by Geza Vermes
(7) He laughs at the great commotion of the city
and his master’s urging he does not hear.
(8) He chooses for himself mountains for [pasture]
and he goes after everything green.
(9) Does the wild ox wish to serve you
or will he lodge in your stable?
(10) Will you tie [the wild ox] with a yoke
and will he plough(?) in the valley [aft]er you?
And will you...
Will you depend on hi[m because] great is
[his strength]?
XXXIII
(20) Will you frighten him (the horse) with a strong...
his... is fear and dread.
(21) He searches out the valley, he trembles and
rejoices,
and mightily advances towards the sword.
(22) He laughs at fear and does not shudder,
and does not turn back from the sword.
(23) Upon him hangs a lance,
a javelin and a sharp sword,
(25) and at the sound of the trumpet, he says, Aha,
and from afar he smells the battle,
and he enjoys the rattle of the weapons and the war
cries.
(26) Does the hawk get excited because of your wisdom
and spread his wings towards the winds?
(27) Or does [the eagle] rise at your order
and the bird of prey build [its] nest on high?
(28) It dwells on the rock and nests...
XXXIV (Job xl) ...
(6) [From...] and from the cloud
God answered Job and said to him:
(7) Like a man, please gird your loins;
I will question you, and you will answer me.
(8) Would you indeed tear up the judgement
and declare me guilty so that you may be
innocent?
(9) Or do you have an arm like God
or thunder with a voice like his?
(10) Throw away, please, pride and haughtiness
and you will put on splendour, glory and honour.
(11) Throw away, please, the heat of your wrath
and observe every proud man and humble him.
(12) And every proud spirit you will smash
and you will extinguish the wicked [in] their
[pl]aces.
(13) And hide them all in the dust
[and] cover [with a]shes ...
XXXV
(23) ... the Jordan its banks,
he (the hippopotamus) trusts that he will get it.
(24) When he lifts his eyes, who will restrain him,
... his nose with a hook.
(25) Will you pull a crocodile with a hook
or tie up its tongue with a rope?
(26) Will you put a muzzle on his nose
and will you pierce his cheek with your chisel?
(27) Will he speak gently with you
or will he speak with you pleadingly?
(28) Will he make a covenant with you
or will you handle him as a slave for ever?
(29) Will you play with him like a b[ird,
and] will you bind him with a string for your
daughters?
XXXVI (Job xli)
(8) They cling to one another
and no breath passes between them.
(9) One holds to another,
and they do not separate.
(10) His sneezing lights fire between his
eyes
like the shine of dawn (?).
(11) Torches come forth out of his mouth;
they leap like tongues of fire.
(12) From his nostrils smoke goes forth
like burning thorn and incense.
(13) His breath spews out coals
and sparks come out of his mouth.
(14) His strength dwells in his neck
and vigour springs before him.
(15) The folds of his flesh are clinging,
mould[ed over him] like iron.
(16) [His] heart... like stone
XXXVII (Jobxli-xlii)
(26) ...
and he is king over all the reptiles.
(1) Job answered and said before God:
(2) I know that Thou canst do all things
and dost not lack in strength and wisdom.
(xl, 5) I have spoken once and will not
revoke it,
a second time, and I will not add to it.
(xlii, 4) Listen, please, and I will speak;
I will question you and you must answer me.
(5) I had heard of you by the hearing of the
ear
and now my eyes see you.
(6) Therefore I am melting and dissolve
and become dust and ashes...
XXXVIII (9) ... God. God heard the voice of Job and forgave them their sins because of him. (10) And God returned to Job with mercy and doubled all that he had owned. (11) All his friends, brothers and acquaintances came to Job and they ate bread with him in his house, and they comforted him for all the misery that God had brought on him and each gave him a ewe-lamb and a ring of gold.
The Targum of Leviticus
(4Q156)
Fr. 1
And he (Aaron) shall take some [of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger o]n the mercy seat. And before the mercy seat - to the east - [he shall sprinkle fr]om the blood with his finger [seven times] (Lev. xvi, 14)....
Fr. 2
... Whe[n he has made an end of atoning] for the House of Holiness [and for] the tent of meeting and [for the altar, he shall offer] a live goat (Lev. xvi, 20)....
