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Announcing a Dead Sea Scrolls Fragment of Nehemiah
James H. Charlesworth
Original
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| Nehemiah |
Nehemiah - In Infra Red |
[provisional research; for additions and corrections please contact:
James.charlesworth@ptsem.edu]
The critical edition will appear in MAARAV.
The Dead Sea Scroll fragment is published with the permission of Lee Biondi, Los Angeles, California. The images are the product of the unusual skills of Bruce and Ken Zuckerman of West Semitic Research in Rolling Hills Estates, California.
For the transcription, see Nota Bene which allows diacritics and thinks right to left. The alignment follows the arrangement of consonants on the leather.
Codicology: [for measurement see image], reddish-brown leather with light areas and many lacunae especially on the right margin, darkening due to age and moisture, upper and right margins are visible, four lines of text, no horizontal or vertical lining. Dark black ink that is regularly spaced; the script is clear only with IR. No ink visible on the back. The first line reveals a supralinear Nun, supplied probably by the same scribe who may have intended to bring the text in line with the so-called MT.
Date: late first century BCE or early decade of the first century CE.
Palaeography:
Beth: two examples, two strokes, serif at top left, straight right vertical, and horizontal lower line as in Herodian Script (see 4QNumb) of c. 30 BCE to 20 CE.
Dalath: 3 examples, one stroke that begins on the upper left curves down proceeds horizontally to the right, moves upward and then straight down, as in 4QDanb of c. 20-50 CE.
Waw and Yod: Both are made with one stroke. The Waw is longer, but both have a left top flag form as in 4QNumb.
Kaph: one stroke, slightly curved upper horizontal line, right vertical line is straight, the foot is almost horizontal as in 4QDanb of c. 20-50 CE.
Lamed: five examples (with some variety), one stroke, long form with upper triangular shape and curved right shoulder that ends in the middle of the line; the closest link is with 4QNumb.
Mem: four examples (not identical), two strokes. The first stroke begins at left and curves up and then around to the base line and then curves to the left and flat on the line; the second stroke is a slanted vertical one added on top. This form is mixed; perhaps it is close to the date of 1QM of c. 30 to 1 BCE.
Taw: three examples, two strokes, with upper left vertical extension, and left horizontal foot as in 1QM of c. 30 to 1 BCE.
The dating is thus most likely in the first decade of the first century CE.
Text: Nehemiah 3:14-15
Text Type: Proto-Masoretic with a reading (“and his sons” = ובניו) preserved in the LXX but corrected by a supralinear consonant (= נ) over the Yod (and to replace it) to provide a reading more in line with the so-called MT (“he shall build” = יבננו). If the scribe is not merely influenced by the form in line two, he has edited his text to bring it in line with the MT. It is conceivable, that the scribe was influenced by the movement to make the MT the dominant text type. Most likely this procedure was already evident in the beginning of the first century CE.
Provenience: The one who had the fragment since the sixties reports that it is from Qumran Cave IV. The handwriting of this fragment of Nehemiah is similar in some ways to 4Q117, the copy of Ezra, but numerous forms indicate it is not the same scroll. The present fragment is not written in a “minuscule” script (to use Cross’ terminology for 4QEzra) and it is a few decades later than 4QEzra.
Importance: If this text is from Qumran, it is the only copy of Nehemiah found in the Qumran Caves. Scholars have assumed that a copy of Ezra from the Qumran Caves suggests the existence of Nehemiah, since Ezra and Nehemiah usually appear on one scroll (see DJD 39, p. 48).
Translation [differences from received Hebrew text are in italics]:
[“(3:14) Malchijah son of Rechab, chief of half the district of Beth-haccherem, repaired the Dung Gate.] And (he received the help of) his sons; and he set up its doors, [its] bol[ts, and its bars. (3:15) And the Fountain Gate] Shallum son of Col-hozeh, chief of hal[f the district of Mizpah, repaired. He rebuilt it and covered it, and set up] its doors, its bolts, [and its bars, as well as the wall of Pool of Shelah for the King’s Garden as far as] the steps [going down from the City of David.”]
Preliminary Reflections:
Most importantly, this Hebrew text supports the speculations of some text critics that some words had been lost by copying scribes. One reading is supported by the Greek recension.
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