SCRIBAL PRACTICES AND APPROACHE S ... - Emanuel Tov

Scribal Practices and Approaches Reflected in the Texts from the Judean Desert 197
4QDeutb I 15 end of the line (fig. 2 5): 5 The meaning of the sign in the shape of a reversed h≥et (J. A. Duncan,
DJD XIV 11: ‘three strokes of ink’) is unclear.
4Qpap pIsa c (4Q163) 4–7 ii 4–7, 14, 15, 17: Horizontal lines in the margin designate the writing of the pesher.
4QTime of Righteousness (4Q215a) 1 i, end of line 9 (fig. 5 . 8): 8 The nature of this sign is unclear.
4QInstrb (4Q416) 2 ii 6 (fig. 5 .9): .9 The nature of this elliptical shape is unclear. Cf. fig. 1 0 . 4. 4
MasDeut line 5 (Deut 33:20) dqdq (last word in the verse): The meaning of the wedge-shaped form above the
first letter of this word (fig. 2 0) 0 is unclear.
Note further:
4QIsad 4–5: The marks in the bottom margin are probably remains of letters rather than signs.
4QCal Doc/Mish B (4Q321) V 3: The nature of the sign above the line above the first letter of hpwjb in the form
of two lines forming a right angle is unclear. The detail could reflect a nun without any recognizable contextual
meaning (thus S. Talmon, DJD XXI, 75).
(6) Marks written at the ends of lines as line-fillers
The notion that some signs in the Qumran manuscripts served as special types of line-filler is
well established, since such a practice is clearly visible in several of the later texts from Nah≥al
H≥ever (DJD XXVII and Yardeni, Textbook). The special purpose of these line-fillers was to
point out that the space at the end of the line was not to be taken as a section marker (‘open
section’), indicated by an X-sign at the point of the left margin, usually flush with the vertical
line, or slightly to the right.
5/6H≥ev papLease Contract (5/6H≥ev 42) 2 (Yardeni, Textbook, 1.102).
5/6H≥ev papLease of Land (5/6H≥ev 44) 2, 5, 12, 15, 16, 22, 23. The X-signs are written at the ends of the lines,
which are somewhat shorter than the other lines. In line 5 it occurs after ˆy[b, while the following line starts with ydg;
accordingly the function of the X can only be that of a line-filler, since it is placed between Ein and Gedi. For the
data, see JDS 3, pl. 77 and Yardeni, Textbook, 1.113.
5/6H≥ev papLease of Land (5/6H≥ev 45) 12, 20, 21, 26, 28. Line 12 ends with ˆb ˆw[mç, and the following line starts
with abswk. In the relatively large space at the end of line 12, which is too short for abswk, an X-sign is indicated.
See Yardeni, Textbook, 1.115.
5/6H≥ev papLease of Land (5/6H≥ev 46) 5, 10. See Yardeni, Textbook, 1.118.
XH≥ev/Se papDeed of Sale E ar (XH≥ev/Se 21) a 12: An X-sign is written in the Lower Version, in the middle
of a phrase at the end of the line (fig. 22 . 3). 3
In three Qumran texts, the X-signs were likewise used for the specific purpose of indicating
that a space at the end of a line should not be mistaken for an ‘open section,’ which has a definite
contextual meaning: 261
1QpHab III 12 (fig. 22 . 6), 6 14; IV 11, 14; VI 4, 12; VIII 1; IX 1, 13, 16 (?); X 3; XII 2. This explanation was
recognized first by M. H. Lehman, “Materials Concerning the Dating of the Dead Sea Scrolls: I Habakkuk,” PEQ 83
(1951) 32–54, especially 47. 262 Lehman noted a similar X-sign in an Oxford Genizah fragment MS Heb c. 18, fol. 30.
In 1QpHab, these X-signs were always written slightly to the right of, or flush with, the left vertical ruled line
(illustr. 3). This also pertains to the single