Sapiential Perspectives: Wisdom Literature in Light of the Dead Sea Scrolls: Proceedings of the Sixth International Symposium of the Orion Center for ... (Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah) [1 ed.] 9789004136700, 9004136703

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SAPIENTIAL PERSPECTIVES: WISDOM LITERATURE IN LIGHT OF THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS

STUDIES ON THE TEXTS OF THE DESERT OF JUDAH EDITED BY

FLORENTINO GARCIA MARTINEZ

ASSOCIATE EDITORS

PETER W FLINT EIBERT J.C. TIGCHELAAR

VOLUMELI

SAPIENTIAL PERSPECTIVES: WISDOM LITERATURE IN LIGHT OF THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS Proceedings qf the Sixth International Symposium qf the Orion Center for the Study qf the Dead Sea Scrolls and Associated Literature, 20-22 Mcry, 2001 EDITED BY

JOHN J. COLLINS, GREGORY E. STERLING & RUTH A. CLEMENTS

BRILL LEIDEN . BOSTON

2004

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Orion Center for the Study of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Associated Literature. International Symposium (6th: 2001) Sapiential perspectives: wisdom literature in light of the Dead Sea scrolls: proceedings of the Sixth International Symposium of the Orion Center for the Study of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Associated Literature, 20-22 May, 200 I / edited by John]. Collins, Gregory E. Sterling & Ruth A. Clements. p. cm. - (Studies on the texts of the desert ofJudah; v. 51) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 90-04-13670-3 (alk. paper) 1. 4QInstruction-Congresses. 2. 4QMysteries-Congresses. 3. Dead Sea scrolls-Congresses. 4. Wisdom-Religious aspects-Judaism-Congresses. I. Collins,John Joseph, 1946- II. Sterling, Gregory E. Ill. Clements, Ruth. IV. Title. V. Series. BM488.5.0752001 296.1' 55--dc22 2003065536

ISSN ISBN

0169-9962 9004136703

© Copyright 2004 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Uiden, TIe Netherlands All rights reserved. No part qf this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval9'stem, or transmitted in a'!Y form or by a'!Y means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher.

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CONTENTS

Itqace .......................................................................................... Abbreviations ..................................................................................

vu IX

Revealed Wisdom: From the Bible to Qumran ..................... . ALEXANDER ROFE

Wisdom Literature and its Relation to Other Genres: From Ben Sira to Mysteries ........................................................

13

MENAHEM KISTER

The Eschatologizing of Wisdom in the Dead Sea Scrolls JOHN

J.

49

COLLINS

Priestly Sages? The Milieus of Origin of 4QMysteries and 4QJnstruction ..................................................................................

67

TORLEIF ELGVIN

Halakhic Elements in the Sapiential Texts from Qumran LAWRENCE

H.

89

SCHIFFMAN

The Categories of Rich and Poor in the Qumran Sapiential Literature .................................................................................... BENJAMIN G. WRIGlIT

101

III ........................................................

125

4Q215A (Time if Righteousness) in Context ................................

141

What is the Book if Hagu? CANA WERMAN

ARSTEIN JUSTNES

Appendix: 4Q215a, Frgs. 1, 2, 3, and 4 - Text and Notes ......

162

TORLEIF ELGVIN AND ARSTEIN JUSTNES

Was There a Common Ethic in Second Temple Judaism?

171

GREGORY E. STERLING

Index of Modem Authors Index of Ancient Sources .......................... ............... .................

195 198

PREFACE The papers in this volume were originally read at the Sixth International Symposium of the Orion Center for the Study of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Associated Literature, held at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem on May 20-22, 2001. The symposium was organized by Esther G. Chazon, Director of the Orion Center. The primary focus of this volume is on the wisdom texts from Qumran that have been fully edited only in recent years, 1 Qj 4QJnstruction and lQj4QMysteries. 4QTime if Righteousness (4Q215) is also the subject of an essay by Arstein Justnes; an appendix to that essay, by Justnes and Torleif Elgvin, features critical notes on the text. Other texts are treated parenthetically. In the tradition of the Orion symposia, this volume places these texts in a wider literary context. Alexander Rofe discusses the biblical background for inspired wisdom. Menahem Kister focuses on Mysteries, but discusses it in relation to the wisdom of Ben Sira and also to apocalyptic literature. The relation to apocalyptic literature also figures in the essay of John Collins on the eschatology of 4QJnstruction. Torleif Elgvin offers a critique of the view that either 4QMysteries or 4QJnstruction derives from priestly circles. Lawrence Schiffinan contrasts the (very limited) halakhic interpretation found in the wisdom texts with the halakhah of the sectarian scrolls. Benjamin Wright discusses the categories of rich and poor in the Qumran sapiential literature in comparison and contrast to Ben Sira. Cana Werman brings analogies with the Book if Jubilees to bear on the interpretation of the Book if Hagu, and argues that the emphasis of the latter is on understanding rather than on revelation, and thus that its context is sapiential rather than apocalyptic. Finally, Greg Sterling compares the wisdom of the Qumran texts with the ethical teachings of the Greek-speaking Diaspora. Several papers presented at the original symposium are not included, for various reasons, in this volume: "Musar la-Mevin (4QJnstruction)A Sectarian Wisdom," by Devorah Dimant; "From Wisdom to Science," by Hartmut Stegemann; "Fragmentary Wisdom Texts from Maresha," by Esther Eshel; "Moses as Heavenly Messenger in As. Mos. 10: 12 and the Qumran Documents," by Jan Willem van Henten, and "Philo's Use of Parables," by Maren Niehoff.

PREFACE

Vlll

We would like to thank Esther Chazon for organizing and hosting the conference, Ruth Clements for copy-editing the volume and compiling the indices, and Shelly Zilberfarb-Eshkoli for preparing the Hebrew text. Thanks also go to the Orion Foundation, the Sir Zelman Cowen Universities Fund, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, for their support of the symposium and of the preparation of this volume. John J. Collins Yale Universiry

Gregory E. Sterling The Universiry if Notre Dame

ABBREVIATIONS AB ABD ABRL AGJU ALGHJ ANRW ANTZ ASOR ATD BA BAR BETL BibOr BJS BZAW BZNW CBQ CRINT CSCO DJD DJDJ DSD HAT HSM HSS HTR HUCA HUCM ICC lE] IOS

JBL JJS JANES JNES JQR

J5]

JSJSuP

JSNT

JSNTSup JSOT JSOTSup JSP

Anchor Bible Anchor Bible Dictionary. Ed. D. N. Freedman. 6 vols. New York: Doubleday, 1992 Anchor Bible Reference Library Arbeiten zur Geschichte des antiken Judentums und des U rchristentums Arbeiten zur Literatur und Geschichte des hellenistischenJudentums Aufitieg und Nzedergang der ro"mischm Welt: Geschichte und Kultur Roms im Spiegel der neueren Forschung. Ed. H. Temporini and W. Haase. Berlin: de Gruyter, 1972Arbeiten zur neutestamentlichen Theologie und Zeitgeschichte American Schools of Oriental Research Das Alte Testament Deutsch Biblical Archaeologist Biblical Archaeology Review Bibliotheca ephemeridum theologicarum lovaniensium Biblica et orientalia Brown Judaic Studies Beihefte zur Zeitschrift fur die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft Beihefte zur Zeitschrift fur die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft Catholic Biblical Qyarterry Compendia rerum iudaicarum ad Novum Testamentum Corpus scriptorum christianorum orientalium Discoveries in the Judaean Desert Discoveries in the Judaean Desert of Jordan Dead Sea Discoveries Handbuch zum Alten Testament Harvard Semitic Monographs Harvard Semitic Studies Harvard Theological Review Hebrew Union College Annual Hebrew Union College Monographs International Critical Commentary Israel Exploration Journal Israel Oriental Society Journal qf Biblical Literature Journal qf Jewish Studies Journal qf the Ancient Near Eastern Society qf Columbia University Journal qf Near Eastern Studies Jewish Qyarterry Review Journal for the Study qf Judaism in the Persian, Hellenistic and Roman Periods Journal for the Study of Judaism: Supplement Series Journal for the Study qf the New Testament Journal for the Study of the New Testament: Supplement Series Journal for the Study qf the Old Testament Journal for the Study of the Old Testament: Supplement Series Journal for the Study qf the Pseudepigrapha

x JSPSuP JSQ JSS LCL NovT OBO OTL PAAJR PVTG RE

RE] Rev 0.., RHPR SBLDS SBLEJL SBLMS SBLSBS SBLSymS SJIA SPM STDJ SUNT SVTP

maT

nz

TSAJ

vc

VT

VTSup WMANT WUNT

ZAW

ZNW

ABBREVIATIONS

Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha: Supplement Series Jewish Studies Qyarter/y Journal of Semitic Studies Loeb Classical Library Novum Testamentum Orbis biblicus et orientalis Old Testament Library Proceedings of the American Academy of Jewish Research Pseudepigrapha Veteris Testamenti Graece Revue biblique Revue des etudes juives Revue de Qymrlin Revue d'histoire et de philosophie religieuses Society of Biblical Literature Dissertation Series Society of Biblical Literature Early Judaism and its Literature Society of Biblical Literature Monograph Series Society of Biblical Literature Sources for Biblical Study Society of Biblical Literature Symposium Series Studies in Judaism in Late Antiquity Studia Philonica Annual Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah Studien zur Umwelt des Neuen Testaments Studia in Veteris Testamenti pseudepigraphica 1heological Dictionary of the Old Testament. Ed. G. J. Botterweck, H. Ringgren, and H ..]. Fabry. Tr. J. T. Willis, D. E. Green, and D. W. Stott. 12 vols. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 19741heologische Literatur;;,eitung Texte und Studien zum antiken Judentum Vigiliae christianae Vetus Testamentum Vetus Testamentum Supplements Wissenschaftliche Monographien zum Alten und Neuen Testament Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament Zeitschrifl for die alttestamentliche Wissenschafi Zeitschrift for die neutestamentliche Wissenschafi

REVEALED WISDOM: FROM THE BIBLE TO QUMRAN ALEXANDER ROFE The Hebrew University if Jentsalem

Revealed Wisdom at Qymran A characteristic of Qumran theology is the notion of revealed wisdom, i.e., the idea that humanity receives wisdom by revelation. Wisdom is conferred by God as a particular endowment. Carried to its extreme, this idea conceives of wisdom as transmitted by inspiration or by illumination. The latter concept is especially en vogue in Qumran. Wisdom is a divine light that shines over the chosen ones. Thus it is said in the Manual if Discipline (lQS 11:3-7):1 For from the fountain of His knowledge He has released His light; My eye has beheld His wonders And the light of my heart (has beheld) The secret of what has happened. Secret events are a support of my right hand. On a firm rock my foot has trod, It shall not be shaken on account of anything. For the truth of God is the rock of my footsteps And His strength is the support of my right hand, And from the source of His righteousness (comes) my conduct, A light unto my heart from His wondrous mysteries. My eye has beheld secret events: Perception which is hidden from man, Knowledge and prudent discretion (hidden) from mankind, A fountain of righteousness and a cistern of strength With a spring of glory (hidden) from humanity.

1 Cf. P. Wemberg-Moller, The Manual qf Discipline: Translated and Annotated with an Introduction (STD] 1; Leiden: Brill, 1957), 38. I have deviated from Wemberg-Moller in the translation of some key terms. See also: J. Licht, The Rule Scroll (Jerusalem: Bialik, 1965), 228-29 (Hebrew).

2

ALEXANDER ROFE

In the Hebrew originaI:2 nnEl ,n.lli i'P1:l1:l ~':J ':I'.ll i1C!l':Ji1 "m~?El:l:J' i1'i1:J n:J ':J:J? ni'~' 'r1:l' 1.lltD1:l D?'.ll ~"m '1:l.llEl lii r1.ll .ll?0:J .llr.llir' ~? ?,:J ':lEl1:l '1:l.llEl .ll?0 i1~'i1 ?~ n1:l~ ':J ':I'1:l' n:J.lltD1:l ,ni':J:I' 'C!lEltD1:l 'npi~ i'P1:l1:l' '~?El 'n1:l ':J:J?:J i'~ 'r.ll i1C!l':Ji1 D?'.ll ~"i1:J' tD':I~1:l i1inO:l itD~ i1'tD,n D'~ ':I:J1:l i11:li.ll nm1:l' i1.ll, itD:J i'01:l i':J:J 1'.ll1:l D.ll i1i':J:J mpm i1Pi~ i'P1:l 'i'~

The divine knowledge granted to the chosen ones enables them to understand the wonders of God and the secrets of what has happened, i.e., the innermost significance of events (i1'i1:l fi). 3 The revelation of the secrets of what happens is a recurring motif in the recently published 4QJnstruction (1':l1:l'? i011:l): 4Q41S-418 + 423 + lQ26. 4 In this text we find that God has "uncovered the ear" of the understanding ones concerning the mystery of what has happened: il"il:J ri:l ~"j":l1:l F1~ '?~ il'?:J iiD~ (4Q418 126); and again, "who has uncovered your ear about the mystery that has happened"; iiD~ i1'i1:l fi:l il:l:Jr~ i1'?:J (4Q418 184).5 Likewise, the text asserts: As for you, He has opened for you insight, and He has placed you in authority over His treasure; and a measure of truth has been assigned to you ... i1:J'?.ll i1iP'El n1:l~ nEl'~' i1:J?'tD1:li1 n~'~:J' l? nnEl ?:JtD i1n~'

(4Q418 81 + 81a)

These godly gifts make human beings equal to angels, not only in terms of status, but as one sacred community. The Manual if Discipline goes on to say (11 :7-9):

2 M. Burrows, The Dead Sea Scrolls qf St. Mark's Monastery (New Haven: American Schools of Oriental Research, 1951), 2.2: PI. XI. 3 I would construe iT'm as a perfect, rather than as a participle. 4 J. Strugnell, D. J. Harrington and T. Elgvin, Qymran Cave 4.xXIV: Sapiential Texts, Part 2 (DJD 34; Oxford: Clarendon, 1999). 5 It is worth noting already at this point that lll1i iT'?l for divine revelation appears in biblical wisdom texts twice only, both in the response of Elihu-Job 33: 16; 36: 10.

REVEALED WISDOM

3

Those whom God has chosen He has established as an eternal possession. He has bestowed upon them a share In the lot of the holy ones. And with the sons of heaven He has joined their assembly To a council of community And a foundation of a holy building (he joined to) an eternal plantation during every occurring period. ';~ in:::J itD~'; Cl';'lJ nrm~'; Cl:Jm Cl'tDnp ';i'J:::J Cl';'n:J" ,n' n~lJ'; Cl"O i:::Jn Cl'QtD ':J:::J CllJ' Cl';'lJ nlJ~Q'; tD"p n'J:::JQ "01 il'i1:J fP ';::1 CllJ

These two go hand in hand very well: divine, inspired wisdom and communion with heavenly beings-a choir of angels and mortals. The logical outcome of this view is a reassessment of the impact that age and experience can have upon the acquisition of knowledge. Jubilees already expressed a new view on this matter: And all the generations which shall arise from this time [the death of Abraham] until the day of the great judgment shall grow old quickly, before they complete two jubilees, and their knowledge shall forsake them by reason of their old age. (Jub. 23: 11)6

This fits in with the revolutionary character of the Qumran community and the circles that preceded it, which we may define as proto-Essene. As it is said further on: And in that generation the sons shall convict their fathers and their elders of sin and unrighteousness, and of the words of their mouth and the great wickedness which they perpetrate ... (Jub. 23:16)

However, one cannot describe the Essene view about the ineptitude of old age as deriving exclusively from the revolutionary character of this movement. It is rooted as well in their world view and in their concept of revealed wisdom. Therefore, they stipulated that the 6 English translation by R. H. Charles, in The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha qf the Old Testament (ed. R. H. Charles; Oxford: Clarendon, 1913; repr. 1968), 2:1-82, p. 48. Cr. the Hebrew fragment 4Q221, published as 4Jubileelby]. C. VanderKam and]. T. Milik, in Qymran Cave 4. VIII' Parabiblical Texts, Part 1 (ed. H. Attridge et al., in consultation with]. C. VanderKam; DJD 13; Oxford: Clarendon, 1994), 70-72.

4

ALEXANDER ROFE

judges of their own community should consist of a quorum of ten people, elected periodically, comprising four Levites and Aaronids and six learned Israelites, from the ages of twenty-five to sixty. And then it is explicitly stated: No one sixty years and upward shall stand to judge the congregation, for through the perfidy of man his days have become few, and through the wrath of God against those who dwell on earth, He decreed to take away their knowledge before they complete their days. (CD 10:7-10) ?lli.l:J ,~ inlli1 n~ ~1Eltv? i1?lli.l1 i1Jtv Cl'tvtv pi.l i1ll :J~'n' (~?1 :4Q) ?~1 ill Clnlli n~ ,'O? 'i.l~ r'~i1 ':Jtv1':J ?~ =-J~ 1"n:J1 1i.l' 1~lli.l Cli~i1 7Cli1'i.l' n~ 1i.l'?tv' ~? ('tv~

+ 4Q)

Biblical Antecedents In what follows, I shall consider the question of possible biblical antecedents to this peculiar Essene-Qumranic view. In the first place, however, let me briefly summarize what can be considered as the dominant biblical view about the acquisition of wisdom by man. Among the aged men is wisdom And lengthy days~intelligence.

im:m

1:::)'0' l"'~i

iTo::Jn

C'W'W':!

(Job 12:12)

This is the common opinion, which Job quotes in his argument against his friends. And indeed, we find it widely stated. The poet of the Song of Moses invites his audience: Ask your father, he will tell you, y our elders~they will say ... l? "i.l~'1 TJpr 1iJ'1 T:J~ ?~tv

(Deut 32:7)

The elders (Cl'JPr) in Ezek 7:26 are those who give advice (i1~.I)), just as in Jer 18:18, a similar maxim attributes the advice (i1~.I)) to the

7 Cf. S. Schechter, Documents qf Jewish Sectaries, Vol. 1: Fragments qf a ::(,,adokite Work (Cambridge: University Press, 1910; repr. New York: Ktav, 1970), 109; M. Broshi, ed., The Damascus Document Reconsidered (Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society, 1992), 29. The latter edition contains variant readings from 4Q266-273. Cf. J. M. Baumgarten, Qymran Cave 4.xIIL- The Damascus Document (40.266--273) (DJD 18; Oxford: Clarendon 1996), 159.

5

REVEALED WISDOM

sage (C:ln). Obviously, lpr equals C:ln. The elders (C':JPr), being the depositories of wisdom, were assumed to be in charge of justice in the older strata of Deuteronomy (Deut 19:12; 21:2, 3, 4, 6; etc).8 Probably in time the word came to denote status and not age; still the basic meaning is significant. However, most telling, in my opinion, is that psalm where the author asks to be granted old age in order to acquire intelligence, Ps 90: 12: Decree (0 Lord) that we count our days thus [namely 70~80 years, mentioned earlier in v. 10] and we shall gather wisdom into our heart [i.e., our mind]. i1rJ:Jn :l:ll;! ~':lJ1 .lli1i1

P

1J'rJ' n1JrJl;!9

The idiom of counting days with the meaning of 'to live on' is now well attested in the Aqhat epic from U garit: "I will let you count years with Baal, with Ben El you will count months" (afsprk. cm bel. snt. cm bn.il. !spr. yrbm) (Aqht 1:VI:28-29). IQ The challenge to the accepted concept that equated wisdom with old age comes from various quarters. In the first place, let us mention that old iconoclast, Qoheleth. The NjPS translation here is, in my view, excellent: Better a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king ... For the former can emerge from a dungeon to become king, while the latter, even if born to kingship can become a pauper.!!

lpr

... l;!'O:J1 ll;!rJrJ Cl:Jn1 pOrJ il;!' :l1~ iD1 il;!1J 1n1:Jl;!rJ:J CJ:l ':J 11'?rJl;! ~~' Cl"10il r1':JrJ ':J

(Qoh

4:13~14)

Qoheleth appears to be well-acquainted with the phenomenon of "old fools." However, about the same time there comes an onslaught 8 cr. A. Rofe, "The Organization of the Judiciary in Deuteronomy," in The World qfthe Aramaeans. L· Biblical Studies in Honour qf P.-E. Dion (ed. P. M. M. Daviau, J. W. Wevers, and M. Weigl; JSOTSup 324; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 2001),92-112, esp. 94-96. 9 cr. A. B. Ehrlich, Die Psalmen: Neu ueberset;:;t und erklaert (Berlin: Poppelauer, 1905), 219: "Der Sinn des Ganzen ist nun der: Wenn der Mensch langer lebte, wiirde ihn wohl die Erfahrung lehren, wie es handeln muss, urn Gottes Zorn gegen sich nicht zu erregen." 10 "Aqht," translated by S. B. Parker, in Ugaritic Narrative Poetry (ed. S. B. Parker; Writings from the Ancient World 9; Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1997), 6l. 11 This interpretation ("the fonner ... the latter") has been convincingly argued by A. B. Ehrlich, Randglossen ;:;ur hebriiischen Bibel (repr.; Hildesheim: Olms, 1968), 71, with further biblical references.

6

ALEXANDER ROFl~.

from an entirely different side, the response of Elihu. Thus says Elihu (Job 32:6-9, NjPS with some deviations): I have but few years, while you are old. Therefore I was too awestruck and fearful to express my opinion in your presence. I thought: Let age speak, let advanced years declare wisdom. However, it is the spirit in men, the breath of Shaddai that gives them understanding. It is not the seniors who are wise, the elders who understand justice. Cl:ln~ '1l"1 m1nD ~i'~1 'n?nr p ? II Cl'tD'tD' Cln~1 Cl'D'? 'J~ i 'll~ i1D:ln 111'"11' Cl'JtD ::li1 n::l"1' Cl'D' 'niD~ ClJ'::ln '"1tD nDtDJ1 tD1J~::l ~'i1 nn p~ ClEltDD 1J'::l' Cl'Jpn 1D:ln' Cl'::li ~?

Age and experience do not grant wisdom; it is the spirit emanating from God that instructs men. 12 Further, E1ihu illustrates how this is done, or at least, can be done (Job 33:13-18): Why do you complain against Him That he does not reply to any of man's charges? For God speaks time and againThough man does not perceive itIn a dream, a night vision, when deep sleep falls on men, While they slumber on their beds. Then he opens men's understanding, And by disciplining them leaves his signature, To turn man away from an action, To suppress pride in man. He spares him from the Pit, His person, from perishing by the sword. i1Jll' ~? 1'i::l"1 ?:l ':l m::l'i 1'?~ 111"1D i1Ji1tD' ~? Cl'ntD::l1 ?~ i::l"1' nn~::l ':l ::l:ltDD '?ll mD1Jn::l Cl'tDJ~ ?ll i1D"1in ?ElJ::l i1?'? 11'rn Cl1?n::l Clnn' CliOD::l1 Cl'tDJ~ 1~ i1?J' r~ i10:l' i::lJD i11J1 (?i1tD~r.:l) i1tDllD Cli~ i'Oi1? n?tD::l i::lllD 1mi1 nntD 'JD 1tDElJ ltDn'

This is the way God reveals Himself to men, in dreams. 13 Elihu adopted elements of the speech of E1iphaz in Job 4: 12-16. Eliphaz, however, 12 Cf. H. W. Robinson, Inspiration and Revelation in the Old Testament (Oxford: Clarendon, 1946; repr. 1962), 249. Robinson, however, tried hard to prove "the general view ... that wisdom is regarded as the product of divine inspiration." This, in my opinion, was not the case. In Prov 2:6-7, if read in context, wisdom is granted by the Lord as a recompense for assiduous study. 13 Note that the dominant current of wisdom mistrusted dreams as a means of revelation: Qoh 5:2, 6; Sir 31: 1-8. The same attitude was adopted by part of the Deuteronomistic School; ct Jer 23:23-32.