Appendix
(A) GREEK BIBLE TRANSLATIONS (4Q119-22; 7Q1-2)
Compared to the quantity of Hebrew and Aramaic manuscripts, the Greek documents found in two of the Qumran caves, Caves 4 and 7, are remarkably few, and this scarcity is significant in itself as regards the cultural identity of the Qumran Community. Those which have been identified with certainty belong to the Greek translation of the Bible, mostly the Pentateuch. Cave 4 has yielded remains of two scrolls of Leviticus, one of leather (4Q119) and one of papyrus (4Q120), as well as one of Numbers (4Q121) and of Deuteronomy (4Q122), all dating to the second or the first century BCE. On the whole, they represent the traditional text of the Septuagint with minor variations such as a word being replaced by its synonym (harvesting by threshing, for example, or nation by people), but 4QLXX Numbers (4Q121) testifies to an effort to bring the LXX closer to the Hebrew Pentateuch. Since the translation scarcely differs from the original, there is no purpose in reproducing it. However, it is worth noting that in Lev. iv, 27 (4Q120, fr. 20, 4) the Tetragram (the divine name YHWH) is rendered semi-phonetically as Iao, and is not replaced, as was customary later, by the Greek Kurios (Lord).
Among the nineteen minute fragments found in Cave 7 - which contained only Greek texts - two have been identified as relics of Exodus xxviii, 4-7 (7Q1) and the Letter of Jeremiah, verses 43-4 (7Q2). The former is said to be closer to the traditional Hebrew text than to the LXX. Both are dated to about 100 BCE.
(B) OTHER GREEK FRAGMENTS (4Q126-7; 7Q3-19)
The remaining two Greek texts in Cave 4 date roughly to the turn of the era. One (4Q126) cannot be identified and the other (4Q127) is either a paraphrase of Exodus, mentioning among others Pharaoh, Moses and Egypt, or possibly an apocryphal account of Israel in Egypt.
Seventeen out of the nineteen minute Greek papyrus fragments from Cave 7 have been declared by the editors to be unidentifiable. Yet against all verisimilitude, several of them have generated sensational and even revolutionary claims, especially that they represented the earliest textual examples of the Greek New Testament.
The contention originated with a Spanish Jesuit, José O‘Callaghan, who in 1972 persuaded himself that these hardly legible scraps derived from six books of the New Testament: the Gospel of Mark iv, 28 (7Q6 1), vi, 48 (7Q15), vi, 52-3 (7Q5), xii, 17 (7Q7); the Acts of the Apostles xxvi
ii, 38 (7Q6 2); 1 Timothy iii, 16, iv, 1, 3 (7Q4); James i, 23-4 (7Q8) and even one of the latest New Testament writings, 2 Peter i, 15 (7Q10). Of these, the case for Mark vi, 52-3 is purported to be the ‘strongest’. The real facts are the following. We are dealing with a fragment on which the written area measures 3.3 x 2.3 cm. Letters appear on four lines; these are of unknown length since both the beginning and the end of each line are missing. An unrecognizable trace of another letter is observed at the top of the fragment. In the editio princeps seventeen letters are identified of which only nine are certain. A single complete word has survived: the Greek kai = and!
The leading experts in the field, the late C. H. Roberts of Oxford and the German Kurt Aland, unhesitatingly discarded O‘Callaghan’s theory. Roberts jokingly told me that if he wanted to waste his time, he was sure he would be able to ‘demonstrate’ that 7Q5 belonged to any ancient Greek text, biblical or non-biblical. Yet this unlikely and clearly unprovable hypothesis was revived in the 1980s by C. P. Thiede and others, only to encounter the same fate of summary dismissal as Father O’Callaghan’s a decade or so earlier.
For the editio princeps of the 4Q and 7Q material, see P. W. Skehan and E. Ulrich, DJD, IX (Oxford, 1992), 161-97, 219-42; M. Baillet et al., DJD,III (Oxford, 1962), 142-6. For the theory that 7Q contains New Testament texts, see J. O‘Callaghan, Los papipros griegos de la cueva 7 deQumrân (Madrid, 1974), and C. P. Thiede, The Earliest Gospel Manuscripts (London, 1992); Re-Kindling the Word (Valley Forge, Pa, 1996). For views for and against expressed at a symposium, see B. Mayer, ed., Christen und Christliches inQumran? (Regensburg, 1992). Against the theory, see C. H. Roberts, ‘On Some Presumed Papyrus Fragments of the New Testament from Qumran‘, Journal of Theological Studies 23 (1972), 446-7; K. Aland, ‘Neue neutestamentlische Papyri III‘, New Testament Study 20 (1973-4), 357-81. For the latest authoritative views, see G. Stanton, Gospel Truth? (London, 1995); E. Puech, ‘Des fragments grecs de la grotte 7 et le Nouveau Testament?‘, RB 102 (1995), 570-84; M.-E. Boismard (the first decipherer of the fragment), ‘Apropos de 7Q5 et Mc. 6, 52-53’, ibid., 102-4.
