Qumran Prayer and Religious Poetry (STUDIES ON THE TEXTS OF THE DESERT OF JUDAH) 9004096582, 9789004096585

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QUMRAN PRAYER AND RELIGIOUS POETRY

STUDIES ON THE TEXTS OF THE DESERT OF JUDAH EDITED BY

F. GARCIA MARTINEZ A. S. VAN DER WOUDE

VOLUME XII

QUMRAN PRAYER AND RELIGIOUS POETRY BY

BILHAH NITZAN

TRANSLATED FROM THE HEBREW BY

JONATHAN CHIPMAN

E.J.BRILL LEIDEN . NEW YORK· KOLN 1994

The paper in this book meets the guidelines for pennanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Nitzan, Bilba. [Tefilat ~umran ye-shiratah be-zifatan la-Mi~. English] Qumran Prayer and religious poetry I by Bilhah Nitzan ; translated from the Hebrew by Jonathan Chipman. p. cm. - (Studies on the texts of the desert of Judah, ISSN 0169-9962 ; v. 12) Includes bibliographical references and indexes. ISBN 9004096582 (alk. paper). 1. Dead Sea scrolls-Criticism, interpretation, etc. 2. Judaism-Liturgy-Comparative studies. 3. Jewish religious poetry, Hebrew-West Bank-Qumran site-History and criticism. I. Title. II. Series. BM487.N58 1994 296.1'55-dc20 93-41774 CIP

Die Deutsche Bibliothek - CIP-Einheitsaufnahme Nissiin, Bilhi: Q~an prayer and religious poetry I by Bilhah Nitzan. Trans!. from the Hebrew by Jonathan Chipman. - Leiden ; New York; Koln : Brill, 1994 (Studies on the texts of the desert of Judah; Vol. 12)

ISBN 90-04-09658-2 NE:GT

ISSN 0169-9962 ISBN 90 04 09658 2 © Copyright 1994 by E.J. Brill, Leiden, The Netherlands

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanica~ photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by E.J. Brill provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910 Danvers MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change. PRINTED IN THE NETHERLANDS

Dedication To the memory of my revered teacher Professor Jacob Licht, ?"r (1922-1992) who enlightened my path in the highways and byways of Qumran literature

TABLE OF CON1ENTS

Preface

..............................................................................xiii Abbreviations and Sigla ................................................................. xix Introduction ................................................................................ .1 i. Qumran Prayer and Poetry in Relation to the Bible-Background and Aim ........................................... l ii. The Continuity of the Biblical Tradition during the Second Temple Period .............................................. 5 iii. Findings of Prayer and Poetry from Qumran and their Study .............................................................8 iv. Study of the Literary Processes ...................................... 24 v. The Structure of the Study ............................................ 30 vi. The Editing of the Texts in the Study ............................. 31 PART I: FIXED PRAYER IN QUMRAN AND IN MAINSTREAM JUDAISM I.

From Occasional Prayer to Fixed Prayer. ................................... 35 1. Biblical Prayer as Occasional ........................................ 35 2. The Service of God as Commanded by the Torah .............. 35 3. The Status of Prayer in the Bible ................................... 37 4. The Variety of Forms of Prayer in the Bible .................... 39 5. Prayer During the Second Temple Period According to the Bible and the Apocrypha ..................................... .40 6. Prayer During the Second Temple Period in Rabbinic Sources .................................................... 41 7. Stages in the Crystallization of Fixed Prayer in Judaism .... 44

II.

Fixed Prayer in Qumran ......................................................... 47 8. Introduction ............................................................... 47 9. The Theoretical Principle: Service of God through Prayer ... 47 10. Fixed Times for Prayer ............................................... .49 11. Regular Praises at Their Fixed Times ............................. 52 12. The Religious Values of the Idea of Prayer at Fixed Times. 59 13. Prayer at Fixed Times-Public Prayer ............................ 61 14. The Liturgy ............................................................... 63 15. "Orders" of Public Worship .......................................... 64

viii

TABLE OF OON1ENTS 16. 17. 18. 19.

III.

The Text of the Prayers ................................................ 66 Fixed Patterns ............................................................ 69 The Recitation of Blessing to God within Prayers ............. 72 Subjects of Prayer ....................................................... 80

The Fixed Supplications (TelJ.innot) from Qumran ...................... 89 20. Introduction ............................................................... 89 21. The Structure of the Fixed Supplications ......................... 89 22. Supplications Through "Remembrances" ......................... 90 23. The Practice of Remembrance in Biblical Tehinnot ........... 90 24. Remembrances in the TelJ.innot from Qumran-Their Contents, Approach and Rationale ................................. 92 25. The Petitions in the Fixed Supplicatory Prayers ............. 104 26. The Practice of Remembrance in Tannaitic and Amoraitic Halakhah .................................................. 111 27. Methods of Remembrance of the Sages and of Qumran .... 114 28. Summary ................................................................ 115 PART II: PRAYER OF THE CONGREGAnON

IV.

Blessings and Curses ........................................................... 119 29. Prayer of the Congregation-Introduction ...................... 119 30. Blessings and Curses in the Bible ................................ 119 31. Blessings and Curses in Qumran-General Introduction ... 122 32. Blessing Counterposed to Curse in the Covenant-A Ceremonial Symbol for Dualistic Distinction ................ 124 33. Blessing and Curse of the "New Covenant" in an Ancient Ceremonial Formula .............................. 129 34. Blessing as Against Curse on Occasions of Dualistic Conflict ................................................. 135 35. Conclusions ............................................................ 139 36. Blessings in Solemn Occasions ................................... 139

V.

The Priestly Blessing as Textual Form in the Bible and in Qumran ...................................................... 145 37. Introduction ............................................................. 145 38. Literary Qualities of the Priestly Blessing in Numbers 6:24-26 .................................................. 145 39. Literary Use of the Priestly Blessing in the Bible............ 146 40. Homiletical Use of the Priestly Blessing in Qumran-Introduction ........................................... 148 41. Stage 1: A Sectarian Priestly Blessing Patterned on the Biblical Blessing ................................ 148

TABLE OF OONTENTS

ix

42. Stage 2: Curse in the Pattern of the Sectarian Priestly Blessing ......................................... 151 43. Curse With an Indirect, Associative Connection to the Priestly Blessing .............................................. 153 44. Stage 3: Free Use of the Expanded Pattern in the Blessings (lQSb)-Introduction .......................... 155 45. Free Use of the Expanded Pattern of Priestly Blessing in the Blessing to Those who Fear God......................... 156 46. Use of One of the Verbs of Blessing, and of the Homiletic Form ....................................................... 158 47. Stage 4: The Priestly Blessing as the Opening of Works Based upon Other Textual Forms .................... 164 48. The Priestly Blessing as an Introduction to Solemn Blessing of the Community (11QBer 1-2; 4Q285 1) ........ 167 49. Summary ................................................................ 170 VI.

VII.

Songs of Praise .................................................................. 50. Introduction ............................................................. I. Songs of Praise in the Bible ....................................... 51. Songs of Praise: Types and Manner of Recitation ........... 52. The Structural Routine of the Songs of Praise ................ 53. Additional Methods in the Structure of Praise ................. 54. Structure of Exaltation ............................................... 55. Structures ofInvitation .............................................. 56. Summary ................................................................ II. Songs of Praise in Qumran ......................................... 57. The Purposes of the Praise ......................................... 58. Routine Models ........................................................ 59. The Structure of the Exaltation .................................... 60. Structures of Invitation ..............................................

173 173 175 175 176 181 181 183 189 190 190 191 193 195

Eschatological Poetry .......................................................... 201 61. Hymns of the War Scroll-Their Function (Introduction). 201 62. The Ceremonial Occasions ......................................... 202 63. Eschatological Songs in the Bible and in the War Scroll .. 205 64. The Literary Tradition-Structure ................................ 208 65. Contents-Combination of Traditional Thanksgiving and the Apocalyptic Idea ......................... 213 66. The Introductions--A Practical Model of the Blessing of Redemption ........................................ 213 67. The Incorporation of Apocalyptic Elements within the Traditional Model of the Introductions .......................... 215

x

TABLE OF mNTENTS

68. The Body of the Songs-Combination of Biblical and Apocalyptic Elements .......................................... 218 69. The Giving of an Apocalyptic Character to Contents of Biblical Nature ........................................ 219 70. The Biblical Model of Apocalyptic Myth in the Song to be Sung on the Day of Victory (lQM xiii) ........ 224 71. Summary ................................................................ 225 Vlli. Magical Poetry ................................................................... 227 Introduction ............................................................. 227 72. Magical Poetry-The Phenomenon .............................. 227 73. The Scrolls of Magic Songs from Qumran and Their Purpose ..................................................... 232 74. The Literary Structure of the Songs of the Maskil ........... 238 75. The Incantations ....................................................... 244 76. Praises .................................................................... 252 77 . The Power of Eschatological Praise .............................. 253 78. The Power of the Song of Praise for Those Who Recite It............................................. 260 79. The Conventional Phenomenon ................................... 263 80. Thanksgiving of the Maskil... ..................................... 265 81. The Formal Structure of the Thanksgivings of the Maskil. .......................................................... 267 82. Contents of the Thanksgiving of the Maskil.. ................ 268 83. Summary ................................................................ 271 IX.

Mystical Poetry .................................................................. 273 84. The Angelic Song-Introduction ................................. 273 85. The Status and Literary Image of Angelic Praise ............. 273 86. The Literary Image of the Angelic Song ........................ 276 87. The Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice and their Purpose ...... 282 88. The Image of the Supernal Song from Qumran ............... 296 89. Song of the Sixth Sabbath Sacrifice: The Praises of the Chief Angelic Princes and their Blessings ...................... 297 90. Song of the Seventh Sabbath Sacrifice: Praises Recited by the Multitude ............................................ 307 91. The Song of the Eighth Sabbath Sacrifice: The Songs of the Secondary Princes of the Priests .......................... 310 92. Praises of the Sanctuary and the Chariot. ....................... 311

TABLE OF mNTENTS

xi

PART III: THE THANKSGIVING SCROLL (lQH) AND PRAYER TEXTS (A CONFRONTATION) X.

The Thanksgiving Scroll (lQH) and Prayer Compositions .......... 321 93. Introduction ............................................................. 321 94. Formal Characteristics ............................................... 323 95. Contents: a) The Concrete Nature of the Experience ........ 324 96. b) The Yal}.ad Community and Mainstream Jewry ........... 328 97. c) Thought, Instruction of Knowledge, and Prayer. .......... 333 98. Prosody .................................................................. 344 99. Meter ..................................................................... 345 100. Richness of Metaphor vs. Simplicity of Expression ........ 348 101. Summary ................................................................ 354 Appendix I: The Priestly Blessing in the Tradition of Jewish Worship ....................................... 357 Appendix II: 1. The Use of Scriptural Passages in "Anti-Demonic Hymns" in Qumran and in Jewish Folklore ................... 359 2. Magical-Literary Praxis in the Generations Following Qumran .................................................................. 363 Appendix ill: The Qedusa (Trishagion) ............................................. 367 Bibliography ............................................................................. 371 Indexes ............................................................................. 381

PREFACE This book represents the first attempt to undertake a systematic, comprehensive study of those liturgical and poetic texts of the Dead Sea Scrolls which were discovered in the caves of Qumran and published until 1990. The collections of prayers, blessings and hymns-intended for use in daily worship, on Sabbaths and holidays, and for various ceremoniesindicate that fixed prayers were already customary within Judaism during the period of the Second Temple within sectarian circles, and possibly in wider circles. The discovery of written texts of prayers among the Dead Sea Scrolls makes it possible to discern some features of the order and the versions of prayers which were customary from the second century B.C.E. onwards. This may herald a change in the future direction of the study of the development of Jewish prayer, which has thus far been based upon texts discovered in the Cairo Genizah, composed hundreds of years after the destruction of the Second Temple (70 C.E.). It is now possible for us to conduct a systematic and comprehensive study of Jewish prayer of various kinds, beginning with its biblical traditions and elements, through its development during the Second Temple period, and down to rabbinic prayer, as demonstrated in the present book. Based upon a study of liturgical texts and hymns from Qumran which I conducted during the years 1982-1989, I have followed here the method of comparative literary analysis, through close examination of texts from Qumran and elucidation of their relationship to forms and motifs found in texts of parallel types from various different periods and circles. The literary examination" utilizing this method leads us to certain conclusions concerning the historical dimension of the development of religious poetry and prayer in Judaism. The variety of texts available made it possible to observe certain common features of the texts which were intended for fixed prayer and the direction of their development in various circles within Israel, as well as those unique features which typify the ideological aspects of the Yal)ad community from Qumran. This study thereby lay down the basis for the study of additional liturgical texts from the Dead Sea Scrolls which are currently being published. It should be noted that a comprehensive study of the hymnal and liturgical texts from Qumran has only been possible in recent years. While the poetic and liturgical texts from Qumran were published bit by bit during the 1950's and 60's, there have been recently added the liturgical texts from the fourth cave, published by M. Baillet (Qumran Cave 4 III [DJD VII, Oxford: Clarendon, 1982]); the manuscripts of the angelic praises, edited and published by Carol Newsom (The Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice: A Critical Edition [HSS 27; Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1985]); the non-canonical hymns

xiv

PREFACE

from the fourth cave, published by Eileen Schuller (Non-Canonical Psalms from Qumran: A Pseudepigraphic Collection [HSS 28; Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1986]); and others. With the publication of these works, we have quite a broad picture, if not yet complete, of the scope of the liturgicalliteature in the Qumran finds. Notwithstanding, however, each of the collections and works published with Baillet's edition is deserving of more fundamental work which will confirm its textual structure, and provide a basis for the reading and interpretation of the text, such as that provided in Esther Chazon's work on the manuscript of DiQre hamme?orot ("A Liturgical Document from Qumran and Its Implications: Words of the Luminaries [4QDibHam]," Ph.D. Dissertation, [Jerusalem: The Hebrew University, 1992 [Heb.]; English translation in preparation). This work, which I first saw in September 1993, when my book was already ready for publication, is important in its own right. Nevertheless, it lacks, as does any study which focuses upon one specific scroll, the overall perspective of the liturgical or literary phenomenon, gained through a comprehensive, comparative study with other works of its own and related kinds. On the other hand, a study that encompass numerous works, even though it deliberately ignores attention to various specific details, facilitates a perception of the isolated text within its historical context-literary and functional-thereby paving the way for a systematic classification of additional works of the type discussed therein, and of other similar works. And indeed, such works as 4QPrayers (4Q449456), 4QBerakot (4Q286-290), and 4QBarki Nafshi (4Q434-38), fragments of 4QHodayot (4Q427-433) and other hymnal and liturgical texts currently being prepared for publication [by various scholars], can already utilize the picture presented in my study, and will doubtless add to it. Methodically, literary study of poetical and liturgical works required the quotation of substantial portions of the Qumran texts during the course of the discussion. For purposes of the English edition, I have made use of the available scholarly translations. In those cases where the texts were wellpreserved, I arranged the material according to their immanent literary-poetic structure-that is, by poetic lines and stanzas. I would like to thank my scholarly colleagues, Profs. G. Vermes, P. Wernberg-Mgjller, C. Newsom, B. and C. Rabin, and S. Holm-Nielsen, whose English translations of the various scroll documents served this purpose, for granting me permission to use their translations. The list of editions of translations which I used here is brought in concentrated form in the bibliography (section 2). The use of different translations for the various Qumran texts created a definite problem of lack of uniformity. In order to overcome this problem to some extent, I attempted to use a uniform translation for those terms which repeated themselves in the various different scrolls. For example, the term Maskil, which appears in a number of scrolls, has been translated in various