REVEALED WISDOM

7

had spoken about a single particular event, a unique revelation. Elihu generalized: dreams are a regular means of divine revelation to men; in dreams the breath of Shaddai gives to mortals understanding. There is one deutero-canonical story that illustrates Elihu's concept of revealed wisdom. This is the story of Susanna, especially in the LXX version (as opposed to that of Theodotion). This story develops a contrast between the two wicked elders and the pure and righteous young man, Daniel. 14 The young Daniel receives from an angel of the Lord a spirit of understanding which enables him to intervene in the case of Susanna: !Cat fO{J)!cEV b arriAoe;, !Ca8cbc;, 1tpocretuYll1tVeUJla cruVEcreroc;, verotEPcp QVtl davlllA. (w. 44-45)

And the LXX version sums up the message of the story by saying: For the young men will be God-fearing, and there shall be in them a spirit of knowledge and understanding for ever and ever. e'licreJ3flcro'\lcrt yap vecOtepOl !Cat fcrtal ev autote;, 1tVeUJla E1tlcrtl]Jllle;, !Cat cruvEcreroc;, de;, aiiilva aiiilvoe;, (v. 63)

Here too there is no doubt that the source of wisdom (knowledge and understanding) is a spirit emanated by the Lord. This challenge to the authority of elderly people and their teaching-a teaching that relied on experience and insisted on prudence and moderation-did not go unanswered. A response can be found, in my opinion, in 1 Kgs 12: 1-16, the story about the advice of the elders (t:l':lPr) to Rehoboam, set against that of the young men (t:l',,,,). The elders advised moderation and appeasement; the youngsters advocated an attitude of self-conceited arrogance. Rehoboam followed the latter; as a result, Israel revolted and the king lost the largest part of his kingdom. Not a few attempts have been made to detect an actual, historical background to this episode. 15 In my opinion, they miss the point, 14 Observations on this contrast have repeatedly been made: cf. recendy C. A. Moore, Danie4 Esther and ]eremiak---7he Additions (AB 44; Garden City, NY: Doubleday 1977), 80-81. Moore quotes D. M. Kay (1913), who in turn referred to Hippolytus of Rome (before 230 CE). 15 Cf. A. Malamat, "Kingship and Council in Israel and Sumer: A Parallel," ]NES 22 (1963): 247-53; idem, "Organs of Statecraft in the Israelite Monarchy," BA 28 (1965): 34-65 = BA Reader 3 (ed. E. F. Campbell and D. N. Freedman; Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1970), 163-98; M. Weinfeld, "The Counsel of the Elders to Rehoboam and its Implications," Maar(J1J 3 (1982): 27-53; H. Tadmor, "Traditions

8

ALEXANDER ROFE

because they do not start with the proper questions, namely what the literary genre of I Kgs 12: 1-16 is and approximately when it was composed. 16 In the present context, I must limit myself to a statement of conclusions only, deferring argumentation to a later opportunity. I believe that this story is a relatively late one, as implied by some of its linguistic features, such as t:l',." with the meaning of 'young people' (as in Daniel 1).17 The story is fiction; it is a paradigmatic legend, aiming to show what happens if one abandons the prudent advice of elders and embraces instead the haughty attitude of young people. 18 Thus it settles accounts with this new brand of sages, the revisionists, some of whom relied on inspiration, on revealed wisdom. The texts discussed so far, relatively late ones, present what appears to have been an argument going on between two factions in wisdom circles; we may define these factions as 'elders' on the one hand and 'young men' on the other. Obviously, this is just a portion of a larger story. There is David in the Psalms Scroll from Qumran (11 QPsa) , not a sectarian composition. David is described there as "wise, and a light like the light of the sun, and literate and discerning and perfect in all his ways before God and men. And the Lord gave him a discerning spirit and a light." 1'~il '?~::l Cl'om 11::lJ1 iEl101 iDOiDil i1~~ i1~1 Cl~n 'iD' P I'll 'il'1 19( 11 QPsa 27: 1-4) ... ili1~1 i1J1::lJ mi i11il' 1'? 1n'1 Cl'iDJ~1 ?~ 'JEl?

There is Daniel, of the canonical Book of Daniel, who being extremely wise on account of the spirit of the holy God dwelling in him (Dan 2:23; 4:15; 5:11, 14), is able to interpret dreams and signs and foretell coming events. 20 There is Bezalel and his team, who built the of David and Solomon," in Studies in the Period qf David and Solomon (ed. T. Ishida; Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 1982), 239-57, esp. 252-55. 16 This approach is well represented by E. Wurthwein, Die Biicher der Kiinige1 Kiinige 1-16 (ATD; Gottingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1985), 159-60. 17 cr. the semantic development of p1J'n ('a suckling' in Rabbinic Hebrew): np1J'n in m. Niddah 6: II is a girl with tokens of puberty! 18 Thus properly A. Jepsen, Die Qyellen des Kiinigsbuches (2d ed.; Halle [Saale]: Niemeyer, 1956), 78-79: "das Kapitel ist ... als Beispielerzahlung einer Weisheitsschule zu verstehen, die die Ereignisse ... in den Dienst der Lehre stellt." 19 cr. J. A. Sanders, The Psalms Scroll qf Qymrdn Cave 11 (11 Qfsa) (DJDJ 4; Oxford: Clarendon, 1965), 48, 91-93; pI. XVI. 20 cr. H.-P. Muller, "Mantische Weisheit und Apokalyptik," in Congress Volume, Uppsala 1971 (ed. J. A. Emerton; VTSup 22; Leiden: Brill, 1972), 268-93.

REVEALED WISDOM

9

tabernacle, endowed with a divine spirit of wisdom, discernment, and knowledge in every kind of craft (Exod 31: 1~6; 36: 1~2). There is Solomon who in his dream obtained from the Lord a wise and discerning heart (1 Kgs 3:5~14). And there isJoseph at the Egyptian court, in whom is the spirit of God ... no one is as discerning and wise as he, and he is therefore appointed to administer the whole country (Gen 4l:38~41).21 We have mentioned five cases, in five distinct narrative layers, where divine inspiration grants wisdom to those chosen. At the root of this concept lies the idea that a deity is a depositary of wisdom. Indeed this comes as no surprise in the light of extra-biblical material. Ea is the god of wisdom in Mesopotamia, much as Pallas Athena is the goddess of wisdom in Greece. El in the Ugaritic texts is described as wise, and wise is his word as well,22 One aspect of his knowledge might be magic, since El uses this in order to create Shatqat. 23 As for the Bible, the Paradise story in Genesis 2~3 presumes that knowledge is divine and that man should not have appropriated it. Job l5:7~8 hints at an analogous myth according to which the first man (C1,tI; piDtI;1) eavesdropped on the divine council and subtracted for himself (.v1Jn1) part of their wisdom. The Paradise cherub of Ezekiel 28 is described as "full of wisdom" (vv. 12, 17). The angel of God, according to the sage woman from Teko'ah, is so wise that he knows all that happens on earth (2 Sam 14:20). Apparently, he too participated in a kind of divine council. Last but not least, wisdom was the divine property that served the Lord at creation (Prov 3:19~20):

The Lord founded the earth by wisdom, He established the heavens by discernment. By His knowledge the depths burst apart And the skies distilled dew.

21 ef. M. V. Fox, "Wisdom in the Joseph Story," VT 51 (2001): 26-41. He concludes: "The concept of wisdom in the Joseph story is affiliated with the pietistic and inspired wisdom of Daniel rather than with the ethical and practical wisdom of Wisdom literature." 22 "Baal" 3:V:30-31; 4:IV:41-43; 4:V:3. Translation by M. S. Smith in Parker, Ugaritic Narrative Poetry, 117, 128, 129. 23 "Kirta" 3:V:23-VI: 14. Translation by E. L. Greenstein in Parker, Ugaritic Narrative Poetry, 38-40.

10

ALEXANDER ROFE

iO' i1r.l::Jn:J i11i1' m1:Jn:J CmtD p1::J 1llp:JJ n1r.l1i1n 1nlli:J ?~ 1Ellli' C1'pntD1

ri~

In addition, there are statements in wisdom literature where Wisdom, personified, is described as abiding with the deity, playing before the Lord (Prov 8:21-31), being hidden and recognized only by God (Job 28), being treasured in heaven because Ba'al OgdaJin exalted her (Ahiqar 6:79).24 All this clearly attests that wisdom was conceived as belonging to the realm of the divine. What we have not found so far is a clear statement, coming from wisdom circles and preceding the late and polemical Elihu, that would sanction the authority of a wise man by appealing to divine revelation. Such a saying is extant, in my view, in one passage only, Prov 30: 1-4: "The words of Agur bin Yakeh the Massaite" ([*"~tDai1] ~tDai1 i1p' 1:l i1J~ 'i:li).

These "words" begin with ne'urn haggeber, as do the prophecies of Balaam in Num 24:3-4, 15-16. In Num 24:16, Balaam defines himself as the man "who hears El's sayings, knows the knowledge of Elyon, beholds the vision of Shaddai, prostrate but with eyes unveiled": ?tII

'jOtll llOtv CtllJ

11'?II nlli lli'1 mn' 'itv i1mr.l C1"J'll '1'?J1 ?ElJ

In this passage, the prophet does not receive the Lord's word (i:li) in revelation, as is usual in classical prophecy, but shares in divine knowledge: 11"1l rllli lli'l It is not by chance that this line has been omitted, or deleted, in Num 24:4. 25 The claim was considered human hubris, all the more so coming from a foreign, pagan seer. 26 An additional instance of such a formula in prophetic speech is found in the "Last Words of David" (2 Sam 23: 1-7). Mter defining the speech as 'll Clpi1 i:lJi1 Cl~:l1 'tD' p i1i Cl~j "utterance of David son of Jesse, utterance of the man set high," the author proceeds to state his source of inspiration: "The spirit of the Lord has spoken 24 B. Porten and A. Yardeni, Textbook qf Aramaic Documents .from Ancient Egypt (Jerusalem: Hebrew University, 1993), 3:36-37. 25 Cf. below, on the text of Prov 30:3. 26 Cf. A. Rofe, The Book qf Balaam (Jerusalem: Simor, 1979), 42-54 (Hebrew).

REVEALED WISDOM

11

through me, His word is on my tongue." Here again ne'um haggeber opens a prophetic address which differs in its essence from the dabar of classical prophets. The spirit of the Lord speaks from within the prophet. Taking into account these parallels, one can arrive at an interpretation of the "words of Agur" (Prov 30:1-4),21 Agur maintains that he is ignorant of human wisdom (v. 2) and then proceeds to say (v. 3): .!Ji~ D'iDiP n.!Ji1 i1D:ln 'niD'? ~'?1; "I have not learned wisdom, (nor) do I know the knowledge of the Holy Ones." As against this the LXX offers: 6EO~ OEoioo.XEV IlE croq>io.v !Co.! yviixJtv uyioov EyvOO!Co.

which could be retroverted into Hebrew as: liit/; C'tDiP nl.li1 i1o~n 'JiO? ?t/;1

El taught me wisdom and I know the knowledge of the Holy Ones.

In my view, the LXX attests to a preferable Hebrew reading, since it fits in with further ancient sayings coined in the same style: the spirit of YHWH speaks through David, Balaam knew the knowledge of Elyon, and Agur knows that of the Holy Ones. Plausibly, the same orthodox trend that deleted the 'offensive' line from the Balaam speech in Num 24:4 was responsible for a pious correction in Prov 30:3: Agur was not taught wisdom by God; in fact, he did not learn wisdom at all! If the argument so far is right, the primary text of Prov 30: 1-4 represents an old, if not the oldest, statement by a biblical sage who relied on divine revelation as a source for his knowledge. This is presented as a piece of wisdom coming from Massa, one of the Qedem tribes, dwelling in North Arabia. Balaam the seer also came, according to one version, from the Hills of Qedem (Num 23:7). Agur's saying might originally have been pagan lore which relied on El and Qedosim. In time, it was accepted and incorporated in Israelite wisdom, and its effects are evident from Elihu to Qumran.

27 The essentials have already been stated by B. Gemser, Sprnche Salomos (HAT 16; Tiibingen: Mohr, 1937), 79-81.

WISDOM LITERATURE AND ITS RELATION TO OTHER GENRES: FROM BEN SIRA TO MYSTERIES MENAHEM KISTER

The Hebrew University if Jerusalem I

Even now, after the publication of several sapiential texts from Qumran, there is one individual whom we know better than any other sage in the Second Temple period (and indeed, in the biblical period as well), and he is Ben Sira. In a well-known passage of his book he gives a detailed description of the studies, activity, and achievements of a sage. According to Ben Sira, before becoming a sage, one has to fear God and to devote himself to the study of the Torah, to study the Prophets and the "wisdom of the ancients," as well as other wisdom material. 1 Then, if God grants him the spirit of understanding, the sage can "pour forth his words of wisdom," give praise to the Lord in prayer, meditate upon God's secrets, and be honored for his wisdom and understanding of the Torah (Sir 38:34~39:8). It is remarkable that while Ben Sira's proverbs continue the biblical wisdom tradition (influenced especially by the Book of Proverbs), his prayers (Sir 36 [33]: 1~22;2 51: 1~ 12) and his long Praise of the Fathers (Sir 44: 1~50:24) do not use distinctive sapiential vocabulary;3 nor do they have specific features of wisdom compositions. 4 To be I Remarkably, the sage has to be exposed to the moral standards of foreign countries (39:4). Translations of Ben Sira are my own, based occasionally on that of G. H. Box and W. O. E. Oesterley, in 1he Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha qf the Old Testament in English, with Introductions and Critical and Explanatory Notes (ed. R. H. Charles [et al.]; 2 vols.; Oxford: Clarendon, 1913), 1:268-517. 2 I see no reason to doubt the authenticity of this prayer, which is embedded in the same place according to all the textual witnesses (including the Greek version). As several commentators have observed, some of the themes of this prayer also occur in 35(32):22-23 (to which passage the prayer is related). As explained below, the differences between the tenor of the prayer and the rest of the book of Ben Sira should not be taken as an indication of a different authorship: similar differences exist between other units of Ben Sira. 3 For a discussion of distinctive sapiential vocabulary, see A. Hurvitz, WISdom Language in Biblical Psalmody (Jerusalem: The Hebrew University Magnes Press, 1991 [Hebrew]). 4 Contrast von Rad's statement: "Wisdom as the effort ... to grasp the laws which

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MENAHEM KISTER

sure, in the Praise of the Fathers Ben Sira mentions the wisdom of the "pious" (iOn 'tl)j~; 44: 1, lO; 44: 15),5 and asks God to grant his audience "wisdom of heart to judge His people in righteousness" (45:26).6 However, the wisdom and folly of biblical heroes are seldom mentioned, 7 and there is no emphasis on divine wisdom, 8 on the merits of the sage (teaching or studying wisdom),9 or on human adherence to wisdom as such.1O The law given to Moses is described govern the world ... developed into a really encyclopedic science which applied itself ... also to questions of history. And here, in Ecclesiasticus 44-50, is to be found the first example of the history of Israel presented without reference to the saving history and merely as a catalogue of the events concerned" (G. von Rad, Old Testmnent Theology [tr. D. M. G. Stalker; 2 vols.; Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd, 1962-65], 2:306). In a recent article, Kugel considers Ben Sira's "review of the Bible's major figures" as a product of "wisdom mentality," "told for the edification of readers in any age" (J. L. Kugel, "Ancient Biblical Interpretation and the Biblical Sage," in Studies in Ancient Midrash [ed. J. L. Kugel; Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Center for Jewish Studies, 2001], 1-26, especially p. 12). This is quite true for the biblical events narrated in the Wisdom of Solomon, chapters 10, 11-12, 16-19 ("Ancient Biblical Interpretation," 14), but less valid for Ben Sira chapters 44-50; of course Ben Sira considered biblical history to be of moral value (as did, for instance, the author of Nehemiah 9), but he did not compose this unit for the sake of teaching wisdom. 5 Sir 44: 15 is identical with 39: 10, and fits better in the latter context. Sir 44: 15 occurs in the Greek version and in the Masada MS (Y. Yadin, The Ben Sira Scroll .from Masada [Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society and The Shrine of the Book, 1965], 37 [Hebrew]); in the Syriac version only the second stich is included, whereas in MS B of the Genizah the whole verse is missing, and is added in the margin. The possibility that 44: 15 is an early interpolation cannot be excluded (for other instances where original readings are preserved only in the Genizah manuscripts, see M. Kister, "A Contribution to the Interpretation of Ben Sira," Tarbiz 59 [1990]: 303-78, p. 311 [Hebrew]). 6 Would we have identified "wisdom" in this verse as identical with that of "wisdom literature" if we had not known that its author was Ben Sira? 7 The mention of Solomon's wisdom is an exception (Sir 47:14-16), but one of the main characteristics of Solomon in the Bible is wisdom, and the mention of his wisdom is scarcely an indication of a special wisdom interest in the Praise of the Fathers. Rehoboam's folly is portrayed (47:23) in contrast to Solomon's wisdom. 8 Contrast R. T. Siebeneck, "'May their Bones Return to Life': Sirach's Praise of the Fathers," CBQ, 21 (1959): 411-28. 9 "One finds no emphasis in the hymn of praise of those who fulfill the office of the teacher-sage." (B. L. Mack, Wisdom and the Hebrew Epic: Ben Sira's Hymn in Praise if the Fathers [Chicago Studies in the History of Judaism; Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1985], 30). Mack's solution of this problem (104-7) does not seem to me convincing. ID Cf., for instance: "These Jewish heroes, through their obedience to wisdom and guidance by dioine Providence, became the embodiment and conveyors of Jewish history that climaxed in the sacral theocracy" (L. G. Perdue, WISdom and Creation: The Theology if WISdom Literature [Nashville: Abingdon, 1994], 285, emphasis mine). However, explicit statements that the events of history are related to wisdom are astonishingly lacking in this unit. To my mind, no specific sapiential coloring can be recognized in the Praise of the Fathers (didactic features or a demand of obedience to the Torah are not necessarily "sapiential"; see below). Mack argues that the Praise of

WISDOM LITERATURE AND ITS RELATION TO OTHER GENRES

15

as m1:m1 Cl"n ni1n (45:5).11 Obedience to the Torah is of central importance in the Praise of the Fathers, but this is the case in virtually every Jewish writing from the Second Temple period (many of which can be considered "didactic," but not "sapiential"). The identification of Torah with wisdom (known from other parts of the Book of Ben Sira) is hinted at by only one word, m1Jn. Much more space is dedicated in this section of the book to Aaron and the priests (45:6-24),12 for the Praise of the Fathers introduces the eulogy of the High Priest, Simon b. Y ohanan. 13 If these works, namely the two prayers of Ben Sira and the Praise of the Fathers, were not a part the Fathers "may be one of the finer achievements of Ben Sira's intellectual efforts in a wisdom mode." Although he is well aware of "the lack of recognizable manifestations of conventional forms of wisdom," Mack thinks that "the way in which the study unfolds ... may indeed be, not only a product of wisdom thought, but an expression of its logos as a realized myth" (Wisdom and the Hebrew Epic, 151-71, especially 151, 160). II Cf. Sir 17:7. 12 Cf.: "Ben Sira, however, pays no special attention to the instructional function of the priests, and it is mentioned only in one verse (Sir 45: 17). This verse is based on Deut 33: lOa ... Yet in the course of rewriting and expanding the biblical text Ben Sira uses no sapiential terminology." (M. E. Stone, "Ideal Figures and Social Context: Priest and Sage in the Early Second Temple Age," in idem, Selected Studies in Pseudepigrapha and Apocrypha with Special Reference to the Armenian Tradition (SVTP 9; Leiden: Brill, 1991), 264. This is only one illuminating example of the lack of sapiential terminology (or indeed of any interest in promoting a sapiential worldview) as the rule throughout the Praise of the Fathers. 13 Sir 42: 15-50:24 is a composition in three parts: (1) Praise of God as creator; (2) Praise of the pious fathers; (3) Praise (eulogy) of Simon b. Yohanan the High Priest. Units (2) and (3) are closely related; see M. Kister, "Interpretation of Ben Sira," 365, 374. The praise of God as creator mentions at its beginning God's wisdom as manifested in Nature (42: 18-21). It could be argued, then, that chapters 42: 15-43:33 as a whole illustrate divine wisdom. I think, however, that even this argument is far from evident: the unit can easily be read as a hymn in praise of God (cf. Psalm 104), not necessarily as a piece of "wisdom literature" in the narrow sense. If the three units were originally three parts of the same work, the Sitz im uben of the whole work must have been the eulogy of Simon's death. Torah (or wisdom) does not seem to have been one of Simon's merits (Kister, "Interpretation of Ben Sira," 374). This by itself renders untenable a recent suggestion, not wellestablished textually, that Ben Sira considered "the high priest as Wisdom incarnate"; see C. H. T. Fletcher-Louis, All the Glory qf Adam: liturgical Anthropology in the Dead Sea Scrolls (STD] 42; Leiden: Brill, 2002), 72-81. On the other hand, a possible hypothesis, extending my previous observation, that wisdom is played down throughout the Praise of the Fathers because Simon could not be praised for being a "sage," is not convincing. Ben Sira allowed himself to deviate from the literary context of Simon's eulogy on some points that were of special importance for him. Thus, he emphatically refers in his poem to God's eternal covenant with David, probably because this covenant shaped Ben Sira's eschatological hopes. It would have been much easier for him to describe the wisdom of the Torah, and even moreso to stress God's wisdom. Similarly, the obvious potential of including wisdom in eschato10gical expectations is not realized in the prayer (36[33]:1-14).

