SCRIBAL PRACTICES AND APPROACHE S ... - Emanuel Tov

Scribal Practices and Approaches Reflected in the Texts from the Judean Desert 159
4QPs o (30–1 BCE)
4QPs p (probably; 30 BCE–68 CE)
4QPs q (30 BCE–30 CE)
4QPs r (30 BCE–68 CE)
4QPs s (50–68 CE)
4QPs u (probably; 50 CE)
4Q522 (Psalm 122) 22–24; see É. Puech, DJD XXV and DJD XVI, 169–70 (65–30 BCE)
6QpapPs? (probably; 50 CE)
11QPs a (all Psalms excluding Psalm 119 which is written in a special layout; 1–50 CE)
11QPs b (all Psalms excluding Psalm 119 which is written in a special layout; 30–1 BCE)
11QPs c (1–50 CE)
11QPs d (30–68 CE)
2QJob (30 BCE–68 CE)
4QJob b (50–1 BCE)
4QLam (30–1 BCE)
5QLam a (50 CE)
11QapocrPs (11Q11; nonbiblical composition; 50–70 CE)
It is difficult to ascertain whether there is any pattern behind the different ways of presenting the
text of poetical units, with or without a stichographic arrangement. The problem is most acute in
the Psalms scrolls since they are the largest component in the lists in TABLES 8 and 9. It cannot be
determined whether the different background of the biblical texts as reflected in their textual
character determined the use or non-use of stichographic systems (see the diffusion of the
stichographic systems represented in the chart in APPENDIX 8). There is also no clear
chronological distinction between the different types of arrangement (see the dates provided in
TABLES 8 and 9), although among the texts presented in TABLE 8 there are more early scrolls than
among the texts recorded in TABLE 9 (see, however, 4QExod d ). This observation could lead to the
view that at the outset a stichographic arrangement was the rule, and that subsequently this
layout was often abandoned. This assumption could tally with the general rule in the somewhat
later rabbinic literature of presenting only a few units in this way: the lists of the kings of Canaan
(Josh 12:9-24) and the sons of Haman (Esth 9:6-9) as well as three Songs (Exod 15:1-18,
Deuteronomy 32, and Judg 5:2-30) in the prose books of the Bible, but not the Psalms (see
below).
The distinction between the stichographically written poetical units and the poetical units
written as prose is unclear, and possibly we need to approach the issue from a different angle.
Since the special layout of poetical units among the Judean Desert texts occurs almost exclusively
in biblical texts, it would be natural to assume that the texts which do not reflect such a layout,
especially the Psalms scrolls, are not Scripture in the regular sense of the word. Rather, they
served another purpose, such as that of a liturgical collection. This suggestion was raised
hesitantly by Oesch, “Textgliederung,” 317 who suggested that the parameters of the graphic
presentation of the Qumran texts were determined by the purpose for which the compositions
were written.
However, it is unclear whether this claim can be made for all the Psalm scrolls mentioned
above. If the prose arrangement of the biblical Psalms in Psalms scrolls together with liturgical
additions in some collections (especially 11QPs a ) is an indication of their use in religious
gatherings, several such collections are indeed fully or partly arranged stichographically (TABLE
8), but others are not (TABLE 9).
Consequently, it is possible that a reverse logic should be applied. Since Psalm 119 is always
arranged stichographically and is part of the later Jewish liturgy, it is possible that stichographic