PREFACE

xv

ways. From among these, I chose the term "Instructor," except in the case of the title of 4Q51O-511, where I retained the Hebrew term: i.e., Songs of the Maskil. I also refrained from the use of archaic language in the translation of pronouns of various sorts. Those pronouns associated with the Divinity are written in capital letters (You, Your, He, His). In order to avoid confusion, I likewise used the capital letter for the pronouns "He" and "His" when used in reference to God in the discussion accompanying the texts cited. On occasion, the translation of the book from Hebrew to English involved difficulties in the transference of terms from one vessel to another. For example: in biblical language, certain terms pertaining to poetry, such as ,ot, "oto, "rD, are synonymous and used interchangably, without any functional specificity. For example: the term ,,0tO appears both in the headings of supplicatory prayers to God (Pss 4-6, etc.) and in the headings of praises (pss 8-9, 19, 29, etc.). We likewise find the terms ''lCto "rD (Pss 48, 66) or "rD "oto (pss 67, 68) as headings for praises of God and as headings for supplications as well (ps 88). Although English terms used for poetry are more specific than the Hebrew, they are not specific enough for a systematic approach like that of Gunkel, which is followed in my study. The English term "hymn" is a general one used for any poetic work (poem) used in religious ceremony, and is also a specific term for a song of general praise to God. Hence, the use of the term "hymn" for the songs of the Thanksgiving Scroll, for example, presented us with a problem of terminology. While the majority of the poems in this scroll are thanksgivings (hodayot) of the individual, if we were to designate them as hymns, how could one identify those general hymnic units which are combined within the individual songs of thanksgiving? The term "rD ("song") serves in English primarily for a song with a melody, while in Hebrew, as we have seen above, it is a rather general term for a poetic work. We do not have any extant information concerning music or melody which accompanied song in the Bible or in the Dead Sea Scrolls. In the scrolls, the term "rD is used for each of the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice, and for the magic songs (4Q51l) as well. I therefore chose to use it as a general term: "song of thanksgiving," "song of praise," "song of supplication," etc. The term "psalm," which may also be used as a general term, is reserved in this study for the biblical psalms and the apocryphal psalms associated with the biblical Book of Psalms, and is not used for those compositions from Qumran whose relation to the Bible is free. Thus, the need to distinguish among the various kinds of songs, and to avoid confusion in the designations of the various types, required use of a terminology that was workable, and not necessarily that accepted in the English language. My study was initially conducted as a doctoral dissertation under the guidance of Prof. Jacob Licht, who passed away on October 18, 1992. I

xvi

PREFACE

learned a great deal from Prof. Licht during the course of my studies of Qumran literature. He enlightened my path during my earlier study of the Pes her literature, as well as in the present study of the intricacies of prayer and poetry of Qumran, which encompasses a variety of different literary genres. Prof. Licht's great sensitivity to literary and philological features illuminated both my analysis of the works from Qumran themselves and my understanding of their relationship to the Bible and their historical position in the development of other works of their type. As a sign of my personal respect to Prof. Licht, .,"r, and in recognition of his own great contribution to the scholarly enterprise of the study of the scrolls, I dedicate this volume to his memory. Many people assisted me in the preparation of this study for publication. Dr. Eileen Schuller of McMaster University brought to my attention the problematic involved in the choice of appropriate terminology for the classification of the various types of poetry found in the Qumran literature. Nurith Reich of the Academy of Hebrew Language clarified certain points regarding the rules of the Hebrew language, and thereby helped me to arrive at proper decisions regarding the interpretation of Hebrew words and their proper transcription. I was also assisted in a variety of matters by my colleagues, to all of whom I extend my deep thanks. The funding of this research project was assisted by the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture, to which I wish to express my gratitude. The English edition of this book was published with the help of the Prize for the Outstanding Doctorate of the Year awarded by the Faculty of the Humanities of Tel-Aviv University, granted to me in 1991. For this, I wish to express my thanks to Prof. Aharon Oppenheimer, head of the Chaim Rosenberg School for Jewish Studies during 1989-1991, who recommended this book to the prize committee, as well as to Prof. Anita Shapira, Dean of the Humanities Faculty, and Profs. David Katz and Benjamin Isaac, members of the prize committee. The final preparation of the English edition and its editing for press were made possible thanks to the Dorot Foundation; I am grateful to the president of that foundation, Mrs. Joy Ungerleider, for her generosity. I would like to express my thanks to Rabbi Jonathan Chipman, the translator of the book, for his careful and faithful rendition of the Hebrew text into English. The type-setting of the translated manuscript was prepared by Ariel Tov, whose efficient work and great care over the details of the editing are deserving of praise; I thank him for them. My thanks are also due to Prof. Jacob Shavit, who assisted me in establishing contact with E. J. Brill, the publishers of the volume, and to Mr. Gideon Spiegel, Administrative Secretary of the Rosenberg School of Jewish Studies of TelAviv University, whose wise advice was invaluable in organizing its publication. Finally, I was greatly helped by my husband, Yehoshua, who

PREFACE

xvii

accompanied my work with sympathy, and helped me to overcome the many difficulties encountered during the preparation of this book for publication, for which I extend my heartfelt thanks. Bilhah Nitzan Tel-Aviv University Tishrei 5754 October 1993

ABBREVIATIONS AND SIGLA

Titles of Scrolls: All Dead Sea Scrolls, except the Cairo Damascus Document (CD), are identified by a code number consisting of the number of the cave in which it was found, the letter Q (for Qumran), and either a letter or other brief abbreviation representing the accepted title of the scroll, or a catalogue number, in which each cave has its own series of consecutive numberso Superscriptions following the abbreviated title indicate different versions of the same basic text.

Scrolls from Cave 1 lQS IQSa IQSb lQH lQM lQpHab lQ27 lQ34 lQ34 bis

Manual of Discipline (Sere~ hayyalJad) Rule of the Congregation (IQ28a) The Blessings (= Blessings) (lQ28b) Thanksgiving Scroll (Hodayot) War Scroll (Milhama) Pesher Habakkuk Book of the Mysteries Prayers for the Festivals Prayers for the Festivals

Scrolls from Cave 4 4QpIsaa 4QEn 4QEnastr 4QTLevi 4Q285 4Q286-290 4Q371-372 4Q380-381 4Q400-407 4Q409 4Q49 1-496 4Q501 4Q502 4Q503 4Q504-506 4Q507 -4Q509 4Q51O-511 4Q512

Pesher Isaiah (4Q161) The Aramaic Book of Enoch (4Q201-207) The Astronomic Book of Enoch (4Q208-211) Testament of Levi (4Q213) Serek hammilhama Berakors"" Joseph Apocryphonaob Apocryphal Psalms Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice (4QShir Shabbaoh ) Times for Praising God War Scroll (4QMaof) Lamentation Ritual of Marriage Daily Blessings Diflre Hamme'orot (4QDibHam) Prayers for the Festivals Songs of the Maskil Ritual of Purification

xx

ABBREVIATIONS

Scrolls from Cave 11 11 QPsa Psalms Scroll (l1Q5) 11 QPsApa Psalms Apocryphona (llQll) llQMelch Melchizedek text (11Q13) llQBer Berakil (llQ14) llQShirShabb Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice (llQ17) llQT Temple Scroll (11Q19) 11 QtgJob Targum of Job (llQlO) Scrolls from Masada MasShirShabb Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice MasSir Ben-Sira Conventions Used in the Cited Translations of the Hebrew Texts Specific passages within the scrolls are identified by the scroll number, followed by fragment numbers (where relevant) in Arabic numerals identifying the particular fragment or fragments of the scroll where the material is found, lower-case Roman numerals indicating the column number, and Arabic numerals indicating the line or lines. Thus, 4Q403 1 ii 20 corresponds to document 403 from Cave 4, fragment 1, column ii, line 20. vac./ vacat [

... ]

{} [all] ()

Uninscribed leather Lacuna Words deleted by scribe Supplements to the text Words supplied to facilitate English translation Supplements to the text according to specific version, or for indicating a repeated formula.

Citations and Abbreviations of Other Ancient Texts Abbreviations of biblical, rabbinic, Philo and classical literature follow the conventions of the Journal of Biblical Literature (1988) "instructions for contributors."

Transliteration Transliteration of Hebrew in the notes and bibliography and the like follow the system propounded by the Journal of Biblical Literature (ibid.), but the diacritical marks for vowel sounds are not marked. In the case of contemporary journals, publishers and cited titles, the transliteration utilized by the work itself is used.

ABBREVIATIONS

xxi

Abbreviations of Periodicals, Reference Works and Series ANRW BA BASOR BHS BR CBQ DID EncMqr HSS HTR HUCA IDB IEJ

lOS

JAOS JBL JJS JQR JSJ JSS LCL MGWJ NTOA NTS RB RevQ ScrHier SVT Th. St. TRu VT ZAW

Aufstieg und Niedergang der romischen Welt Biblical Archeologist Bulletin of American Schools of Oriental Research Biblia hebraica stuttgartensia Biblical Research Catholic Biblical Quarterly Discoveries in the Judaean Desert n'1'1'o iT'"1!l'''P'~'' (Encyclopedia Biblica [Heb.]) Harvard Semitic Studies Harvard Theological Review Hebrew Union College Annual Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible (ed. G. A. Buttrick) Israel Exploration Journal Israel Oriental Society Journal of the American Oriental Society Journal of Biblical Literature Journal of Jewish Studies Jewish Quarterly Review Journalfor the Study of Judaism in the Persian, Hellenistic and Roman Period Journal of Semitic Studies Loeb Classical Library Monatsschrift fiir Geschichte und Wissenschaft des Judentums Novum Testamentum et Orbis Antiquus New Testament Studies Revue Bib/ique Revue de Qumran Scripta Hierosolymitana Studia in Veteries Testamenti pseudepigrapha (= SVTP) Theologische Studien (= ThStud) Theologische Rundschau Vetus Testamentum Zeitschrift fiir die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft

INIRODUCI10N

I. QUMRAN PRAYER AND POETRY IN RELATION TO THE BIBLEBACKGROUND AND AIM The aim of this study is to examine the prayer and poetry of the people of Qumran in conjunction with the community life and literary tradition of Jewish prayer and religious poetry throughout the generations. Prior to the discovery of the works of prayer and poetry from Qumran, most of our knowledge concerning traditions of prayer in Judaism was derived from sources representing the two extreme points of its evolution: the Bible, on the one hand and, on the other, rabbinic sources. In the Bible, prayer appears primarily as a literary expression of spontaneous emotions and religious feelings, rather than as an organized, static mode of divine worship, analogous to the sacrificial system. In rabbinic sources, by contrast, we find a tradition of fixed divine worship through prayer. The transitional stage between these two extreme positions occurred during the Second Temple period; heretofore, our rather sparse information on the subject derived primarily from the apocryphal literature. The hymns and prayers of the Qumran community, which are now available to us, to some extent help us to break through beyond our formerly limited knowledge. They give us a picture of the beginnings of the transition from that form of divine service whose main expression was the system of sacrifices, to that of divine worship through prayer. This transitional stage is reflected in the hymns and prayers of Qumran, which bear great similarity to biblical literature, on the one hand, and to the forms and practices found in Jewish prayer of a later period, on the other. For this reason, the poetry and liturgy of Qumran constitute a watershed in the development of sacred poetry among the Jewish people. The Bible provides only fragmentary information concerning the function and practice of prayer and its "sitz im leben." The absence of such information in the Book of Psalms, in which most of the biblical hymns and prayers are gathered, hampered the attainment of definite kn'owledge concerning the circumstances and functions of prayer during the First and Second Temple periods, both in everyday life and in the cult. Those things which were clear to the contemporaries of the authors of the psalms, and thus did not at the time require interpretation, were hidden to later generations.

2

IN1RODUCTION

Scholars have thus needed to infer the circumstances of prayer and the manner of its practice from the contents of the psalms and from parallel data in the cultic hymns of other nations of the biblical period. 1 It thus became clear that biblical prayer, in both poetry and in prose, may be seen as a kind of conversation of man with his God in times of distress and in joy, and of thanksgiving to God in times of spiritual elation.2 However, these feelings are not expressed as individual experiences in biblical prayer-particularly the psalms-but by means of conventional forms. According to the picture conveyed by Scripture, worshippers addressed God in certain life situations, and were in the habit of expressing their needs, their joy or their excitement through linguistic formulae which they learned from one another. For example: in times of trouble, they beseeched God and sought salvation, using such phrases as: "Have mercy on me, 0 Lord, for 1 am unfortunate; heal me 0 God ... "; "Help us, 0 Lord of salvation ... and save us"; or complained, using such phrases as: "Why, 0 Lord, have You abandoned us?"; "Return 0 God, until when?"; and the like. 3 During times of joy and celebration, they praised God for His mercies and extolled His greatness, with such words as: "Blessed is the Lord, who has given rest..."; "I will thank You, 0 Lord, with all my heart... for You have performed my jUdgment"; "Give thanks unto the Lord for He is good... "; "Great is the Lord and to be praised ... "; and so on.4 Thus, literary patterns for the expression of religious emotions, which were transmitted from one generation to the next, were crystallized. Various literary genres of prayer thereby came into existence, based upon the natural expressions of human beings who found themelves in similar emotional states: petition, thanksgiving, praise and felicitation. These literary genres may be seen in the Bible in both short, spontaneous expressions, and in more complex, elaborate prayers with richer expression.s One might think that the use of such standardized literary conventions places some doubt upon the reliability of these expressions as authentic reflections of the worshipper's feelings-i.e., the intensity of his pain or of his joy.6 It 1 S. N. Kramer and M. Weinfeld, "Prolegomena to a Comparative Study of the Book of Psalms and Sumerian Literature," Beth Miqra 19 (1974) 8-24, 136-159 [Heb.]. 2 On prose prayer in the Bible, see: A. Wendel, Das freie Laiengebet im vorexilischen Israel (Leipzig: E. Pfeiffer, 1932); M. Greenberg, s.v. "Tepilla," EncMqr 8 (Jerusalem: Bialik, 1982) 896-922; idem., Biblical Prose Prayer (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1983). On poetic prayer, see below. 3 For appeals to God via petition and supplication, see: Pss 6:3; 79:9; and other passages. For appeals of complaint and petition: Pss 74:1; 90:13; etc. 4 Blessing or thankgiving: 1 Kgs 8:58; Pss 9:1-4; 136:1; etc. Calls to praise: Ps 145:3; etc. 5 J. P. Audet noted the evolution of blessing in Scripture from a spontaneous utterance to a multi-layered prayer ("Esquisse historique du genre litteraire de la 'Benediction' juive et de l'Euchariste chretienne," RB 65 [1958] 371-384). 6 F. Heiler, Prayer, (ed. McComb; New York: Oxford: U. Pr., 1958) 236ff. [Gennan original: Munchen: Reinhardt, 1920]. Heiler sees biblical prayer as a free, non-fonnalized

IN1RODUCfION

3

is nevertheless precisely through such standardized means of expression, which were not intended to express the unique experiences of the worshipper, that we are able to learn that prayer was an accepted practice in the life of the individual and of the community, under all its various circumstances.? In any event, the use of conventional forms evidently did not prevent freedom of expression, but only served as very general models. It is therefore assumed that we may infer the customs of prayer during the First Temple period through their help. 8 Gunkel's comprehensive study of biblical poetry is based upon certain fundamental assumptions concerning the "Silz im Leben" of biblical prayer. He wished to overcome our limited knowledge of the use of religious poetry in life and in the cult by means of a systematic study of the forms into which the fixed literary types had been crystallized. In his study, Gunkel examined the basic habits of expression differentiating one form from another, building from them a conceptual structure defining the primary types and their characteristics. For example: petitions (Klagelieder) are addressed to God with a complaint, a request for help, and a justification of the request; prayers of thanksgiving (Danklieder) are addressed to God with blessing or thanks, a description of His kindness, and a declaration of His mercy to the community; a customary praise (Hymnus) consists of a summons to praise God, a description of His deeds, and declarations of His greatness. Gunkel sketched the conventional pattern of expression of these components in terms of both form and content, which in tum combine into thematic structures in various different kinds of poetry. Even though his study is devoted primarily to the standard conventions of each type, he was aware of the flexible nature of the means of expression in the different components, each one of which allowed for a variety of expressions of the emotions of the worshippers depending upon their differing circumstances, fonn of expression, not being composed in fixed fonnulae. He views such a non-imposed literary custom as a natural expression of authentic emotions, assuming different facets in the words of different poets, and even that of different cultures and faiths. He finds a fixed liturgy, such as that of the synagogue, to be an expression of fonnalism, as in the Hasidic saying: "A person can pray in silence, while his heart cries out aloud." It is worth mentioning in this connection that the fear that the transfonnation of prayer into a fixed cult would prevent the worshipper from expressing his true emotions is already articulated in the remarks of the tanna, R. Eliezer: "One who makes his prayer a fixed thing, his prayer is not true supplication" (m. Ber. 4:4). However, these remarks referred to the question of obligatory prayer, and are quite remote from the biblical context, in which prayer is a custom whose fonnulation simply reflects literary habits. Nevertheless, even a literary practice may limit the expression of subjective feeling (see below, n. 7). 7 H. Gunkel sees the "anonymity" of the psalms as a sign of their cultic use. He also found anonymity in the Babylonian poems, which likewise fulfill a ritual function (Einleitung in die Psalmen, J. Bergrich, ed. [Gottingen, 1933; 2nd ed., 1966] 10-11). 8 Regarding these assumptions, see Heiler, Prayer, 240-276; J. Hempel, Gebet und Frommigkeit im A. T. (Gottingen, 1922).

4

IN1RODUCTION

and likewise allowed for the absorption of differences which these conventions underwent over the course of time. In other words, he defined a basic model for each genre, in terms of general lines, composed of a modular structure whose components may be adjusted to a variety of contents and structures, according to the worshipper's concern and the varying cultic circumstances.9 The terminology created by Gunkel for defining the various kinds of poetry was found to be useful, and was further developed in the study of the development of prayer and religious poetry (see below). In my study, I shall utilize his approach to distinguish the different genres of poetry found at Qumran. Nevertheless, the word "prayer" will be used as a general term to designate all of the types of poetry used in the worship of God. Whereas Gunkel found the use of this term unnecessary, I do need it, as shall become clear in the chapter entitled "Confrontation" (Ch. 10), which distinguishes between poetry for its own sake, and liturgical poetry. Whereas Gunkel sought to infer the manner of utilization of prayer in worship from the conventional forms and formulae,lO other scholars sought to study more specific subjects, such as the customs associated with the ritual of the festivals (Mowinckel, Weiser, Krauss)ll; characteristics of prayers in different cultures, religions and world-views (Heiler);12 and, relating to our matter, the nature of Jewish prayer following the destruction of the First Temple (Westermann).13 While these studies do in fact clarify the literary tradition of biblical prayer, the question of the use of prayer as an accompaniment to the sacrificial cult (especially during the First Temple period) remains largely unanswered. Moreover, even those hymns which do

9 Gunkel, Einleitung, 32ff. 10 On the basis of their name,

c,o,'nn, which implies praises to God, and their anonymity, Gunkel conjectured that the psalms were rooted in cultic circumstances (Einleitung, 10-15). He likewise inferred additional characteristics of cultic poetry from the hymns which served in cultic settings for the peoples of the ancient Near East; for example: fixed formal models, rhythm, and signs of choral singing. However, Gunkel did not determine the exact circumstances of their use. 11 S. Mowinckel particularly notes the influence of the Babylonian New Year festivals and Canaanite harvest festivals on Israelite religious poetry (Psalmenstudien I-IV [Kristania, 1921-1924; repr. Amsterdam: Schipper, 1966]); idem, "Psalm Criticism between 1900 and 1935," VT 5 [1955] 24ff.). Other scholars suggest alternative kinds of cultic background to the psalms; e.g., the celebration of the covenant of the Israelite tribes, celebrated at the New Year, in Tishrei (Weiser); celebration of the renewal of the covenant and of the kingship of Zion (Krauss). See N. M. Sarna, s.v. "Tehillim. Seper Tehillim," EncMqr 8, 454-456, and the bibliography there. Sarna hintself sees the preservation of the psalms as a sign of their use in the Temple cult, citing various proofs for the ritual use of the psalms during the Second Temple period. See further below, §§51, 55a. 12 Among other things, Heiler discusses prayer in mystical religions, drawing a comparison between parallel motifs in mystical and biblical prayer (Prayer, 192, 283-285). He likewise cites prayers expressing other philosophies of life (ibid., 90). 13 C. Westermann, "Struktur und Geschichte der Klage im AltenTestament," ZAW 66 (1954) 71-80 (see below).