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MENAHEM KISTER

of the book of Ben Sira, one would have scarcely regarded them as belonging to wisdom literature. This proves that at least in this era, a sage did not write necessarily (or exclusively) sapiential psalms or works. 14 (One wonders whether such an observation could also apply to some biblical psalms.i 5 Moreover, the identification of wisdom with Torah, found in the book of Ben Sira,16 necessarily implies that the classical genre of "wisdom literature" could be understood more as a tool than as an end, since true wisdom was conceived as the Word of God in the Bible. While Ben Sira mentions items from the Pentateuch in his wisdom sayings (e.g. Sir 16:5-10, 16; 25:24; 17:1-4; 34[31]:30; 38:5), there are very few traces of distinctive wisdom thinking in his prayers or in his Praise of the Fathers. This asymmetry demonstrates that for Ben Sira wisdom is overshadowed by the power of the Torah, not vice versaY Be that as it may, the almost totally unfelt presence of wisdom in the Praise of the Fathers is a strong warning not to judge the worldview of an author by what he does not mention. 18

14 Contrast W. Baumgartner, "Die literarischen Gattungen in der Weisheit des Jesus Sirach," ZAW 34 (1914): 161-98 especially 186-87. 15 Cf.: "We do not exclude the possibility that the stylistic features that are characteristic of the distinctive Wisdom corpus were not used in some psalms that were indeed composed in the Wisdom sphere" (Hurvitz, Wisdom Language, 122). Ben Sira supplies us with remarkable evidence for this possibility. More emphatically C. Cohen, in his review of Hurvitz's book, remarks: "An intensive usage of sapiential vocabulary in a work does not necessarily imply that it should be considered sapiential by genre, or even 'influenced' or 'inspired' by wisdom literature," Cohen, Shnaton 11 [1997]: 334 (Hebrew). I whole-heartedly agree with this statement. 16 On this concept and its cognates see the survey of E. J. Schnabel, Law and WISdom from Ben Sira to Paul: A Tradition-Historical Enquiry into the Relation if Law, Wisdom, and Ethics (WUNT 2.16; Tubingen: Mohr [Siebeck], 1985), passim; Kugel, "Ancient Biblical Interpretation," 11-15. For the relationships among Torah, wisdom, and mystery, see M. N. A. Bockmuehl, Revelation and A1ystery in Ancient Judaism and Pauline Christianity (WUNT 2.36; Tubingen: Mohr [Siebeck], 1990). This thorough study is important for the scrutiny of several aspects of the subject of the present article. 17 Contrast von Rad: "It is not that wisdom is overshadowed by the superior power of the Torah, but, vice versa, that we see Sirach endeavoring to legitimize and to interpret Torah from the realm of understanding characteristic of wisdom" (G. von Rad, Wisdom in Israel [tr. J. D. Marton; London: SCM, 1972], 245); "it is wisdom who speaks here, not Torah, and this is where Sirach's heart beats ... No, the Torah is not a subject of particular interest to Sirach" (ibid., 246-47). Other scholars objected to von Rad's radical statements; see, e.g., Schnabel, Law and Wisdom, especially 29-63. 18 No valid conclusions can be drawn, to my mind, from the observations that, "although ben Sira celebrates the Mosaic Torah in chapter 24, in practice his ethical instruction ... is cast in proverbial rather than legal mode," and that "one looks in vain in 1 Enoch for formal parallels to the laws and commandments found in the Mosaic Pentateuch" (G. W. E. Nickelsburg, "Enochic Wisdom: An Alternative

WISDOM LITERATURE AND ITS RELATION TO OTHER GENRES

17

In the case of Ben Sira, the proverbial material by and large continues the tradition of classical wisdom literature, and the new vistas of the sage's intellectual activity are dominant only in the other genres included in his book. It is interesting to note that in the extant fragments of the Aramaic Levi Document distinctive wisdom material is found side by side with eschatological and cultic (priestly) material. 19 The instructions for the sacrifice service of the priests in the Temple (Bodleian fragment) are followed by a hymn on wisdom 20 (Cambridge fragment).21 This hymn, one of the finest specimens of sapiential literature, is followed by a reference to the everlasting kingdom of "priests and kings" (4Q213 frg. 2),22 and by paraenesis of a prophetic character (4Q213 frg. 4).23 In other texts from Qumran, however, the elusiveness of the term "wisdom" in that era is illustrated from another point of view. to the Mosaic Torah?" in Hesed ve-Emet· Studies in Honor if E. S. Frerichs [ed.J. Magness and S. Gittin; Brown Judaic Studies 320; Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1998], 123-32, esp. 123-24, 126, 130); or that "a counteIpart to the sapiential viewpoint and its expression occurs in the haggadic elaborations [of Jubilees] ... These stories ... focus less on specific commandments-though some are mentioned-and more on exemplary and non-exemplary behavior" (G. W. E. Nickelsburg, "The Nature and Function of Revelation in I Enoch, Jubilees and Some Qumranic Documents," in Pseudepigraphic Perspectives: The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha in Light if the Dead Sea Scrolls. Proceedings if the Second International Symposium if the Orion Center for the Study if the Dead Sea Scrolls and Associated Literature, 12-]4 January, 1997 [ed. E. G. Chazon and M. E. Stone; STDJ 31; Leiden: Brill, 1999], 91-119, p. 103). The emphasis in these texts is a result of their genre and pUIp0se, and usually very little can be inferred from the absence of a certain element, concerning the position of the Mosaic Torah in these works. 19 See also Stone ("Ideal Figures," 264). Collins pointed out that the Christian redactor of the Sibylline Oracles inserted a long passage of Pseudo-Phocylides (Sib. Or. 2:56-148; J. J. Collins, "Wisdom, Apocalypticism, and Generic Compatibility," in In Search if Wisdom: Essays in Memory ifJohn G. Gammie [ed. L. G. Perdue, B. B. Scott, and W. J. Wiseman; Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1989], 165-85, especially 174-75). This, however, is clearly an inteIpolation, whereas the case of the Aramaic Levi Document and the Testament if Levi proves that sapiential material could be incorporated into material of other genres, including apocalyptic material, by the author. 20 In the Greek Testament if Levi (13: 1-9), the "wisdom" of the sapiential Aramaic passage is transformed into "the law of God" (i.e., Torah), indicating that we have at this point a Jewish reworking of the older material of Aramaic Levi. The following chapters (14-18) are of a "prophetic" and eschatological nature. 21 R. H. Charles and A. Cowley, "An Early Source of the Testaments of the Patriarchs," JQR (o.s.) 19 (1907): 566-83. For some traces of this unit in the Qumran fragments, see M. E. Stone and J. C. Greenfield, "A. Aramaic Levi Document," in Qgmran Cave 4.xVIl- Parabiblical Texts, Part 3 (ed. G. Brooke et al., in consultation with J. VanderKam; DJD 22; Oxford: Clarendon, 1996), 1-72, pp. 5-18. 22 Stone and Greenfield, DJD 22.16-19. 23 Stone and Greenfield, DJD 22.22.

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Sectarian works such as the Serekh or the Hodayot use intensively sectarian terminology. "Knowledge" in these writings mostly refers to sectarian doctrines, first of all to the legal interpretation of the Torah and the eschatological interpretation of prophecies. 24 These two fields, namely the legal interpretation of the Torah and the interpretation of eschatological events according to the Prophets, were the foci of the activity of the Teacher of Righteousness. These were also the foci of the sect's missionary activity as represented by 4QMMT. 25 Mastering the scriptures is described in MMT using "sapiential" terms 0'''W1 .ll'r.l1 i1r.li.ll).26 On the other hand, while some recently published works from Qumran (such as 4QJnstruction)27 apparently belong to wisdom literature, much of their content is close to sectarian literature and alien to biblical or Near Eastern wisdom literature. 28 A similar observation, mutatis mutandis, can be made concerning 24 See W. L. Lipscomb and]. A. Sanders, "Wisdom at Qumran," in Israelite Wzsdom: Theological and Literary Essays in Honor qf Samuel Terrien (ed.]. G. Gammie et al.; New York: Scholars Press for Union Theological Seminary, 1978), 277-85, esp. 277-78 and 281 n. 2. In this article they take issue with the thesis of]. E. Worrell, "Concepts of Wisdom in the Dead Sea Scrolls" (Ph.D. diss., Claremont Graduate School, 1968). It would seem apt to re-evaluate Worrell's thesis; however, the unpublished dissertation is not available to me. Lipscomb and Sanders state: "Although numerous passages among the sectarian compositions employ wisdom terminology ... the content of these passages is not sapiential" (277-78). See also M. E. Stone, "Apocalyptic Writings," Jewish Writings qf the Second Temple Period: Apocrypha, Pseudepigrapha, OJtmran, Sectarian Writings, Philo, Josephus (CRINT 2:1; Assen: Van Gorcum; Philadelphia: Fortress, 1984), 389. Contrast Collins' view: "The apocalyptic mindset of the scrolls can furnish the content of a wisdom instruction just as well as the empirical thisworldly mindset of Proverbs and Qoheleth" (Collins, "Wisdom Reconsidered," 271-81, esp. 280). The ostensibly divergent opinions are mainly the result of different attitudes as to what may be labeled "sapiential." For the sake of clarity I think it is important to use the term "wisdom" or "sapiential" only when close affinities can be discerned between these works and the wisdom works of the Bible or of the ancient Near East. However, the terminological problem reflects a profound difficulty caused by the variety of contents of biblical "wisdom literature" and especially by the fact that ancient biblical phraseology, patterns and genres are applied in the literature of the Second Temple period to new religious phenomena. 25 For the activity of the Teacher of Righteousness see CD 20:31-32; 4QI71 3-10 iv 8-9; IQpHab 7:4-5. MMT B is concerned with legal issues, whereas MMT C, especially lines 10-22, deals with eschatological interpretation; see E. Qjmron and]. Strugnell, OJtmran Cave 4. v.. Miq~at Ma'aJe ha-Torah (DJD 10; Oxford: Clarendon, 1994), 58-63. See also M. Kister, "Studies in 4QMMT and Related Texts: Law, Theology, Language and Calendar," Tarbiz 68 (1999): 322 n. 17 (Hebrew). 26 4QMMT C 28 (Qjmron and Strugnell, DJD 10.62). 27 See]. Strugnell, D.]. Harrington and T. EIgvin, OJtmran Cave 4.xXIV.· Sapiential Texts, Part 2 (DJD 34; Oxford: Clarendon, 1999). 28 Strugnell and Harrington argue that 4QJnstruction "represents a venerable 'missing link' in the development of 'secular' or common Israelite wisdom from Proverbs to

WISDOM LITERATURE AND ITS RELATION TO OTHER GENRES

19

later periods. Although the tractate Avot can be considered an heir to wisdom literature,29 the rabbis whose sayings are recorded in it were not considered bakhamim because of their understanding of rules of behavior or of "the fear of the Lord" in general, but rather because of their knowledge of Torah. "Knowledge" and "wisdom" became loose terms for the intellectual teachings of every circle. The continuity of the biblical wisdom tradition, often presumed because of the similarity in terminology or phraseology, is just as often an illusion. 30 We may conclude, then, that there are works produced by wisdom teachers (like Ben Sira's prayer and Praise of the Fathers) that do not belong to wisdom literature. At the same time, the terminology and traditions of wisdom literature were sometimes taken up (and reinterpreted!) by sages who were not mainly wisdom teachers in the classical sense. The Second Temple period was, above all, the period of interpretation, and its major project was amalgamating, through interpretation, concepts from diverse biblical strata in a Hellenistic environment. It is true, for instance, that "wisdom functions for postexilic writers as a hermeneutical construct to interpret the Torah,"31 but it is equally true that the Torah functioned as hermeneutical construct to interpret wisdom, and probably to a larger extent. Taking into consideration these dominant features of the intellectual activity in this period, I see little point in discussing which stratum is the ancestor of apocalypticism, a matter of constant discussion since von Rad, who suggested that apocalypticism is the child of wisdom rather than of prophecy.32 He pointed out some significant Sirach" (DJD 34.36). To my mind, however, this composition is a missing link between "conservative" wisdom literature (of which Ben Sira is a good representative) and the world of Qumran, having fewer affinities with the former than with the latter). 29 See recendy I. B. Gotdieb, "Pirqe Avot and Biblical Wisdom," IT 40 (1990): 152-64. I thank Dr. A. Goshen-Gottstein for drawing my attention to this article. 30 See, for instance, the definition of "wisdom" in 1 Enoch as given by some scholars (e.g., Nickelsburg, "Enochic Wisdom," 127-28). Enoch's "wisdom" seems to me (pace Nickelsburg and others) not to have its roots in sapiential traditions as such (that is not to exclude, of course, some influence of biblical wisdom books, among other components). Compare J. J. Collins, "Wisdom, Apocalypticism, and Generic Compatibility," 167-69; idem, "Wisdom Reconsidered in Light of the Scrolls," DSD 4 (1997): 265-81. 31 G. T. Sheppard, Wisdom as a Hermeneutical Constrnct: A Stutfy in the Sapientializing qf the Old Testament (BZAW 151; Berlin: De Gruyter, 1980), 118. 32 Von Rad, Old Testament 1heology, 301-8.

20

MENAHEM KISTER

differences between prophecy and apocalypticism, and argued that "the interest in time and in the secret of the future," or rather "the divine determination of times," so characteristic of Apocrypha, is a heritage of the wisdom tradition. 33 Not only are the most prominent features of biblical wisdom lacking in apocalyptic writings, but (to my mind) trying to define any specific biblical stratum as the ancestor of apocalypticism does not take into account the major cultural feature oflate Second Temple period, namely its eclecticism. Similarly, there is little point in asking who are the heirs of the Pentateuchal sources P, H, or D during this period. It should be noted, however, that passages in Ben Sira referring to eschatology allude to prophetic books or refer to prophecy (Sir 34[31] :22b-c alludes to Isa 42: 13-14; Sir 36 [33]:20-21 and 36[33]:10 allude to Hab 2:3 and Isa 60:22;34 Sir 48:24-25). As we shall see below, eschatology is also connected to prophecy in MYsteries. Stylistic analysis, then, provides some evidence that, for authors of wisdom writings, eschatology was connected with prophecy. H.-P. Muller modified von Rad's argument by suggesting that the origin of apocalypticism was mantic wisdom. 35 Indeed "mantic wisdom" was practiced in ancientJudah (e.g. Isa 3:2-3), but was known especially from Egypt and Mesopotamia (e.g. Genesis 41; Daniel 1-2; Isa 47: 12-13; Esth 1: 13). Given the Bible's rejection of mantic wisdom (e.g. Deut 18:9-14; Mic 5: 11), I find the possibility that apocalyptic literature was influenced by alien wisdom types of the Near East (perhaps through Hellenistic culture)36 more likely than the suggestion that it is a continuation of Israelite mantic wisdom. 37 33 See von Rad's more detailed discussion, entided "The Divine Determination of Times," in his Wisdom in Israel, 263-83. 34 This is of special significance, because the phrase '.I)iO 'iP~i fP il)'ni1 (Sir 36[33]:10) is explicidy concerned with "the divine determination of times." It is textually evident in this passage that the "divine determination of times" emerged from prophetic rather than from wisdom literature. 35 H.-P. Miiller, "Mantische Weisheit und Apokalyptik," in Congress Volume, Uppsala 1971 (ed. J. A. Emerton; VTSup 22; Leiden: Brill, 1972), 268-93. 36 H. D. Betz, "On the Problem of the Religio-Historical Understanding of Apocalypticism," Joumalfir Theology and Church 6 (1969): 134-56; J. Z. Smith, Map is not Territory (S]LA 23; Leiden: Brill, 1978), 67-87; M. Hengel, Judaism and Hellenism: Studies in their Encounter in Palestine During the Early Hellenistic Period (tr. J. Bowden; 2 vols.; London: SCM; Philadelphia: Fortress, 1974), 1:180-96. 37 See]. C. VanderKam, "The Prophetic-Sapiential Origins of Apocalyptic Thought," A Word in Season: Essays in Honour of W McKane (JSOTSup 42; ed. J. D. Martin and P. R. Davies; Sheffield: ]SOT Press, 1986), 163-76. His argument is that "given the divinatory aspects of prophecy in Israel, one ought to avoid drawing

WISDOM LITERATURE AND ITS RELATION TO OTHER GENRES

21

In the Second Temple period, much of the "knowledge" or "wisdom" is attained by the study of texts of divine revelation: the Torah and the Prophets. In many circles, "revelation of God's secrets" is a key concept for almost every significant field of interest. 38 Prophetic revelation terminology, combined with the sapiential notion of hidden wisdom revealed to human beings,39 is used in the context of Torah study as early as Ps 119: 18: lm,no mtl:'?m iTC!l'JtI:, 'J'.lJ '?:1 ("Open my eyes that I may perceive things of your teaching that are beyond me"). The expression "open my eyes" may be considered as echoing prophetic terminology (Num 22:31),40 whereas the expression "things that are beyond me" may reflect sapiential phraseology (Prov 30:18; Job 42:3; cf. Deut 30:11).41 The revelation of God's secrets to the sages as a confirmation of their exegesis is a key concept for the Qumran sectarians (e.g. CD 3:16, 6:3; 1QS 9:13, 19), and is not unparalleled in rabbinic literature. According to the sectarian sources, the exegetical achievements of the sect conflict with the erroneous tradition and decrees of mp'?niT '\v."" i.e., the Pharisees. On the other hand, according to a tannaitic source describing a reaction of R. Eliezer (who flourished after the destruction of the Temple), the "revelation of God's secret" guarantees that recent decrees of the sages fit ancient tradition. R. Eliezer comments on a recent decree of the rabbis: 'i1 110 :it:l~1 iili''?~ 'i i1JJ ... n'li'JtDJ 'Jli itDlit:l J~1t:11 11t:1li :nm1 1Jm pm' pit:l 'J~ '?J1Pt:l ClJJ'Jt:I'? 1tD1nn '?~ CIi1'? i1t:1~ ~~ Clli'11i1'? 1n'iJ1 1'~i''? 'J'OO i1tDO'? i1J'?i1 1li 1JiO 1Ji1 1Jit:l liOtDtD '~Ji P

They voted and decided that Ammon and Moab give poor man's tithe in the seventh year. ... R. Eliezer wept and said: "The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him and He will show them his covenant"! a sharp distinction between mantic wisdom and biblical prophecy as candidates for the leading influence on apocalytic thought and procedure" (174). However, "it is no doubt important that mantic efforts are attributed to prophets only in negative contexts" (173), especially since the Second Temple period writings (including the apocalyptic ones) were probably strongly influenced by the reaction of "the few great literary prophets" towards this sort of "prophecy." 38 See Nickelsburg, "The Nature and Function of Revelation." 39 Von Rad, Old Testament Theology, 306-7. 40 See Y. Amir, "?l>I;'iD' n1 m'?1nJ t!l'P '1mt:l ?iD 1t:11pt:I," Te'udah 2 (1982): 62, 76-77. 41 Hence my translation: "things of your teaching (or. Torah) that are beyond me." This translation significantly differs from all the other translations I have consulted, that render ml>l;?ElJ as "wonders," "wondrous things" and the like.

22

MENAHEM KISTER

Go and tell them: be not received a tradition from from his teacher and his to Moses from Sinai. (m.

anxious by reason of your voting, for I have Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai, who heard it teacher from his teacher as a halakhah given Yadqyim 4:3)42

The reinterpretation of "revelation," applied to various fields, is typical for a period that lacked prophecy. According to the Dead Sea Scrolls, divine revelation not only accompanies human achievement in the study of the Torah, but also applies to the correct interpretation of the Prophets,43 as well as to the contemplation of God's marvelous deeds 44 in "the days of old."45 It is also applicable to the mystery of the things to come. 46 Apocalyptic literature can be considered one manifestation of this prominent feature of the Zeitgeist. It is by no means necessary to assume competition between the different kinds of knowledge attained by revelation. Conversely, the apparent similarity between these differing types of knowledge, the similar revelation terminology, and the fact that many teachers were interested in more than one type, only enhanced their mutual assimilation. 47 Ideas deriving from diverse sources were forged into a single new entity. 42 The English translation is by H. Danby, the Mishnah (Oxford: Clarendon, 1933), 783. 43 D. E. Aune, "Charismatic Exegesis in Late ]udaism and Early Christianity," in The Pseudepigrapha and Early Biblical Interpretation (ed. J. H. Charlesworth and C. A. Evans; ]SPSup 14; Sheffield: ]SOT Press, 1993), 124-50; M. Kister, "A Common Heritage: Biblical Interpretation at Qumran and Its Implications," in Biblical PerspectWes: Early Use and Interpretation qf the Bible in Lif,ht qf the Dead Sea Scrolls. Proceedings qf the First International Symposium qf the Orion Center for the Study qf the Dead Sea Scrolls and Associated Literature, 12-]4 May, 1996 (ed. M. E. Stone and E. G. Chazon; STD] 28; Leiden: Brill, 1998), 102. 44 lQH' 19:7 [Sukenik 11:4] and elsewhere. [Ed. note: Column and line numbering for the Hodayot follows the reconstruction of H. Stegemann (parallel numberings of the Sukenik edition are given in brackets). See Stegemann, "The Number of Psalms in 1Q.Hodayota and Some of their Sections," in Liturgical PerspectWes: Prayer and Poetry in Light qf the Dead Sea Scrolls. Proceedings qf the Fiflh International Symposium qf the Orion Center for the Study qf the Dead Sea Scrolls and Associated Literature, 19-23 January, 2000 (ed. E. G. Chazon, with the collaboration of Ruth Clements and Avital Pinnick; STD] 48; Leiden: Brill, 2003), 191-234, pp. 224-26.] The statement 'j'l) i1t!l':li1 "m~'::lj:l' ",~ nn::l ,nl)' "pt:lt:l (1 QS 11 :3) that is juxtaposed with the concept of hidden wisdom (lQS 11:6) is based, as has been noted by J. Licht, on Ps 119:18 (7he Rule Scroll [Jerusalem: Bialik Institute, 1965],228 [Hebrew]), but the word m~'::lj seems to be interpreted differendy, as meaning "marvels," and the word In,,nt:l was probably understood as meaning "by (or: through) your law" (compare to my translation suggested above, n. 41). 45 See below, pp. 32-34. 46 Below, pp. 30-32. 47 This does not rule out possible tension between the different kinds of "knowledge."

WISDOM LITERATURE AND ITS RELATION TO OTHER GENRES

23

11 Some insights concerning the components of wisdom: wntmgs at Qumran and their fusion with other biblical and non-biblical elements can be gained by a thorough analysis of the phraseology and content of the extant fragments of the work entitled Mysteries, and of the conception of wisdom in this work. I will not limit my discussion only to the aspects of Mysteries that are relevant for the general thesis, but rather will try to elucidate all the intelligible fragments of this interesting work. Mysteries is extant in at least three copies at Qumran: 1Q2 7,48 4Q299, 4Q300 and perhaps also 4Q301. 49 Evidently the last-named scroll has many affinities of style and terminology with Mysteries, but since there is no overlap between the preserved texts, it is difficult to decide whether 4Q30 I is a copy of this work or of another work, similar in character to Mysteries. 50 The DJD edition of Mysteries, especially of 4Q299, contains many dozens of fragments so tiny that they are of little help for the understanding of the whole work. Some fragments, however, damaged as they are, do shed light on the content and the literary form of the work. These passages will now be scrutinized.