The Reworked Pentateuch (4Q158, 4Q364-7)
Five badly preserved manuscripts have been classified as reworkings of the Pentateuch, i.e. copies of the Torah partly entailing rearrangements of biblical passages and partly incorporating interpretative supplements inserted into the text. The length of the supplement varies from a few words to seven or eight lines, the most significant example being the long, but broken, addition to the Song of Miriam in 4Q365 6a ii, c. Judging from the surviving passages, the original Reworked Pentateuch must have been a very substantial document, probably the longest of all the Qumran Scrolls. All the manuscripts may be dated on palaeographical grounds to the first century BCE. Only those texts which contain more or less intelligible supplements (printed in italics) are included.
For the editio princeps of the Reworked Pentateuch, see J. M. Allegro, DJD, V, 1-6 (4Q158) and E. Tov and S. White, DJD, XIII, 187-351 (4Q364-7).
4Q158, frs. 1-2 (Gen. xxxii, 24-32; Exod. iv, 27-28+Supplement)
... And [J]ac[ob] w[as left a]lone there. And [a man] wrestl[ed with him. When the man did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his thigh; and Jacob’s thigh was put out of joint] as he wrestled with him and he seized him. And he said to hi[m, What is your name? ... And he said to him, Jacob. And he said, Your name shall be Israel, for you have striven with God and with] men and have prevailed. And Jacob asked [and] sai[d, Tell me, pray, what is your name. And he said, Why is it that you ask my name, and he bless]ed him there. And he said to him, ‘May the Lo[rd] make you fruitful [and multiply] you. [May he grant you kn]owledge and understanding and may he save you from all violence and ... until this day and until everlasting generations. And he went on his way after he had blessed him there. And he ... [And] the sun [rose] upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his thigh.... on this day. And he said, You shall not e[at the sinew of the hip which is] upon the two hollows of the thigh until [this day. (Exod. iv) And the Lord said] to Aaron, Go to me[et Moses in the wilderness. So he went and met him at the mountain of God and kissed him. And Moses told Aaron all] the words of the Lord with which he had s[ent] him and all [the signs which he had charged him to do. And] the Lord [spoke] to me saying, When you bring out the [people of Israel] ... to go as slaves and behold these are [four hundred and] thirty (years] ...
4Q364, fr. 3 (Supplement+Gen. xxviii, 6)
II you shall see him ... you shall see in peace ... your death. And upon [your] eyes ... [Why should I be bereft of] both of you? (Gen. xxvii, 45) And [Isaac] called [Rebecca his wife and told] her all [these] wor[ds] ... after Jacob her son ... And Esau saw that [Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to] Pa[dan] Aram to take [a wife] from [there] ...
4Q365, fr. 6b, 6a ii, 6c (Exod. xv, 16-21+Supplement+xv, 22-6)
Fr. 6b
... till [Thy people, 0 Lord], p[ass by, till the people pass by whom thou hast purchased.
Thou wilt bring them in, and plant them] on thine own mountain, the place, [0 Lord, which thou hast made] for thine abode, [the sanctuary which thy hands have established].
The Lord will reign for ever and ever.
For when [the horses of Pharaoh with his chariots and his horsemen] went [into the sea, the Lo]rd [brought back] the waters of the sea upon them; but the people of Israel walked on dry ground in the midst of the sea.
[And the water]s were a wall to them on their right and on their left (cf. Exod. xiv, 22, 29). [And Miriam the prophetess, sister of Aaron], took
[a timbrel in her hand; and al]l the women went out after her with [timbrels and dancing. And Miriam sang to them,
Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea].
Fr. 6a ii, 6c
... thou hast despised ...
For pride ...
Thou art great, a saviour ...
The hope of the enemy has perished
and ... has stopped ...
They have perished in the mighty waters,
the enemy ... and lifts up to their height.
[Thou hast given a ransom] ...
... [he who ac]ts proudly.
And Moses led [Israe]l onward from the sea, and they went to the wilderness of Sh[ur; they went three days and found no water]. They came to Marah, but [they] could [not] drink the water of Marah because [it was] bit[ter; therefore it was named Marah].