1N1RODUCTION

5

allude to liturgical summons to blessing by the congregation, such as "Give thanks unto the Lord for He is good ... " at festival times (Pss 118:1-4; 135:19-21),14 or the diaphonal calls of praise and response (ps 136), do not indicate precisely how the liturgy of those days was executed. Attempts have recently been made to understand the use of the Psalms in the cult, based upon the sequence of redaction of the psalms collections and the number of psalms in the canonical Book of Psalms and within its sub-groupings. 15 However, these assumptions require further study. II. THE CONTINUITY OF TIlE BIBLICAL '!RADmON DURING THE SECOND TEMPLE PERIOD

With the destruction of the First Temple, the life patterns, both of each individual within Israel and of the people as a whole, were totally disrupted. Naturally, this disruption could likewise destroy literary patterns-especially those pertaining to customs related to festivals and holidays, which could no longer be celebrated as in the past. 16 Hence, during this period, the question of the continuity of tradition in custom and in literature was raised in a sharp manner. Nevertheless, the physical destruction did not cut off the people from its ancient culture. In order to preserve it, and possibly also as a defense against alien cultural and religious influences, the biblical literature was gathered together, thereby embracing the past and the hopes for its renewal, both of which were expressed in new writings modeled upon the ancient literature. That is, together with the feeling of the concealment of the divine face and the cessation of the revelation of God's word to His people, the people sought the word of God in its ancient literature and continued to create in its spirit. Moreover, the canonization of biblical literature stimulated new authors to imitate the Bible in the hope "that the old will be renewed and the new will become sanctified."17 These tendencies may be seen in the literature of the Second Temple-both that which came to be included in the Bible and that which remained extra-canonical-in poetry and in other areas, such as historical and narrative writing, Wisdom literature, etc. Thus, the faithfulness of literary expression to the changes taking place in everyday life and in religious practice tended to be obscured. However, the literature of the Second Temple did not merely imitate the biblical tradition in a static way. Changes in the way of life and, over the course of time, in patterns of religious thought forced authors to seek new

Cf. Jer 33:11; Ezra 3:11. These assumptions are summarized and explained by G. H. Wilson, The Editing of the Hebrew Psalter (Chico, Cal.: Scholars Press, 1985). Cf. below, n. 52. 16 Cf. Lam 1:4; 2:6-7. 17 Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook. 14

15

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IN1RODucnON

ways to bridge and adjust between ancient traditions and new needs. Hence, one can sense in the literary compositions of the Second Temple period a certain tension between the old and new, which left its impression in the alteration of a number of old literary genres and in the creation of new genres. IS For example, instead of the direct style of biblical prophecy there emerged the literature of apocalyptic vision, intended to reveal God's message by means of supernatural intermediaries l9 ; halakhic midrashim were created, based upon the laws of the Torah 2o ; and many other changes took place, including the emergence of techniques of allegory and narratives,21 as well as in the tools of expression-language, style, and others-upon which we cannot elaborate at present. Changes likewise took place in the practice and literary tradition of prayer. For example: greater weight is placed in prayers from the Second Temple period than in the past upon repentance for sin and acceptance of divine 18 This is a manifestation of a more general literary phenomenon, to which scholarly literature has already addressed itself. For example: basic problems in the approach to literature via genre, and in the study of the history of various genres in the context of the development of world literature, are discussed by: M.Glowinski, "The Literary Genre and the Problems of Historical Poetry," Ha-Sifrut 2 (1969) 14-25 [Heb.J, and the bibliography there; R. Choles, "Towards a Poetics of Fiction: An Approach Though Genre," Novel 2 (1969) 101-111; M. Sternberg, "Towards a Poetics of Creation of the Short Story: Four Approaches," Ha-Sifrut 4 (1973) 173-183 [Heb.J. The basic approaches presented in these studies may also be applied to the study of phenomena which occurred in the development of ancient literature of various genres. 19 For example: in the Bible, the Book of Daniel; in the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha, in the Books of Enoch, Syrian Baruch, 4 Ezra, etc. God's word was not received by the apocalyptic visionaries in the same manner as it was by the biblical prophets, but rather in the course of contemplation of historical events, in heavenly descriptions, or through the deciphering of dreams. 20 For example, the author of Jubilees gives his halakhic midrashim the authority of ancient teaching, which he transmits in the name of the fathers of the nation. 21 Thus, in the Book of Ecclesiastes there are not only wisdom parables edited as collections of maxims, as in the Book of Proverbs, but also discussions of wisdom incorporated within a kind of autobiographical story, containing polemical units directed against the approach of Proverbs. See M. Fuchs, s.v. "Qohelet; Seper Qohelet," EncMqr 7 (1976) 73 ff., and the bibliography there. Ben Sira learned a great deal from Proverbs, but differs from it in the manner in which he redacts the proverbs. His sayings are concentrated on the basis of subject or in logical order, and organized in whole, independent poems; or in units with specific literary characteristics, distinguished from other parts of the book. For example: a chapter reflecting upon divine providence and election (15:11-18:13); a section describing God's miraculous acts within nature (42:21-43:38); etc. See M. Z. Segal, C"-'il ""o-J::1 '1!lC, 2d ed.; Jerusalem: Bialik, 1972, Introduction, §§19, 24. There was a noticable tendency during the Second Temple period towards autobiographical narratives, such as the Book of Nehemiah, Ezra Chapter 8, 4 Ezra, and also towards the poetic epic. For example: Ben Sira 51:13-30; Ps 151 (LXX), and parallels in the Psalm Scroll (l1QPs' xxi 1 Iff; xxviii). On this phenomenon, see S. Talmon, "Apocryphal Hymns from Qumran in the Hebrew Language," Tarbi; 35 (1966) 224-228 [Heb.J. Likewise worthy of mention is the genre of songs of consolation to Zion based upon prophecies of consolation, which contain an element of reaction to the dirges of the destruction: e.g., Baruch 4:9-37; 5; llQPs' xxii 1-15.

IN1RODUCTION

7

judgment. 22 Nevertheless, because prayers are a form of expression of the feelings of man's hearts, there is a tendency therein to conservatism. The Book of Psalms contributed to the preservation of older habits of writing. In the literature of the Second Temple, this may be observed in the continuity of writing in conventional biblical genres-petition, thanksgiving, hymn, felicitation-and (insofar as one can infer from a literature which has mostly come down to us in translation) in the biblical influence on its poetic style. It would therefore appear that those changes wrought by time generally took place within the framework of biblical models, in terms of both form and content. 23 Hence, in Second Temple prayers found in the Bible and in the Apocrypha, we do not find an unequivocal answer to the question of the status of prayer in the divine service; one cannot know to what extent its customs had altered since the destruction of the First Temple. 24 Allusions to various liturgical recitations are to be found in the hymns of praise in Ben Sira 51 and in the prayer of Azariah and his friends, similar to the allusions found in the Psalms themselves, albeit one finds there greater stylistic consistency. A tendency to consistency may also be seen in the openings to a series of post-biblical prayers and blessings to God. 25 Nevertheless, none of these indicate how these prayers were in fact recited, so that we are still left very much in the dark with regard to everything concerning Second Temple liturgy. For precisely this reason, the evidence of the prayers of Qumran is interesting. Many of these enjoy an advantage over the biblical and apocryphal prayers in that they contain explicit information concerning the ceremonial function of prayer (see below). However, one must remember that the people of Qumran constituted a distinct community, separate from the main body of the congregation of Israel, which necessarily developed its own practices in terms of prayer and literary creation. Nevertheless, as a rule the prayer literature from Qumran is less heavily sectarian than its other writings, so that one finds there forms and contents similar to those found in later Jewish prayer (see below).26 It follows that the people of Qumran did 22 For example: Isa 64: 4-6; Dan 9; Ezra 9:6-7; Neh 1:6; 9:32-35; the prayer of Manasseh; Baruch 1:15-3:8; etc. The historical changes which occurred in the petitions during the Second Temple period have been noted by Westermann, "Struktur und Geschichte. " 23 For example; the prayer for salvation in Ben Sira 36; Pss. Sol. 7; 9; 17:1-22 (and, in the continuation, an eschatological hymn). For a general survey of the continuity of the biblical poetic tradition in Second Temple poetry, see S. Holm-Nielsen, "Religiose Poesie des Spatjudentums," ANRW II, 19/1 (1979) 152-186. 24 See §5. 25 Most of the prayers in the Book of Tobit open with a blessing to God (3:11; 8:5, 15; 13:2). 26 D. Flusser, "Psalms, Hymns and Prayers," Jewish Writings of the Second Temple Period (ed. M. E. Stone; CRINT, Sect. 2; Assen: Van Gorcum, 1984) 551-557. For a general

8

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not entirely cut themselves off from the Jewish people, but were exposed to the same events which it experienced and to the habits of prayer and literary practices which began to take shape during that period. In other words, study of the prayers preserved in Qumran may to a certain extent help to dissipate the obscurity surrounding the beginnings of the crystallization of divine worship through prayer during Second Temple times, and may help us to understand those processes which took place in Jewish prayer in those days. Ill. FINDlNGS OF PRAYER AND POETRY FROM QUMRAN AND THEIR STUDY

The possibility of a comprehensive study of the prayer and religious poetry of the Qumran community has only recently became feasible. This has taken place through the gradual addition to the findings from the first cave, including a number of poetic works of texts of prayer and poetry from the other caves (primarily the fourth and eleventh caves), thereby augmenting and variegating the material available to us. The variety of works now extant provides a comprehensive picture of the poetic and liturgical creation of Qumran and its use. These findings may be divided into two groups: the former consists of those poems lacking a specific heading or rubric concerning their liturgical purpose, and whose function is unclear; the latter contains works of prayer and poetry specifically intended for divine worship within the circle of the sect. The former group encompasses: the Psalms Scroll (llQPsa), including a large collection of canonical psalms and eight apocryphal psalms27; several pseudepigraphic collections of prayers and psalms (4Q371-372; 4Q378-379;

sUIVey of the Qumran prayers in light of liturgical developments in mainstream Jewry from the Second Temple period on, see: 1. Maier, "Zu Kult und Liturgie der Qumrangemeinde," RevQ 14 (1990) 543-586. On the importance of the Qumran liturgical texts for understanding the development of both Jewish and Christian prayer, see J. Charlesworth, "A Prologomenon to a New Study of the Jewish Background of the Hymns and Prayers in the New Testament," JJS 33 (1982) 265-285. This common heritage makes it difficult to distinguish between liturgical texts which were composed in Qumran and those which merely seIVed in their cult. See C. A. Newsom, '''Sectual Explicit' Literature from Qumran," The Hebrew Bible and its Interpreters (eds. W. H. Propp, B. Halperin, D. N. Freedman; Wilona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 1990) 167-187. 27 J. A. Sanders, The Psalms Scroll of Qumran Cave 11 (llQPI') (DJD IV; Oxford: Clarendon, 1965). There are parallels in other sources to several of the eight apocryphal psalms in this scroll: the hymn of col. xxviii is parallel to Psalm 151 in the LXX, and likewise to a Syriac version found in the Ketaba de-duraSa' by the tenth century Nestorian Bishop Elijah of al-Anbar. See W. Wright, "Some Apocryphal Psalms in Syriac," PSBA 9 (1887) 257-266; M. Noth, "Die ffinf syrisch ueberlieferten apokryphen Psalmen," ZAW 48 (1930) 1-23. There is a parallel to the hymns of cols. xviii, xxiv in the Syriac text of Pss 154, 155. The hymn of col. xxi, lines 11 ff., is parallel to Ben Sira 51:13ff. No parallels have been found to the apocryphal psalms of cols. xix, xxii, xxvi, xxvii.

IN1RODUCTION

9

4Q380-381)28; and two collections of sectarian poetry: the Thanksgiving Scroll (IQH), containing some thirty poems; and a collection of poems incorporated within the Manual of Discipline (IQS), cols. x-xi. 29 The poems in the latter two collections are of the individual, expressing the feelings, struggles, thoughts and faith of a member of the sect. Their contents and patterns of thought reflect an explicitly apocalyptic, sectarian world-view. However, it is worth mentioning that works enumerating the proper times for song and prayer to God are to be found in the Psalms Scroll (l1QPs· xxxvii 2-11), in the Manual of Discipline (IQS x 1-8), and in the Thanksgiving Scroll (lQH xii 1-11). There was likewise found at Qumran a composition enumerating the times for praise and blessing to God during the festivals of the year (4Q409).30 These works are a form of liturgical table, mostly written as hymns. It is not inconceivable that they were customarily recited during communal worship, even though there is no explicit statement to this effect (I will discuss this point below, in §§11-12, 60). The second group includes "orders" (see below) of blessings and prayers for the festivals and for various occasional ceremonies, as observed both in the present and at the End of Days, whose intention is explicitly stated in their headings and rubrics. Currently extant are: "orders" of blessings and prayers for public ceremonies: the "order" for the covenental ceremony of the Yal}ad community (lQS i-ii); a priestly blessing to the community of Israel (11QBer 1-2 = 4Q285 1); Blessings for the congregation of Israel at the End 28 E. M. Schuller, Non·Canonical Psalms from Qumran: Pseudepigrophic Collection (HSS 28; Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1986); idem, "4Q372; I: A Text about Joseph" RevQ 14 (1990) 349-376; idem., "The Psalms of 4Q372 1 Within the Context of Second Temple Prayer," CBQ 54 (1992) 67-79. Scrolls 4Q371-372 and 4Q380-381 have came down to us via copies from the middle and end of the Hasmonean period. However, on the basis of the contents and language of these works, Schuller assumes that they were written during the Persian-Hellenistic period. The characteristics of these works are suitable to biblical apocryphal literature, and bear no signs of liturgical usage. The Prayer of Joseph (4Q371; 4Q373 1) is an occasional prayer, connected with the Jewish Samaritan polemic concerning the national status of the Samaritans and their temple. In light of its copying during the Hasmonean period, one may assume that its contents were relevant even after the destruction of the Samaritan temple during the reign of John Hyrcanus. See on this H. Eshel, "The Prayer of Joseph from Qumran, a Papyrus from Masada and the Samaritan Temple on Mt. Gerizim," ?ion 56 (1991) 125-136 [Heb.J. The work known as the Psalms of Joshua (4Q378-379), published by C. A. Newsom, "The 'Psalms of Joshua' from Qumran Cave 4" JJS 39 (1988) 56-73, is an explicitly apocryphal work, including narration and prayer. The prayer is incorporated into the story, which begins with the words of Moses to Joshua at the Jordan at Jericho (Num 33:48), and concludes with Joshua's curse of whomever will rebuild Jericho, and its historical realization (cf. the parallel in 4Q175:21-30). The extant copies are from the Hasmonean or Herodian period, and the historical circumstances are connected with the history of the city of Jericho during the Second Temple period. The prayer written against this background is patently occasional-polemical, and not liturgical. 29 For details of the publication of the Thanksgiving Scroll (IQH) and the Mallual of Discipline (IQS), see Bibliography. 30 For details of the publication of 4Q409, see Bibliography, or §60, n. 60.

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of Days (lQSb)31; the manual of prayers for ceremonies of the war of redemption (lQM x-xix and parallels)32; "orders" of blessings for individual rituals: blessings for the Ritual of Purification (4Q512); blessings for the Ritual of Marriage (4Q502); "orders" for fixed blessings and for prayers of the community: Daily Blessings (4Q503); weekly prayers of Dibre hamme'orot (4Q504-506); Prayers for the Festivals (4Q507-509 and parallels)33; "orders" of mystical and magical songs: the angelic liturgy of the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice (4QShirShabb; llQShirShabb; MasShir Shabb)34; songs against harmful spirits (4Q51O-511; llQPsApa)35; and fragments of various other prayers, whose purpose is unclear. 36 One should mention that many of the texts in the second group have survived in rather fragmentary form. At times, their details are not sufficiently understood because we do not know the overall context of the text in its entirety. It is nevertheless possible to make use of them in the context of overall research on prayer, inferring significant information by combining details found in one text with those found in another. From the available findings, it seems that the people of Qumran were not content to utilize poetry as an expression of their heartfelt feelings and of their ideology, but wrote extensive prayers and hymns to be recited at various ceremonies, in the daily fixed prayers and on festivals and holidays. From the functions of prayer and the "orders" in which the prayers were arranged, it would seem that it was customary in Qumran to conduct organized divine worship through prayer on the festivals of the Torah and on other set occasions observed by the sect (see below). Moreover, separate liturgies were composed for the present and for the End of Days. Prayer was thereby rendered suitable to the life of the community and corresponded to the doctrine of times which it preached, in accordance with the manuals of 31 For details of the publication of lQSb and llQBer, see Bibliography and, in greater detail, §36, nn. 67, 73. 32 Details of the publication of prayers of the War Scroll from the first cave (IQM), and parallels from the fourth cave (4QM), are found in Chapter 7. 33 The texts from the fourth cave have been published by M. Baillet. See details in Bibliography. 34 Details concerning the publication of the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice appear in §87, nn. 33, 34. 35 For details of the publication of the magical songs from Qumran, see §72, nn. 1, 2; §73, n. 37. 36 For example: 4Q500, 4Q50l: M. Baillet, Qumran Cave 4 III (DlD VII; Oxford: Clarendon, 1982) 78-80, PIs. XXVII, XXVIII. 6Q16: M. Baillet, J. T. Milik and R. de Vaux, eds., Les 'Petites Grottes' de Qumran (DJD III; Oxford: Clarendon, 1962) 131-132, PI. XXVII. The theory that the text in 4Q500 is a mystical hymn has been proposed by M. J. Baumgarten, "The Qumran Sabbath Shirot and Rabbinic Merkabah Traditions" RevQ 13 (1988) 199-213, esp. 207-213. The text in 4Q501 has been defined by Baillet as a dirge, while Maier saw it as supplication ("Zu Kult und Liturgie," 578-579). On this work, see below, §lOO.