A Wisdom Contest From 4Q300 1b we learn that the addressees of Mysteries were l:l'~C!l['nlY This word is employed in the Bible for sages of Egypt

and Babylon. The setting of the work is clear from the very beginning of the above-cited fragment: it represents a contest between the speakers and the bartumim. As in many wisdom contests in the Near East and in the Hellenistic world, the wisdom of one participating party is challenged by posing "parables and riddles,"52 and by many 48 R. de Vaux, "La Grotte des manuscrits hebreux," RE 56 (1949): 605-9; D. Barthelemy and J. T. Milik, "27. 'Livre des Mysteres' ," Qymran Cave 1 (DJD 1; Oxford: Clarendon, 1955), 102-6. 49 L. H. Schiffman, "Mysteries," Qymran Cave 4.xV.· Sapiential Texts, Part 1 (ed. T. EIgvin et al., in consultation with J. A. Fitzmyer; DJD 20; Oxford: Clarendon, 1997), 31-123. Translations of Qumran texts are my own. 50 Thus Schiffman, DJD 20.113. 51 For the reading and restoration see Schiffinan, DJD 20.102. 52 4Q300 I b 1. The first riddle is in line 4: [ J ;,t:lJn ~';' ;'[t:lJ. Many other riddles are posed in the other fragments of this work. C£ also 4Q301 2b 1-2; in lines 2-4 there are three riddles.

24

MENAHEM KISTER

rhetorical questions 53 (cf. 4Q299 3a ii-b 2-7, 15-16; 4Q299 3c 3; 4Q299 8 5; 4Q300 2 ii 2; 4Q300 8 2,6-7; IQ27 I i 8-12; and similarly 4Q301 2a 2; 4Q301 2b 1-4). Especially remarkable is a specific interrogative formula, found also in a sapiential piece in Syriac, that is of some importance for the reconstruction of some badly damaged lines. The Syriac piece reads: The king of the Babylonians wrote and sent to the king of the Persians and said to him: "Explain to me six things and take from me three years' tribute ... What is heavier than a mountain, and what is hotter than fire, and what is sharper than a sword, and what is fatter than a sheep's tail, and what is sure among created things?" (1 Q i'P" ,:JQ ~i':J 1Q D'Qn1 ,:JQ1 ~i't!l etc.). The answer of the king of the Persians: "That which is heavier than a mountain is deceit; that which is hotter than fire is the wrath of man (~i':J 1Q D'Qn" ~m'?n ~i't!l 1Q i'P" ~iDnJ' ~nQn etc.) ... that which is sure among created things is death."54 S. P. Brock, who published the Syriac piece, draws attention to the answer to Samson's riddle in the Bible: "What is sweeter than honey, and what is stronger than a lion?" (Judg 14:8), but comments: "The form is surprisingly rare, although a related type, 'What is most X?,' is commonly found, especially in Greek literature."55 Brock notes a similar wisdom contest, mentioned by Plutarch, between Amasis, the king of Egypt, and the Ethiopian king. The Egyptian king is asked: "What is the oldest thing? What is the greatest? What is the wisest? What is the most beautiful? What is the most common? What is the most helpful? What is the most harmful? What is the strongest? What is the easiest?"56 This is a clear demonstration of the shift of the Near Eastern wisdom competition into the context of Greek banquets. 57 Since there is no superlative form in Hebrew or in Syriac, the Semitic formula "more X than Y" is the srylistic equivalent of the Greek superlative forms. It seems that Mjsteries contained "riddles" with this formula: 53 For rhetorical questions as a feature of wisdom literature, see von Rad, Wzsdom, 18-19. 54 S. P. Brock, "A Piece of Wisdom Literature in Syriac," ]SS 13 (1968): 212-17. I follow Brock's translation. 55 Brock, "A Piece of Wisdom Literature," 216. 56 Plutarch, Dinner if th£ Seven Wise Men 151-53, especially 153a-d; in Plutarch's Moralia (tr. F. C. Babbitt et al.; 15 vols.; LCL; Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; London: Heinemann, 1927-[69]), 2:384-89. 57 For a parody on the deterioration of the banquet wisdom contests see Athenaeus, The Deipnosophists 1O:457c-d (tr. C. B. Gulick; 7 vols.; LCL; Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; London: Heinemann, 1959-61).

WISDOM LITERATURE AND ITS RELATION TO OTHER GENRES

i'~J'? Clp'JQ 'iJJ'? I [~EliDQ] ~''?:J (4Q300 7 1-2, 4) (4Q300 6 6) (4Q299 7 3) (4Q300 10 2)58

imh

]'t~,

[I

]pi~Q i:JJ'? Cli ilQ, .IliDi[Q

Clit6

25 .Ili ilQ]

]~'JiDQ .IliDi['? ilQJ ... iD'J~'? P,Q.Il ilQ [. .. ilJiD.IlQQ iD'~'? p[,m ilQJ ]o~, ,1;;>"'. 62

Elgvin, "An Analysis of 4QJnstruction," 53-57, 176-89.

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TORLEIF ELGVIN

to the time of the revolt. Further, the affinities between 4QJnstruction and ra~ad writings, the Hodayot in particular, suggest some kind of links between these circles. 63 So I tend to uphold the suggestion that in the case of 4QJnstruction (not 4QMysteries) we may be among the precursors of the ra~ad.64 If one follows the non-conventional dating of the ra~ad to the first decades of the second century, as do Dimant, Wacholder, Kister and recently Pfann,65 the time span between 4QMjsteries, 4QJnstruction and the earliest ra~ad writings such as 1QSa and the Teacher Hymns would not be very long. And we would be closer to the dating Lange has advocated for 4QJnstruction (late third or early second century), based on linguistic considerations.

63 Based on the terminology of one of the speeches (4Q416 I), D. Dimant now attributes 4Q!nstruction to the r a/:tad (in "Mussar la-Mevin: A Sectarian Wisdom," paper presented at the Sixth Orion International Symposium, "Sapiential Perspectives: Wisdom Literature in Light of the Dead Sea Scrolls," Jerusalem, Israel, May 20-22, 2001). Similar reasoning also led E. Cook to see the work as written in the ra/:tad ("Maskl and Mebin in the Dead Sea Scrolls," paper presented at the Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting, Nashville, Tenn., November 20, 2000). According to Scott, 4Q418 81 (the priestly-royal passage) and 4Q423 5 (on Korah) suggest that 4Q!nstruction is a ra~ad composition ("Korah and Qumran"). Tigchelaar assumes that the author of several Hodayot was literarily dependent on 4Q!nst:nu:tion ("Addressees," 75). These three scholars argue from the terminology of a few specific passages, without discussing the character of the work as a whole. For Strugnell, in the Qumran community 4Q!nstruction was "'authoritative' or perhaps even considered 'canonical'" (DJD 34.36; see also "The Sapiential Work 4Q415ff," 607). 64 Schiffman notes that the few halakhic passages in 4Q!nstruction reflect a halakhah closer to Pharisaic than ra~ad interpretation; see his contribution in this volume, "Halakhic Elements in the Sapietial Texts from Qumran," 89-100. Thus, there should be some distance in time and milieu between 4Q!nstruction and its r a/:tad tradents. 65 D. Dimant, "Qumran Sectarian Literature," in Jewish Writings if the Second Temple Period: Apocrypha, Pseudepigrapha, Qymran Sectarian Writings, Philo, Josephus (ed. M. E. Stone; CRINT 2.2; Assen/Maastricht: Van Gorcum; Minneapolis: Fortress, 1984), 483-550, pp. 544-47; "The Seventy Weeks Chronology (Dan 9,24-27) in the Light of New Qumranic Texts," in The Book if Daniel in the Light if New Findings (ed. A. S. van der Woude; BETL 106; Leuven: Leuven University Press and Peeters, 1993), 57-76; "History According to the Animal Apocalypse," Jerusalem Studies in Jewish Thought 2 (1982): 18-37 (Hebrew); B. Z. Wacholder, The Dawn if Qymran: The Sectarian Torah and the Teacher if Righteousness (HUCM 8; Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College Press, 1983); M. Kister, "Concerning the History of the Essenes: A Study of the Animal Apocalypse, the Book ofJubilees and the Damascus Covenant," Tarbiz 56 (1986-87): 1-18 (Hebrew); S. J. Pfann, "The Writings in Esoteric Script from Qumran," in The Dead Sea Scrolls Fifty rears After their Discovery: Proceedings if the Jerusalem Congress, July 20-25, 1997 (ed. L. H. Schiffman, E. Tov. J. C. VanderKam; exec. ed. G. Marquis; Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society in cooperation with the Shrine of the Book, 2000), 177-89.

PRIESTLY SAGES

85

Conclusions As suggested above, we should locate the more all-Israelite 4Q,Mysteries closer to Daniel and (to some degree) Ben Sira,66 and 4QJnstruction closer to the developing Enochic writings. It seems easier to posit a priestly Temple-centered milieu for 4Q,Mysteries than for 4QJnstruction and the tradents of Qoheleth. 67 The sparse references to cultic matters in 4QJnstruction do not necessarily point to the Temple as milieu of origin. Most of these references are used symbolically. Further, a sapiential teacher in the tiny province of pre-Hasmonean Yehud could hardly escape referring to the Temple when giving advice on life in family and society. The contrasts to Ben Sira, the priestly-oriented defender of the Jerusalem establishment, require us to seek alternative milieus for some of these sapiential texts. Behind 4QJnstruction we may find Levites outside the ruling Temple circles as well as lay scribes, united in an apocalyptic hope for the end-time restoration of Israel. The selection of admonitions in 4QJnstruction for various professions and stages in life suggests the hand of an editor-a scribal teacher, who included in his book such maxims as seemed relevant for himself and his audience. We may then adduce that a certain part of these circles were rural farmers. Some of this audience were engaged in business and commerce. There were probably craftsmen as well. 68 This fits well with Wischmeyer's description of Judea at the time of Ben Sira: 'Judaa:Jerusalem war ein Agrarland im sog. hellenistischer Differenzierung mit einer Tempelstadt als Mittelpunkt. Das Gros der Bevolkerung war bauerlich. Handwerker und Kaufteute bildeten eigene wichtige Berufsgruppen, ebenso die Arzte. Eher an den Randern der Gesellschaft standen die Lohnarbeiter und Soldaten. "69 We do not 66 See B. Wright's contribution in the present volume, "The Categories of Rich and Poor in the Qumran Sapiential Literature," 101-123, where he finds radically different attitudes to poverty and wealth in Ben Sira and 4QJnstruction. One should also note that 4QJnstruction lacks the woes against the rich found in the Episde of Enoch. 67 Lange acknowledges the differences between A1ysteriesl4QJnstruction on the one hand and the editor of Qoheleth on the other: the latter does not share the eschatology and dualism of the two former writings ("In Diskussion mit dem Tempel," 144). He explains that the editor had to stay within the motifs and language of the book he edited. 68 cr. 4Q418 81 15, 19 ]D" i1~,?,t!)~i1 Cl'" n~~n:J Cl~ p~ i1n~', "0 you who understand, if He gave you a good command of craftsmanship["; ]i1~'" n~~n~', "By your craftmanship[." 69 O. Wischmeyer, Die Kultur des Buches Jesus Sirach (BZNW 77; Berlin: de Gruyter, 1995), 297.

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TORLEIF ELGVIN

know the level of literacy among rural farmers in the land of Israel at this time. Some of the addressees of 4QJnstruction possibly preferred to be listeners rather than readers. The concentration of terms connected to poverty suggests that a low social status was the (possible) reality for many of the addressees. 7o Lange sees the identification of Wisdom and Torah and the idea of a "weisheitliche U rordnung" as a unitying factor in his priestly sapiential school in the Temple, extending from the late third century to Hasmonean times (and basically undisturbed by the upheavals in the Maccabean period).71 It is true that 4QJnstruction interprets Pentateuchal traditions more than most sapiential works. However, the word i1i,n never occurs in the preserved fragments, and m::m only three times. The authority to which one appeals is not the Mosaic Torah, 72 but the ra;;; nil!Jeh, the mystery to come, the divine plan for creation, history and the end-time, which is now revealed to the elect. While Ben Sira combines traditional wisdom with Torah and Israelite history, 4QJnstruction molds sapiential paraenesis with apocalyptic eschatology. Strugnell and Harrington ask "Which of the many judaisms' could get along with so small a role for the Torah?"73 I cannot see that we find this Judaism in the Temple; we must go elsewhere in the small province of Y ehud. 74 In summary: I have suggested that 4QJnstmction and iMysteries stem from slightly different circles in pre-Maccabean Judea. 4QJnstruction, which may somewhat predate iMysteries, came from scribal (and Levitical?) circles operating outside the Temple. iMysteries came out ofJ erusalemite circles (priestly or priestly-influenced), not unrelated to Ben Sira. I

70

2 iii

Even if the address is conditional: 'If you happen to be (come) poor .. .' (4Q416 8, 12).

Wisdom and Torah are identified or connected in Sirach 24, Baruch 3-4, 4Q525 2 ii 3-4; and 11QPsa 154. Further, we find hypostatic wisdom in 4Q185 (and probably presupposed in 4Q184), 11 QPsa Creat, 11 QPsaSir, 4QWqys if Righteousness (4Q421 la ii-b 9-10). I cannot find this identification in 4QJnstruction or 4QMysteries. 72 The composition once or twice refers to what has been "spoken by the hand of Moses" (4Q418 184, perhaps 4Q423 11). 4QJnstruction utilizes scriptural material from the Pentateuch, Psalms, Proverbs and prophetic books. 73 DJD 34.27. 74 Hardly in Gali1ee, where G. W. E. Nickelsburg locates some of these early apocalyptic circles ("Enoch, Levi, and Peter: Recipients of Revelation in Upper Ga1i1ee," JBL 100 [1981]: 575-600). 71

PRIESTLY SAGES

87

take issue with Lange's assertion of a unified priestly wisdom school behind these two and other writings. The similarities between 4QJnstruction and Afysteries may be attributed either to literary dependence or to a commonly available pool of traditions in the scribal and apocalyptic milieus of Judea. 75

75 Not unlike the process of development I earlier proposed for traditions connected with the Temple Rosh Hashanah liturgy; see "Qumran and the Roots of the Rosh Hashanah Liturgy," in liturgical Pmpectives: Prayer and Poetry in Light qf the Dead Sea Scrolls (ed. E. G. Chazon, in collaboration with R. Clements and A. Pinnick; STD] 48; Leiden: Brill, 2003), 49-67. See also my paper "The Eschatological Hope of 4QTime qf Righteousness," in Wisdom and Apocalypticism in the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Biblical Tradition (ed. F. Garcia Martinez; BETL 168; Leuven: Leuven Universtiy Press and Peeters, 2003), 89-102.

HALAKHIC ELEMENTS IN THE SAPIENTIAL TEXTS FROM QUMRAN

H. SCHIFFMAN New York Universiry

LAWRENCE

Biblical scholars have long observed that wisdom literature includes substantially less particularistic Israelite teaching than does the rest of biblical literature. I In line with this observation, which itself needs to be reevaluated more carefully, we should not be surprised to see that the same is the case with most of the sapiential literature that has been found at Qumran. 2 The more universal or pan-Ancient Near Eastern aspects of these teachings are to be expected. But nonetheless, we still need to pay attention to the particularly Jewish aspects of this literature, as well as to aspects that can help us to determine whether the newly published Qumran wisdom literature is sectarian in character or not. One of the elements that can contribute to such an inquiry is the small amount of halakhic material found in these texts, particularly in 4QJnstruction (4Q415-418a, 418c(?), 423) in its various manuscripts. 3 While we may be disappointed by the small amount of halakhah included here, it still deserves discussion. It is to that goal that this study is dedicated. At the outset it will be only fair to say that there is very little to consider. We will concentrate here on the mention of woman's oaths and vows, the rules of mixed species (kila'yim), and the law of firstborn animals, and we may note here that there is some discussion of weights and measures, but not in a halakhic context. 4 We should note also that R. E. Murphy, "Wisdom in the Old Testament," ABD 6:922. See J. I. Kampen, "The Diverse Aspects of Wisdom in the Qumran Texts," in The Dead Sea Scrolls After 50 Years: A Comprehensive Assessment (ed. P. W. F1int and J. C. VanderKam; 2 vols.; Leiden: Brill, 1998-1999), 1:211-43; L. H. Schiffman, Reclaiming the Dead Sea Scrolls (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1994), 197-210; D. J. Harrington, Wisdom Texts from Qymran, (London: Routledge, 1996). 3 J. Strugnell, D. J. Harrington, and T. EIgvin, Qymran Cave 4.xXIV: Sapiential Texts, Part 2 (DJD 34; Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1999), 1-495, 501-39. Please note: all translations in this paper are the author's. 4 See Strugnell and Harrington, DJD 34.59, following the interpretation of E. Qmron. I

2

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T. Elgvin has analyzed a fragmentary passage (4Q42l 12 1-5) concerning the requirements for entrance into the Temple that for some reason found its way into a sapiential text, 4QWqys if Righteousnes1>.5

The Vows

if a Married

Woman

Our text contains explicit reference to the annulment by a husband of the vows of his wife, a topic taken up in Num 30:7-9. The text tells us, according to a composite of 4Q416 2 iv 8-10 and 4Q 418 lO 8-10: And every binding oath of hers to vow a vo[w], (you must) annul with an utterance of your mouth. According to your free will cancel [it so tha]t [she not do (it). With the utterance] of your mouth excuse her [...] in order that she not make man[y vows. 6

This passage comes in the context of discussion of marriage and how a man should treat his wife. The passage is written from the male perspective, as is to be expected of a text from this period. Yet it must be stressed that this text is written from the point of view of a community in which marriage and family are the norm, a matter to which we will return below. The passage immediately preceding, quoting Gen 2:24, speaks of a man's leaving his parents to cleave to his wife, and of the husband's dominant role in the family. Also, the text notes that one has to expect that his own daughter will go through the same process and cleave to her husband. Further, anyone else who took this dominant role regarding another's wife has "moved his boundaries" (c£ Deut 27:17,19:14), trespassing upon the other man's property. A person is expected to be totally at one with his wife. He is expected to "rule over" or "control" (?tDr.l) his wife to make sure that she does not increase (or make a large number of) vows and votive pledges. The Bible includes laws of oaths and vows in Num 30:3-16 and Deut 23:22-24. We have elsewhere analyzed in detail the realization of these laws and their interpretation in CD 16:6-13, the laws 5 "421. 4QWays of Righteousness b," in Qymran Cave 4.xV.· Sapiential Texts, Part 1 (T. Elgvin et al., in consultation with]. A. Fitzmyer, SJ.; DJD 20; Oxford: Clarendon, 1997), 183-202, pp. 197-200. Elgvin, ("420. 4QWays of Righteousness a," DJD 20.173-82, p. 173, sees the text as composite in origin, and suggests that the section dealing with the Temple probably had its origins in a "pre-sectarian priestly milieu." 6 Strugnell and Harrington, DJD 34.124-30, 236-37.

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of the shevu 'at 'issar ("binding oath"), and also in 11 QT 53:9-54:7. 7 Each of these passages includes discussion of the oath of a married woman, and we will review those prescriptions here in order to be able properly to place our text in context. The Zadokite Fragments (Damascus Document, CD 16:10-12 = 4Q27l 4 ii 10-12)8 sets out the law regarding oaths of a married woman: [Regar]ding a (married) woman's oath: As to that which he sa[id to the effect that] her husband may annul her oath, the husband may not annul an oath about [which] he does not know whether it ought to be carried out or annulled. If it (the oath) is to violate the covenant, he should annul it and not confirm it.

This section states that the law of annulment of oaths by the husband, found in Num 30:7-9, is to be taken as applying only in cases where the husband is certain that the oath should not be carried out. Otherwise, if he does not know, he should not annul it. This, at least, is the usual explanation. Whereas the biblical material discusses both the neder and 'issar, our text from the Zadokite Fragments refers explicitly to the shevu 'ah, oath. Our text must have taken this biblical passage as referring to a kind of oath, rather than to ordinary vows. If the above interpretation is accepted, it is necessary to define which types of oaths are to be annulled and which are to be observed. Apparently, some distinctions similar to those of the Tannaim regarding vows are in operation. Tannaitic law limits the right of annulment by the husband to vows of abstinence or self-affliction as well as vows that limit the married woman's ability to discharge her obligations to her husband. 9 However, we have no right to assume that the sect would have had the same restrictions. The sect may have had some other restrictions of similar nature that specified the types of vows for which the husband had the right to countermand his wife's promises. A completely different interpretation of this passage is also possible. One of the problems considered in tannaitic sources is the question of what happens if a husband annuls a vow without informing

7 L. H. Sehiffinan, "The Law of Vows and Oaths (Num 30,3-16) in the :{pdokite Fragments and the Temple Scroll," RevQ 15 (1991; Memorial Jean Stareky): 199-214. 8 J. M. Baumgarten, Qymran Cave 4.xIIL· The Damascus Document (4Q266-273) (DJD 18; Oxford: C1arendon Press, 1996), 178-80. 9 M. Nedarim 11:1; Sifre Be-Midbar 155 (ed. H. S. Horovitz;Jerusalem: Wahrmann, 1966), 206-8; ef. baraita in b. Nedarim 79b.

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his wife. lo If she violates the vow, is she to be held culpable or not? It is possible to vocalize yodi'ennah in our passage and to translate as follows: "the husband may not annul an oath about which he does not inform her whether it is to be carried out or annulled." The law would then require him to let her know if he annuls an oath. At the same time, it would prohibit his telling her that the oath had been annulled when it had not. According to the view of the Tannaim, oaths to observe or violate the commandments have no validity, since they cannot in any way either annul or supplement the commandments by which all Israel is obligated to observe the laws of the Torah. 11 Our text from the Zadokite Fragments, however, seems to take a different view. If, indeed, this passage does refer to shevu Cot, it provides that the husband should not annul any oaths to violate commandments. Apparently our sect, unlike the Tannaim, believed that the husband should annul such an oath. It other words, they took the view that even though one who swore an oath to violate a law of the Torah may not go through with the oath, there still is a valid oath which should be canceled by the process of annulment. Therefore, the sectarians expected the husband to annul the oath. To the Tannaim, such an oath had no validity at all; it neither had to be observed nor annulled. The alternative of suggesting that this passage agrees with the tannaitic view but that it refers to vows (nedarim) is extremely unlikely since this entire list of regulations seems to apply exclusively to shevu'ot. The same issue is treated in a very different way in the Temple Scroll (11QT 53:16-19):12 If a woman vows a vow to Me or swears an oath to impose an obligation on herself while in her father's house, by an oath (taken) during her youth (i.e. while a minor), and her father hears her vow or the obligation which she imposes upon herself, and says nothing to her, then all her vows shall be valid, and any obligation which she has imposed upon herself shall be valid.

The text continues further, after discussing annulment of vows by the father, and following a lacuna (lIQT 54:2-3):13 10 et Sifre Zuta to Num 30:6 (ed. H. S. Horovitz; [Jerusalem: Wahrmann, 1966], 327), and Sifre Be-Midbar 153 (ed. Horovitz, 202). II M. Nedarim 2:2; ct L. Ginzberg, An Unknown Jewish Sect (New York: Jewish

Theological Seminary, 1976), 97. 12 Y. Yadin, TIe Temple Scroll (3 vols.; Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society, 1983), 2:240-41. 13

Yadin, Temple Scroll, 2:242.

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93

(As to) [any vow] or any binding o[ath to afflict oneself], her husband may con [firm it], or her husband may annul it on the day when he hears it, in which case I will forgive [he] r.