And the people murmured ag[ainst Moses] saying, What shall we drink? And Moses cried to [the Lord who showed him] a tree, and he threw it into [the wate]r, and the water became sweet. There he made for them a statute and [an ordinance and there he proved them. And he said], If [you will lis]ten di[li]gently [to the v]oice of the Lord your God and do that which is right in his eyes and [give heed to his commandments and judgements, and keep] all his statutes, [I will put none] of the diseases [upon you] which I put on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord, your [heale]r.
Fr. 23
(Lev xxii, 42-xxiv, 2+Supplement)
You shall dwell [in bo]oths for seven days; all that are native in Israel shall dwell in booths, tha[t your] gen[erations may kno]w that I made your fathers dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt; I am the Lord you[r] God. vacat And Moses declared to the people of Israel the appointed feasts of the Lord. vacat And the Lord said to Moses, Command the children of Israel, saying, When you enter the land which I am giving to you as an inheritance, and you dwell upon it securely, you shall bring wood for a burnt-offering and for all the service of [the H]ouse which you shall build for me in the land, to lay it on the altar of burnt-offering, [and] the calves ... for Passover sacrifices and peace-offerings and thank-offerings and free-will offerings and burnt-offerings daily ... and for the doors and for all the service of the House you shall offer ... the festival of Oil, the twel[ve tribes] they shall offer wood ... Those who offer on the first day shall be Levi and ... [on the third day, Reu]ben and Simeon, [and on] the fou[rth] da
y ...
A Paraphrase of Genesis and Exodus (4Q422)
Nine fragments of a manuscript written in Hasmonaean characters (first half of the first century BCE) contain a paraphrase of Gen. i-iv, vi-ix, judging from disconnected expressions relating to the creation of the world by God’s word, to various living creatures, the establishment of man as ruler over the rest of beings, the prohibition against eating from the tree of knowledge and the rebellion against God which led to the flood. Fr. 10 refers to the throwing of Israelite boys into the Nile, the commissioning of Moses, his vision of the burning bush, Moses’ and Aaron’s encounter with Pharaoh and the plagues which afflicted Egypt. The text can be arranged in three columns. Further unidentified fragments, which are not included here, are numbered from A to T. If the word ywsr in col. 1, line 12 actually means ‘inclination’, the phrase ‘evil inclination’ could be the earliest attestation of the rabbinic concept.
For the editio princeps, see T. Elgvin and E. Tov, DJD, XIII, 417-41.
I ... ... [The heavens and the earth and all] their host He made by [His] word. [And God rested on the seventh day from all the work whi]ch He had made. And [His] holy spirit ... [all th]e living and creeping [creatu]res ... [He put man on the ear]th to rule over it and to eat the frui[ts of the ground] ... w[ith]out eating from the tree of kn[owledge of good and evil] ... He rose against Him and they forgot ... with an evil inclination and for deed[s of] ... peace/payment ...
II ... [save Noah] and [his] wife and the w[ives of his sons from] the waters of the Flood ... God [cl]osed behind them ... the windows of heave[n] op[en]ed under all the heav[en ... for] the waters to rise on the ear[th forty] days and for[ty] nights was [rain] ov[er] the earth ... and in order to know the glory of the Most Hi[gh] ... to reach to Him, He enlightened the heaven ... sign for generatio[ns] of eternity ... [and never more] will a flood [destroy the earth] ... the periods of day and night ... to shine [o]n heaven and earth ... III ... their [s]ons into the rive[r] ... [And] He sent to them Moses ... in the vision ... in the signs and marvels ... And He sent them to Pharaoh ... plagues ... marvels for Egypt ... and they carried His word to Pharaoh to send away [their people]. But He hardened [his] (Pharaoh’s) heart [to] sin so that the m[en of Isra]el might know for eternal gene[rations]. And He changed their [wate]rs to blood. Frogs were in all their land and lice in all their territories, gnats in their houses and they struck all their ... And He smote with pestile[nce all] their flock and their beasts He delivered to de[at]h. He pu[t dark]ness into their land and obscurity into their [hou]ses so that they could not see one another. [And He smote] their land with hail and [their] soil [with] frost to cause [al]l the fruit of nourishment [to perish]. And He brought locust to cover the face of the ea[rth], heavy locust in all their territory to eat everything green in [their] la[nd] ... And God hardened Ph[araoh’s] heart so that he should not [dis]miss [them] ... and in order to increase wonders. [And He smote their first-born], the beginning of al[1 their strength] ...