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11

regulations intended for different times-i.e., "the days of the reign of Belial," and the Eschaton. 37 Clearly, explicit information concerning the time or manner of recitation of each prayer will enable us to establish with certainty the "Sitz im Leben," not only of each individual composition, but of the role played by divine worship through prayer in the life of the community and in its doctrine. The absence of such information in the Psalms may lead, as we said above, to various different conjectures regarding the ways of use of the psalms and the phenomenon of prayer in Jewish practice.38 Texts from both groups-those whose purpose is unknown and those whose purpose is known-bear a relationship to the Bible. This can be seen in the literary tradition, in their function, or at times in both. Moreover, the same biblical sources used in the texts from Qumran likewise seem to have served as sources for the prayers of tannaitic Judaism. This is reflected in various allusions in the Mishnah and the Talmud, as well as in the texts contained in the Jewish Prayer Book (Siddur). The following is a schematic picture of this phenomenon:

37 J. Licht, "Time and Eschatology in Apocalyptic Literature and in Qumran" JJS 16 (1965) 177-182; Hebrew version: "The Judaean Desert Sect's Concept of Periods and Others who Reckon the End," Eretz Israel 8 (1967) 63-70 [Heb.l. 38 See above, nn. 10-11.

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Table A: Prayers of Qumran and of Mainstream Judaism in Relation to the Bible Function:

Poetry

Biblical Sources: 39

Qumran:

Book of Psalms

Psalms Scroll (lIQPsa) Thanksgiving Scroll Manual of Discipline

Mishnah and Siddur: Morning Prayer (Tejjillal ha-

SaI;ar)

X-Xl

Public Ceremonies

War Ceremonies Individual Ceremonies

Deut 27 Num 6:24-26 (Deut 29: 17 -20)

Covenantal Ceremony m. Sora 7:5 (lQS i 16-ii 25)

Num 6:24-26 (Ps 115:15; Deut 11; 28 Exod 23 Lev 26; etc.) Num 6:24-26 (Deut 33:7-11 Gen 49:8-12 Isa 11; etc.) Deut 20:1-4 (prayer in war) prophecies of redemption Sacrifice of purification: Lev 14-15 ?

Blessing of the Priest to the Congregation (l1QBer 1-2; 4Q285 1)

The Regular Cult

The Regular Offering: Exod 30:7-8 Num 28:3-8

The Cult of the Festivals of the Lord

Sacrifices of the Festivals of the Lord: Lev 23; Num 10:11; Num 28.

m. Sora 7:6

Blessings for the End of Days (IQSb) Prayers for the War of the End of Days (IQM x-xix; parallels in4QM) Blessings of Purification (4Q512) Blessings for Marriage (4Q502) Daily Blessings for Evening and Morning (4Q503) Dii2re hamme'orot (4Q504-506) Prayers for the Festivals (4Q507-509; lQ34bis )

m. Sora 8:1

? Birkat lJatanim

Allusions in the Siddur Musajj (Additional Prayer)

39 Those passages which primarily selVe in the prayers from Qumran will be listed in round brackets.

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Mystical Poetry

Magical Poetry

Num 28:10 Ps 29; Ezek 1; 10 Isa 6:1-3; Ezek 3: 12-13; etc.

Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice (4Q400-407; l1Q17; MasShirShabb) 4Q51O-51l; 11QPsAp· (including Ps 91)

QeduJaof Musap

Anti-demonic Hymns (Ps 91; Ps 3)

But even though the prayers and ceremonies of Qumran and of the rabbinic tradition refer to the same biblical sources, one cannot conclude that the ceremonies and prayers are themselves identical (see below). The phenomenon is nevertheless an instructive one, indicating that Scripture served as the basis for the religious cult of the entire Jewish people in all its different factions. There are in fact certain details in which the prayers and ceremonies of Qumran are unique unto themselves, and others in which they in principle resemble the prayers of mainstream Israel. For example: certain verbatim quotations from the Torah-e.g., the priestly blessing,40 the blessings and curses of the covenant, and the charge given by the priest to the troops going out to battle-even though they do not enjoy the same status as the sacrificial cult, serve as the basis for various recitations in the ceremonies of the Yal)ad, just as the Mishnah contains rules for their recitation (m. SOla 7-8), some in their original language and others as exegetically understood. However, the Qumran community also performed certain covenantal ceremonies which distinguished it from the mainstream Israel: it expounded the recitation of the priestly blessing in the covenantal ceremony, and interpreted the ceremonies before battle given in Deuteronomy 20 in connection with the war of the End of Days. In other words, the biblical sources only served the members of the sect as literary models, on whose basis they then created ceremonies expressing their own unique ideology.41 On the other hand, the fixed liturgy of the sect for weekdays and for festivals has much in common with regular Jewish prayer, both in terms of the model of the prayers and their contents: there is a definite tendency to formal unity in the "orders" intended for regular divine worship service in 40 The circumstances for the recitation of the priestly blessing (Num 6:24-26) are not explicitly stated in the Torah. 41 These rituals, their sources, and the ideology reflected therein have already been discussed near the time of their publication. The covenant rituals of 1QS and the Blessings of lQSb have been discussed by J. Licht, C'Y10il m'lIJ (Jerusalem: Bialik, 1965) 51-76; 273-289; K. Baltzer, The Covenant Formulary (Oxford: Blackwell, 1971; German original: WMANT 4; Neukirchen Kreis Moers: Neukirchener Verlag, 1964); Milik, below, §36, n. 64. The prayers of the eschatological war are discussed by Y. Yadin, The Scroll of the War of the Sons of Light against the Sons of Darkness (Oxford: OUP 1962) 303-351. [Heb. original, Jerusalem: Bialik, 1952]. The covenant ceremonies and solemn blessings are discussed below, §§31-36; the ceremony of the War of the End of Days, in §§61-71.

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Qumran. This is expressed in the use of formal patterns for the opening, for the closing, and during the course of the prayer or blessing. 42 Thus far, the arrangement of blessings and prayers on the basis of fixed patterns was only known from the laws of blessings of the tannaim and the prayers arranged according to their rules. In fact, this phenomenon assumed different aspects in the prayers of Qumran and in rabbinic prayer (see below); nevertheless, its fixed appearance in the prayers of Qumran provides a key for recognizing the beginning of one of the processes in the establishment of Jewish prayer. As for the contents of the fixed prayers, these reflect the biblical traditions accepted by the Jewish people in all generations and among all its various divisions (both with regard to the basic concepts of Jewish faith, and to the specific contents of the festivals and other religious institutions). The similarity between the prayers and blessings used by the sect and those of Jewry as a whole is primarily to be seen in those prayers which correspond to the sacrificial service, or those which were practiced alongside it. Evidence for existence within the sect of divine worship through prayer, considered as "offering of the lips," may also be found in some of their other writings (1QS ix 5; x 10),43 whereas it is generally assumed that prayer only became obligatory within the Jewish people in general following the destruction of the Second Temple. 44 Nevertheless, the similarity between the set prayers used by the sect and those of Jewry generally, in terms of forms and contents, may indicate that fixed prayer had already originated within the Jewish people at the time of the Second Temple. It is worth mentioning that the various works of fixed prayer and blessings, most of which were found in the fourth and eleventh caves, are presently at different stages of research. To date, the majority have only appeared in editio princeps, including notes on reading and general comments relating to the time and use of texts and their contents. 45 For some, studies dealing with them in relation to the development of Jewish liturgical practice already exist. These include the works of Lehmann, Flusser, Weinfeld, Baumgarten, Chazon and others,46 which address the question of the A definition of these patterns is brought further on. Examples are cited in §§ 17 -18. See below, §§9-12. 44 This assumption is explained below, §§6-7. See the bibliography there. 45 For a bibliography of the editio princeps, see Bibliography 1. 46 M. R. Lehmann, '''Yom Kippur' in Qumran", RevQ 10 (1961) 117-124, was written after the publication of 1Q34bis , which contains explicit testimony concerning the "prayers for the Day of Atonement" (DJD I, 153), but prior to that of 4Q507-509 (prayers for the festivals). Lehmann thus assumed that other texts were used in the prayers of Yom Kippur, even though there is no explicit confirmation of this. M. R. Lehmann, "A Reinterpretation of 4Q Dibre ham-me'oroth," RevQ 5 (1964-66) 106-110, was written following the partial publication of the prayers of Diqre Hamme'orot (M. Baillet, "Un recueil liturgique de Qumran, grotte 4: 'Les Paroles des Luminaires,'" RB 68 [1961] 195-250), and describes the liturgical character of this work as analogous to the Ta~anun prayer of mainstream Jewish 42 43

IN1RODUCTION

15

similarity of these texts to mainstream Jewish prayers, not only with regard to their formal arrangement, but in terms of content and formulation. There is much that still remains to be known concerning the use in Qumran worship of works of mystical poetry (Sirot ':1 ~ .lI:100).1 6 The application of this requirement to

See §18a. Above, n. 25; and below, §18b. 75 Below, §§ 17, 18c. 76 Below, §18c. 73 74

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all prayers and obligatory blessings created a situation in which every prayer, regardless of its contents, was treated as a blessing. b) Creative Development of a Biblical Source or Type

The opposite phenomenon occurs when a given text becomes a traditional model or archetype for additional texts which are constructed in its form. This stems from the fact that divine service, in prayer and in liturgical ceremony, is rooted ab initio in a limited number of sacred writings and contents. For example: a liturgical example for the conducting of a covenantal ceremony appears in Deuteronomy 27 alone; there is only one text in the Bible which is intended as a priestly blessing (Num 6:24-26); there is one text for the priestly charge to the troops before battle (Deut 20:34); two texts in which the praises of God on high are recited (Isa 6:3; Ezek 3: 12). It is clear that neither the limited number of biblical texts available nor their contents, which were rooted in an early time, could hamper the desire to base the worship of God in ritual and prayer upon biblical precedents. Rather, these were reinterpreted in various ways, thereby adapted to the needs of a situation different from that of their biblical authors, and at times to more explicit or different contents than those found in the Bible itself. In other words, the innate limitations of the liturgical element in the Bible, on the one hand, and the growth of liturgical needs over the course of time, on the other, created certain difficulties which were resolved by means of literary-liturgical exegesis. For example: in the ceremony of entering the covenant of the sect (IQS i-ii) , the liturgical technique of antiphonal recitation derived from the sequence of blessing and curse in the covenantal ceremony in Deuteronomy 27 was applied to all the recitations in the ceremony, including those which were neither blessing nor curse. Again, through various means of exegesis the ceremony of priestly blessing (Num 6:24-26) became an archetype for many ceremonial blessings of the congregation. By these means, the generalized verbs of blessing were applied to specific objects of blessing, appropriate to various people being blessed and to specific ceremonies.1 7 Thus, a variety of texts were created in the literature of Qumran applying various methods of exegesis to a limited number of biblical texts. This phenomenon did not originate in Qumran, but was already wellknown in the Bible, although there it assumed a somewhat different form. In Scripture it is possible to distinguish certain works which bear a conscious creative relationship to an earlier text. This relationship becomes clear 77 For example, for purposes of the ceremony of entering into the covenant, the verbs appearing in the priestly blessing were likewise interpreted in an opposite manner, as implying curses against those who did not enter into the covenant of the cult. See below,

§42.

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27

through significant resemblances in wording, motifs, and at times even structure.1 8 Thus, for example, the priestly blessing is the basis for Psalm 67, for Malachi 1-2, and other passages; the divine attributes presented in Exodus 20:5-6 and 34:6-7 serve as the basis for various prophetic writings. 79 Similarly, God's blessing of Judah and Levi in Genesis 49 serves as the basis for certain prophetic writings, as well as for works in the pseudepigraphic literature. so By contrast, in Qumran earlier texts are used not only for exegetical or literary purposes,8l but for liturgical use. These require the creation of literary forms appropriate to the needs of liturgical statements; hence, the biblical source serves as a model, not only for contents and language, but also for literary structure, whether this be in the form of the earlier structure or of a new structure inspired thereby. 82 One notices a certain systematic quality in the composition of the works of each of the liturgical "orders" from Qumran; although systematic repetition is of the very substance of liturgy, there is a certain variety among the various works based upon the same source. We thus find a comprehensive system of creative exegesis which develops in light of the assumption that the Bible incorporates elements guiding the individual and the collectivity in all aspects of life (for our purposes-prayer) and throughout the generations. c) The Adaptability o/the Biblical Models to Innovations

Alongside writing rooted in specific sources, there continued in Qumran the free literary creation of various kinds of poetry based upon generic models. As we have already observed, this system was defined by the genres of biblical poetry, which represented specific modes of thinking and of creativity. However, the world-view of the men of Qumran differed in several 78 M. Fishbane, Biblical Interpretation in Ancient Israel (Oxford: Clarendon, 1985) 285: ..... It is not by virtue of objective criteria that one may identify aggadic exegesis, but rather by a close comparison of the language of a given text with other, earlier Scriptural dicta or topoi. Where such a text (the putative traditio) is dominated by those dicta or topoi (the putative traditium), and uses them in new and transformed ways, the likelihood of ag~adic exegesis is strong." 9 Fishbane, ibid., 329-350, and see the bibliography below, §39, n. 4. 80 Below, §47. 81 There is a certain relation between the Pesher literature of Qumran and homiletical midrashim. However, in the Pesher the biblical text is quoted, with the midrash based upon it brought alongside it. Nevertheless, each Pesher is a literary unit unto itself, unlike the manner of exegeses, and it is possible to determine the relation between the unit of the Pesher and the given text (including one with which the connection is indirect) on the basis of associations and linguistic allusions. See B. Nitzan, Plf':JI1 "1II1II "",Xl (Jerusalem: Bialik, 1986) 29-79, and the bibliography there. The relation to verses from the Bible in other writings is clearly seen from the wording of the relevant passages. 82 In the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice, there are interesting examples of the construction of liturgical texts as a creative exegetical midrash of texts concerned with celestial songs. See below, §§89, 92.

28

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important respects from that of the Bible. Hence, in light of the presumed importance of the "sitz im leben" of poetry, one must clarify whether and in what way the poetic models taken from the Bible were influenced by the new attitudes. One likewise also finds in the poetry of Qumran literary genres which are not represented at all in the Bible, such as magical poetry, elaborate forms of mystical poetry, and other liturgical forms unknown in Scripture. Concerning these, one may ask whether they are total innovations or literary descendants of existing forms. In other words, the process of postbiblical development of earlier poetry is likely to be reflected in the kinds of poetry found in Qumran. To begin with, it is worth noting that, generally speaking, the framework of the genres of biblical poetry were preserved in the works discussed above-both those incorporated in the frameworks of patterns of liturgical blessing, and those which were created on the basis of specific written texts. For example, in the fixed Prayers for the Festivals of the Torah (4Q507509), one may detect the traditional components of petitionary prayerpraise, request, justification-in their various styles. These cannot be properly designated as "blessings" in the sense in which this term is used in tannaitic prayer, as they begin with the petitionary formula: "Remember 0 Lord" ('l1i~ "~r). The basic biblical forms of praise, benediction, petition, and encouragement (as in Deut 20: 1-4) are likewise preserved in the formulation of new works. In other words, the use of fixed forms in Qumran prayers only limits the free formulation of certain specific components, but does not change either the basic model of the literary genre or its overall character. It follows from this that the biblical forms of prayer were still practiced in the prayers of the people of Qumran. The need of the men of Qumran to express their world-view concerning various subjects nevertheless lent new characteristics to their poetry, which at times changed the image and atmosphere of the biblical poetic genres. This is particularly felt in the Thanksgiving Scroll (lQH). I mentioned earlier the adaptation of the biblical song of thanksgiving as a tool for expressing theoretical theological contents, to the extent that it was transformed into a theoretical-didactic poem. But even more: that world-view which sees man as a lowly creature, whose entire being is dependent upon the mercies and will of God, led to a situation in which every subject, such as knowledge, poetic talent, ethical traits, and the like, was understood as salvation from the troubles of humble human existence and made into a subject of thanksgiving. That is, the genre of the song of thanksgiving, which in the Bible is primarily utilized to express thanks for salvation from physical distress, here becomes a versatile literary tool for the expression of other religious feelings, such as apocalyptic fears, dependence, or mystical elevation. One could say that the incorporation of such contents within the

IN1RODUCTION

29

framework of the traditional components of the song of thanksgiving demonstrates the flexibility of the biblical model. True, this poetry effuses a different, uniquely Qumranic, atmosphere. One might say that, while these are thanksgiving songs, they are apocalyptic-mystic thanksgiving songs, or theoretical Qumranic thanksgiving songs, representing a kind of sub-genre of the biblical thanksgiving song, developed in order to express specific contents not found in the Bible. Other characteristics which may be described as peculiarly Qumranic may be seen in the magical songs of scrolls 4Q510-511. Whereas the Bible contains no magical songs, in the poems found in these scrolls one recognizes the model known from folk amulets and charms preceding or subsequent to Qumran (see the body of the discussion, below). However, these poems do not mention the practical preparation of the sorcerer reciting them, nor do those reciting them abjure harmful demons with the secret names of God. We instead find songs of hymn and thanksgiving similar to those found in the Thanksgiving Scroll (lQH). From the contents of the songs, it would seem that the faith of the Qumranic sorcerer in God's eschatological promise to destroy all manifestations of evil, including evil spirits, and to keep faith with the righteous sons of light, carry equal weight to the magical powers generally used by sorcerers. We thus find a use of songs of praise which were developed in Qumran for purposes which are unparalleled in any straightforward reading of the Bible. This may indicate the extent to which the songs of praise in their Qumranic form had assimilated the trains of thought and customs of the community. Other sub-genres of biblical songs of praise were developed in Qumran for liturgical needs. These were by and large not true hymns, but a series of proclamations of praise or blessing meant to be recited. These may be found in the "order" of the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice; to them may be added the compositions in lQS x 1-8 and 4Q409 enumerating the times for reciting praise. These may be defined as sub-varieties of a form of poetry which is itself a secondary development of biblical psalmody. I refer specifically to those songs in which the element of summoning to praise, which is a standard component in all songs of praise, is expanded at the expense of the other components, expressing the contents of that praise. In this manner, one arrives at songs which depict the act of praise or which create an atmosphere of praise and are convenient for liturgical recitation-for example, Psalms 148, 150 and others. But whereas in the Bible the style of invitation to praise is poetical, the corresponding developments in Qumran have the liturgical character of a sequential recitation, which it would be difficult to characterize as poetic. The development of this phenomenon is portrayed and explained at length below, both in the introduction to the songs of praise and in the analysis of the poems themselves.