In the complete scroll, this section contained the scroll's adaptation of Num 30:7-15. Verse 10 was omitted here and moved below to remove ambiguity in the following verses. Lines 1-2 contained the adaptation of Num 30: 13b. The missing material dealt with the husband's right to annul the vows and oaths of his wife, the requirement that he annul it on the same day, and the (presumably first person) statement that God forgives the wife for her inability to fulfill the oath that the husband has annulled. Lines 1-2, concluding the lacuna, have been restored to an adaptation of Num 30:16, which serves as a fitting conclusion to the section on the married woman. 14 This verse states that if the husband annuls it on a subsequent day, he bears the guilt for transgression. 15 The Temple Scroll continues after the lacuna with its adaptation of Num 30: 14-15. The passage leaves out the repetitive verse 15, including only the words "on the day when he hears it," a phrase that in fact tells the entire story of the omitted material. The scroll here repeats the pronouncement that "I (God) will forgive her," based on Num 30: 13. The entire section is a fitting continuation of the section on the oaths of married women, since it takes up the special case of the married woman's vows or oaths of self-affliction and the husband's right to countermand them. The content of this law contains nothing not already found in scripture. It therefore raises the same exegetical difficulty as the biblical text itself: why single out vows and oaths of self-abnegation? The Tannaim derived from this verse the rule that the husband could only annul vows that involve self-affliction. 16 In other words, the Tannaim understood this command to cast light on the rest of the material in Numbers 30. This interpretation founders on the question of why the entire prescription requiring annulment on the same day must then be repeated here. This repetition seems to argue that the original text singled out the case of vows and oaths of selfabnegation for some reason. Our text of the Temple Scroll gives no Yaclin, Temple Scroll, 2:242. 1 Sam. 1:23 in LXX and 4QSam' pictures E1kanah as confirming the vow of his wife Hannah. See A. Rofe, "The Nomistic Correction in Biblical Manuscripts and its Occurrence in 4QSam"," RevQ, 14 (1989): 247-54. 16 Sifie Be-Midbar, 155 (ed. Horovitz, 296). 14 15

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LAWRENCE H. SCHlFFMAN

inkling as to how this problem was dealt with by the author, except that if he had understood the biblical passage as did the Tannaim, he would certainly have folded this passage into the general law of annulment of the wife's vows, which originally stood in the lacuna. Such is the method by which the Temple Scroll regularly deals with passages it regards as duplicating each otherY All in all, the material we have looked at shows that the sapiential text does not reflect the sectarian approaches to oaths and vows of either the Zadokite Fragments or the Temple Scroll. According to these texts, it is up to the husband to decide if he wishes to annul his wife's vow. We have instead in the sapiential material a requirement that all vows be annulled by the husband.

The Law

if Mixed

Species (Kif) ayim)

The second law we will consider here is that regarding mixed species (kif' ayim). These laws are found in Leviticus 19 and Deuteronomy 22. The passage in our text is in the context of advice, apparently regarding commercial transactions (4Q4l8 103 ii 6-9):18 Do not mix your merchandise with that of [your neighbor.] Why should it be mixed species like a mule? Then you would be like one who wear[s linsey-woolsey] made of linen and flax, and your work like that of one who plow[s] with an ox and a do[nk]ey [to]gethe[r]. And also your crop will [be for you like that of] one who sows mixed species together, for whom the seeds and the full growth and the crop [of] the [vineyard] will be sanctified together?19

Before beginning to analyze this passage, an additional word must be said about its context, at least as can be observed from the preserved fragments. Frg. 103 speaks beforehand of what appears to be another agricultural offering, probably that of first fruits (on which see below). Below, the motif of property seems to be continuing, although it is impossible to tell for sure what is being discussed. 17 Yadin, Temple Scroll, 1: 73-77; and L. H. Schiffman, "The Deuteronomic Paraphrase of the Temple Scroll," RevQ 15 (1992): 543-68. 18 Strugnell and Harrington, DJD 34.329-33. 19 Despite the long note (pp. 333-34), the editors' translation, "to be set apa[rt (for the sanctuary)]" (p. 331) misses the point. The root tZl1p in this context means to render the entire vineyard unfit as a result of the mixing of species. et Onkelos and Rashi to Deut 22:9, followed by J. Tigay, the Jewish Publication Society Torah Commentary, Deuteronomy (Philadelphia and Jerusalem: Jewish Publication Society, 1996), 202.

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What the text seems to be requiring is the scrupulous separation of one's crops (or other merchandise) from that of one's neighbor, presumably to avoid later conflicts over ownership or payments delivered upon sale. Contrary to the editors' short comment,20 the presence of agricultural material in a sapiential text is most natural. Just as we noted above that these texts envisage a society in which marriage and the family are the norm, so they also envisage a society of small farmers, whom we so often label with the somewhat pejorative term "peasants."21 Indeed, such people are mentioned explicitly in line 2 of this fragment. The laws pertaining to mixed species, as we noted, appear in two different places in the Torah. Lev 19: 19 commands three aspects of this set of laws. It prohibits the breeding of mixed species of animals, the planting of mixed species of seeds, and the wearing of garments made of mixed species of wool and linen. Deut 22:9-11 prohibits the sowing of a vineyard with mixed species of seeds (quite a similar prohibition to that in Leviticus), the plowing of fields with a mixed team of animals, and the wearing of garments of mixed species (sha'atnez). This analysis shows that in actuality there is only one prohibition common to both sets of commands, that against mixed species in clothes. Similar, and understood by the rabbis as virtually identical, are the prohibitions against sowing a field and a vineyard with mixed seeds, but there is a fundamental difference. The Torah informs us that in the case of the vineyard, the crops are all prohibited as a result (Deut 22:9). This is not the case in the field. Further, only Leviticus prohibits cross-breeding of species, and only Deuteronomy prohibits plowing with mixed teams of animals. The issue of mixed species comes up in several passages in the scrolls. In 4Q,Text Mentioning Mixed Kinds (4Q48l 1 2), which we cannot really explain since it is so fragmentary, there is reference to dqyyanei kiF qyim, 'judges of mixed species."22 Much more important are two passages which deal with marriage, one in 4QMMT and one in the ':::.adokite Fragments.

Strugnell and Harrington, DJD 34.330. On small fanning, c£ Z. Safrai, "The Rural Economic System," in his The Economy if Roman Palestine (London: Routledge, 1994), 352-70. 22 L. H. Schiffman and E. Larson, "48l. 4QText Mentioning Mixed Kinds," in Qymran Cave 4.XVIl· Parabiblical Texts, Part 3 (G. J. Brooke et al., in consultation with J. VanderKam; DJD 22; Oxford: C1arendon Press, 1996), 303-4. 20

21

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LAWRENCE H. SCHIFFMAN

The first passage we will consider is 4QMMT B 75-82: 23 Regarding the sexual immorality which is being done among the people, although they are the so[ns] of the holy [seed], as is written, "Israel is holy" (Jer 2:3); and concerning his (Israel'sJ24 pur[e (domesticated) ani]mals, it is written that he may not breed it with mixed species; and regarding [his] garment, [it is written] that it [may not] be mixed species; and not to sow his field and [his] vi[neyard with mixed species; be]cause they (Israel) are holy. But the sons of Aaron are the ho[liest of the holy ones. And yo]u know that sons of the priests and [the people are intermingling, and they are] uniting (in marriage) and rendering impur[e] the seed of [holiness, and even] their (own) [see]d with sexual immorality. F[or it is incumbent on the sons of Aaron ... This passage has been discussed extensively in terms of the question of the nature of the forbidden marriages involved. 25 E. Qjmron takes the view that this passage describes a prohibition that the authors believed was in force against priests marrying out of priestly families. J. M. Baumgarten, on the other hand, suggested that this refers to intermarriage, that is, the marriage of priests with non-Jewish women. Whatever the exact meaning of the passage, it clearly refers to priests violating marriage restrictions, and this action is compared to violation of the law of mixed species. We must emphasize an aspect of the inner logic of this passage. The passage starts off by criticizing the action of the priests and calling it sexual immorality. It then offers in comparison the obligation of the entire people of Israel to observe the laws of mixed species, as stemming from the sanctity of the Jewish people. It is then stated that if this requirement applies to the people of Israel, how much more so should the priests, who are of a higher level of sanctity, be obligated to avoid the particular forbidden unions that the passage concerns. The only detail in which the law of mixed species in this text differs in any way from that of the Bible is that it states that the prohibition of mating diverse species applies only to pure, that is, kosher animals. According to tannaitic halakhah, this prohibition applied also to impure animals. 26 For purposes of this study, we have to note 23 E. Qimron and J. Strugnell, Qymran Cave 4. v.. Miq~at Ma'a.§e ha-Torah (DJD 10; Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1994), 54-57. For a detailed study of this passage, see A. Shemesh, "4Q27 1.3: A Key to Sectarian Matrimonial Law," ]]S 496 (1998): 244-63. 24 That is, of any Jew. 25 Qimron and Strugnell, DJD 10.171-72. 26 Sifra Qsdoshim (ed. I. H. Weiss; New York: Om, 1946), Pereq 4:15, 89b.

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that the sapiential text we are talking about gives as an example of mixed species the pered, "mule," a result of breeding two impure animals, the horse and the donkey. If so, there can be no question that these two texts are following different approaches. The sapiential text apparently follows a view similar to that found later in the rabbinic tradition,27 probably the Pharisaic approach, whereas the MMT text accords with the sectarian, that is, the Sadducean, view. There is an additional passage in which the laws of mixed species serve a didactic purpose in connection with the teaching of another aspect of Jewish law. This passage is in the .:{,adokite Fragments, in several manuscripts from Cave 4. The text here discusses the appropriate wife that a man should marry, as well as the requirement of virginity, or in the case of a widow, chastity before marriage. The passage addresses the question of what a person should do if his daughter has certain blemishes, in connection with arranging her marriage. The text requires that these blemishes be related in advance to the husband-to-be. It then addresses the requirement that a father give his daughter in marriage only to one who is appropriate to her. One who is not appropriate is described as follows: for [it is mixed species, an o]x and a donkey, and a garment of wool and linen together. (4Q271 3 9-10)28 We must note at the outset that this passage refers to only two of the forms of mixed species mentioned in the Torah. In fact, checking the passages will clearly indicate that our passage in the Zadokite Fragments is dependent on Deut 22:9-11, in which both the prohibitions against plowing with a mixed team and against wearing a garment of mixed linen and wool occur. At the same time it is apparent that the language of Lev 19: 19 has also influenced our passage. The very same requirement, that a father disclose the physical characteristics of his daughter to one about to betroth her, is found

4QJnstruction (4Q415 11 6-7 = 4Q418 167a+b 6-7):29

III

Describe [a]ll her blemishes to him ... and make known [to him] (about) her bodily parts .... 30 for when in the dark his foot stumbles, it will be a stumbling block before him. 27

J.

Babad, Minl;at Ijinukh, in Sifer ha-Ijinukh (Jerusalem: Mekhon Yerushalayim,

1989/90), 2:237 (commenting on the beginning of sec. 244).

28 J. M. Baumgarten, DJD 18.175-77. Also preserved in 4Q269 9 2-3 (DJD 18.132), and 270 5 15-17 (DJD 18.l54-55). 29 Strugnell and Harrington, DJD 34.57-61, 389-90. 30 The note of the editors, DJD 34.60, stating that the meaning "her bodily

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LAWRENCE H. SCHIFFMAN

The text here says that the father of a prospective bride must disclose any defects in advance lest, when the groom later perceives them, they become a stumbling block to him. The intention here is to avoid later disappointment upon discovery of these defects. The entire fragment has one common theme, namely that the prospective groom should choose his mate according to her spirit, not according to her 100ks. 31 The editor of the passage in the Zadokite Fragments 32 has already called our attention to the fact that Josephus used similar imagery in his retelling of the biblical legal system. According to Antiquities 4.229, the purpose of the prohibition of the mixing of species is to make sure that "a disregard for the law of the breed not pass over even into the practices of humanity." If the purpose of the laws of the prohibition of mixed species is to prevent certain forms of human immorality, we can easily understand why the laws of mixed species would be cited to teach lessons regarding appropriate marriages. Yet we must note one essential difference. In our passage from the Zadokite Fragments, we seem to deal more with a match between inappropriate marital partners than with the issue of prohibited unions. 33 The editor further points to rabbinic parallels to this same concept found in Pereq 'Arayot 11,34 in a very late rabbinic compilation. This passage lists a variety of transgressions that one incurs should he have sexual relations with a handmaiden. Among these transgressions are listed: sowing a field with mixed species of seeds, plowing with a mixed team, and wearing clothes of mixed species. This example clearly reflects Deuteronomy 22 rather than Leviticus 19. What is particularly significant here is that the prohibition of a sexual union regarded as forbidden is described in terms of violation of the laws of mixed species, in a way similar to what we encountered in the various Dead Sea Scrolls texts. What emerges from this detailed discussion is that while the imagery of mixed species denoting forbidden sexual unions is utilized by sev-

defects" is found in M. Jastrow, Dictionary qf the Targumim, Talmud Babli, Yerushalmi, and Midrashic Literature (New York: J udaica Press, 1992), represents a misconstrual of his definition s.v. i1'1J, 220b-221a. 31 E. Qmron, quoted in DJD 34.59. 32 cr. Baumgarten, DJD 18.177. 33 cr. A. Shemesh, "4Q27 1.3: A Key to Sectarian Matrimonial Law," ]]S 49 (1998): 244-63, who sees this text as dealing with a prohibited union. 34 M. Rigger, Masekhtot Ze'irot (Jerusalem: Makor, 1969170), 94, para. 19.

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eral Qumran texts, 4QJnstruction shares the halakhic approach of the Pharisaic-rabbinic tradition. The other texts take the Sadduceanl Zadokite approach.

The Laws

if the Firstbom

The final example to be taken up in this paper is that of firstbom animals. The passage (4Q423 3 4~5) is fragmentary, and therefore can only be partially understood. Apparently, the blessing of having one's animals be fertile is being discussed as a reward for something. At this point the text turns to the bringing of firstbom animals as a sacrifice to God, in thankfulness for the plenty bestowed upon the flocks. Here the text states: 35 And you shall come before your God wi]th the first fruits of your womb and the firstborn of all [your (domesticated) animals ... and you shall come before ]yo[ur God saying: "And I have sanctified (set aside) every [firstborn ('~El) of the womb to God."

The key halakhic detail in this passage is the requirement that there be a formal sanctification or consecration of the firstbom of pure, kosher animals that are without blemish. This requirement is clearly derived from Deut 15: 19, which requires that taqdish la- 'adonai 'elohekJza, "you must sanctify (it) to the Lord your God." This passage is understood to require a formal statement of sanctification. 36 This statement of consecration has essentially fixed the sanctity of the animal so that its use for any non-sacrificial purpose is considered to be an act of desacralization. The notion that there is a specific declaration to be made upon bringing the firstbom animals is itself based upon the analogous law of the bringing of first fruits found in Deut 26: 1-3. There, upon presenting his first fruits in a special basket, the farmer is called upon to make a specific declaration. This particular requirement is known from tannaitic law. According to Sjfre Deut 124,37 the rabbis required that a declaration of consecration

35 Strugnell and Harrington, DJD 34.514. Cr. also 1Q26 2 2-4 (re edited in DJD 34.538). 36 Cf. other uses of root iV1p in Exod. 13:2 and Num 3: 13. 37 Ed. L. Finke1stein (New York: Jewish Theological Seminary of America, 1969),

182~83.

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LAWRENCE H. SCHIFFMAN

be made when offering a firstborn animal. Various other texts such as the Temple Scroll (llQT 60:2-4) give specific details regarding firstborn offerings. 38 These texts do not testify to the specific requirement of a declaration or to any specific text to be recited for this purpose. In this case, therefore, we have direct evidence that our sapiential text agrees with the law later found in the Pharisaic-rabbinic tradition, but we cannot be sure at all that the sectarians of Qumran or those who shared their legal traditions would have disagreed with this ruling. Conclusion We have investigated several examples of halakhic excerpts that appear in the context of a sapiential composition. In studying these passages, we have noted that they do not conform to sectarian halakhic rulings, but rather agree generally with the law as defined in what we later know as the Pharisaic-rabbinic tradition. In general terms, what we have observed accords well with the widespread view that the wisdom literature from Qumran is not sectarian in character. On the other hand, we must be extremely careful in reasoning from only three short examples. Further, it may be that these examples are valid only for 4QJnstruction but not for other texts in the sapiential corpus. This may especially be noted with regard to the legal material pertaining to entering the Temple in 4Q,Ways if RighteousnesS' (4Q42l 12 1-5). At the same time, it is significant that the laws in our text which accord with the Pharisaic-rabbinic approach can be dated earlysometime in the second or first centuries BCE. For as we continue to study the legal material in the Qumran corpus it becomes more and more certain that there is evidence here not only for the sectarian trend in Jewish law but also for the early dating of some aspects of what we later find in rabbinic texts. So while the results of our study have turned up a meager amount of halakhic material in the newly published sapiential texts from Qumran, the bits and pieces that we have uncovered have truly contributed to our study of the new texts and of the history of Jewish law in Second Temple times.

38

Yadin, Temple Scroll, 2:271-72.

THE CATEGORIES OF RICH AND POOR IN THE QUMRAN SAPIENTIAL LITERATURE

G. WRIGHT Lehigh Universiry

BENJAMIN

In

In his article, "Ten Reasons Why the Qumran Wisdom Texts are Important," Daniel Harrington has argued a case for the value of the corpus of wisdom books found near the Dead Sea.' Undoubtedly many more than ten reasons could be mustered in support of their importance to scholars of Judaism in the Second Temple period, and several studies have set out the general scope and problems of these texts. 2 The recent publication of 4QJnstruction, the most extensive wisdom book found at Qumran, by John Strugnell and Daniel Harrington in DJD 34, puts scholars in the advantageous position of having practically all of the Qumran wisdom texts available. 3 The foundation is now laid for further and more detailed studies of this literature. One observation that scholars have made about the Qumran texts is that they cover a number of subjects familiar from other Jewish wisdom literature. Indeed, the third of Harrington's ten reasons is that "[t]hey provide further treatments of standard wisdom topics."4 Along with women and speech, the subject of riches and poverty, and attitudes toward those who are rich or poor, constitutes one of the most pervasive topics in Jewish wisdom. The frequency with which the ancient sages addressed issues connected with wealth, I

DSD 4 (1997): 245-54. This entire fascicle is devoted to "Wisdom at Qumran."

The most important to this point is D. J. Harrington, Wisdom Texts from Qymran (London and New York: Routledge, 1996). See also Harrington's earlier article, "Wisdom at Qumran," in The Community qf the Renewed Covenant (ed. E. Ulrich and J. VanderKam; Christianity and Judaism in Antiquity 10; Notre Dame, Ind.: University of Notre Dame Press, 1994), 137-52. See also the long chapter "Wisdom in the Dead Sea Scroils," in J. J. Coilins, Jewish Wisdom in the Hellenistic Age (OTL; Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1997), 112-31. 3 See J. Strugnell and D. J. Harrington, "4Qlnstruction," in Qymran Cave 4.XXIV: Sapiential Texts, Part 2 (ed. J. Strugneil, D. J. Harrington and T. Elgvin; DJD 34; Oxford: Clarendon, 1999), 1-503. T. EIgvin contributed the publication of 4Q423 ("423. 4QJnstructiong,,, DJD 34.505-33). Strugnell and Harrington also include a re-edition of I Q26 published originally by J. T. Milik in DJD I (Oxford: Clarendon, 1955); see "Appendix: 26. I Qlnstruction (Re-Edition)," (DJD 34.535-40). 4 Harrington, "Ten Reasons," 248. 2

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poverty and financial dealings demonstrates just how important they thought it was for someone receiving instruction to have a proper understanding of matters concerning money. The ways that the producers of Jewish wisdom talk about wealth and poverty inform modern scholars as well, since often times these ancient discussions seem to reflect the complex social and cultural realities of those who promulgated wisdom instruction. Even though investigation into the social origins of wisdom literature is notoriously difficult, scholarly analysis of this pervasive topic could provide some entree into these ancient social and cultural worlds. Examination of the language of rich and poor and the sages' advice about riches and poverty has already helped elucidate a variety of issues in the study of two Jewish wisdom texts, including their social locations. In separate studies, J. David Pleins and H. C. Washington have looked at the use of the language of riches and poverty in Proverbs. 5 In a previous study, I have argued that Ben Sira's instruction about wealth and poverty reveals that he occupied a precarious social position. On the one hand, he reinforces for his students the Jewish covenantal obligation to assist the poor, even to the extent of rendering judgments in their favor. On the other hand, he must continually exercise caution when dealing with the rich, who are clearly his social superiors. Finding himself in this intermediary position, he is faced with conflicting social loyalties and obligations. 6 In this paper I want to ask questions about the Qumran sapiential texts similar to those I asked about Ben Sira, in order to see if any answers might be ventured. 7 Does the language of riches, poverty and financial dealings provide access to the social contexts of the Qumran wisdom texts? Do the sages who produced these texts intend

5 J. D. Pleins, "Poverty in the Social World of the Wise," ]SOT37 (1987): 61-78; see also his recent book, 1he Social VISions qf the Hebrew Bible (Nashville: Abingdon, 2001). Likewise see H. C. Washington, Wealth and PovertY in the Instructions qf Amenemope and the Hebrew Proverbs (SBLDS 142; Adanta: Scholars Press, 1994). 6 "The Discourse of Riches and Poverty in the Book of Ben Sira," SBL Seminar Papers, 1998 (SBLSP 37 Adanta: Scholars Press, 1998), 559-78. I have extensively revised this paper in cooperation with Claudia V. Camp, under the tide: "'Who Has Been Tested by Gold and Found Perfect?': Ben Sira's Discourse of Riches and Poverty," Henoch 23 (2001): 153-74. References below are to the joindy authored article. 7 See now C. M. Murphy, Wealth in the Dead Sea Scrolls and in the OJimran Community (STD] 40; Leiden: Brill, 2002). Murphy examines the issue of wealth across the entire Qumran corpus.

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the tenns to denote actual circumstances of rich and poor? Is the language ever used metaphorically? Do the sages represented in the Qumran texts think that God favors one group or the other?

