4Q462 בין פרשנות לכיתתיות: אור וחושך במצרים ובירושלים במגילה

The terms "light" and "darkness" occupy a significant place in the worldview of the Qumran sect, and have been employed in the case of 4Q462 (Narrative C) to determine the sectarian origins of the scroll (D. Dimant, Meghillot 1). It is argued here that the use of these terms in 4Q462 is rooted in a nonsectarian interpretive tradition regarding an exegetical difficulty in Exod. 14:20, a verse which describes the events immediately prior to the salvation of Israel at the splitting of the Sea. This tradition, which is attested in the Peshitta, Josephus, all of the Aramaic Targumim, and the Mekilta, describes how during the entire night before the miraculous deliverance, the Israelites had the benefit of light, while the Egyptians were enshrouded in darkness. The Mekilta adopted this insight, and applied it to the description of the future salvation of Jerusalem (based upon Isa. 60:1–2), in which the city will be illuminated while the other nations will remain in darkness. The use of the Exodus from Egypt as a paradigm for future deliverance is common in both biblical and rabbinic literature. It is suggested here that 4Q462 similarly employs the salvation from Egypt (frg. 1, lines 1–12) as a paradigm for the future salvation (lines 13–19). The reuse of that motif is not limited to the biblical story itself, but includes accompanying exegetical traditions as well, including the distinction between light and darkness for the Israelites and Egyptians on the Sea. The inclusion of the terms "light" and "darkness" in 4Q462 should therefore not automatically be assumed to reflect sectarian origins of the scroll, but rather, should be viewed in the context of the exegetical tradition in which it originated.