30

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One may therefore say that the types of poem found in Qumran continue in principle the tradition of biblical poetry, indicating the great flexibility of the poetic forms of the Bible. Changes in world-view and in customs which developed over the course of time did not alter the poetic genres as such; rather, these were absorbed into the existing forms. They nevertheless gave a new character to these types. In conclusion, one might say that the literary phenomenon discussed here is not one of literary imitation, but an active process of literary creativity in which a literary tradition derived from the Bible is adjusted to various needs: both those associated with divine worship, and those related to the expression of the specific religious feelings of the men of Qumran. V. THE Sml.1cruRE OF THE STUDY A wide range of works and phenomena are considered in the present study. It was hence necessary for me to choose between two possible ways of presenting the material. One option would entail their arrangement in accordance with the various phenomena discussed in the various works, without discussing the works as such; the other would involve the description of the material according to the works. Discussion of the phenomena in their own right, each in a separate section of the study, would have facilitated their systematic deSCription and revealed the various aspects of their development. However, by doing so we would have split the discussion of a given scroll, "order," or work-in each one of which there exists a variety of phenomena-among several different units of study. We would have thereby lost the connective threads joining a variety of phenomena into one integrated literary unit as it emerged from the hand of its author. I therefore found it preferrable to discuss all of the various phenomena found in a given work as a whole, even if this involved a certain loss in terms of the systematic exposition of each phenomenon. Fortunately, those works which possess a common function and shared literary characteristics are generally edited, as we mentioned, in separate collections and "orders." In other words, each "order" or collection is intended to provide for a specific custom, cultic or otherwise, which is in turn characterized by a specific literary practice. As a result, the danger of splitting the discussion of a particular literary phenomenon among many different units of the study is minimized. Even in those collections or "orders" containing a variety of different kinds of compositions, one may always find some central connecting phenomenon which enables them to exist together as one unit. 83 83 For example: in the prayers of the War Scroll, we find a prayer for victory, blessing and curse, speeches of encouragement, and songs of thanksgiving. All these will be recited in the future under the different circumstances of redemptive war at the End of Days.

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31

The study presented here focuses upon liturgical texts from Qumran, the study of which is generally speaking still in its infancy. The collections of hymns, however, which primarily reflect a literary tradition, and which have already been studied, will be discussed in confrontation with the liturgical texts. The discussion of the texts in the study as a whole is organized into three parts: a) Fixed prayer in Qumran and in mainstream Judaism: prayers for the times of divine service fixed by the Torah, which served as a substitute for the sacrificial worship. b) The prayer of the community: "orders" of prayer for ceremonies and other occasions in which the sect was marked by its distinctive customs. c) Collections of hymns and "orders" of prayer-confrontation. To describe it in greater detail: in the first part-that devoted to the fixed prayers of Qumran and of the Jewish people generally-I discuss those phenomena characterizing the transition from occasional prayer to fixed prayer, as manifested in the literature of Qumran, parallel with the Bible, the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha, and the tannaitic laws of prayer and blessings. In the second part of the study, devoted to the prayers of the community, we discuss the central characteristics of the "orders" of prayer from Qumran-blessing and curse, various kinds of songs of praise-and their use. The characteristics of each literary type and their use in the Bible form the framework for the discussion. The discussion of the Qumranic literary type and its use is built upon this framework. The conclusions drawn from the examination of prayer texts allow us to note the difference between prayer and that poetry which has a different purpose. This discussion appears in the third part of the study. VI. THE EDITING OF TIlE 1EXTS IN TIlE STUDY

During the course of the discussion, we cite numerous works of prayer and poetry from Qumran which have already been published. These are not brought in order, but are incorporated within the context of a discussion that progresses according to its own agenda and its own inner logic. Most of these are edited here in a form which reflect their poetic structure-that is, they are arranged in poetic rhymes and strophes, and at times in stanzas. The Qumran hymns from the scrolls of the first cave, as well as the apocryphal hymns from the Psalms Scroll (1IQPsa), have already been arranged in the past in poetical lines. 84 By contrast, various works from the fourth cave, 84 For a poetic redaction of the songs of the Thanksgivings Scroll (IQH) see, for example, the editions of Licht (Hodayot); Kittel (Hymns); and others, as well as the study of B. Thiering, "The Poetic Forms of the Hodayot," JSS 8 (1963) 189-209. The ceremonial sayings and the song of the Manual of Discipline, cols. x-xi; and likewise the blessings of

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sections from the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice, and llQBer 1-2 (= 4Q285 1), which have thus far only been published in transcription editions,85 are here presented as poetry, arranged according to my own understanding. Those texts which were extremely corrupt have been brought in transcription. 86 The actual wording of the text is based upon their reading in the editio princeps, or as they appear in a critical edition, where such exists (see below), as are likewise the completions of lacunae. I have nevertheless also brought some of my own suggestions for readings of the texts and completion of lacunae, as well as some alterations of proposed readings and completions which I found in earlier editions. My suggestions are explained in the notes to the text, where I have likewise brought information concerning alternative readings in parallel texts. Exegetical notes are only written in a very few places, and in brief. General information concerning the physical condition and readability of the texts under discussion in my study are brought in the relevant chapters. I have not included detailed information concerning the script and the conjectured date of each scroll. The general statement that these texts are from the Second Temple period suffices for purposes of the present study.87 Those interested in further details will find them in the introductions to the textual and exegetical editions. the priests and that of the Prince of the Congregation in the Blessings (lQSb) are arranged in Licht's edition in metred lines (Serafsim, 208-233, 281-286). For a poetic arrangement of the hymns of the War Scroll, see the editions of Dupont-Sommer (Essene Writings) and Gaster (The Dead Sea Scrolls). A poetic arrangement of the apocryphal psalms from the Psalms Scroll (llQPs') appears in the edition of Sanders and that of Uffenheimer ("Psalm 151"; "Psalms 152-153"). See also the poetic redaction of these WOlXs and of other works from Qumran in G. Vermes, The Dead Sea Scrolls in English, third edition (Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1987). The citations from the Thanksgivings Scrolls and from the Serafsim in the present study are by and large arranged according to Licht. However, in principle their arrangement is not necessarily tied to any particular edition. The arrangement of each quotation from the Qumran hymns has been considered in this study in accordance with the specific case in question. 85 With the exceptions of L. H. Schiffman, who arranged a portion of the sixth Song of the Sabbath Sacrifice in poetic columns ("Merkavah Speculations at Qumran: The 4Q Serekh Shirot «)Iat ha-Shabbat," Mystics, Philosophers and Politicians; Essays in Honor of A. Altmann reds. J. Reinharz, D. Swetschinski; Durham, S.C.: Duke U. Pr., 1982] 15-47 [esp. 22-25]), and C. A. Newsom, who arranged part of the "TweHth Song of the Sabbath Sacrifice" in poetic columns ("Exegesis in the Qumran Sabbath Shirot," JJS 38 [1987] ll30 [esp. pp. 20-25]). 86 For example, it is difficult to ascertain the structure of the sentences in the second and third columns of the Blessings (lQSb) due to truncations; I have therefore cited them in transcription. See §46. I did likewise in the case of other fragments which were in a similar state. 87 The editors' assumptions regarding the dates of the copies are in some cases mentioned in brief in the information which I have given at the beginning of the discussions of various texts. However, as a general rule I have relied upon the assumption that the texts from Qumran were written prior to the destruction of the Second Temple. On the other hand, most of the texts discussed are not earlier than the Hasmonean period.

PART I

FIXED PRAYER IN QUMRAN AND IN MAINSTREAM JUDAISM

CHAPTER ONE

FROM OCCASIONAL PRAYER TO FIXED PRAYER 1. BmLICAL PRAYER AS OCCASIONAL Biblical prayer understood in the broad sense essentially consists of evocation made to God, recited by the individual or the community under various circumstances. These include: supplication in time of suffering and difficultyl; thanksgiving and praise in times of salvation and of joy2; and blessings uttered on various occasions of everyday life and on solemn occasions. 3 The occasional nature of biblical prayer applies to both spontaneous utterances and to those prayers formulated in an elevated literary manner. Even the Psalms, as shall become clear further on, were not explicitly intended to be recited on fixed occasions. 2. THE SERVICE OF GOD AS COMMANDED BY 1HE TORAH

The fixed form of divine worship concerning which the Israelites were instructed in the Torah was the sacrificial cult of the Temple. Apart from a very few cases-i.e., the confession upon bringing a sin-offering (Lev 5:5)4 or on the part of the priest when sending away the scape-goat on the Day of Atonement (Lev 16:21); the recitation connected with the bringing of first fruits (Deut 26: 1-11 )5; the confession of tithes at the time of their clearing out (ibid., 26: 12-15)-it was not necessarily accompanied by any recitations.

1 For example: the prayer of Moses and Aaron on the occasion of Miriam's leprosy (Num 12:13); Samson's prayer during his imprisonment (Judg 16:28); Hezekiah's prayer during the siege by Sannacherib (Isa 37:20); etc. 2 For example: the song of Moses and Israel after crossing the Red Sea (Exod 15); Jethro's expression of gratitude upon hearing of God's salvation to Israel (Exod 18:10-11); Hannah's song of thanksgiving after bearing a son (1 Sam 2:1-10); and many other examples. See §51. 3 For example: on the occasion of meeting (Ruth 2:4); at parting (Gen 24:60); and at various festive occasions (Num 6:24-26). Cf. §30. 4 The rabbinic Sages draw a comparison between mY1Ml ("and he shall confess") in Lev 5:5 and n"nm in Lev 16:21, concluding that in the case of Lev 5:5 the confession is also recited over a living sacrifice. Cf. Sipra 17:10, 1 and NaJ:!manides on Lev 5:5, s.v. mr",. 5 M. Weinfeld discusses the liturgical nature of Deut 26:1-11 (Deuteronomy and the Deuteronomic School [Oxford: Clarendon, 1972] 32f.).

36

FROM OCCASIONAL PRAYER TO FIXED PRAYER

We do not know, for example, whether the daily and festival offerings were accompanied by any verbal prayer during the First Temple period.6 It may be that, so long as divine worship was focused primarily upon cultic acts, it was in principle possible to forego recitations. 7 On the other hand, the Torah does require the performance of certain ceremonies which consist of the recitation of certain fixed and well ordered formulae. For example: the breaking of the neck of a heifer (Deut 21: 1-9); the blessing and curse on Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal (Deut 27; cf. Josh 8:30-35); the charge before going out to battle, in which certain things needed to be recited in a particular order (Deut 20: 1-9),8 etc. But whereas the texts recited in these ceremonies were fixed,9 the ceremonies themselves related to specific occasions. 1o Even the ceremony of blessing of the people by the priests (Num 6:22-27) was not specified by the Torah for any fixed times. 11

6 Recitations accompanying the regular daily sacrifice and those of the Day of Atonement are only mentioned with regard to the service of the Second Temple period. Cf. m. Tamid 5:1; m. Yoma 3:8. 7 Philo of Alexandria notes the rational idea underlying the sacrificial cult itself, and says nothing about the accompanying recitations (The Special Laws [LCL 7; reprinted, London, Harvard U. Pr., 1958] 1.39 §§212-219). Likewise, in his remarks concerning the thanks which the soul wishes to utter, he focuses upon the idea of thanks, rather than upon its manner of recital (ibid., 1.38, §§21O-211). Epistle of Aristeas, 95, testifies to the silence at the time of bringing the sacrifices. 8 The available evidence concerning the application of this law is from Second Temple literature. Various commandments and cultic acts were carried out on the occasion of going out to war described in 1 Macc 3:46-60, including the release of those who had built houses, betrothed women, or planted vineyards, in accordance with the requirement of Deut 20:5, and the declamation of words of encouragement and prayer. Likewise, in the laws of going to war and the other ceremonies described in 1QM vii 3ff.; x Iff. (cf. numerous passages in 4Q491-493 and 4Q495), there are instructions concerning the performance of the commandments of the Torah. It speaks there about preserving the purity of the camp (acc. to Deut 23:10-15);, words of encouragement recited by the priest (acc. to Deut 20:2-4); the sounding of horns (acc. to Num 10:9); and-in addition-prayer. On this occasion, prayer is not perceived as a commandment of the Torah, but seems to have been a custom whose contents were adjusted to the circumstances of battle. Compare, e.g., 1 Sam 7 :8-9; 2 Chr 14:9-10. 9 Weinfeld characterizes the fixed recitations of the Torah as bearing general national characteristics, not specifically relevant to the circumstances under which they were said (Deuteronomy, 32ff.). 10 We find descriptions in the historical books of other ceremonies of an occasional nature: the setting up of the ark of the covenant in Jerusalem (2 Sam 6: 17 -19 = 1 Chr 16: 14); the dedication of Solomon's Temple (1 Kgs 8 = 2 Chr 6); the making of the covenant in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah (Neh 8-10). All these events included cultic acts and various recitations-including blessings, words of thanksgiving, and prayers. These were connected to the specific occasion, but included elements from the history of the nation (see Weinfeld, Deuteronomy, 35ff.). 11 The customs of the rabbinic Sages and of Qumran concerning the times for these recitations are homiletical; see below, §33.

FROM OCCASIONAL PRAYER TO FIXED PRAYER

37

3. 1BE STATUS OF PRAYER IN TIlE BmLE

It is instructive to note the large number of prayers of various types recorded

in the Bible. These include those which were spontaneously recited on various occasions in the life of the individual or of the community,12 as well as others which constitute a literary creation. Thus, even though prayer is not defined as a commandment of the Torah, it would seem to have been widely practiced in the life of the individual and the collectivity.13 Moreover, the large number of prayers of various kinds, and their recitation at crucial junctures in the life of the individual and the community (see below), signifies the great importance attached to prayer in the Bible. This went to the extent that it was considered, by way of literary metaphor and hyperbole, as of equal value to the sacrifices, as in the words of the psalmist, "Accept my offerings of praise, 0 Lord" (ps 119:108; cf. Ps 141:2).14 Nevertheless, it essentially remained an "external" acompaniment to the sacrificial cult. It is instructive to read the description in Joel 2:17: "Between the vestibule and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep. Let them say, 'Spare Your people, 0 Lord!'" etc. That is, the priests raised their voices in prayer during times of general trouble, but this prayer was above and beyond the regular sacrificial service. The significance of the role of prayer alongside sacrifices may be seen in other passages connecting prayer to the house of the Lord. For example, in the words of Isaiah 56:7: "their burnt offerings and sacrifices shall be welcome on My altar; for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples"; likewise, in Solomon's prayer (1 Kgs 8:22-53 = 2 Chr 6: 14-40), which states that the prayer of every person is directed toward the house of the Lord. 15 In all these texts, one senses the longing to recite prayer to God

12 On spontaneous praise and thanksgiving in the Bible, see Audet, "Esquisse Historique du genre litteraire de la 'Benediction,'" 376ff. 13 I shall elaborate upon this point in the chapters dealing with each of the types of pra~er and religious poetry. 4 M. Haran ("Priest, Temple, and Worship," Tarbi f 48 [1979] 182 [Heb.]) and M. Weinfeld (\"IDM' ,1I lII/\1'C [Jerusalem: Magnes, 1992] 173) believe that, even though prayer is treated as secondary to sacrifices or to the burning of incense, worshippers and poets wished their prayer and uplifting of hands to be considered their equivalent in God's eyes (Pss 141:2; 119:108). This may be the literal sense of the verse 1l'rvD C'"1!l ilC';'IIm ("so will we render for bullocks the offering of our lips"-Hos 14:3; or, according to the reading of the LXX, Kat dVTalTO!)OO0lJ.fV KaflTOV XfL>.tWV il~v ["and we will render in return the fruit of our lips"]), and compare the use of the verbs il:l' and ilc':'IIIll in these verses. However, the rabbinic Sages read Hosea 14:3 as suggesting prayer as a substitute for sacrifices (b. Yoma 86b). See also below, §9, n. 7. 15 Solomon's prayer reflects the Deuteronomistic position, both theological and cultic, regarding the centrality of the Temple (Weinfeld, Deuteronomy, 35ff.; 193ff.). It may be that writings from the time of the Second Temple concerning the directing of the individual's prayer to Jerusalem (Dan 6: 11) and the coordination of the times for private and