Rich and Poor in the Qymran Wisdom Texts Although the Qumran scrolls contain a number of wisdom texts, many are fragmentary and difficult to understand. Those manuscripts usually included in the category are: 8 4Q184 (the so-called "Wiles of the Wicked Woman"); 4Q185; 4Q298; 4Q4l3; 4Q4l5-4l8, 423 (fonnerly Sapiential A, but now known as 4QJnstruction, of which 1Q26 is also a copy); 4Q420-42l (4Q,Wqys if Righteousness); 4Q424; 4Q525 (4 QfJeatitudes); 11 Q5 26:9-15 (Hymn to the Creator). Harrington notes that scholars have identified a number of other manuscripts as sapiential, on the basis of their style and vocabulary (4Q307-308; 4Q408; 4Q4l0-4l2; 4Q425-426; 4Q472-476; 4Q486-487; 4Q498); but, "in all cases there is not enough running text preserved to make a substantial contribution to our understanding of Qumran wisdom."g As in other Jewish wisdom texts, Qumran wisdom employs a number of different tenns for rich and poor. The major words that indicate poverty are the usual ones found elsewhere-1"~~ ,,?, ,i,on~ and iDi (with its variant iD'i). 'It)/mJ'v, meaning 'humble' often refers to those of poor economic circumstance in Jewish wisdom, but except for a very few instances, it does not generally have the meaning 'poor' in our group of texts. In non-Qumran wisdom literature the tenns iiD,V ,F' ,'?'n ,f'in ,i1~'~ and i'n~ can indicate wealth, money or riches. In the Qumran scrolls 1'i1 is far and away the most frequent. In what follows, I provide notes on all the places I could identifY where the language of wealth, poverty and financial matters appear in the scrolls listed above. I will give the shorter, more fragmentary texts first and then treat the more substantial ones, about which I will make more extensive comments.

8 These correlate closely with the texts cited by Harrington in Wisdom Texts from Qymran. I have not listed here wisdom texts that were already known before the finds at Qumran. 9 Harrington, WISdom Texts from Qymran, 73-74. Some of these text designations have changed upon publication in the D.JD series and others may change in the future.

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40)84: 10 This text, which warns against the scandalous behavior of Lady Folly, who pursues the righteous to lead them astray, contains no unambiguous references to wealth or poverty. Fragment 1 16 speaks about Folly's attempt to make the "humble (Cl'1Jll) rebel against God." In this instance, the meaning of 'poor' found elsewhere in Jewish wisdom literature for mJll (cf. many instances in Ben Sira and also 4Q424 below) does not seem to apply. 40) 85: This fragmentary work primarily concerns the search for Lady Wisdom. Two mentions of riches appear here. Fragment 1-2 ii 4-5 poses the question, "Is not one day in his house better than riches? ([...]'iDllD)" In this question, one of the most desirable things in life, riches, fails in comparison with being "in his house" [= the Temple?]. Later in line 12 the sage says that the one who eventually finds wisdom and holds fast to her will have "long days and greasy bones and a happy heart and rich[es and honor] ([i1:l~1 ']iDll)."11 Contrary to 4QJnstruction, where 'iDll does not appear at all in the extant fragments, in 4Q185 it is the only word used for wealth. The more general sentiment of this passage, that contentment and prosperity are the result of the successful pursuit of wisdom, is shared with other Jewish wisdom literature (cf., for instance, Prov 8: 18, 22:4, where riches are the reward of humility and fear of the Lord; cf. also Sir 51 :28). 40...412: Published by A. Steudel in DJD 20, 4Q4l2 is a fragmentary, wisdom-type textY Fragment 4 contains the phrase [...]'?'nJ' "iDll[...], which could be translated "my wealth he will give as an inheritance."13 The phrase has no context that would assist in understanding it further. It is, like 4Q185, another one of the few places in the wisdom texts at Qumran where 'iDll is the Hebrew term designating wealth. !O See J. M. Allegro, "184," Qymrdn Cave 4.1 (4QJ58-4QJ86) (DJDJ 5; Oxford: C1arendon, 1968), 82-85; J. Strugnell, "Notes en marge du volume V des 'Discoveries in the Judaean Desert of Jordan'," RevQ 7 (1969-70): 163-276, pp. 263-68. II The texts and translations are taken from F. Garcia Martinez and E. J. C. Tigchelaar, the Dead Sea Scrolls Stutfy Edition (2 vols.; Leiden: Brill, 1998), 1:378. The references are partially restored. Harrington's translation in Wisdom Texts from Qymran makes no mention of riches in either place. 12 "412. 4QSapientia1-Didactic Work A," in Qymran Cave 4.xV.· Sapiential Texts, Part 1 (ed. T. E1gvin et al., in consultation with J. A. Fitzmyer, SJ.; DJD 20; Oxford: C1arendon, 1997), 163-67. 13 Garcia Martinez and Tigchelaar, Stutfy Edition, 2:843.

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4QJ25: 14 Most notable for its series of macarisms or beatitudes (Fragment 2 ii), which can be compared to those in Matthew's Sermon on the Mount, 4Q525 refers to gold and poverty separately in two fragmentary passages. Although wisdom is not specifically mentioned, Fragment 2 iii 2, "she cannot be obtained with gold" (~m~ np'?n ~1'?), claims that wisdom cannot be bought. This sentiment contrasts with the remarks made earlier in the work (Fragment 2 ii) that one acquires wisdom by doing things like adhering to the Law, always thinking about her, searching for her with "pure hands." The one mention of poverty in 4Q525 comes in Fragment 15, which mentions a burning serpent and vipers and eternal curses. Perhaps it concerns eschatological judgment. The first line of the fragment says, "[You will] gather poverty (tD', 'j~[n .. .l)." Exacdy what this statement means or to what it refers remains unclear. 40.424: Although four fragments of this work survive, only three provide text that is usable, since Fragment 4 contains a scant seven letters. The extant portion of the work preserves two types of practical wisdom-sayings about people with whom one should not associate or to whom one should not give responsibility, and sayings describing people who have valuable qualities that should be imitated. 15 References to riches and poverty appear several times in these fragments, and if their frequency provides any indication, these topics were an important concern of the whole work. Fragment 1 7-8 proffers the trenchant advice, "A man who is always complaining about his luck, do not expect money 01iT) from him when you are in need (1'10m~'?)." 11iT, 'money,' and '10no, 'need/want,' constitute two of the most frequent words used in the Qumran wisdom texts to connote riches and poverty. They are particularly frequent in 4QJnstruction (see below). 14 For text see E. Puech, "525. 4Q Beatitudes," in Qymran Grotte 4.xVIII· Textes Hebreux (4QJ21-528, 4QJ76--579) (DJD 25; Clarendon: Oxford, 1998), 115-78. Translation as in Garcia Martinez and Tigchelaar, Study Edition, 2: 1053-1059. 15 On this text and its translation, see S. Tanzer's edition, "424. 4QInstructionlike Composition B," in Qymran Cave 4.xXVI: Cryptic Texts (ed. S. J. Pfann); and Miscellanea, Part 1 (ed. P. Alexander et al., in consultation with J. C. VanderKam and M. Brady; DJD 36; Clarendon: Oxford, 2000), 333-48; and three articles by G. Brin: "Studies in 4Q424, Fragment 3," VT 46 (1996): 271-95; "Studies in 4Q424 1-2," RevQ 69 (1997): 21-43; "Wisdom Issues in Qumran: The Types and Status of the Figures in 4Q424 and the Phrases of Rationale in the Document," DSD 4 (1997): 297-311.

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Line 10 admonishes the recipient of this wisdom not to put a greedy person "in a position of authority over your mo[ney]/we[a1th] (lJ]'i1J)." Line 11 is more fragmentary, but it seems to continue the thought. Sarah Tanzer suggests that a possible reconstruction of these lines might be, "A man who is greedy do not put in a position of authority over your we[alth, for never] will he mete out your surplus to your satisfaction, but [he will keep (it all)] for those who have more than enough [...]." As she observes, if this reconstruction approximates what was in the full text, the passage would present a contrast between how the greedy money manager would treat the poor and how he would regard the rich. 16 That is, he would not give the surplus wealth to the poor, as the owner desires, but redirect it to the rich, perhaps in order to ingratiate himself with them. Fragment 2 3 contains a familiar sapiential admonition: "One who is a hypo]crite, do not give surety for him among the poo[r] (']'Jll)." In this saying the meaning of the more allusive i11Jll as "poor" corresponds to its use in other wisdom books like Ben Sira, where the term often connotes people of low economic status. The topic of giving surety is a standard wisdom subject that recurs many times in Jewish wisdom texts (cf., for example, Prov 6:1; Sir 8:13; and a number of times in 4QJnstruction, see below). Whereas the primary concern of 4Q424 1 was protecting the addressee's wealth from potentially unscrupulous people, the saying in this fragment focuses on guarding the poor against abuse. Further down this fragment at the beginning of line 5, Tanzer reconstructs the word [J'J"[J~, but the broken context does not allow one to say much about it. She does, however, suggest the possibility, "A man who despises the poor, do not set him in authority."17 If this saying, or something close to it, were the actual text, then both sayings in this fragment would focus on protecting the poor. Assistance for the poor is also the subject of Fragment 3 9-10 and perhaps line 11, which concludes the fragment's extant text. These three lines come in the second section of the work, which characterizes people of integrity and values. Lines 9-10 read, "A man of generosit[y perfo]rms charity for the poor (loJ"J~'?) [...]/[...]he takes care of all who lack property/money (1'i1)." Thus, the generous person is the opposite of those described earlier who are greedy 16 17

Tanzer, DJD 36.340. Tanzer, DJD 36.342.

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or hypocrites; he will take care of the poor when they will not. This same topic perhaps continues in the fragmentary line 11, which contains the phrase "in all wealth O'i1 ';:1,:1::1)," but it is difficult to know since the line contains this phrase alone. The passages concerning riches and poverty that I have discussed so far do not allow us to make much headway regarding (1) the ever-vexing question of whether any of these texts is "sectarian," that is, a product of the Qumran community; and (2) the social location of the texts. Although some scholars have tried to advance arguments that would place the origins of particular wisdom texts within the sphere of Qumran or the sectarian community out of which the ra~ad emerged, none has as yet won the day. Jacqueline C. de Roo, for instance, has argued that 4Q525 is a sectarian document, while Emile Puech thinks it more likely that it predated and influenced some of the authors at Qumran. 18 Two major difficulties attend any attempt to rely on the remarks about wealth and poverty as a basis for making judgments about the social context of these works. First, in many cases there simply is very little or even no context to provide any clear indication of how these terms and ideas are functioning. A passage like that in 4Q4l2, "my riches he will give as an inheritance," tells us very little beyond which term for wealth appears in the text. Second, many passages that do have some context turn out to contain conventional sentiments about wealth and poverty. To say that wisdom cannot be purchased with money as in 4Q525, or that one should not put a greedy person in charge of one's money as in 4Q424, is neither revelatory nor even surprising in this literature. In fact a good number of the statements about wealth and poverty find ready parallels in other Jewish wisdom texts. Thus their very conventionality becomes 18 J. C. R. de Roo, "Is 4Q525 a Qumran Sectarian Document?" in The Scrolls and the Scriptures: Qymran Fifty Years A.fler (ed. S. E. Porter and C. A. Evans; Roehampton Institute London Papers 3; JSPSuP 26; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1997), 338-67; Puech, DJD 25.119. On the beatitudes in 4Q525, see Puech, "4Q525 et les pericopes des beatitudes en Ben Sira et Matthieu," RE 98 (1991): 80-106; and idem, "The Collection of Beatitudes in Hebrew and in Greek (4Q525 and Mt 5,3-12)," in Early Christianity in Context. Monuments and Documents (ed. F. Manns and E. Alliata; Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, Collectio Maior 38; Jerusalem: Franciscan Printing Press, 1993), 353-68. For a summary of the arguments, see my "Wisdom and the Women of Qumran" (paper presented in the Qumran Section, Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature, Nashville, Tenn., November 20, 2000).

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an obstacle to detennining if they represent the particular social context of these documents. Yet, even though much of the advice about wealth and poverty does not come unexpectedly, one might still be able to venture some remarks about the texts. The different ways in which the sages represented in them invoke wealth and poverty might say something about their social locations. For instance, the instruction given in 4Q424 comes from a sage to a singular "you," as is often the case with Ben Sira and Proverbs. The sage advises his charge about use of his money and care for the poor. Even though the advice he gives conforms to what we see elsewhere, the practical nature of that advice suggests that the recipient of the instruction needs to be taught about money matters. One could conclude, then, that the character of the wealth and poverty discussion at the least indicates that the recipient likely lives in a world where he has to make monetary decisions. This life situation, of course, contrasts with the usual picture of communal life at Qumran. 4Q424, however, also contains language, like the phrase n.tl' that has sectarian connotations, a fact that potentially complicates matters. 19 This same problem accompanies analysis of 4QJnstruction. Texts like 4Ql85 work differently. They do not address a wisdom recipient, nor do they contain instruction about the practical use of wealth or care for the poor. They employ the language of wealth and poverty in the service of some other end. To claim that wisdom cannot be bought, but that she must be sought, or that holding fast to wisdom brings riches, differs in kind from the practical advice given in texts like 4Q424. In cases like 4Q185, the author employs the language using different rhetorical strategies, and though not strictly metaphorical, such language does not signal advice about how to use one's money properly, or how to avoid becoming impoverished, or how to provide for the poor. In such instances, the use of the categories of rich and poor does not as readily provide insight into the possible life situation as it does in a work like 4Q424. In general, texts of this sort lack extended reflections on material circumstances, and as a result much less can be said about them on the basis of their use of the categories of rich and poor.

'El""

19

Tanzer, DJD 36.336.

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4QInstruction (40..,415-418, 418a, 423, 10..,26) The seven (or possibly eight) extant, although fragmentary, copies of this work demonstrate that it was held in high regard among the members of the Qumran community. It is the most extensive wisdom text that survives among the Qumran scrolls, and one could claim that it is the most interesting as well. What distinguishes 4QJnstruction from many other wisdom texts is that it frames wisdom advice, much of it standard, with cosmological and eschatological matters. 20 Such interests form a stark contrast with a work like Ben Sira, whose disinterest in eschatology is often noted. In fact, 4QJnstruction apparently began with a third person section featuring the judgment pronounced by God on all the wicked (4Q416 1).21 This fragment contains no wisdom teaching, and it may well be intended to provide the motivation for following the instruction given to the recipient later in the work. The interest in and concern for eschatology continues throughout the book, especially in the references to the elusive i1'i1:J n, or "mystery that is to come," whose content, although never made explicit in the fragments that survive, almost certainly is at least partially eschatological. 22 The text switches from the third person of the beginning to second person singular address when the sage gives wisdom instruction to the mevin. 23 In several places the addressee shifts from the mevin to someone else. This occurs most notably in 4Q415 2 ii where second person singular feminine pronouns show the addressee to be a woman. 24 4QJnstruction does not contain in isolation many short pithy 20 The inclusion of eschatology in wisdom writing can also be seen in 4Q525 and other texts from Qumran. 21 Strugnell and Harrington, DJD 34.80. 22 On the "mystery that is to come" and its content, see T. Eigvin, "Wisdom, Revelation, and Eschatology in an Early Essene Writing," SBL Seminar Papers, 1995 (SBLSP 34; Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1995), 440-63; idem, "Early Essene Eschatology: Judgment and Salvation according to Sapiential Work A," in Current Research and Technological Developments on the Dead Sea Scrolls: Coriference on the Texts from the Judean Desert, Jerusalem, 30 April 1995 (ed. D. W. Parry and S. D. Ricks; STDJ 20; Leiden: Brill, 1996), 126-65; idem, "The Mystery to Come: Early Essene Theology of Revelation," Qgmran between the Old and New Testaments (ed. F. H. Cryer and T. L. Thompson; JSOTSup 290; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1998), 113-50; D. J. Harrington, "The 'raz nihyeh' in a Qumran Wisdom Text (IQ26, 4Q415-418, 4Q423)," Homage aJ6sif T Milik, Revo. 17 (1996): 549-53; idem, Wisdom Texts from Qgmran, chap. 6. 23 r~a, the recipient of the wisdom teaching of 4QJnstruction, translated "maven" by Strugnell and Harrington. 24 Strugnell and Harrington, DJD 34.48, suggest a "female associate" of the mevin

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proverbs about behavior cl la the biblical Proverbs; rather, the short proverbs are mixed with longer, topically oriented wisdom instructions. Among the usual wisdom topics covered in the work, wealth, poverty, and financial matters stand out as exceptionally prominent. Several of the larger fragments have money as a central concern, and they contain sometimes lengthy instructions about it. Words having to do with riches and poverty are scattered throughout even the very small fragments. Several general features of 4QJnstruction's teaching about riches and poverty stand out. First, the work concentrates much more on poverty and the conditions that result in impoverishment than on wealth or the wealthy. Even the vocabulary used reflects this emphasis. The only word used by 4QJnstruction for wealth or money is F1. iiDl), which occurs frequently in other wisdom texts like Ben Sira and which might be expected in a text that focuses on money matters, does not appear at all in the extant fragments of our text. One possible explanation for this absence might be that 4QJnstruction betrays no concern at all for the rich as a social class. Whereas Ben Sira advises his proteges about how to deal with the rich, 4QJnstruction contains no such advice. This observation has ramifications for understanding the possible social location of the text, which I will treat below. The terms meaning 'poor' or 'poverty,' however, are quite diverse. 4QJnstruction uses 1":::lt/; ,iD'i ;-nono and ?i. The only occurrence of 'Jl) in the extant fragments comes in 4Q417 2 i 14 (overlapped by 4Q418a 22). Strugnell and Harrington translate the line, "Be like a humble [emphasis mine] man when you contend for a judgment in favor of him."25 There is no indication that the term as it is used here connotes poor economic status as it can in other wisdom texts. 4QJnstruction's favorite words for poverty are 1":::lt/; and iD'i (and its variant spellings iDi ,iDt/;i ,iD'i), which are practically synonyms. i,ono, 'deficiency,' 'lack' or 'want,' is frequent and most often indicates conditions of poverty. In at least one instance, however, the phrase

or perhaps his wife or daughter. Some other sections give teaching using second person plural forms. On this issue, see E. J. C. Tigchelaar, "The Addressees of 4QInstruction," in Sapiential, Liturgical and Poetical Texts from Qymran: Proceedings qf the Third Meeting qfthe International Organizationfor Qymran Studies (ed. D. K. Falk, F. Garcia Martinez, E. M. Schuller; STD] 35; Leiden: Brill, 2000), 62-75. 25 Strugnell and Harrington use a King lames-like English for their translation. Although I have used their translations throughout, I have also substituted "you" and "your," etc. for words like "thee" and "thou."

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"ona '::J'? "according to the deficiency of their host" (4Q416 1 6), denotes something lacking in the host, but their economic status does not seem to be the issue. ,?, occurs one time (4Q418 126 ii 7) in what looks to be an eschatological context, where God will "raise up the head of the poor." One of the consistent emphases of 4QJnstruction is the connection between the mevin and poverty. The sage in the text reminds the mevin repeatedly, "You are poor" (cf. i1n~ F~~ 4Q415 6 2, 4Q416 2 iii 12; i1n~ iV~' 4Q416 2 iii 2; i1n~ iV' 4Q418 177 5). Such designations might be thought to denote the humility of the mevin rather than his low economic status. Perhaps the author wanted to play on the possible multivalence of the terms, but all the evidence points to some relationship between the language of 4QJnstruction and the mevin's actual or at least potential impoverishment. In a number of places, 4QJnstruction refers to the mevin's poverty, sometimes in contexts immediately surrounding the "you are poor" phrases. In the fragmentary 4Q415 6, for example, line 2 begins with the familiar i1n~ 1"~~ and then line 3 starts with i1:JiV", "your poverty." 4Q416 2 iii 15-16 gives the admonition, "Honor your father in your poverty 0':JiV"~) and your mother in your low estate." And later in line 20, "you have taken a wife in your poverty 0":JiV'''~).'' Sometimes, however, the advice is given in a conditional form, "if you are poor," and seems to refer to the mevin's potential impoverishment (cf. 4Q416 2 iii 19, 4Q417 2 i 19). Using 4Q416 2 iii 19 as a central text, Eibert Tigchelaar argues that all the "you are poor" clauses in this section of 4QJnstruction should be read as conditionals. He concludes, "Thus one should not translate: 'You are poor. Do not ... ,' but 'If you are poor do not .... ' The section as a whole should be read as an instruction on how to behave if, or when, one is poor, but the resumption of the theme of poverty in the next section is somewhat strange."26 Other scholars, such as Collins and Harrington, accept the "you are poor" statements as evidence of the mevin's actual poverty.27 Indeed, in the quote given above, Tigchelaar notices the strangeness of the reference to "your poverty" in 4Q416 2 iii 15-16, the admonition to honor one's parents. His solution to the problem, that "the reference to poverty in these commandments serves to smooth the t:l~~~

26 27

Tigchelaar, "Addressees," 71. Collins, Jewish WISdom, 118; and Harrington, Wisdom Texts from Qymran, 45.

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transition from the theme of financial matters to that of family affairs," is less than satisfactory, however. 28 Yet, his argument does at least attempt to resolve the real incongruity between statements that seem to indicate the mevin's poor circumstances and those that anticipate potential impoverishment. Several observations, however, indicate that the references in 4QJnstruction to the mevin's poverty reflect the real nature of his economic situation and its ongoing precarious nature. First, most of the references to poverty or potential poverty are directed at the mevin. By contrast, the text contains no evidence that he should be counted among the wealthy. The references to poverty in 4QJnstruction only apply infrequently to poor people generally, and it contains practically no discussion of the wealthy as a social class. In fact, a social class of the wealthy is conspicuous by its absence from the extant portions of this wisdom text. I would maintain that the mevin, however we describe him, cannot be situated among the well-to-do. In fact, he is taught repeatedly about how to avoid being their economic victim. Second, several passages outside of the "you are poor" clauses seem to refer to the mevin's actual poverty. The fact that they do not appear in conditional contexts is what prompted Tigchelaar's remark that they appeared strange. Several instances occur in larger fragments that have some reasonable context and do not appear to be intended to be conditional (cf. 4Q416 2 ii 20 ~i:Ji10nD:J]; 4Q416 2 iii 6, 15, 20 ~i:JiD'i ,i1:JiD'i:J ,i1:JiD'i:J]; 4Q417 2 i 17, 21 ~i:Ji10nD ,i1:Ji10nD?]; 4Q418 126 ii 13 ~i:Ji10nD?]). In a case like 4Q416 2 iii 5-6, for example, the mevin is warned not to take money from someone he does not know, "lest he increase (or: make worse) your poverty (i1:JiD'i ?.!l =-]'01' 1~)." The poor economic position of the mevin seems taken for granted here, and the warning aims to keep that situation from becoming even worse. Other occurrences of "your poverty" or "your need" come in more fragmentary passages where it is not possible to tell whether or not the context was conditional (cf. 4Q418 88 ii 5 ~i:Ji10nDD]; 4Q4l8 107 3 ~iJi10nD?]; 4Q4l8 148 ii 4 [iD'~ i1n~ on "you are a poor(?) man"]). Third, 4QJnstruction also provides evidence congruent with statements in Ben Sira that being poor is not the same as being destitute. Both wisdom texts indicate that to be poor is not necessarily identical with being penniless. Ben Sira 29:21-22, for example, says, 28

Tigchelaar, "Addressees," 71.

