SCRIBAL PRACTICES AND APPROACHE S ... - Emanuel Tov

224 Chapter 6: Scripts
b. Writing in the paleo-Hebrew script and its background
The finds from Qumran and Masada include several forms of writing in paleo-Hebrew characters:
• Individual letters used as scribal markings in the margins of texts written in square characters
(ch. 5c4).
• Divine names in paleo-Hebrew characters in texts written in square characters.
• Texts written completely in paleo-Hebrew characters.
We suggested in ch. 5c4 that the use of single paleo-Hebrew characters in the margins of
Qumran scrolls may reflect sectarian use, while it is suggested here that the texts written
completely in paleo-Hebrew script may have been imported to Qumran. The main focus is placed
on the Qumran texts written in paleo-Hebrew, while some attention is given to Mas 1o (Mas pap
paleoText of Sam. Origin [recto] and Mas pap paleoUnidentified Text [verso]). Several ostraca
found at Masada likewise contain single paleo-Hebrew letters (see Masada I).
(1) Individual paleo-Hebrew letters used as scribal markings in the margins of texts written in
square characters
See ch. 5c4.
(2) Divine names in paleo-Hebrew characters in texts written in square characters (figs. 26
28; 28 illustr. 3)
Several Qumran texts, mainly of a nonbiblical, sectarian nature, display a special approach toward
the writing of divine names, especially the Tetragrammaton (see 1QpHab in illustr. 3). As in
rabbinic literature, most sectarian texts avoided representing the Tetragrammaton and µyhla as
much as possible, finding alternative means of expression. This avoidance was described in detail
by Stegemann, KURIOS294 and Skehan, “Divine Name” on the basis of the evidence available in
1978 and 1980 respectively, and the assumption of this avoidance is still true for most of the
texts known today. For example, 1QS (1QSa, 1QSb) and 1QM do not use the Tetra-grammaton
and µyh(w)la, while wnyhwla occurs four times in 1QS (twice in quotations from Scripture) and
twice in 1QM.
The clearest evidence of this avoidance pertains to the pesharim which by way of
circumlocution often refer to God in the third person. Likewise, the Tetragrammaton is omitted in
1QM X 4, 7 in the quotation of µkyhwla hwhy from both Deut 20:4 and Num 10:9.
In yet other cases, the Tetragrammaton was replaced by la; for example, in 4QpPsb (4Q173)
5 4, lal replaces hwhyl of MT (fig. 28). 28 Likewise, in 4QHosb (4Q167) 2 6; 7–9 2; 16 3, la
probably replaces hwhy, in the latter case probably in a biblical quotation (Hos 8:13). In 1QHa VII
(Suk. = Puech XV) 28, ynwda replaces hwhy of Exod 15:11.
Furthermore, the overwhelming preponderance of la in the sectarian writings (pesharim,
Hodayot, prayers, blessings, Rules), as opposed to the rare use of the Tetragrammaton in these
294 See also Stegemann, “Religionsgeschichtliche Erwägungen zu den Gottesbezeichnungen in den Qumran-texten,” in
Qumrân(ed. M. Delcor; see n. 42) 195–217; E. Schuller, Non-Canonical Psalms from Qumran: A Pseudepigraphic
Collection (HSS 28; Atlanta, Ga. 1986) 40–41. C. Newsom, “ ‘Sectually Explicit’ Literature from Qumran,” in The
Hebrew Bible and its Interpreters (ed. W. H. Propp et al.; Winona Lake, Ind. 1990) 167–87, especially p. 177 went
one step further when claiming that ‘any text containing the tetragrammaton in free and original composition can be
presumed to be of non-Qumran authorship.’ For much material, see D. W. Parry, “Notes on Divine Name Avoidance in
Scriptural Units of the Legal Texts of Qumran,” in Legal Texts and Legal Issues: Proceedings of the Second Meeting of
the International Organization for Qumran Studies Cambridge 1995 (ed. M. Bernstein et al.; Leiden/New
York/Cologne 1997) 437–49.
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