38

FROM OCCASIONAL PRAYER TO FIXED PRAYER

"in His presence" or with a feeling of "His closeness."16 However, this does not mean that prayer is to be understood as an exact equivalent to sacrificial worship.17 The sacrificial system, as ordained by the Torah and as conducted in the Temple in a fixed way, is the institutionalized expression for the Godfearing piety of the community and of the individual. Prayer, on the other hand, is primarily a free and occasional expression, as in the rule laid down by Solomon: "Whatever prayer, whatever plea there is from any person or from all Your people Israel, all knowing the affliction of their own heart, so that they stretch out their hands towards this House" (1 Kgs 8:38 = 2 ehr 6:29),18 which is detailed in various circumstances (cf. 2 ehr 20:9). In other words: it was customary to accompany the sacrifices with words of prayer, psalms of praise and thanksgiving to God, and the invocation of blessings upon Israel (ler 33:11; Pss 42:5; 115:12 ff.; 118:1-4,25-29; etc.). However, all these are no more than a cultural expression of the individual and collective religious experience and of the natural need to pour out ones heart in supplication or in song of thanksgiving and praise. This religious phenomenon has been described by Y. Kaufmann as follows: Psalmody is a creation of popular poets, and particularly of that body of professional singers who became part of the Levite class. It was not connected with priestly rites. There is no indication that psalms were a part of the sacrificial cult or any other priestly rite. Recitation of the psalms in the temple was a kind of extraneous, lay adjunct to the cult. 19

Indeed, the rich variety of prayers and songs of praise in the Bible themselves indicate that prayer was not a fixed, established cult. Had it been such, it would almost certainly have been restricted to obligatory forms, and limited to routine formulae 2o and fixed subjects. public prayer with the times for offering sacrifices (Jdt 9:2; Luke I: 10) reflect the result and influence of the Deuteronomistic tradition (Weinfeld, From Joshua [Heb.], 173). 16 M. Greenberg, s.v. "Tepilla," EncMqr 8: 913. 17 On the centrality of sacrificial service in Israelite religion during the biblical period and later, see J. Licht, s.v. "Qorban. Qorbanot," EncMqr 7: 229-232. 18 The language used in this verse, JIll 111'" pll"i' '"III:IM ••• C"1M ":b ("all knowing the affliction of their own heart"-8:38), emphasizes the prayer of the individual, whereas the circumstances detailed by Solomon in the body of his prayer are of the prayer of "all Your peofle Israel." 1 Y. Kaufmann, n'?M"1!D'iI i1lD!' n,,"m, (7th ed. Jerusalem: Bialik - Tel-Aviv: Devir, 1967) 1.556-557. English: The Religion of Israel, trans., M. Greenberg (New York: Schocken. 1972) llO. 20 Routine linguistic formulae and subjects may be seen in those biblical prayers considered Deuteronomic, as demonstrated by Weinfeld (Deuteronomy, 37-45). Some of these may be recognized in the Deuteronomistic sayings meant to be recited under certain specific circumstances as they occurred (see above), while others are mentioned in occasional prayers whose formulation was influenced by the Deuteronomic literary school. In any event, these are not fixed prayers in the full sense of the word. There is a certain standard vocabulary habitually used in the Psalms, but this is not liturgical, and does not

t:I:l"

FROM OCCASIONAL PRAYER TO FIXED PRAYER

39

4. THE VARIETY OF FORMS OF PRAYER IN THE BIBlE

The prayers found in the Bible are not written in accordance with rigid, fixed rules. There are no fixed opening and closing formulae, creating obligatory, principled frameworks such as are found in tannaitic prayer (see below). The only regularity in biblical prayer and poetry is that of structure and style. This reflects a literary practice whereby these works are combined of various components suitable to their contents-supplication, thanks, praise, and felicitation-and formulated in an appropriate manner. For example: a supplication is addressed to God by His name (or by one of His appellations) followed by the background and reasons for the request, such as: "0 Lord, how many are my foes!... But You, 0 Lord, are a shield around me ... Rise up, 0 Lord! Deliver me, 0 my God! For You strike all my enemies on the cheek ... " (Ps 3). The components of thanksgiving are: address to God with words of thanks, a description of His mercies, and a declaration of His greatness, such as: "I give You thanks, 0 Lord, with my whole heart. .. On the day 1 called, You answered me ... All the kings of the earth shall praise You, 0 Lord... for great is the glory of the Lord!..." (Ps 138). A hymn calls to praise God for His greatness and glory in the entire universe, such as: "Praise the name of the Lord... for the Lord is great, our Lord is above all gods. Whatever the Lord pleases He does in heaven and earth ... " (Ps 135). Felicitation consists of blessings to man in the name of God, such as: "May the Lord bless you from Zion, and see the good of Jerusalem" (Ps 128); or curse. 21 However, a literary framework is no more than a program, along general lines, for the literary editing of the work; as we have noted, it determines neither the patterns nor the liturgical arrangement for the recitation of the text.22 The conclusions to be drawn from all the above are the following: that prayer is not conceived of in the Bible as a commandment; that there are no fixed times for the recitation of prayers; that there are a small number of texts, with permanently set formulae, recited in a fixed manner upon certain cultic occasions, but these are by and large occasional. Other types of prayer compositions have no fixed or obligatory formulae, but only customary habits or practices of formulation. It clearly follows from this that, so long

hinder free expression; see Introduction, §i. It is hence possible that the statement of the rabbinic Sages that organized liturgical prayer did not exist prior to the period of the Men of the Great Assembly ('anSe keneser haggedola; b. Ber. 33a), expresses an accurate historical intuition (I wish to thank Prof. M. Weinfeld for bringing this hypothesis to my attention, in the course of conversation). 21 I will detail this below, in the chapters dealing with each of the kinds of prayer and reli~ious poetry. 2 See Introduction, §i.

40

FROM OCCASIONAL PRAYER TO FIXED PRAYER

as the official worship of God was that of the sacrificial cult, there were no fixed arrangements for prayer. 5. PRAYER DURING THE SECOND TEMPLE PERIOD ACCORDING TO THE BmLE AND THE APOCRYPHA

It is generally assumed that, when it was no longer possible to properly perform the sacrificial cult following the destruction of the First Temple, prayer began to be defined as the fixed form of worship. Evidence for this is to be seen in the story of Daniel, who prayed and blessed God three times daily "facing Jerusalem" (Dan 6:11), and in Ps 55:18: "Evening, morning, and noon, I complain and moan, and He hears my voice."23 However, these verses refer to individual prayer; one may not conclude from this that prayer was introduced as a fixed form of public worship.24 It is true that one could gain the impression from the description in Nehemiah 8 that the reading of the Torah to the public gathered in the square outside of the Temple was instituted on festival days. Nevertheless, the prayers cited in the historical books from the Second Temple period are all of an occasional nature (Dan 9; Ezra 9; Neh 1,9). The evidence from the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha concerning the circumstances under which prayers were recited predominantly relate to occasional prayer. As in the Bible, these were recited in times of joy or travail of the individual and the community, in the Exile and in Judaea. 2s They nevertheless bear testimony to the practice on festive days of communal prayer in the house of God, alongside the sacrificial offerings. 23 1. Elbogen, Der jiidische Gottesdienst in seiner geschichtlischen Entwicklullg (Frankfurt aIM 1931, 3rd ed.: Hildsheim: Olms, 1962) 238; J. Heinemann, Prayer in the Talmud - Forms and Patterns (StJud 9; Berlin: de Gruyter, 1977) 13-14. Both Elbogen and Heinemann find in these writings an allusion to prayer at fixed times. But it may be that in their literal sense these passages are no more than hyperbole for describing the piety of a person who spends much time in prayer and praise to God, such as "seven times a day do { praise You" (Ps 119:164); "my mouth shall tell of Your righteousness, and of Your salvation all the day" (ps 71:15; cf. v. 24); "{ will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth" (ps 34:2); and similar expressions regarding the uttering of ~raises to God from dawn (pss 57:9; 88:14; 119:147). Heinemann, Prayer in the Talmud, 13-14. Moreover, from Jesus' habits of prayer as mentioned in the Gospels, such as Matt 14:23; Mark 1:35; Luke 9:28; etc., E. Fleischer inferred that prayer is essentially private and not established ("On the Beginnings of Obl~atory Jewish Prayer," Tarbi? 59 [1990] 404-406 [Heb.]). 2 Such as: the prayefl\ of Tobit and his wife during their time of distress (Tob 3:1-6, 11-15; 8:5-7) and of joy (Tob 8:15-17; 13); Judith's prayers for the success of her mission (Jdt 9:4-14; 12:4-5, 7) and her song of thanksgiving (Jdt 16:1-18); the prayers of Mordecai and Esther for deliverance (Add Esth 3-4); the prayers of Azariah (pr Azar 4-24) and the thanks of the three lads (Pr Azar 31-71); the prayers for victory and salvation in I Macc 3:51-54; 4:30-33; 7:40-42; 2 Macc 10:16,26; 11:6; 12:15,42; 13:12; 15:22-24; 3 Macc 2: 1-20; 5 :8-9; 6: 1-15; and the prayers of thanksgiving for victory and deliverance in 2 Macc 11:9; 15:34.

FROM OCCASIONAL PRAYER TO FIXED PRAYER

41

This may be inferred from the words of the Book of Baruch 1: 14: "And you shall read aloud this scroll ... when you come to make your confession in the house of the Lord on the days of the festivals and at appointed seasons," as well as in the remarks of Ben Sira 50:22-31, depicting the prayer of the community accompanying the service of the High Priest on the festival day. It states there, "and all the people shouted out in prayer before the Merciful One" (v. 19).26 However, we do not know what they prayed, or whether these prayers had fixed formulae. 27 The first glimmer of prayer formulae, which later took shape in the fixed forms of Jewish prayer, appears in the prayer of praise in the Hebrew additions to Ben Sira 51:12. The praises recited there"to the redeemer of Israel"; "to the ingather of the dispersed of Israel"; "to Him who rebuilt His city and His sanctuary": "to Him who makes a horn to sprout for the House of David"; "to the shield of Abraham"-all allude to the concluding formulae of the eighteen benedictions of rabbinic statutory prayer. This would suggest that these benedictions had already become customary during the time of the Second Temple (end of the 3rd century B.C.E.),28 albeit in oral form and in formulae which were not fixed. 29 We thus learn from the apocryphal literature that it was customary to conduct public worship in the House of the Lord on festival days, together with sacrifices. However, our information concerning the formulae of these prayers, or prayer on week days, or of prayer outside of the Temple, is extremely fragmentary, consisting of only the slightest allusions. 6. PRAYER DURING THE SECOND TEMPLE PERIOD IN RABBINIC SOURCES The information concerning prayer during the Second Temple period found in Rabbinic sources is later than the actual period of the Temple If it is correct, however, it confirms and complements what we know from the apocryphal Segal edition. The Syriac translation adds c';,,,"" (ibid., 346). The confessional supplication brought in Bar 1:15-3:8, as well as the words of lamentation and consolation in Bar 4:9-5:9, may simply be optional literary formulae. 28 Ben Sira 51 did not appear in the earliest translations of the book, but was found among the Geniza fragments of the Hebrew source. Segal, Heinemann and others nevertheless believe that this chapter is pre-Hasmonean, belonging to the earliest source of Ben Sira (Segal, Ben-Sira, 356; Heinemann, Prayer in the Talmud, 219 n. 2, and bibliography there). There are those who think that the similarity between the phrases of praise in this hymn and the conclusion of the blessings of the Semone- 'ID~ 'm~ 1":1; or: "Blessed be the God who "; M :I"P:I, in 11QMe1ch ii 10. It follows from this that ::I,lf' '],~ are::l~ 'l'O, that is, "ministers of the Presence in His glorious debir" (4Q400 i 4; see Songs, 98). 48 C"'IZ1'lf'::I MCO II'IM,: "There is n[o] unclean thing in their holy places." Newsom interprets this to mean the superiority of the pure priests of the heavenly sanctuary, unlike the priests who contaminate the earthly Temple (CD iv 8; v 6; xx 23; 1QpHab xii 8-9Songs, 103). See also the prohibition against those who are afflicted with impurity of entering the congregation in which the holy angels are present (1 QSa ii 6-9; 1QM vii 4-6). 49 According to Newsom, ',o'c ("councils") in this passage is parallel to 'lnc ("camps"), from which one may understand that the term C'lZ1lM "OlC ("mortal councils") is parallel to C'",':>M 'mc ("camps of godlike beings"), both referring to groups that were founded by God (Songs, 113-14). One may interpret 'OlC ("council") as being derived from '10, as elsewhere in the Qumran writings. See C'lZ1lM' Co';>'M "0::1 (4Q511 10 11), and possibly 4Q 181 1 3-4. The intention of this column in general is to note the sublime glory of those who praise God among angels and men.

MYSTICALPOE1RY

289

A heavenly ritual of the angels appears in other Jewish sources as well. However, those sources speak of a ritual involving an offering or sacrifice. In the Book of Adam and Eve 33:4-5, Eve is shown a heavenly tableau in which the angels offer an incense offering on an altar and ask the holy God to forgive Adam.5o In the longer version of the Testament of Levi 3:5-6, there is a heavenly tableau in which there features, among other things, a cult of angels who serve God and "offer to the Lord a sweet-smelling savour, a reasonable and bloodless offering," whose purpose is to appease God for "all the sins of ignorance of the righteouS."51 In a Talmudic account of the seven heavens, it is stated that in Zebul, which is the fourth heaven, "Jerusalem and the Temple and the altar are built, and Michael the great prince stands and offers upon it sacrifices" (b.lfag. 12b). This Talmudic midrash, written after the destruction of the Second Temple, expresses and symbolizes the messianic hope for the appeasement of the Divine. presence and the renewal of the Temple service.52 The vision articulated in the Testament of Levi, by contrast, is from the Second Temple period,53 and as such shares in the author's critique of the earthly priesthood of his day. In this respect, it is not too distant from the critical approach adopted by the men of Qumran regarding the Temple cult in their day and their preference of another priesthood. 54 This book does not reflect a tendency to abolish the earthly 50 M. Hack (c"l~n C''1!lon, ed. Kahana, I, 2) assumes that the Book of Adom and Eve dates from the time of the Second Temple, prior to the polemics between the minim. i.e., the first Jewish-Christians, and the Jews. Johnson likewise thinks that the book was written about between 100 B.C.E. and 200 C.E., primarily due to its similarity to other pseudepigraphic writings, to the traditions mentioned by Josephus (Ant. 1.2.3, §§67-71), and to rabbinic midrashim (M.D. Johnson, "Life of Adam and Eve," The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha led. J.H. Charlesworth; Garden City NY: Doubleday. 1983] II. 249-295. esp. 252). 51 This statement only appears in the long version of the Testament of Levi. Stone believes that the long version (~) is preferable, and the thing being omitted in the short version (a). The phrases, "the sins of ignorance of the righteous", are a free translation of the Greek (miaaLiTn M"11 m~ ''1:l'1 ilJI:lIII:l ilJa1 I "C:llo' ~ 1m,'

ilJa1:l

Psalm of thanksgiving I by the tongue of the fifth I to the king of glory I with its seven wondrous thanksgivings; He will give thanks I to the God of glory I seven times with seven words of wondrous thanksgiving. This rhythm is created when each idiom using the construct state is emphasized with one beat. Such a system of adjustment suits many works in the poetry of the Qumran writings, which make extensive use of connection by means of construct state. 85 The pattern described below is different in its 'lPproach from that of Newsom in Songs, 179-180.

300

MYSTICAL IUE1RY

Name and act of praise

Designation for God

Songs of praise

...

...

Psalm of exaltation ... he will exalt

to the king of angels

...

Psalm of thanksgiving He will give thanks

to the King of Glory

Psalm of rejoicing

To the God of goodness to the king of goodness to the God of holiness

with its seven wondrous exaltations seven times with seven words of wondrous exaltation with its seven wondrous powers seven times with seven words of wondrous praise ... with its seven wondrous thanks gi vings seven times with seven words of wondrous thanksgivings with its seven wondrous songs of joy Seven times with seven words of wondrous rejoicing with seven wondrous praise songs

to the king of holiness

seven times with seven words of wondrous praisesong.

Psalm of praise and he will praise

and he will cry joyously Psalm of praisesong a mighty praisesong 86 and he will sing praise

the God of the lofty angels to the Warrior ... the God of power

to the God of Glory

The only element that appears alone in the first invocation of each hymn is the ordinal number of the one praising: "by the tongue of the fourth," "by the tongue of the fifth," etc. (see the song quoted above). The cycle itself includes the declarations of the recital of praises, the contents of each hymn only being alluded to: the magnification [of His righteousness], [the] exaltation of [His] kingdom, the praise of [His glory], thanksgivings for His wonders, [re]joi[cing] in His strength, praise for His holiness, etc., these contents not being developed into a song per se. This is implied by the conclusion of the cycle, which presents a kind of list of the proclamations of the seven praises. In other words, what the author recorded here were not the 86 This change only applies to the call to the seventh praise. Compare below the differences found in the seventh call in other cycles of seven calls. and in the song of the angels in 1 Enoch 61:11-12. One finds various descriptive patterns which repeat themselves three or seven times in the narrative or poetic epics in biblical poetry and Canaanite literature. a change occurring in the description of the last time in the cycle (as in Gen 1-2:3; Josh 6:12-15; Job 2:13); or the change occurs in a repetition which is added over and above the typological number. In biblical poetry. for example. one may find this literary approach used in Psalm 29. where the change in vv. 1-2 occurs on the fourth time (3+1); cf. Ps 93:2-4. and elsewhere. See U. Cassutto. n'lJI:C n,.'ElOl n,.,pc nl'IlO (Jerusalem: Magnes. 1972) 1.33-34. and on this phenomena in the literature of ancient Near Eastern peoples. Cf. U. Cassutto. A Commentary of the Book of Genesis (Jerusalem: Magnes. 1961) 1.12-13. and the bibliographical references there.