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"The necessities of life are bread, water, clothing, and also a house to assure privacy. Better is the life of the poor under one's own roof than sumptuous food in the house of others." Ben Sira distinguishes the poor person who has something from the destitute person who must resort to begging. "It is better to die than to beg," he says in 40:28. 29 Like Ben Sira's poor, the mevin of 4QJnstruction is assumed to have some possessions, and he should safeguard them in order to keep from falling into more abject circumstances (cf., for example, 4Q416 2 ii 5). The encouragement given in 4Q417 2 i 20 to eat what God gives him assumes that the mevin has food, but ought not to desire more than he has. It thus may not be contradictory to picture the addressee of 4QJnstruction as having some possessions and at the same time being described as poor. It does not appear to me, then, that the "you are poor" or "if/when you are poor" clauses are necessarily exclusive of each other. In any case one certainly gets the general impression that the mevin, who is not well off and may already be in poverty, continually teeters on the edge of falling into increasingly difficult economic circumstances, even destitution. The sage of 4QJnstruction thus intends his advice to rescue the mevin from the oppressive results of poverty, such as falling into the hands of creditors, lenders and others who would take advantage of him. Indeed, the theme of how to deal with creditors and debt seems something of a preoccupation of 4QJnstruction, a preoccupation that might reflect the social world of the work. Three significant sections, 4Q416 2 ii and iii and 4Q417 2 i (and their overlaps in other fragments), have this theme as their primary focus. 3o 4Q416 2 ii 4-6 reads: (4) As much as a man's creditor has lent him money (J,i1), hastily pay it back, and you will be on equal footing with him (se. the creditor). If the purse (5) containing your treasures (i1:mEl~ O':::J) you have entrusted to your creditor, on account of your friends you have given away all your life with it. Hasten and give what (6) is his, and take back your purse, and in your speech do not act feeble-spirited. 29 On this issue in Ben Sira, see Wright and Camp, "'Who Has Been Tested by Gold?'" 160. 30 In these cases I am relying on the composite text of the fragments given in Strugnell and Harrington, DJD 34. In each of these places they give the fragment numbers and the exact places where textual overlaps have been used to fill in a lacuna in the larger fragment. For the information on the overlaps, see the pages in Strugnell and Harrington on these two sections.

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Two different matters are at stake here. First, the sage enJoIns the mevin to pay back quickly any loans he has taken. The reason is simple-that way the creditor will have no power over the mevin, and he and the creditor will be on equal footing. The second issue apparendy concerns some kind of loan or deposit made on behalf of friends that the mevin is now responsible to repay. The mevin should, as in the first case, make repayment quickly, because in the eyes of the sage, by giving up his purse he has given away his life. In this latter case the mevin should also not shrink from defending himself or his friends. 31 The second part of the passage also bears on the problem of putting up collateral, a practice against which the sage warns the mevin in other places (cf. 4Q415 8; 4Q416 2 ii 18 [?] = 4Q417 2 ii 23). Another passage in this fragment apparendy warns the mevin against selling himself into indentured servitude (line 17). One finds similar emphases in a lengthy passage featuring poverty in 4Q416 2 iii. In lines 3-8 the sage admonishes the mevin about several matters relating to borrowing and creditors. If he has had a loan deposited with him, he is to be sure to be honest and return it as he has received it. The sage says, "Do not lay your hand upon it, lest you/your hand(?) be scorched, and your body burnt in its fire" (line 4). Subsequendy the mevin is told not to take money from any person because the lender will "increase your poverty" (line 6). Line 8 provides perhaps the ultimate advice to keep the mevin out of the hands of creditors. "You are needy; do not desire something beyond your share/inheritance ... " (cf. 4Q417 2 i 20). What follows in 4Q416 2 iii 9~15 is connected to line 8 through the "share" and brings in the "mystery that is to come." The sage says, (9) But if men (or perhaps God) restore(s) you to splendor (?), walk in it (the share/inheritance of line 8) and by the mystery that is to come study the origins thereof (i.e., of the mystery). And then you shall know (10) what is allotted to it, and in righteousness you shall walk, for God will cause his c[ountenanc]e to shine upon all your ways. To him who glorifies you give honour, (11) and praise his name continually, for out of poverty (WtI;10) he has lifted your head, and with the nobles has he made you to be seated, and over a glorious heritage (12) has he given you authority; seek out his good will continually. You are needy (J,'::JtI; i1ntl;); do not say, "I am needy ('JtI; (1), and 1 will n[ot] (13) study(?) knowledge." Bring your shoulder under all instruction and with all[ 31 This is how Strugnell and Harrington understand the clause about speech. See DJD 34.97.

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] ... refine(?) your heart, and with abundance of understanding (14) (se. refine) your thoughts. Study the mystery that is to come, and understand all the ways of Truth, and all the roots of iniquity (15) you shall contemplate. The initial section of this passage actually begins in line 8 with the words, "You are needy." The meaning of the conditional sentence in line 9, however, depends on resolving a textual problem. 4Q4l6 2 iii 9 has the verb in the singular ii~::J'iD' (or perhaps read ii~::J'iD"). This line has an overlap in 4Q4l8 9 7 where the verb is in the plural, ii~'::J'iD". Strugnell and Harrington read with 4Q4l8 and translate "If (men) restore you to splendor." If one accepts the singular verb of 4Q4l6, however, the subject of the clause would not be the indefinite plural "men," but some singular entity, either "one" or "God." If men do the restoring, then the remainder of lines 9-11 could be describing, as Strugnell and Harrington suggest, "the proper reactions of the poor man when he has been promoted in rank" most likely by a human benefactor. 32 That is, he should study the origins of the mystery, he should walk in righteousness and he should praise God's name continually because as line 11 says, "he (i.e. God) has lifted thy head out of poverty, And with nobles he has made you to be seated." The entire section, then, might represent a possibility for real social advancement for which the mevin should be prepared and for which he should thank God. 33 One problem with this interpretation is that nowhere else in the work do we have any indication that the mevin might be in a position to receive such social elevation. Line 11, in fact, runs directly counter to what 4QJnstruction reveals of the mevin's social status elsewhere and its apparent possibilities. Might we read the passage, especially if God is the subject of the verb in line 9, as the sage's version of the familiar wisdom assertion that ultimately God is in control of all things? God has the ability, if he chooses, to bring down the rich and to elevate the poor, and he can place the poor and humble who have wisdom on a par with princes and nobles. Strugnell and Harrington note the difficulty of interpreting this entire section. Although they translate line 9 using the plural "men," they appeal to 1 Sam 2:8, "He raises up the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap, to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat 32 33

Strugnell and Harrington, DJD 34.118. Strugnell and Harrington, DJD 34.118.

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of honor," as a close parallel, which, they note, argues in favor of God rather than "men" as the benefactor of the mevin. 34 Ben Sira 11: 1 expresses a similar thought in very much the same words as 4QJnstruction, "The wisdom of the poor raises up his head and seats him among nobles." If we also keep in mind that lines 9-11 depend on the conditional "if," these lines might be read not as a claim about any real expectation that the mevin might advance socially, but as an expression of confidence about what is possible with God. The second section of the passage begins with "You are needy" in line 12. Here the sage reminds the mevin that poverty is no excuse for neglecting the study of knowledge and instruction. Of course, as elsewhere in 4QJnstruction, the object of that study is the "mystery that is to come." Strugnell and Harrington comment about this passage, "It is even more unclear in general how the fact of being iD' would excuse one from a quest for knowledge-unless that activity is reserved for those whose wealth allows them such a luxury."35 Perhaps we see in this section the sage's reaction to what might be perceived as a more elitist vision of the pursuit of knowledge and wisdom. Ben Sira 38:24-34 maintains that only the person with little business and lots of leisure can get wisdom. Although tradespersons "maintain the fabric of the world" (38:34), they cannot sit in judgment; they cannot be counselors to the powerful, etc. Given the constant reminders of the mevin's poverty, I imagine that any notion like Ben Sira's of the acquisition of wisdom would leave a bad taste in the mouth of the sage of 4QJnstruction. A lack of material wealth and leisure time does not provide exemption from understanding the "mystery that is to come." This passage probably indicates as well, as Tigchelaar has concluded and as I will argue further below, that the addressee of 4QJnstruction "was not a professional sage, but could be anyone in society."36 The text of 4Q4l7 2 i (and the overlapping fragments that fill it out) has poverty as its main idea. The sage makes a number of important observations and claims about poverty in this section. In keeping with the theme of borrowing and lending, the sage, perhaps surprisingly, tells the mevin to borrow: "And if you are in poverty ('Onn C1~,), for what you lack (i1~"OnD), borrow without having any

34 35 36

Strugnell and Harrington, DJD 34.118. Strugnell and Harrington, DJD 34.119. Tigchelaar, "Addressees," 75.

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money (11iT), for your/his treasure house [God] will not make (to be empty lacking anything)" ~ine 19). The meaning of this admonition is not completely clear to me, but it seems that the mevin, if he does borrow money, is advised to borrow it without giving up as collateral what meager resources he has. 37 Perhaps this passage relates to the advice in 4Q4l6 2 ii about the danger of entrusting one's purse to creditors. The sage further advises the mevin to eat only what God gives him for food and not any more, "lest by gluttony you shorten your life." Finally he returns in lines 21-24 to familiar ideas about borrowing: (21) If you borrow men's money (11iT) for your poverty (iT:J'10nD'?), let there be no sleep for you (22) day or night, and no rest for your soul, until you have restored to your creditor his loan. Do not lie (23) to him, lest you should bear guilt (for it). Moreover, because of reproach tolfrom your creditor [...] And you will not any more entrust it to his neighbor. (24) Then againstlto your poverty 0i:J'10nDJ1) he (the lender or neighbor) will close his hand.

As I noted above, most of the remarks about poverty in 4QJnstruction are directed toward the mevin and his circumstances. There are almost no passages that focus on poor people generally or care for the poor, especially the mevin's individual responsibility in that regard. This situation contrasts with Ben Sira's continued insistence to his students on the importance of care for the poor. 38 Strugnell and Harrington fill out a lacuna in 4Q4l6 2 ii 3 to read " [And in his poverty you shall not make the poor stumble because of it]. Nor because of his shame shall you hide your face."39 This statement, if it were part of 4QJnstruction, would at least suggest concern for the position of the poor, and Strugnell and Harrington may have reconstructed it this way since poverty is a theme of this section of the work. If that were the case, however, the next clause, "And because of his shame you shall hide your face," would seem to imply that poverty is somehow shameful, a position taken nowhere else in the work that I can find.

37 Perhaps the advice is based on Isa 55:1-2, especially "You that have no money, come, buy and eat! Come buy wine and milk without money and without price." I am grateful to Sidnie White Crawford, who pointed out the possibility. 38 Although begging appears to be a different story for him. See Wright and Camp, "'Who Has Been Tested by Gold?'" 160-62. 39 The phrase "stumble because of it" comes from 4Q4l7 2 ii 5. The prior phrase, "And in his poverty thou shalt not make the poor," is conjectured by Strugnell and Harrington. See Strugnell and Harrington, DJD 34.90, 93, 95.

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Elsewhere, two difficult passages in 4Q417 2 i also seem to have the poor as their subject. In line 9 through the beginning of line 11, written in the second person singular, the sage tells the mevin, "And not for yourself alone shall you increase [your appetite when you are in poverty] for what is more insignificant than a poor man? ((DiD i'l]~ i1D ~'~) And do not rejoice in mourning, lest you have trouble in your life. (11) [Gaze on the mystery] that is to come .... " Further down in lines 15-17, in a section where the mevin is advised to be cognizant of his own sins, the sage says (with a lacuna filled in by Strugnell and Harrington), "[Fo]r before [His anger] none will stand, and who will be declared righteous when He gives judgment? And without forgiveness [h]ow [can any] poor man [stand before Him?] (11':::l~ [?1~ 1'J~? I:l1p'] i1~'[~ ]i1n'?O '?:::l1)." In the first instance, the insignificance of the poor is most likely in the eyes of human beings rather than those of God. The poor person who desires more than it is possible to have will have trouble in life. The second passage could be read as a declaration that the poor have no special considerations from God when judgment comes. No one will be able to stand before God's anger without forgiveness, not even the poor. In order to avoid judgment, the mevin is encouraged not to overlook his own sins (line 14) but to "gaze on the mystery that is to come" and to "comprehend the birth-times of salvation" (line 11). In 4Q418 126 ii 7, a passage about judgment, the sage asserts that God will act "to shut (the door) upon the wicked, but to raise up the head of the poor (I:l'?i)."40 The contrast between shutting out the wicked and raising up the poor intimates that God will vindicate those poor who have been wronged by the wicked, not that their poverty excuses them. Poverty, then, for the sage of 4QJnstruction, does not seem to be valued intrinsically for its own sake or as a way of avoiding sin and judgment. What can we make of these various references to poverty and wealth in 4QJnstruction? When we consider questions of the social location of the text, these passages provide some clues, but they also raise a

40 Other fragments of 4QJnstruction have words for poverty and what look to be matters of eschatology or judgment together in the same context. Cr. 4Q4l5 6; 4Q4l8 l23(?); 4Q4l8 I 77(?). It is interesting to note that 4Q4l6 2 iii 9-11 has vel)' similar sentiments to this fragment, but without the judgment theme and in the second person singular, not in the third person.

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number of other questions. I essentially agree with Torleif Elgvin, who notes that in addition to the "you are poor" mode of address, the frequency of terms for poverty give some indication of the social status of the mevin and his communityY I think, however, that the material on poverty and wealth in 4QJnstruction allows us to go a bit further than EIgvin does. Certainly the way that the mevin is understood as able to be involved in the world of financial affairs, with all its attendant dangers, fits with other instruction in the work to evoke a picture of the addressee as one who walks in the larger society, not in some isolated sectarian community.42 Several factors indicate that 4QJnstruction may have originated in some sort of school context, although one that differs radically from the kind we see in Ben Sira. First, as EIgvin shows, the work utilizes a number of literary traditions, particularly material from the Jewish scriptures, such as Genesis, Deuteronomy and Isaiah, among others. 43 Second, its emphasis on studying the "mystery that is to come" probably originates in some kind of formal teaching environment, like a school, although the sage of the text admonishes his charge to honor his father and mother because they "have uncovered your ears to the mystery that is to come" (4Q416 2 iii 18). Third, Strugnell and Harrington argue that the "rhetorical situation of instruction" points to a school setting "though what sort of 'school' is to be imagined is not at all clear (since generally only one person is being instructed)."44 In this regard, 4QJnstruction is often compared to Ben Sira, which explicitly originates in a school context (Sir 51 :23). Ben Sira's teaching about wealth and poverty, however, reveals that he was probably instructing young men who would make their way into public service and who would occupy a social position below that of the rich and above that of the poor, whom they were obligated to help. In our study of this language in Ben Sira, Claudia Camp and I concluded,

41 Notwithstanding Tigchelaar's caveats about the function of this phrase. See EIgvin, "Wisdom, Revelation, and Eschatology," 444. 42 Several scholars have reached this conclusion. See Elgvin, "Wisdom, Revelation, and Eschatology," 443; Harrington, Wisdom Texts from OJjmran, 41; Strugnell and Harrington, DJD 34.36; Tigchelaar, "Addressees," 74-75. 43 See EIgvin, "Wisdom, Revelation, and Eschatology," 446-48. 44 Strugnell and Harrington, DJD 34.20. It should also be noted here that other wisdom texts generally, although not exclusively, address mainly one person. Cf., for example, Ben Sira, passim.

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The scribe/sage, as a member of a retainer class, occupies a sometimes insecure social position and is faced with conflicting loyalties and obligations. Thus the watchword for Ben Sira and his students in relating to the rich and powerful is caution. If the scribe/sage remains wary and observes proper etiquette and appropriate behavior he will succeed with the powerful. When it comes to the poor, Ben Sira's attitude seems primarily conditioned by his understanding of the covenantal responsibilities to care for the poor, widows, and orphans. Ben Sira exhorts the rich, as well as his students, to fulfill their obligation to the poor through almsgiving. For his budding scribes, he makes clear that if they find themselves in positions of rendering judgments, they must be fair and not prefer the case of the rich because of their influence and power. 45 The same cannot be said for 4QJnstruction. The sage of this work apparently counts the mevin as among the poor-but yet not among the destitute. Although he is not one of the wealthy, the mevin still can participate in financial dealings, sometimes even having a loan or collateral deposited with him (4Q416 2 iii 3). In addition, being counted among the poor may be the reason that 4QJnstruction contains no instruction to the mevin about caring for the economically disadvantaged. The mevin, who must be concerned for his own survival, simply may not be in a position to do this. In their public service careers, Ben Sira's students would of necessity have to deal with the rich on an almost daily basis, and his book offers them much advice about how to behave around them. Such teaching is completely absent from the extant portions of 4QJnstruction. The mevin will have to deal with creditors if he borrows money for his needs, l?ut, in contrast to Ben Sira's teaching to his charges, there is no evidence in 4QJnstruction that he should prepare to be invited to be master of a banquet (cf. Sir 31: 12-18) or to be placed in a position of counsel to the powerful. It does not appear that the instructional or school context of the mevin is intended to produce the same professional class of scribes as Ben Sira envisions coming out of his school. 46 One very suggestive, although incomplete and fairly poorly preserved, passage, however, hints that some kind of community or public activWright and Camp, "'Who Has Been Tested By Gold?'" 173. On the school context generally, Tigchelaar concludes his article by saying that "[t]he composition apparendy intends to admonish people from all layers of society to behave according to their God-given ordained position, and promises them everlasting glory" ("Addressees," 75). He does not, however, indicate whether or not he thinks this teaching was part of some wisdom curriculum. 45

46

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ity might be possible for the mevin. 4Q4l7 2 i might indicate the potential availability of some judicial or administrative role for him. (12) Be an advocate for your own interests, And let not [your soul be contaminated] (13) by every perversity of yours. Pronoun[ce] your judgments (i1:J't!lElillO) like a righteous ruler. Do not ta[ke ...] (14) And do not overlook your own sins. Be like a humble man when you contend for a judgment in favor of him.

Unfortunately, the text is not clear about how, where, and for or against whom the mevin would render or contend for judgments. Might the mevin, who has received instruction and has studied the mystery that is to come (which is mentioned in lines 1O~ 11), act as a judge in his own community? If the passage does mean this, would it reflect some kind of sectarian interest? Does the passage simply refer to the mevin's behavior in his personal relationships? It is impossible to tell from this passage. Ben Sira, for his part, recognizes that his students can reasonably expect to become judges and administrators who would adjudicate all manner of cases, and he warns them against preferential treatment of the rich (Sir 4:28). He even cautions them about becoming judges at all-"do not seek to become a judge, or you may be unable to root out injustice; you may be partial to the powerful, and so mar your integrity" (Sir 7:6). Of course, 4Q4l6 2 iii 9-15, which I discussed above, is another text one might want to adduce as evidence supporting the idea that the mevin of 4QJnstruction may not be in quite the disadvantaged position that the work makes out for him. But as we saw, rather than a statement about real upward mobility, the passage might just as easily be a claim about what God could do if he wished, a remote possibility, not a social probability. All the factors outlined above lead me to the conclusion that the mevin of 4QJnstruction cannot be found in the same kinds of social groups as Ben Sira's clientele. In fact, the information given in the two works about the social contexts of Ben Sira's students and the mevin of 4QJnstruction appear to situate them very differently. Ben Sira's students cannot be reckoned among the poor; the mevin seems to belong to a social stratum that could be categorized as such, and he certainly seems to have much in common with the poor. Ben Sira's students are being trained to serve in public and official administrative capacities as judges, counselors and scholars; the teaching of 4QJnstruction does not appear to envision the mevin as destined for such official administrative roles. Ben Sira constantly advises his

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students about their behavior in relation to the rich; the sage of 4QJnstruction does not even mention a class of rich people as such. Ben Sira explicitly links the wisdom that he teaches to the Torah; the sage of 4QJnstruction focuses attention on the "mystery that is to come" and its content. Can we move from these observations to a description of the mevin's social world? I do think we need to take the claims to the mevin's poverty seriously, even while recognizing the difficulty introduced by those statements about poverty that can be read as conditionals. The text pictures the mevin constantly poised to fall into more abject poverty or even indentured servitude. I see no other way to read these assertions than as reflections of social realities. Can we understand the lack of references to rich people as an indication that the mevin's social world is isolated from these classes of society? Are the creditors or the "oppressors" mentioned in 4Q4l6 2 ii 17 equivalent to the "rich" of other wisdom texts? These are more difficult questions to answer with much certainty. EIgvin and Strugnell and Harrington make the suggestion that 4QJnstruction perhaps stems from an Essene community like those well known from Josephus's descriptions, living in towns and cities, marrying and engaging in everyday social life. Such may indeed be the case, but the instruction about wealth and poverty taken on its own does not seem to give much additional insight into that problem. One final question to be asked is: Does poverty constitute an ideal value for 4QJnstruction? 4QJnstruction teaches that the poor are indeed considered insignificant in the eyes of others, and they are not justified before God by the fact of their poverty. As we saw above, the poor who sin require God's forgiveness (4Q417 2 i). God will, however, raise up the poor who have been wronged (4Q418 126-interestingly enough, not explicitly by the rich). One fragmentary line might indicate that the sage of 4QJnstruction prefers a way of life characterized by poverty. 4Q416 2 ii 20-21 reads, "Do not esteem yourself highly for your poverty (i1::l110nr.JJ) when you are (anyway?) a pauper (tll11), lest vacat you bring into contempt your (own way) of life." Is the sage concerned that if the mevin were to boast about his poverty, he would bring such a life, one that he values highly, into disrepute? Unfortunately one can do no more here than suggest this reading as a possibility.

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The frequency with which financial matters and especially poverty appear in 4QJnstruction, however, demonstrates in a prima facie way their importance for the work, and the document includes a wide range of teaching on these issues. On its own, the use of this language in 4QJnstruction enables us to draw some tentative conclusions about its social context and also to raise some important questions, but as one component of a relatively long and complex literary work, many more questions remain to be asked. We are really only at the beginning of the task of understanding the social and cultural contexts of this unique wisdom text.

WHAT IS THE BOOK OF HAGU? CANA WERMAN

7he Hebrew Universiry

if Jerusalem

My paper attempts to answer the still unsolved question of the identification of the Book if Hagu referred to in some sectarian writings. l The "Book if Hagu" is not mentioned explicidy in the sapiential texts found at Qumran. Only the term Hagu and the phrase, ~'Ji1i1 1,rn 1'1~'r 1E:lO'?, "the meditated vision of the Book of Memorial," are found there. 2 It seems to me, however, that an examination of sapiential texts from Qumran can lead us to an understanding of what the Book if Hagu was. Therefore I will focus mainly on the sapientialliterature at Qumran. 3 My analysis consists of three parts: Part I is an introduction to the development of wisdom literature, an indispensable component of my argument; part II is an analysis of sapiential literature at Qumran; and part III addresses the identity of the Book if Hagu.

