ילקוט המזמורים האלוהיסטי וכתיבת שמות האל בקומראן

Updated by: 
Hanan Mazeh
Research notes: 
reader checked, HM 27/11/2013
Reference type: 
Hebrew Book Section;
Author(s): 
Ben-Dov, Jonathan
year: 
2010
Full title: 

ילקוט המזמורים האלוהיסטי וכתיבת שמות האל בקומראן

Translated title: 
The Elohistic Psalter and the Writing of Divine Names at Qumran
Journal / Book Title || Series Title: 
מגילות: מחקרים במגילות מדבר יהודה ח־ט [ Meghillot: Studies in the Dead Sea Scrolls VIII-IX ]
Volume: 
8-9
Editor(s): 
Bar-Asher, Moshe
Dimant, Devorah
Place of Publication: 
Jerusalem
Publisher: 
Haifa University Press and Bialik Institute
Pages: 
53-80
Work type: 
Essay/Monograph
Abstract: 

The Elohistic Psalter (EP) constitutes a unique phenomenon in the transmission of biblical literature. The present article addresses and advances the growing corpus of recent EP scholarship by linking the textual character of EP with a similar phenomenon, albeit significantly late, attested in a group of scrolls from Qumran. In contrast to some recent scholarly opinions, I maintain that the psalms contained in EP were originally composed using the divine name YHWH and only subsequently modified. The modification resulted not only in the replacement of YHWH with Elohim but also in a surprising plethora of compound divine names and epithets. Since the psalms contained in EP do not appear in non-elohistic form in any textual witness, we must assume that the elohistic modifications took place at a very early date. Despite the large time gap between EP and the scrolls from Qumran, the only large-scale parallel to the modifications made in the EP is attested in these scrolls. More precisely, the special treatment of divine names at Qumran appears only in a limited corpus: several biblical scrolls (notably 1QIsaa) attest to the practice of augmenting the divinename; and a group of sectarian nonbiblical manuscripts attests to the avoidance of the Tetragrammaton altogether or its replacement. In contrast, the great majority of biblical scrolls from Qumran do not attest to any modification of the Tetragram. This points to a canonical awareness among the scribes who copied the biblical scrolls. Other trajectories of the analogy between EP and the Qumran scrolls, as well as the basic motivation for modifying the divine name, are furtherpursued in detail.

Language: 
Hebrew
Hebrew bible: 
Book: 
Psalm
Chapter(s): 
42^89
URL: 
http://www.jstor.org/stable/info/23438294?seq=1
Label: 
07/02/2011
Record number: 
794