MYSTICAL POE1RY

301

substantive contents to be recited in the song, but the rules by which those who declare the praise are to arrange their words, in a manner analogous to the laws determining the text of prayer in mainstream Judaism. We thus have here, not the songs of praise recited by the angelic princes, but instructions concerning the liturgical process of their praise. However, the very act of their recitation, or their being recorded one after another, creates a kind of song, or the illusion of song. This phenomenon may also be seen in the second part of the song, which informs us of the blessings of the angelic princes, albeit in a far more extensive manner: Cycle of Blessings

4Q403 1 i 10-29 and parallels87 (Newsom, Songs, 188-89, 193-95): (10) The first] of the chi[ ef] princes [will bless] in the name of the g[lo]ry of God [all the ... with seven] (11) [wondrous words; he will bless all their councils] in [His holy] sanctuary [with sev len won[drous] w[or]ds; [and he will bless those who have know]ledge of eter[nal] things. [The second (12) of the chief princes will bless in the name of] His faithfulness all [their] sta[tions with] se[ven wondrous] wor[ ds; and he will bless with] seven [wondrous] words; (13) [and he will bless all who exalt] the King with seven wo[rds of His ma]rvelous g[l]o[ry, all those] who are eternally pure. 88 The th[ird (14) among the chief princes will bless in the name of] His regal loftiness [all the lof]ty ones of [know]ledge with se[ven wo]rds of lof[ti]ness; and all [the elim of] (15) (vacal) ... (16) [His faithful kn]ow[ledgel he will bless with sev[e]n wondrous words; and he will bless all those [appointed f]or righteousness [with seven] wondrous [wo]rds.

Parallel to the first lines: MasShirShabb ii 22-26 (see above). A further parallel in 4Q405 3 ii 1-19. may be that a scribal error occured here, and that the phrase, C'O'lJl ',~'C 1'1;)'1 ("[all those] who are eternally pure," 1. 13), is the object of the blessing of the second call (1. 12) in this stanza. 87

ap~ars 8 It

302

MYSTICAL POE1RY [The fourth] (17) among the [chie]f pri[nces] will bless in the na[me] of the maje[sty of the Ki]ng a[ll] who wa[lk in up]rightness with [sev]en words of [majesty;] and he will bless those who establish [majesty] with sev[en (18) wondrous] word[s; and] he will bless all the e[lim who draw near to His fa]ithful knowledge [with seve]n words of righteousness, to be for [His gl]or[ious] compassion. The fifth (19) among the [chief] pri[nces] will bless in the name of His marvelous [majesty]89 a[l]l [who know the mysteries of the pure [...] with seven w[ords] of [His] lofty (20) faithfulness; [and he will bless] all who are eager for His good favor with seven [wondrous words; and he will b]le[ss] all who confess His majesty with seven [wo]rds of majesty, (21) [to be for wondrous] thanksgiving. The sixth among the chief princes will bless in the name of [the powers (manifested) in] the elim all those with powerful insight with seven (22) [wo]rds of His marvelous powers; and he will bless all those whose way is perfect with [se]ven wondrous words, to be for a [con]tinual sacrifice for all (23) [ages] to come; and he will bless all who wait for Him with seven wondrous word[s], to be for a [res]toration of His gracious com[passion.] [The sev]enth among the chief princes (24) will bless in the name of His holiness all the holy ones who establish know [ledge] with sev[en] words of [His] wondrous holiness; [and he will bless] all who exalt (25) His statutes with sev[en] wondrous [wor]ds, to be for strong shields; and he will bless all who are app[ointed for] righteous[ness, who pr]aise His glorious kingdom [... ] forever, (26) with seven [wondrous] wo[rds, to be for] eternal peace. And all the [chief] princes [will bless togethe]r the godlike hear ven]ly [beings] in [His holy name with] all (27) [their] sevenfold app[ointed testimonies;90 and] they will bless those appointed for righteousness;91 and the bles[sed ... bles]sed for e[ve]r[ ... ] to them: Blessed be the Lord, the K[ing of] all,92 above all blessings and pr[aise.

89 l'nlM"l1l: superlinear lamed. 90 '»1:l1111 ("sevenfold"): evidently a construct state for groups of seven things (seven

blessings, seven praises) which had been recited previously (Newsom, Songs, 205). 91 P'lI: superlinear dalet. P'lI "»ll ("those appointed for righteousness"): cf. IQSa ii 2: '"'iI nllJt., C"»lliI (" ... those of renown summoned to the council of the community"). ',»u is used as a construct state of C"»U. 92 "1:)[iI]: The end of a thyme (sentence); thus in Newsom's opinion. According to her reading, the blessing will contain two thymes of uniform thythm: I'miii] -po N1M[;'] 11"1:) n",:llll]m (iI;":l "1:)" ;'''110 ("Blessed be the Lord the K[ing of) all I above all blessing and pr[aise)"). See further below, n. 95.

MYSTICAL POETRY

303

And he will bless all the holy] ones who bless [Him and declare Him right]eous (29) in the name of His glory. [And He will] bless all the everlastingly blessed ones.

In this cycle, as in the cycle of praises, we read seven liturgical declarations concerning the words of the seven chief princes of the supernal entourage. However, it differs from its predecessor in three details: in the aim of their words, in the pattern of the declaration, and in the conclusion of the cycle. 1) The cycle of blessings is not directed toward God, but towards the various different groups of beings who are blessed-as follows from their names, both angels and righteous people (above, §88). Hence, in the song of one Sabbath sacrifice we find a cycle of blessings in the name of God, vis a vis a cycle of praises of God. 2) The pattern of declarations is threefold rather than double, as it is in the cycle of praises. It encompasses three calls to blessing, each one of which is earmarked for a different group to be blessed. The basic pattern of the calls is organized in a formulaic pattern, as follows: X among the chief princes shall bless in the name of Y all A with seven words of.. . and bless all B with seven words of.. . and bless all C with seven words of...

The variables in this formula are: the status of the one performing the praise within the order of the chief princes (X =first, second, third, etc.) the praise addressed to the name of God (Y = the glory of God, His faithfulness, His regal loftiness, the majesty of the king, His marvelous majesty, the powers of the elim, His holiness).9 3 the names of the groups of those being blessed (A; B; C. For example: [those who have know]ledge; [all those] who are eternally pure; all those [appointed flor righteousness). the definition of the words of blessing recited in the names of God, according to their contents (words of loftiness, wondrous words, words of righteousness to be for [His gl]or[ious] compassion, etc.).94

93 Several of the terms of praise of the name of God are recited in the cycle of calls to His praises, but in a different sequence. This is not the case in the praises of His holiness, recited in the two cycles in the seventh call. 94 There is a correspondence in some of the stanzas between the designations for praise to God, the designations of the blessed, and the designations of their words in the text of the first call, as follows:

Order:

Terms of Praise to God:

Tenns of those blessed:

Terms of their words:

304

MYSTICAL POETRY

These variables constitute seven different three-fold declarations of the blessings of the chief princes, each one on his occasion. 3) The conclusion of the cycle differs from the initial statements, not so much in pattern and style, as in the contents of the three calls to blessing recited therein. The first call is for the blessing of the angels and the righteous by all the chief princes in the name of God; the second call, that all those who have been blessed shall bless God together. Here, the words of blessing themselves are brought: "Blessed be the Lord, the K[ing of] all, above all blessings and pr[aise."95 The third call is a declaration of God's blessing to "all the holy] ones who bless [Him] ... in the name of His glory" and " ... all the everlastingly blessed ones" (evidently, a blessing uttered in the name of God to the chief princes and to all the angels and people who have been blessed in His name).96 The differences between this cycle and that of the praises derives from the different tasks performed by the words of the princes. However, these do not alter the nature of the song, but only serve to emphasize the fact that it is a series of liturgical instructions. With the exception of the blessing to God recited by all living creatures, the language of the blessings themselves are not brought. This is somewhat similar to the description of praise in 1 Enoch 61:9-13, in which one only reads the formula of blessing to God, "Blessed is He, and may the name of the Lord of Spirits be blessed for ever and ever" (v. 11). However, whereas there the description of the praise recited on high is visionary and general, in the present "Song of the Sabbath Third

His regal loftiness

lofty ones of knowled!!e

words of loftiness

Fourth

the maje[sty of the kilng [powers (manifested) in] the elim His holiness

*

words of majesty

those with powerful insight

words of [his] malVelous powers

the holy ones

words of [His] wonderous holiness

Fifth Sixth

In the first line of the fourth stanza, those who are blessed (indicated here with an asterisk) are called .,ID[1' ':lJ'~' ("who wa[lk in up]rightness"), but in the second line they are designated ['\' ']101' ("who establish [majesty]"). The reconstruction is based upon the parallel. The word m.,1:ll ("powers") in the sixth stanza is likewise reconstructed on the basis of parallels. 95 [nV1:lIDJrn O1Y1:l '1;)' mllo ("above all blessing and pr[aise]"; 1. 28): evidently a teml for God, alluding to His exaltedness, and parallel to the designation at the beginning of the blessing, '1;)[01 lJ?o 1[1J1MI01J ("the Lord the K[ing of] all"; Newsom, Songs, 206). 96 Exchanges of blessings of this type may be seen in Ps 29: 10-11: "the Lord sits enthroned as king forever... "-praise to God; followed by "May the Lord give strength to his people! May the Lord bless his people with peace"-God's blessing to his people. Similarly, in Ps 115:12-18: "The Lord has been mindful of us; he will bless us; he will bless the house of IsraeL." followed by ..... we will bless the Lord from this time on and forevemlOre. "

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305

Sacrifice" the liturgical process of praise and blessing is described with all its instructions and details. One may understand the formal-stylistic uniqueness of these units by comparing them with the regular angelic song or with other hymns of invitation known to us from biblical, apocryphal and pseudepigraphic literature. As I have shown above, those hymns whose essential element is the invitation to praise God do not elaborate the actual contents of this praise, but only allude to it. They emphasize the atmosphere of praise, of solemnity, of joy, and its compass. 97 Nevertheless, just because the invitation is spread across the entire hymn, it does not cease being poetry, for the invitations themselves-"Praise God," "Give thanks unto God," "sing to God," "bless God," and the like-are in essence solemn and poetic. The same may be seen in the repeated calls inviting the angels to sing praise to God, as in Pss 29, 103, 148, as I have shown above. It is interesting that the sixth Sabbath song, like all of the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice, begins with a conventional evocation, such as: "Praise [... ] (first song); "[Praise the God of the glorious [ones]" (second song); "Praise the Go[d of... ] (fourth song); "[Praise the G]o[d] of elim" (sixth song, MasShirShabb i 9); "Praise the God of the lofty heights" (seventh song); "Praise the God of all the l[ofty heavens]" (eighth song); etc.98 Moreover, in the seventh Sabbath song, each stanza opens with an invitation to the community of angels to praise and sing out to God (below, §90). However, in the poetic calls of invitation, the liturgical act of praise is not stated explicitly. There are no instructions regarding any particular order or form of recitation, but only convey its atmosphere. In other words, the preference of declarations or instructions concerning the recitation of praise and blessing over simple invitation is meant to stress another phenomenon-namely, the liturgy of "ritual" recitations according to their order. These inform us of the function of the chief princes, each one of whom in turn is to sing the praises of God or to bless His holy congregation. Thus, what we have here is a liturgical-ritual act of sequential recitations by the heavenly entourage. No similar descriptions of the liturgical act appear in biblical poetry. In the hymns of praise arranged by the technique of repeated invitations to praise, there are only hints of its liturgic recitation by the flock of worshippers (above, §55). As far as I know, there is no substantive similarity between the ancient texts of liturgical song found among other

See above. §§55, 60, 85. First song: 4Q400 1 i 1-2; fourth song: 4Q401 1-2:2; seventh song: 4Q403 1 i 30; eighth song: 4Q405 8-9 1. Some songs evidently opened with double invitations to praise, such as: "[Praise the Glo[dl of eiim, 0 you inhabitants of the height of heights ... and exalt His glory" (sixth song: MasShirShabb i 8-10; [Praise the God of wonders [... 1 and exalt Him ... " (twelfth song: 4Q405 20 ii-22 6-7; and parallel: llQShirShabb 3-4 8-9). 97 98

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MYSTICAL POE1RY

peoples and the method of poetry practiced in Qumran.9 9 It nevertheless seems to me that the description of the liturgical act in the present song relates to certain liturgical hints in the biblical tradition of angelic song. We find repeated calls of invitation in the Bible, such as: "Praise Him all His angels; praise Him all His hosts," etc. (Ps 148:2); "Bless the Lord, 0 you His angels ... Bless the Lord all His hosts" (Ps 103:20-21). But while these calls do indeed speak of the songs of the angelic hosts, they do not elaborate the liturgical method employed in these songs. Moreover, as we have said, the term "chief princes" used in Qumran poetry refers to the heads of the angelic hosts. This is clear from the use of the term "chief prince" as the title of the one who stands at the head of the host in Ezek 38:2; 39: 1, as well as from the titles, "prince" and "head," used as titles of the chiefs of the tribes who stand at the head of the musters in the Book of Numbers and in the War Scroll from Qumran.1°o We likewise find in the Bible that the princes of the tribes standing at the head of the ranks function and are numbered "each man" (,>is >is), namely, "one by one" by their names and stature (Num 1:2-5,44), while the War Scroll speaks of the enumeration of the hosts of the angels. lOl It is therefore possible that a homiletical connection between these data served as the basis for the liturgical description in the present song, which incorporates ceremonial instructions for the praises and blessings to be recited by the chief princes of the angels, each according to his status. Compare, "The sound of glad rejoicing ... in all the camps of the godlike beings; [and] the sound of prais[es] ... from between all their divisions ... [and] all their mustered troops rejoice, each o[n]e in [his] stat [ion]" (4Q405 20 ii 22 13-14). But whereas this description from the "Song of the Twelfth Sabbath," according to its context, is related to the heavenly description in Ezek 1:24: "a sound of tum uIt like the sound of an arm y," I 02 the calls to the chief princes in the sixth Sabbath song are evidently related to the calls in the Book of Psalms, in which the angelic hosts are invited to engage in praise and blessing.!03 That is, one may see the description of the liturgical act of praise and blessing recited by sequence as a kind of homiletic-literary

99 See above, n. 32. 100 See above, n. 74. 101 In lQM xii 1-2 ("The Prayer for the Appointed Time of War"), we read: "For a multitude of holy ones You have in the heavens, and hosts of angels in Your holy habitation [to praise Your namel ... [and the enumerlation of the names of all their hosts is with You in Your holy abode." The reconstruction of the lacunae is based upon Yadin, The Scroll of the War. The fifth Sabbath song suggests an ideological connection to the War Scroll. See above, n. 61. 102 See Newsom, "Merkabah Exegesis" (op. cit., n. 14), 20. 103 From the second half of the sixth Sabbath song, it appears that the blessing of the angelic hosts was interpreted as the blessing of their princes to the angels in the name of God, as well as their blessing to God.

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307

composition interpreting the festive and poetic invitations to praise as a solemn ceremonial liturgical act. Generally speaking, prosaic declarations relating to a song or blessing (such as Deut 33: 1; Judg 5: 1) or prosaic instructions concerning its recitation (as in Deut 20:2; 1QH x 2; xii [1]; xiv 4) do not form part of the song or recitation itself, even though they do create the context for their ceremonial recitation. The liturgical declarations concerning the praises recited by the chief princes of the angels and their blessings are similar to these instructions in their general nature (rubrics). Hence, their seven-fold consecutive repetition using one method creates the ceremonial process of times for praise and blessing. We may therefore state that the seven-fold repetition of the same instructions, according to liturgical order, lends a solemn and ceremonial character to the occasion of their recitation, symbolizing the cultic act. Indeed, if these songs were recited in the Sabbath prayers of the Qumran sect, as I have suggested above, then they must have been intended primarily as a symbol of the Temple cult. 90. SONG OF THE SEVENTH SABBATH SACRIFICE: PRAISES RECITED BY THE MULTITUDE

The seventh Sabbath song likewise opens with a cyclical praise, but differs in both method and subject matter from the cycles of the sixth Sabbath song, as I shall show below. 4Q403 1 i 30-40 (Nwesom, Songs, 209-10, 211-12):104 (30) By the instructor. Song of the sacrifice of the seventh Sabbath on the sixteenth of the month.

Praise the God of the lofty heights, you lofty ones among all the (31) elim of knowledge.

o

Let the holiest of the godlike ones sanctifyl05 the king of glory who sanctifies l06 by holiness all His holy ones.

o you chiefs of the praises of (32) all the godlike beings,

praise the splendidly [pr]aiseworthy God. For in the splendor of praise is the glory of His realm. From it (comes) the praises of all (33) the godlike ones together with the splendor of all [His] maj[esty].

104

The song is copied in poetic lines.

lOS 106

'IIII"P': written 'IIII'1p:l: written ,Jn1p:l.

'''''p'.

308

MYSTICAL roE1RY

[And] exalt l07 His exaltedness to exalted heaven, you most godlike ones of the lofty elim, and (exalt) His glorious divinity above (34) all the lofty heights. For H[e is God of gods] of all the chiefs of the heights of heaven and king of ki[ngs] of all the eternal councils. lOS (35) At the words of H;is mouth come into being [all the lofty angels]; at the utterance of His lips all the eternal spirits; [by the in]tention of His knowledge all His creatures (36) in their undertakings.I 09 Sing with joy, you who rejoice [in His knowledge with] rejoicing among the wondrous godlike beings. And chant His glory with the tongue of all who chant with knowledge; and (chant) His wonderful songs of joy (37) with the mouth of all who chant [of Him. For He is] God of all who rejoice forever I 10 and Judge in His power of all the spirits of understanding. (38) Ascribe majesty, all you majestic elim, to the k[in]g of majesty; for His glory do all the elim of knowledge confess, and all the spirits of righteousness confess His faithfulness. (39) And they make acceptable their knowledge according to the judgements of His mouth and their confessions (do they make acceptable) at the return of His powerful hand for judgments of recompense. Sing praises to the mighty God (40) with the choicest spiritual portion, III that there may be [melod]y together with the divine joy, and (let there be) a celebration with all the holy ones, that there may be wondrous songs together with e[ternal] joy.

