SCRIBAL PRACTICES AND APPROACHE S ... - Emanuel Tov

Scribal Practices and Approaches Reflected in the Texts from the Judean Desert 139
• 1QM II 15; III 12 before new sections.
• 4QJer a V, part 1 5 after Jer 10:11, the sole Aramaic verse in that book.
• 4QpIsa a (4Q161) 2–6 ii 20 between the pesher and the lemma (APPENDIX 7.2).
• 4Qpap pIsa c (4Q163) 6–7 ii 9 between the pesher and the lemma (APPENDIX 7.2).
• 4QpPs a (4Q171) 1–10 ii 5 between the pesher and the lemma (APPENDIX 7.2).
(d) A similarly major section division is a space at the end of the line followed by an
indentation at the beginning of the following line.
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• 1QH a VII (Suk. = Puech XV) 6, 26.
• 4QCant b 2 ii 6–7, indicating a major content division and move from Cant 4:1-3 to vv 8-11.
• 4QTest (4Q175): The fourth section (lines 21–30) is separated in this way from the preceding sections in order
to indicate a larger content division. This section adduces a nonbiblical text (known from 4QapocrJosh b [4Q379] 22
ii), and not a biblical text, as the first three sections.
• 4QBarkhi Nafshi a (4Q434) 1 i 12.
In addition to the use of spaces as an indication of division of section units, several texts used
two additional devices to indicate new sections:
• Paragraphos signs. Several texts contain one of the variations of the paragraphos sign, used
in addition to a spacing system (§ c1):
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These signs were inserted infrequently and inconsistently in the Judean Desert texts as
indications of divisions (see, for example, 1QM, 1QapGen ar, 11QT a , probably not by the
original scribes, but by later scribes or users, especially in order to draw attention to certain
sections and topics. A number of persons were involved in the indication of these signs as shown
by their differing shapes within a single scroll.
• Red ink. In 2QPs and 4QNum b , red ink was used at the beginning of new units, while in
4QD e (4Q270) it indicated a heading. 196 For parallels in Egyptian and other sources, see ch. 3f.
2QPs: The first two lines of Psalm 103.
4QNum b : The beginnings of ten new sections. The scribe either wrote the first verse of the new section in red
(that is, the first line and its continuation on the next line; see XII 21–22 [Num 20:22-23]) or, more frequently, the
first line of the new section (e.g. XIII 27 [Num 21:21]; XXVI 25 [Num 31:37, 38]; XXVII 3 [Num 31:48]; XXVIII 6
[Num 32:25]; XXVIII 23 [Num 33:1]), continuing the remainder of the verse on the next line in black ink. See N.
Jastram, DJD XII, 210–11 and pl. XLIX. The red and black ink were used by the same scribe who alternated pens,
while adhering to the same scribal practices (proportional spacing at the end of the line in order to finish the line
flush with the left vertical marginal line; see ch. 4f and XII 21 [Num 20:21] written with red ink). In all the
mentioned instances, the writing with red ink denoted a sense division, usually after an open section, extant or
reconstructed, and in one instance after a reconstructed indentation (XIV 16 [Num 22:21]). 197
4QD e (4Q270) 3 i 19: the heading for a new section (J. Baumgarten, RevQ 19 [1999] 217–25 and idem, DJD
XVIII, 147).
196 The function of the red ink in the fragmentary 4Q481d ( “Fragments with Red Ink” [DJD XXII]) is unclear (in one
instance two consecutive lines were written in red ink.
197 It is unclear why the beginnings of some new sections were written with red ink, while others were not. Thus, in the
following instances, 4QNum b denoted the new section by a system of spacing, writing the first line, like those
surrounding, with black ink: I 6 (Num 12:1); XVIII 15 (Num 25:7); XVIII 25 (Num 25:16). Jastram’s explanation (ibid.,
211) that these rubrics indicate liturgical divisions (sedarim) is unsupported.