. 95-88 B.C.E.). The identification establishes a secure temporal frame-of-reference for the composition not only of this text, but for that of all the other Qumran Peshers and related texts.