This cycle addresses seven calls to the multitude to praise God. These, however, are poetic calls of invitation which, unlike the instructions contained in the cycles of the sixth Sabbath song, are not arranged by strict system. The first and second calls follow the practice of all the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice, which open with an invitation to praise God (above, §89). 107 m,,[,]: thus Newsom, on the basis of the size of the lacuna. But it may have been written leC", like the other verbs of summons at the beginnings of stanzas of this song. 108 The scribe erroneously added here YlJl"1 l'ln::l (il. 34-35), due to the repetition of the word c'c",lI in l. 35, and dotted this error. 109 cn"II1C::l: "in their undertakings." Namely, in their mission or in their function. Newsom took this word to be equvalent to C"" n?lDC, although this term relates to persons. Cf. Deut 12:7; 15:10; 23:21; 28:8, 20; lQS ix 23; x 13 (Songs, 218). 110 The scribe mistakenly copied ,1I nJl"1 (l. 37), and dotted nv,. 111 111" ruc:l: Newsom translated "with the choicest spiritual portion" (Songs, 212, 220). For mc in liturgical context, see above, n. 59. One may see in this phrase a metaphorical use of lnc"lM ',-o::l n'~' ("the choicest of the first fruits of your ground": Exod 23:19; 34:26; Ezek 44:30) or of C'Tlll "::1 n'~', "the first-fruits of [all delecltable things" (IQSb iii 28), generally used regarding the priestly portions, and here regarding their hymns. The poet may have chosen the word 111" rather than n'~' for poetic reasons.

m,

MYSTICAL POE1RY

309

The third to sixth calls, constituting the main body of the cycle, are conventional praises, which open with invitation to praise which are then justified (praise ... for ... ; exalt... for ... ).112 In this respect, they depart from the generally accepted pattern of angelic song. Finally, the seventh call closes the cycle with an invitation to praise alone. In other words, the cycle is arranged according to the conventional structure of songs of praise, but repeating the invitation in each stanza. ll3 The loosening of the pattern of calls in this cycle may be explained by the fact that it is literally a song of the multitude, and not a collection of liturgical instructions for an order of praise. This song also has certain contents, albeit not a great deal, and does not represent an extensive development, but simple and conventional words of praise. These, however, do detail somewhat the holiness of God, His exalted majesty, His glory, His righteousness, and other qualities. Nevertheless, the numerous summons to praise create a solemn atmosphere and a sense of heightened joy and elevation, as in the words of the seventh stanza of the song: "sing ... that there may be [melod]y together with the divine joy, and (let there be) a celebration with all the holy ones ... " Newsom rightly felt, on the basis of this song, that the seventh sabbath held a special status within the order of sabbaths, both because of the number seven and because of its central position within the cycle of thirteen sabbaths.114 However, the songs of the Sabbath sacrifice concerning the heavenly Sanctuary and the angelic chariot, which express a further elevation in the heights of song, are yet to come.

112 See above, §§52, 58. As a general rule, one may say that the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice are arranged according to a basic model of songs of praise. Each song opens with a heading (above, §87), at the beginning of the songs themselves there is a summons to the praise of God (above, n. 98), and in the body of the songs a description of the praise of God. However, the contents and styles of these songs are not conventional, in that the praise of God is not stated directly, but in a predominantly indirect manner: in the description of His praises in earth and heaven (above, §87), and in declarations regarding the praises and blessings to be said. The most unusual descriptions appear in the five songs for the last sabbaths of the cycle, which depict the praise of God uplifted by the heavenly sanctuaries and the Chariot of God. The conclusion of the songs have been by and large destroyed. Those few that are extant fit the contents of the body of their songs: the conclusion of the fifth Sabbath song (MasShirShabb i 2-7 = 4Q402 4 12-15) is a hymn praising the knowledge of God; the conclusion of the sixth Sabbath song (4Q403 1 i 26-29) is an exchange of blessings between God and those who bless him; while the conclusion of the seventh Sabbath song (4Q403 1 ii 15-16) is a declaration of God's praise in his holy devir: "And the chariots of His debir give praise together, and their cherubim and thei[r) ophanim bless wondrously [... J the chiefs of the divine structure. And they praise Him in His holy debir." 113 The third call begins with an appeal to those praising, using the teml: 'IDM' c'm,," "1:) nYluron -"0 you chief of the praises of all the godlike beings" (4Q403 1 i 3132)-rather than an evocative verb, as in the other calls. This call is an introduction to the body of the song, which may be the reason for the change here. 114 Above, n. 72.

310

MYSTICAL POETRY

91. THE SONG OF THE EIGHIH SABBA1H SACRIFICE: THE SONGS OF THE SECONDARY PRINCES OF THE PRIESTS

The extant fragments of the eighth Sabbath song suggest that it was intended to depict the praises uttered by the heavenly priests. Their sublime stature is depicted in the first part of the song, while further on there appear elements from the three cycles of praise and blessing to be recited by the seven secondary priests in their heavenly sanctuary.115 Two of these are parallel to the cycles of praise and blessing recited by the chief princes of the angels in the sixth Sabbath song,116 while one of them is unlike anything said in the previous songs. I shall bring this below, arranged in poetic lines. 4Q405 11 2-5 (and parallel 4Q403 1 ii 27-29)117 (Newsom, Songs, 227, 230-31,275) (2) [And the tong]ue [of the first (angelic prince) will grow strong sevenfold (joining) with the tongue of the one who is second to him. And the tong]ue (3) of the one who is second with respect to him will grow strong sevenfold from (the sound of) the one who is third with respect to him.1 18 [and] the tongue of the third will grow strong [sevenfold from (the sound of) the one who is fourth with respect to him. And the tongue of the] fou[r]th will grow strong (4) sevenfold (joining) with the tongue of the one who is fifth with respect to him. And the tongue of the fifth will grow strong se[venfold (joining) with the tongue of the one who is sixth with respect] to him. And the tongue of the sixth (5) will grow stron[g] sevenfold (joining with) the tongue of the one who is [seve]nth with respect to him. And with the song of the seventh it will grow s[trong ... ]

This cycle contains seven calls, depicting the praise to be recited by seven different figures. They constitute a kind of liturgical chain, in which the permission to utter praise is passed from one to the other, the praise increasing seven-fold each time it is passed on from one to the next. 119 115 The chief princes among the priests, who are ranked as "second among the priests of the inner sanctum, the second council in the wonderful dwelling" (4Q403 1 ii 19), are evidently of higher status than the chief princes of the angels (above, n. 74), but of lower status than the angels of the chariot of God and of his holy devir, mentioned in the songs of the five last sabbaths. 116 The cycle of calls to praise God is preserved in 4Q403 I ii 30-40, while the cycle of calls to blessings is preserved in 4Q405 13 1-7. Both cycles are extant in fragmented form. 117 The parallel to 4Q403 1 ii 27-29 is very fragmented. 118 The words Ill" '111''''0 1I:l111 are preserved in the parallel, ibid., 1. 28. See the reconstructed copy in Newsom, Songs, 227. For a schematic description of the structure of the song, see ibid., 242. 119 Newsom read the verb,:un ("will grow strong") in the qal construction, as it lacks a direct object; it refers to a song that is constantly growing in strength (Songs, 243).

MYSTICALPOE1RY

311

Throughout the entire act of praise, the ecstatic fervor of those reciting it gradually strengthens, until the act of praise becomes an exalted, sublime experience. Already in the second part of the seventh Sabbath song, a passage appears in which permission to engage in praise is passed from one to another120: "And all the crafted furnishings of the debir hasten (to join) with wondrous psalms in the debi[r. .. J... debir to debir with the sound of holy multitudes" (40403 1 ii 13-14; Newsom, Songs, 229). This formula reflects a liturgical tradition in which permission to utter praise is passed from one to the other, similar to "and they receive from one another" attributed by the Aramaic Targum to the act of recitation of the QeduSa by the heavenly entourage. 121 Thus, even though the instructions and liturgical descriptions from the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifices are formulated in unique ways, they occasionally reflect other traditions known from poetry which postdate Qumran. Unlike the cycles of praises and blessings in the earlier songs, this cycle does not give even a hint of the contents of the praise to be recited to God. It is thus clear that its central element is the act of praise itself, and the mystical elevation of the spirit of praise to God among those engaged in uttering praise. 122 To summarize: the above-cited cycles of praises and blessings illustrate that most of them depict a liturgical order of praise to God. The liturgical process, which differs from one cycle to another-e.g., double summonses or invitations; triple summonses; chains of evocations which depict the increasing power of the song-is concerned with creating a solemn and elevated atmosphere, to the point of intense ecstatic fervor. In this respect, the song of the heavenly entourage which ministers in the heavenly temple, and the song sung in unison by human beings and angels, are characterized by the vision and outlook of the apocalyptic circles. The orders of praise and blessing depicted above represent only a portion of the image of the praise recited over the Sabbath sacrifice in the heavenly Temple. To these, we must now add the descriptions of the praise of the structures of the heavenly sanctuary and of the angelic chariots. 92. PRAISES OF THE SANcruARY AND THE CHARIOT

The descriptions of the praises recited in the heavenly sanctuary are already given in the songs of the seventh and eighth sabbaths, while those recited by 120 The second half of the seventh Sabbath song (4Q403 I i 41-46) describes the system of praise of the structures of the heavenly sanctuary. 121 Cf. the blessing of Yo~er: "and all of them ... give permission one to another, to sanctify their creator." See §86. 122 If the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice were indeed recited as part of the sect's Sabbath liturgy, as I conjectured above (see §87), then a song of this type exalted the experience of the act of praise among those who recited it.

312

MYSTICAL POE1RY

the angelic chariot are mostly found in the songs of the ninth through thirteenth sabbaths. These descriptions are extensively discussed in the articles by Strugnell and Schiffman, as well as in the detailed and illuminating studies by Newsom,123 so that there is no reason to repeat their findings here. We shall bring here a few sample texts, detailing those salient features of the praises in which one may particularly see their relation to the biblical song of praise. The texts are cited on the basis of Newsom's edition, without any textual or exegetical comments. The interested reader is refelTed to that edition.

Praises o/the Heavenly Sanctuary (4Q403 1 i 41-46, Newsom, Songs, 209-10,212-13, PI. IV): (41)With these let all the f[oundations of the holly of holies praise, the uplifting pillars of the supremely lofty abode, and all the corners of its structure. Sin[g praise] (42) to Go[d who is Dr]eadful in power, [all you spirits of knowledge and light] in order to [exa]lt together the splendidly shining firmament of [His] holy sanctuary. (43) [Give praise to Hi]m, 0 you god [like] spirits, in order to pr[aise for ever and elver the firmament of the uppermost heaven, all [its beams] and its walls, a[l]l its [for]m, the work of (44) [its] struc[ture. The spir]its of [holie[st] holiness, the living godlike ones, [the spir]its of [eter]nal holi[ness] above (45) all the holly ones ... wonder, wonderful with majesty and splendor and wonder. And the gl]ory is in the most perfect light, kn[owledge] (46) [... in all the wondrous sanctuaries; the godlike spirits (are) round about the abode of the King of truth and righteousness. All its walls ... ]

4Q403 1 ii 1-17 (Newsom, Songs, 226, 229-30, PI. IV): (1-10) [...]124 (11) ... And there is a voice of blessing from the chiefs of His debir [... ] (12) And the voice of blessing is glorious in the hearing of the godlike beings and the councils of [... (13) voice of] blessing. And all the crafted furnishings of the debir hasten (to join) with wondrous psalms in the debi[r. .. ] (14) of wonder, debir to debir with the sound of holy multitudes. And all their crafted furnishings [... ]

123 Strugnell, "The Angelic Liturgy," 335-45; Schiffman, "Merkavah Speculation," 3447; Newsom, Songs, esp. 14-15, 278ff. See also her article "Merkabah Exegesis." It is clear from these studies that the descriptions of the chariot in the songs for the last five sabbaths of the cycle are largely based upon the descriptions of the Merkabah in Ezekiel, as well as upon other descriptions of heavenly visions. The songs have a numinous, non-rational character in both content and style, similar to the Chariot songs in He/ialot Rabbati. See SchoIem, Jewish Gnosticism, 28ff. 124 The descriptions of the heavenly sanctuary appear in 4Q403 1 ii 1-10.

MYSTICAL POE1RY

313

(15) And the chariots of His debir give praise together, and their cherubim

and thei[r] ophanim bless wondrously [... ] (16) the chiefs of the divine structure. And they praise Him in His holy debir.

(vacat)125

Praises o/the Angelic Chariot

(4Q405 20 ii - 226-14, Newsom, Songs, 303, 306-07, PI. IX): (6) By the instr[uctor. Song of the sacrifice of] the twelfth [Sa]bbath [on the twenty-first of the third month. Praise the God of... ] (7) wondrous [... ] and exalt Him ... the Glory in the tabern[acle of the God of] knowledge. The cherubim fall before Him and bless. As they rise,126 the sound of divine stillness (8) [is heard], and there is a tumult of jubilation as their wings lift up, the sound of divine [stillnes]s. The image of the chariot throne do they bless (which is) above the firmament of the cherubim. (9) [And the splendo]r of the luminous firmament do they sing (which is) beneath His glorious seat. And when the wheels move, the holy angels return. They go out from between (10) its glorious [h]ubs. Like the appearance of fire (are) the most holy spirits round about, the appearance of streams of fire like hasmal. And there is a radiant substance (11) with glorious colors, wondrously hued, purely blended,127 the spirits of living godlike beings which move continuously with the glory of the wondrous chariot(s). (12) There is a still sound of blessing 128 in the tumlut of their movement. And they praise (His) holiness as they return on their paths. As they rise, they rise marvelously; and when they settle,

125 There is a space to the end of line 16 and in line 17, to separate between the song of the seventh sabbath and that of the eighth sabbath. 126 CC"iI:l ("as they rise"): Newsom interpreted this as derived from the word cr.m, "to uplift in praise" ("Merlmbah Exegesis," 22). 127 il10 ",,"ICC: In Newsom's opinion, this should be amended to "m:! ",,1Cr::l ("blended in purity"), the reS having been lost by haplography before n11111 (Songs, 317). Cf. 4Q405 19 4. This phrase appears in Exod 30:35 regarding the mixing of the incense. as it does in Sir 49: 1. In the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice it is combined with various nouns. such as: 'il1O n?,ee M?1l l/'P, ("the wondrous firmament (are) purely blended"; 4Q405 19 3-4); ""10 ""lCC c.,':wrTC 'm, ("And all their crafted [garments] are purely blended"; 4Q405 23 ii 10); h }il1O M?!l 'lI:llI ("glorious colors, wondrously hued, purely blended"; 4Q405 19 4). Hence, Newsom arrived at the conclusion that this idiom serves as a "static teml" for the description of various items in the heavenly sanctuary in the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice (ibid., 297 -298). 128 j1:l = 11:l. A masculine foml of the noun ilj1:l accepted in the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice. See Newsom, Songs, 317, for her note concerning this word (1. 12 in the song). The medial kaf in final position is a known phenomenon in the Qumran manuscripts, albeit the use of the medial mem and peh at the end of a word are more widely found.

"",ee

314

MYSTICAL POE1RY (13) they [stand] still. The sound of glad rejoicing falls silent, and there is a stillness of divine blessing in all the camps of the godlike beings; [and] the sound of praise[es] (14) [... ] [... ] from between all their divisions on the[ir] si[des ... and] all their mustered troops rejoice, each o[n]e in [his] stat[ion].

We can clearly see from these examples that the descriptions of the sanctuary and the chariot in the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice are similar in substance to the visions of the chariot in the Bible, in apocalyptic literature, and in the Hekhalot literature, which postdate Qumran. However, the descriptions in the Songs focus upon the praise of God, who is exalted everywhere within the comers and structures of His temple, and in this lies their uniqueness. 129 The descriptions of the sanctuary in the seventh Sabbath song opens with the declaration: "with these let... praise" (4Q403 1 i 41), which is a kind of headiJ)g by which all the structures of the heavenly sanctuary utter praise: "all the f[oundations of the holly of holies praise, the uplifting pillars of the supremely lofty abode, and all the comers of its structure" (4Q403 1 i 41). Further along, the holy spirits within the sanctuary are called upon to praise God, with the summons: "Sin[g praise] ... [give praise to Hi]m ... in order to pr[aise ... ]" (ibid., 41, 43). There are also depicted the voices heard from within the structures of the sanctuary: "And there is a voice of blessing from the chiefs of His debir [... ]. And the voice of blessing is glorious ... " etc. (ibid., ii 11-16). From both the opening statement, and from such a description as, "and all the crafted furnishings of the debir hasten (to join) with wondrous psalms" (ibid., ii 13), one gains the impression that not only the holy spirits, but even the foundations of the sanctuary and its very pillars and structures participate in uttering praise and blessing to God. Indeed, even though the various calls or declarations of praise are sometimes interrupted by descriptions detailing the structure and visions of the sanctuary (such as 4Q403 1 i 43bff.), they lead in the final analysis to the descriptions of praise. This phenomenon may also be seen in the descriptions of the chariot found in a fragment of the twelfth Sabbath song cited above, and in an additional fragment describing what occurs in the gates of the sanctuary (4Q405 23 i 7ff.), etc. In other words, we find here heavenly descriptions which are concerned, not only with uncovering the mysteries of the heavenly sanctuary, but also with praise to God who is elevated on high.l30 129 The song sung in the heavens is one of the central motifs in the descriptions of the Chariot. See, for example, 3 Enoch 19:5-7; 34-35, 39 (ed. Odberg); Ma