7he Background. Two Developments if the Concept if Wisdom: Jubilees and Jewish-Hellenistic Philosophy A close reading of wisdom literature reveals interesting developments during the Second Temple period. 4 In the book of Proverbs (from I For suggestions concerning the identification of Sifer ha-Hagu see T. EIgvin, "An Analysis of 4QJnstruction" (Ph.D. diss., The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1998),

92~94. 2 4Q417 I i 16. Some scholars who have studied the sapiential texts from Qumran have assumed that this phrase refers to the book. See, for example, the position of EIgvin: "The exact designation 'Jilil 1ElO does not occur in 4Q417 IX, but line 18 equates 'Jilil l'Tn with l'1J't 1ElO. We therefore find it likely that these designations refer to one and the same book" (EIgvin, "An Analysis of 4QJnstruction," 92). See also: A. Lange, "Wisdom and Predestination in the Dead Sea Scrolls," DSD 2 (1995): 343. 3 Primarily on the text called 4QJnstruction, published in Qymran Cave 4.xXIV: Sapiential Texts, Part 2 (ed. J. Strugnell, D. J. Harrington, and T. EIgvin; DJD 34; Oxford: Clarendon, 1999). Reconstructions and translations of 4QJnstruction appearing in this paper utilize, but may at points differ from, those found in DJD 34. 4 See the survey by M. Hengel in his Judaism and Hellenism: Studies in their Encounter

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the beginning of the era), Wisdom is a pre-creation entity that helps God in the act of creation and has no Israelite characteristics. Some two hundred years later Ben Sira adds Israelite laws, traditions and history to the concept of Wisdom. He identifies Wisdom with Torah. 5 In contrast to Ben Sira, the Jewish Hellenistic philosophers support the universal character of Wisdom and identifY the entity that existed before creation as the Logos. 6 This Logos is active in the cosmos. Therefore observing the cosmos and the laws of nature will lead one to live properly. I would like to suggest that the Book if Jubilees is also a development of wisdom literature, though from a source other than Proverbs. Wisdom is not mentioned in Jubilees; Torah and Te'udah---Torah and predestined history-replace Wisdom. Torah and Te'udah in Jubilees is an entity that existed before creation. Te 'udah is predestined history, outlined by God before creation and engraved on the heavenly tablets before creation. Torah refers to the (biblical) laws according to which the pre-planned historical events take place. 7 Adam and Eve were created by God and brought to the Garden of Eden in accordance with the law of yoledet impurity; the Flood was a consequence of disobedience to the law prohibiting the eating of blood; the massacre in Shechem occurred as a consequence of defiance of the prohibition of intermarriage. The history of the world, predestined and engraved on the heavenly tablets, unfolds in the created world. Torah, i.e., cultic laws, shapes this world. We can infer two conclusions from Jubilees' "Torah and Te'udah." First, since history obeys cultic laws, a thoughtful examination of world history will provide the correct interpretation of the biblical laws and will insure correct conduct in life, i.e., obedience to biblical cultic laws according to their correct interpretations. Therefore the wise man must study history. But what history? Herein lies the second conclusion. In Jubilees we find a survey of history from the creation to the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai. But, we can in Palestine During the Early Hellenistic Period (tr. J. Bowden; 2 vols.; London: SCM; Philadelphia: Fortress, 1974), 1:153-75; J. J. Collins, Jewish Wisdom in the Hellenistic Age (OTL; Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1997), 1-20. 5 Sir 24:23. See J. J. Collins, "Wisdom Reconsidered in Light of the Scrolls," DSD 4 (1997): 269. 6 See a (somewhat biased) discussion by Hengel, Judaism and Hellenism, 1: 163-69. 7 C. Werman, "The Torah and the Te'udah on the Tablets," Tarbiz 68 (1999): 473-92 (Hebrew) = "The 'Torah' and the 'Te'udah' Engraved on the Tablets," DSD 9 (2002): 75-103.

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infer from Jubilees that all subsequent historical events continue to obey the biblical laws, not only those events related in Jubilees. Consequently, wise men can learn the correct interpretation of laws not only from the historical events related in scripture but also from current historical events. Thus, Jubilees was revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai but also contains a sapiential message; it calls on wise men to meditate on history and to apply their conclusions to the interpretation of the Law. In an article published in Zion8 I suggested that Jubilees attempts to combat the Jewish-Hellenistic concept of Logos, which emphasizes the moral dimension that rules the world and ignores the role of God in history. Jubilees emphasizes history as well as the halakhic dimension-Torah (and not Wisdom or Logos), with its cultic aspects. 9 We can assume that the author of Jubilees is familiar with wisdom literature that includes moral law and cultic laws as well as creation and predestined history. However, he deliberately limits his work only to history and cultic laws in order to conform to his anti-hellenizing tendency. The sapiential literature at Qumran includes all the aspects mentioned above-creation and history as well as cultic and moral laws. I see this sapiential literature as the body of learning that pre-dated Jubilees and was re-worked by Jubilees. As Ben Sira emerged from Proverbs, so Jubilees emerged from the sapiential literature now found at Qumran.

What Kind

if Wisdom is Assumed in the (}ymran Sapiential Literature?

EIgvin has already suggested that the pre-existent order of creation assumed in Qumran sapiential literature should be understood against the background of the biblical and early Jewish concept of divine Wisdom. lo I would like to add that Qumran sapiential literature 8 C. Werman, "The Book rif Jubilees in Hellenistic Context," Zion 66 (2001): 275-96 (Hebrew). 9 The certainty that Jubilees is aware of the Jewish-Hellenistic Logos derives from the fact that in his rewriting of the creation story the author of Jubilees omits any mention of a role for speech in the act of creation. Ignoring such a central part of the Genesis version can be explained only as a reaction against a tradition that emphasizes Word-Logos alone. IQ T. E1gvin, "The Mystery to Come: Early Essene Theology of Revelation," in Qy.mran between the Old and New Testaments (ed. F. H. Cryer and T. L. Thompson; JSOTSup 290; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1998), 136.

128

CANA WERMAN

emphasizes the pre-existent plan of history.ll The world was created by God and He determined its history. By studying how the world was created and by looking at historical events the wise person can deduce laws and rules according to which he should live. To learn about the creation and history one must study both scripture and the present reality. The following text is a good example of how laws can be deduced from creation according to 4QJnstruction: [in~ itD:J" [i1':J~

"in

'ntD~:J p):Jo'~fI ir.:l~ n~[') i':J~ n~ 11r.:l)tDm i1:J "'tDr.:li1 i1Jm~ [i1'i1m i1np'tDn) i1J'''~' i1i'iEli1 i1r.:l~r.:l i1:J "'tDr.:li1 ~., [ ) iiJ'J:J' i'iEl' 'in~" i1Jn:J in~ iWj., l" [i1Jm)111 i~tD ~'i1 'J i1Jp'n ntD~ 011 in'" i1n~' [i1nn):J 'i1"n ';,:JJ J'Oi1 i1Jn."r i1:J ."tDr.:l' itD~'

[i1):JiJ' iiJ ~'0Ii1" ~." i1SJ'~i:J l"i1ni1" l.,'tDr.:lii [i)1J 'i1°J" i1iO~ n11':JtD "J, i1JJ'~i" i1Jnn :JtDi1 [~~'r.:l:J mtD11 ')';[:Jr.:l i1)~'Ji1 i1JJ'~i:J' i1J'El ~~'r.:l "11 iElii i1JJ11r.:l" [ ) i1" ri.,o i1J'nEltD

.1 .2 .3 .4 .5 .6 .7 .8 .9 .10

1. his father [and] his mother and should cl[eave to his wife, so that they should become one flesh]. 2. You has He set in authority over her and she shall o[bey ... her father(?)] 3. He has not set in authority over her; from her mother He has separated her, but towards you [shall be her desire, and she shall become] 4. for you one flesh. Your daughter He will separate unto another man and your sons [] 5. But you shall be made into a unity with the wife of your bosom, for she is kin to [your] nak[edness] 6. And whoever, apart from you, tries to rule over her has displaced the frontier marker of his life. Over [her spirit] 7. He has set your authority, so that she should walk according to your will. And let her not make numerous vows and votive offering[s]; 8. Turn her 12 spirit to your will. And every oath binding on her, to vow a vow

II See on this: B. Nitzan, "Apocalyptic Historiosophy in Qumran Literature: Its Origins and Perspectives in the Legacy of Jacob Licht," in Fifty Years qf Dead Sea Scrolls Research: Studies in Memory qfJacob Licht (ed. G. Brin and B. Nitzan; Jerusalem: Yad Izhak Ben Zvi, 2001), 46-52 (Hebrew). 12 In the text: "your spirit."

WHAT IS THE BOOK OF HAGU?

129

9. You should annul by the utterance of your mouth, and at your will restrain [her] fr[om performing by the utterance] 10. of her l3 lips. Forgive her [ ] for your sake. (4Q416 2 iv HO)14

Using the account in Genesis 2, the author of 4QJnstmction claims that the woman, who was created from the man's rib, is not a separate being but a part of her husband. As she is part of her husband's body, he has full authority over her, over her flesh and over her will (note that the verb '?iDO, 'to rule,' appears four times in the first seven lines [2, 3, 6, 7]). Consequendy, anyone else who tries to rule a man's wife invades the husband's territory (line 6). Thus, the wife must bend her will to her husband's will (lines 6-7), and the husband always has the right to annul his wife's vows (7-lO). The author derives the rules that govern a married couple's life from the creation story. Some of the rules are biblical laws-the husband has authority over the wife's vows; the wife is prohibited from having relations with another man. In addition, the author of 4QJnstmction deduces another law-the woman must submit to her husband's will (cf. Gen 3:16). The author of 4QJnstmction also deduces laws from history, which itself reveals God's wisdom. I have chosen a few lines containing the most important statement on the subject-4Q4l7 1 i 6~ 18. 15 I have called these lines the meditation paragraph. 16 The meditation paragraph is addressed to the Mevin. 17 It falls into three sections. In the first section, the Mevin is instructed to meditate on world history and on how it has evolved. In the second, he is instructed to look at his own history, i.e., his life. The third section teaches that the correct way to observe history is with the mind's eye, and not with the physical eyes. I will analyze each section in turn. In the text: "your." Strugnell and Harrington, DJD 34.123~25. 15 Strugnell and Harrington, DJD 34.151. The parallel text, 4Q418 43~45 i (D]D 34.255~56), is a tool for the reconstruction. 16 For preliminary discussion of the correct text see D. J. Harrington, Wisdom Texts from Qymran (London: Roudedge, 1996), 52~56. For differing restorations and a discussion of the restored text see: A. Lange, Weisheit und Priidestination (STD] 18; Leiden: Brill, 1995), 45~92; Elgvin, "An Analysis of 4QJnstruction," 83~94. 17 On the relation between p and r~r.:l see: M. Kister, "Some Observations on Vocabulary and Style in the Dead Sea Scrolls," in Diggers at the WelL' Proceedings qf a Third International Symposium on the Hebrew qf the Dead Sea Scrolls and Ben Sira (eds. T. Muraoka and J. F. Elwolde; STD] 36; Leiden: Brill, 2000), 158. 13

14

130

CANA WERMAN

Section A (4Q417 1 i 6--13) The first section unfortunately has many lacunae. Literary analysis, however, will clarify a few phrases in the paragraph: i1~Jn ~1li1 not'; liin rt';1 '~~n ill.,1., {1} i1'i1[j r.,::J i1Ji1 i1~'~1 IJD1' ] ni1pEl1 IJ~1li '~p ~1J? Dlli1pEl IJli IJi1'J.,i ~1JJ 18[t:l::Ji1] [.. .] ri[?1t';1] i1'i1J n::J1 not'; '10 mliii1 ~t'; t';',:, [1Ji1]'wbo[:, li.,]? ::J[1t:l] j'::J liin rtl;1 ili i1'illli~ n~ill~~1 i1"~' i1~"[li ]~J~1 i1~[Jn ~J~]ooo fr""illli~1 iiill1~ n~ ill'lEl l~i1ni1~ ii['illli]~ ?1J~ IJn:l'[::J]b~ ill"i[Eljl9[ . . .] ,.,n[OJ 1li],'1J ml'::J~ .,ill1J::J1 i1'''o[' . .]o~'; ill.,El'1 Cirij'::J~[ "~']::J ?[1J::J ]p1::Jnm i'~n .,nill i1~t'; 1'ill.il[~ ~1J::J ] [. . .]1J~i1ni1 IJli 1n::Jilln~ 1'illli~ m.,1::Jj1 1t';?El 'r., IJ[li m]b i1::JJ::J liin rt';1 i1~mt';~1n

.6 .7

.8 .9 .10 .11 .12 .13

6. By day and night meditate upon the mystery that comes into being and seek continually / / And then you shall know truth and iniquity, wisdom 7. [and foolish]ness. [Look] in all their ways, with their punishment in all epochs of time and the punishment 8. of eternity / / And then you shall discern between good and evil according to their deeds. For the God of knowledge is the foundation of truth, and in the mystery that comes into being 9. He has laid out its (= truth's) foundation, and its deeds [... with all wis]dom, and with all [cun]ning has He fashioned it, And the domain of its deeds 10. [... He laid] out for their understanding all its deeds, so that man could walk 11. in the fruit of his understanding. And He laid out [...] and in abundance of understandings were made known the secrets of 12. his thought, while walking [...] in all his de]eds. These things seek early and continually and look in all 13. their outcomes / / And then you shall know the glory of [His] m[ight, wi]th His mysteries of wonders and the might of his deeds.

Note the patterns of repetition here. Three sentences have a similar structure (vv. 6-7, 7-8, 12-13): Each starts with an instruction to the Mevin to meditate/look/ seek on/at something, and ends with the promise .lnn r~" "and then you shall know":

18 The editors reconstruct [i1]tl),I)r.l, based on an additional fragment; in my opinion there is no reason to place this fragment here. 19 I concur with the editors that "[t]he traces are too damaged to allow any plausible reconstruction" of the beginning of this line (DJD 34.153).

WHAT IS THE BOOK OF HAGU?

131

A. By day and night meditate upon the mystery that comes into being and seek continually / / And then you shall know truth and iniquity, wisdom [and foolish]ness.

B. [1QQk] in all their ways, with their punishment in all epochs of time and the punishment of eternity / / And then you shall discern between good and evil according to their deeds. C. These things seek early and continually and look in all their outcomes / / And then you shall know the glory of [His] m [ight, wi]th His mysteries of wonders and the might of his deeds.

On what should the Mevin meditate? In the first sentence (A) we find the puzzling phrase, ra:::; nihyeh. The second sentence (B) gives us a clue towards what the ra:::; nihyeh is: the ways (conduct) of people, and their rewards and punishments during every period of the world (Cl'~'P), as well as eternal retribution. The Mevin is instructed to look at human conduct during every period of world history and at the rewards and punishments meted out for the past, present and future. From this a person can deduce which deed is good and which is bad. Similarly, though from a different perspective, the third sentence (C) calls the Mevin to look at God's deeds and their consequences in the present and in the past. This will enable the Mevin to deduce God's glorious strength, the mysteries of His wonders and His heroic deeds (and apparently to expect their recurrence in the future). The parallel literary structure of these sentences suggests that the ra:::; nihyeh is also the unfolding of history as planned by God~historical events including human deeds and their rewards and punishments. 2o The three sentences proclaim that history presents God's truth, i.e. God's justice. Studying history, therefore, enables man to understand truth and injustice, wisdom and foolishness, goodness and evil. The claim that truth is the foundation of history is stressed (notice the repetitive structure of five short parallel clauses) in lines 8-9: A. For the God of knowledge is the foundation of truth,

B. And in the mystery that comes into being He has laid out its (= truth's) foundation, 20 Similarly see Collins: "The raz nihyeh seems to encompass the entire divine plan, from creation to eschatological judgment" (Jewish Wisdom, 122). It seem to me, however, that Collins in his study of 4QJnstruction does not regard the course between the two boundaries---creation and the end of days-as important.

132

CANA WERMAN

C. And its deeds [... with all wis]dom, D. and with all [cun]ning has He fashioned it, E. And the domain of its deeds []

ilo[~n '?~'?]

il"'~'

000

;'r'Wl'O°,

ilO..,[l' ],?~,?,

[. .. ] il'Wl'O n'?wo01

Meditating on truth will lead the Mevin to walk in the right path, a statement we find in lines lO~12: A. [... He laid] out for their understanding all its deeds, so that man could walk in the fruit of his understanding.

B. And He laid out [...] and in abundance of understandings were made known the secrets of his thought, while walking [...] in all his de]eds.

Also here we find a repetition. In both sentences the verb ID'E:) appears at the beginning, referring to truth, as in line 9. The middle part of both sentences emphasizes the role of understanding: the first sentence speaks of understanding every event; the second sentence mentions the quality of understanding that leads to the revelation of God's hidden plan. Both sentences tie "understanding" to its implications. According to the first sentence the Mevin should walk in the way he is led by the conclusions he draws. The end of the second sentence is not preserved. The verb 'walk,' however, is found there as well. Thus, a person must understand, meditate, seek, and look at the process of history. The assumption is that history is truth since it represents God's truth, i.e., God's predestined plan for the world. The conclusion that a person reaches in his search becomes his guide for living. Calls to look at historical events are also found in other sapiential texts, for example: '?~

il'?':J

..,W~~

ilnl" vacat [.. .] .3 .."i[, ..,']1 'Jtilj ,J'J, Ci'J'W'"'i[ 21Ci'0'J '..,~r '?~] 10n .4

3.... And now 4. [remember] the grace of [God in] the early [days] and contemplate the years of ever[y gen]eration as God has revealed. (4Q413

I~2 3-4)22

21 The reconstruction of the text is according to M. Kister, "Studies in 4QMiqsat Ma'ase Ha-Torah and Related Texts: Law, Theology, Language and Calendar," Tarbiz 68 (1999): 322 n. 16 (Hebrew). 22 E. Qmron, "413. 4QComposition Concerning Divine Providence," in Qymran Cave 4.xV.· Sapiential Texts, Part 1 (ed. T. EIgvin et al., in consultation with J. A. Fitzmyer, SJ.; DJD 20; Oxford: Clarendon, 1997), 169-71, p. 169. The translation differs from Qmron's where I follow Kister's reconstruction (see previous note).

133

WHAT IS THE BOOK OF HAGU?

In 4Q,Mysteries, the opponents of the wise are accused of not studying history: ~1'? m':J1oipJ1 il'i1:J n 1l)i' ~'?1 .3 il'i1:J no 1~'?O ~'? CliDEl:J1 Clil''?l) ~1J' iiD~ ilO 1l)i' ~'?1 1:J:J1Jm .4

3. And they did not know the mystery that comes into being, and the early events they did not 4. consider. Nor did they know what shall befall them. And they did not save their lives from the mystery that comes into being. (4Q299 1, reconstructed text)23

An example of using history to learn the right conduct is found in 4QJnstruction:

[l]tnS

','1'?'? j"ibn

lEl

'] .1 a ] .1

ilJ'? iOiDil'1['

ilJ:Jt1~ il'?:J iiD~1 n!1p ~EliDO n~ fr[

ilJOl) ~'iD:J1 1[']00 fr[J' ]mJ~ iD[ n '?J] .2 n'?1l)El ~1i11 ii'J il[iDl)O] ?J i~'1 Cl''?iD10 '?J n'?ii[:J] :J'?El ~[1ii ] .3 Cll) tl['i:J'?] Cl'JJ1 mJ~'? i1pEl' nO~J 1:I'?1J cb[1EliD'1 l)i' ilOil'iDl)O] .4 iJi' Cl'nir~ '?J 0

[

••

.]

la. ] and take care lest you give back to Levi the prie[st] 1. [ ] the judgment of Korah. And as He opened your ear 2. [...] [ every he]ad of [your] fathers [] and leader of your people 3. [ H]e divided the [p]ortion of all rulers and fashioned every d[ee]d by his hand, and the reward of 4. [their deeds he knew. He will judg]e all of them in truth and visit upon fathers and sons, [to proselyt]es with every native born He will speak. (4Q423 5 1-4)24

Here the judgment of Korah teaches that the roles of the Levite and the priest must not be confused. Korah's lesson is that each man was assigned a role: "He divided the portion of all rulers." Those who transgress the boundaries will be judged (as Korah was). Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden can also teach us a lesson:

1]3 vac

ilJ~

lnn

r

P ~1'?il '?'JiDil'? iOn:J Cl'l):J l) '?J1 iiJ1:Jn 'iEl '?Ji[ 1iOiD'?1 1iJl)'? ilJ'?'iDOil 1J1 il1[~1]O ,?'jib[il]? [iOn:J1 ~1il ~'? iln1J1 ilJ'? n'o~n ii111 r1p [ilOi~il vacat ilJ'? l)10J[ ilJ~1~ '?J iln[ H... H n]11il 'On! '?J1 ili'?' vacat [

[1:1' l)]:J

n[1~J

] .1 ] .2 ] .3 .4

].5

23 L. H. Schiffman, "Mysteries," in DJD 20.31-123, p. 35. My translation differs at points from that of the editor. 24 T. E1gvin, "423. 4Qjnstruction g," DJD 34.505-33, pp. 518-19.

134

CANA WERMAN

1. [ ] and every fruit that is produced and every tree which is good, pleasing to give knowledge. Is [it] not a ga[rden of pastu]re 2. [and pleasant] to [gi]ve great knowledge? He set you in charge of it to till it and guard it. An [enjoya]ble g[arden] 3. [ the earth] thorns and thistles will it sprout forth for you, and its strength it will not yield to you [ ] 4. [ ] in your being unfaithful 5. [ ] give birth, and all the pain of delive[ry ]you [...]ed all your resources. (4Q423 1-2 1-5)25

The above lines are very fragmented. However, we can understand from them that Adam's unfaithfulness to the commandment to keep and guard the fruits in the Garden of Eden resulted in his need to obtain fruits with toil and labor, both the fruits of the field (lines 3-4) and the fruits of his body (line 5). The instruction to use history as a guide in life can also be found in writings attributed to the Qumran community itself. In the Damascus Document, wrong conduct is deduced from observing the generations who suffered misfortunes: A. The sons of Jacob strayed through them and were punished according to their error B. And their sons in Egypt walked in the wantonness of their heart(s), plotting against the ordinances of God, each man doing what is right in his own eyes. And they ate the blood and their males were cut qff. C. In the desert (after they were told) in Kadesh "Go up and possess" (...) their spirit and they did not listen to the voice of him who made them (and) taught them ordinances. Rather, they murmured in their tents and God's anger was kindled against their congregation. (CD 3: 1-9)26

Thus, the call to make history one's guide was both part of the framework of wisdom thinking in the Second Temple period, and was also specifically congenial to the developing thought of the Qumran sectarians.

Elgvin, DJD 34.507-8. Translation by D. R. Schwartz in The Dead Sea Scrolls, Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek Texts with English Translations. Vol. 11· Damascus Document, War Scroll, and Related Documents (ed. J. H. Charlesworth; Tiibingen: Mohr [Siebeck]; Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1995), 16. The "Pesher on the Periods" is of the same genre. See: D. Dimant, "The 'Pesher on the Periods' (4Q180 and 4QI81)," /OS 9 (1979): 77-102. 25

26

WHAT IS THE BOOK OF HAcm

Section B (4Q417 1 i

135

13~16)

The first part of our paragraph deals with world history, as has already been mentioned. The second part deals with the individual: fTri~1

.l3

i'r~p'nir 1'11'1n ~:J[ ':l 27n]ilii l'i:lr:J ir:ln'liEl 2~1i