SCRIBAL PRACTICES AND APPROACHE S ... - Emanuel Tov

Scribal Practices and Approaches Reflected in the Texts from the Judean Desert 119
a. A large de luxe format was used especially for biblical scrolls (TABLE 27), and also for a
few nonbiblical texts. Some manuscripts are of better quality than others with regard to their
replication (precision in copying) and external shape (regularity of the ruling, quality of leather,
aesthetics of layout, and adherence to a neat column structure), e.g. 1QM, 1QIsa b , 11QPs a ,
11QT a (11Q19), 11QT b (11Q20), MasEzek, MasPs a (illustr. 5a). However, it appears that the
use of large top, and bottom margins is the major criterion for establishing that a scroll was
prepared as a de luxe edition (as in similar Alexandrian Greek scrolls, see below), together with a
large writing block, fine calligraphy, the proto-rabbinic text form of Scripture, and only a limited
amount of scribal intervention. MasPs a probably serves as the best sample of such a choice text.
TABLE 27 presents all the Judean Desert texts with large-sized top and bottom margins (more
than 3.0 cm). The purpose of the table is to establish that these parameters were used especially
for de luxe editions of biblical texts. Other data are also recorded for these texts (number of lines,
height, date, textual character for the biblical texts, and the number of lines between corrections in
the text). In this table, ‘r’ signifies ‘reconstructed.’ In other cases (‘—’), the relevant evidence is
lacking. Since top and bottom margins usually measure 1.0–2.0 cm in the texts from the Judean
Desert, margins such as MurNum (7.5 cm), 2QNum a (5.7+ cm), 4QDeut g (5.7+ cm), XH≥ev/
SeNum b (7.2–7.5 cm) are quite unusual. The dates listed below are quoted from Webster,
“Chronological Index.”
TABLE 27: Hebrew/Aramaic de Luxe Editions among the Texts from the Judean Desert
(Main Criterion: Large Top/Bottom Margins)
Name Top
Margin
(cm)
Bottom
Margin
(cm)
a. BIBLICAL TEXTS
No. of
Lines
Height
(cm)
Date of MS Textual
Character
No. of
Lines between
Corrections
2QNuma — 5.7+ — — 30–68 CE — 17+
4QGenb 3.2 — 40 r 35 r 30–100 CE MT 62
4QExodc 4.0–4.4 3.1 c. 43 r 38 r 50–25 BCE MT 17
4QpaleoGen-Exod l — 4.0 55–60 r 38 r 100–25 BCE MT 105
4QpaleoExodm 3.0–3.5 4.3–4.5 32, 33 35+ 100–25 BCE SP 197
4QDeutg 11 — 5.7+ — — 1–25 CE MT/SP 43
4QDeutk1 — 3.2+ — — 30–1 BCE Q-ortho;
independent
12
4QJudgb 3 — 5.3 — — 30–1 BCE MT 8
4QSama 2.2–2.6 2.9–3.1 42–44 r 30.1 50–25 BCE ind./LXX 110
4QJerc — 2.5–4.5 18 25.3– 30–1 BCE MT 25
4QEzek a 3.0+ — 42 r 29.5 r 50–25 BCE independent 50
4QPs c 1.5+ 3.2+ 33 c. 26 1–50 CE MT 52
MurGen 1 5.2 — 50 r 46.5 r c. 115 CE MT 23+
MurNum 6 — 7.5 50 r 46.5 r c. 115 CE MT —
MurIsa — 3.0+ — — 20–84 CE MT —
MurXII 2.6–4.0 4.5–5.0 39 35.5 c. 115 CE MT 75
XH≥ev/SeNum b — 7.2–7.5 44 r 39.5 r 50–68 CE MT 28+
34S≥eNum 5.0 — — — — — —
MasDeut 3.4 — 42 33 50–1 BCE MT 17
MasEzek 3.0 — 42 29.5 50–1 BCE MT 18
MasPs a 2.4 3.0 29 25.5 25–1 BCE MT 74+
XJosh — 4.0 27 c. 24 40–68 CE MT —
b. NONBIBLICAL TEXTS
Name Top
Margin
Bottom
Margin
No. of
Lines
26.3
Height
(cm)
Date of MS No. of Lines
between