קצים וקץ בספרות בית שני

Five manuscripts from Qumran published by D Dimant in DJD, 30 (4Q385a; 4Q387; 4Q388a; 4Q389; 4Q390) were named by her The Apocryphon of Jeremiah. A careful examination of these manuscripts, however, reveals that they belong to two distinct texts. While 4Q385; 4Q387; 4Q388; 4Q389 belong to one composition that should be entitled The Apocryphon of Jeremiah, 4Q390 belongs to another composition, which could be entitled Pseudo Moses. The Apocryphon of Jeremiah is not a sectarian writing. Like the Book of Daniel, the Apocryphon grapples with the issue of theodicy which emerged at the time of Antiochus's decrees. Both Daniel and the Apocryphon assume a period of 490 years of exile, beginning with the destruction of the First Temple and ending at the time of these decrees. They differ, however, in their evaluation of the cause of the decrees. To explain Antiochus's success, the author(s) of the second part of Daniel reworked ancient myths. The Apocryphon, on the one hand, regards Antiochus as the appropriate punishment for a people who practiced idolatry while the inclination to sin is itself a result of God's decision to hide His face from His people at the time of the destruction of the First Temple. Pseudo Moses, on the other hand, is a sectarian writing, similar to other writings of the Qumran community. In Pseudo Moses 490 years is the time span between the destruction of the First Temple and the coming of the End of Days. There are four subdivisions within these 490 years. The longest period is of seven Jubilees, from the destruction of the First Temple until the abandoning of the correct calendar of 364 days. This is to be followed by a period of 70 years of evil priestly rule, seven years of Antiochus's rule, and another 70 years of evil priestly rulers, namely the Hasmoneans.