'מדרש משפטים' :4Q251 מגילה

All of 4Q251's identifiable and legible fragments treat halakhic matters. Designated 'halakhah' by its editors, what makes this scroll unique is its use of a mixed variety of styles in its treatment of halakhic matters. Several of its fragments present the halakhot apodictically, similar to the Damascus Document; others utilize the style of 'rewritten Bible', similar to that of the Temple Scroll, Jubilees, and the compositions termed Reworked Pentateuch. Not all of 4Q251 's extant fragments are easily deciphered nor are their subject matter and context readily determined. This article opens with a proposed reconstruction of, and placement for, one of these fragments. This identification of content and context provides a key to sequencing the scroll's fragments, and sheds light on its nature and purpose. If correct, my proposal illumines features of halakhic interpretation of the Bible in Qumran compositions, the relationship between the various literary genres represented in sectarian halakhic literature, and the question of the beginnings of midrash halakhah.