SCRIBAL PRACTICES AND APPROACHE S ... - Emanuel Tov

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302 Appendix 6 On the basis of these criteria, it may be argued that the aforementioned four Masada texts derived from Qumran. Content as well as Qumran orthography and morphology are our guides, but it should be admitted that in the latter case some circular reasoning is involved. An alternative explanation stressing the universal nature of the finds of Qumran and Masada, and hence disproving any special link between the two sites, was offered by Schiffman in his discussion of the copy of MasShirShabb (Mas 1k) at Masada: ‘ . . . study of the remaining Masada texts makes it clear that the Masada corpus contained a number of texts parallel to those found in the Qumran collection. Apparently, these were commonly known works that circulated widely in Palestine during this period, at least in the case of the apocryphal texts.’ 376 The implications of the finding of a text now named Mas pap paleoText of Sam. Origin (Mas 1o recto) at Masada are unclear. For a detailed discussion, see <strong>Tov</strong>, “Masada.” 3. Similarity between the corpora of Masada and Qumran Assuming that the Masada nonbiblical texts were brought to Masada by fugitives from Qumran, we note that the corpora of Masada and Qumran resemble one another in the following aspects: • The biblical texts found at Masada, like those from Qumran, derive from all three segments of the Hebrew canon (Torah, Ezekiel, Psalms). In addition, individual texts belonging to the so-called Apocrypha (Ben Sira) as well as hitherto unknown works were found at both places. • The two collections resemble one another with regard to the inclusion of writings of sectarian content among the nonbiblical texts. The Qumran corpus contains a large group of sectarian writings, probably between 100 and 140 377 of a total of 930 texts (10.75–15%). A similar percentage is apparent among the Masada texts (two among fifteen/sixteen texts, 12.5–13.5%), viz., MasShirShabb (Mas 1k) and MasQumran-type Fragment (Mas 1n). This calculation does not include the Jubilees text. If the Masada Jubilees text were to be included in this calculation, the percentage of Qumran sectarian texts would be even higher than that at Qumran itself. At the same time, we should remember that no fragments of the central sectarian texts from Qumran were found at Masada. • The two collections resemble one another with regard to the inclusion of paleo-Hebrew texts. Among the fifteen/sixteen Hebrew Masada texts, one is written in the paleo-Hebrew script (6.2–6.6%). Similarly, among the 930 Qumran texts there are 15 or 16 such texts (1.61–1.72%). 378 • One of the fifteen/sixteen Masada texts is written on papyrus (inscribed on both sides; 6.5%). Likewise, 131 of the 930 Qumran texts are written on papyrus (14%). • Parallels in content between the nonbiblical texts from Masada and Qumran were noted above. Five Masada texts are matched by similar or identical texts from Qumran: Mas apocrJosh (Mas 1l) MasShirShabb (Mas 1k) MasSir (Mas 1h) MasJub/psJub (Mas 1j) Mas apocrGen (Mas 1m) At the same time, differences, in proportion as well as in character, are visible between the two corpora. (1) Although the Masada fragments are often small, there is nevertheless enough evidence available to realize that the biblical texts constitute a higher percentage of the Masada corpus than of the Qumran corpus. The biblical component in the Masada corpus is either 46.6 or 43.75%, far more than the percentage of biblical scrolls in the Qumran corpus, viz., 21.5% (not counting the tefillin and mezuzot). These data probably imply that the Zealots, the inhabitants of Masada, were more Bible-oriented than the Qumran covenanters. It should also be noted that among the texts discovered in the Judean Desert, those from Masada, Murabba>at, and Nah≥al H≥ever are the closest to the medieval Masoretic texts (see the Appendix in <strong>Tov</strong>, “Masada”). Statistics are always misleading because of the fragmentary status of the evidence but, for the sake of the argument, we should probably surmise that the same percentage of biblical and nonbiblical texts perished. When stating that 21.5% of the Qumran corpus consists of biblical manuscripts (not counting tefillin and mezuzot), one should remember that the percentages vary for the different caves: 376 L. Schiffman, Reclaiming the Dead Sea Scrolls (Philadelphia/Jerusalem 1994) 355. 377 Not to be confused with the larger group of texts written in the Qumran scribal practice (see APPENDIX 1). 378 It is unclear whether the paleo-Hebrew text found at Masada differs from its counterparts at Qumran. The great majority of the Qumran paleo-Hebrew texts are biblical, while the character of four texts is unclear: two unidentified texts (4Q124, 125), 4Qpaleo paraJosh (4Q123), and 11QpaleoUnidentified Text (11Q22). But even if the character of the latter four texts is unclear, the Masada text is no closer to being a biblical fragment.
Scribal Practices and Approaches Reflected in the Texts from the Judean Desert 303 cave 1: 12 biblical texts out of a total of 80 texts (15%) cave 2: 17 biblical texts out of a total of 33 texts (51%) cave 3: 3 biblical texts out of a total of 15 texts (20%) cave 4: 136 Hebrew/Aramaic biblical texts out of a total of 683 texts (20%) cave 5: 8 biblical texts out of a total of 25 texts (32%) cave 6: 7 biblical texts out of a total of 33 texts (21%) cave 8: 2 biblical texts out of a total of 5 texts (40%) cave 11: 10 biblical texts out of a total of 31 texts (32%) Caves 2 and 8 contain a substantially higher percentage of biblical texts than the other caves, and if they are counted as individual sites they resemble the evidence for the sites other than Qumran in the Judean Desert. (2) It cannot be coincidental that the number of Torah scrolls among the Masada finds is relatively large. Of the seven biblical texts, four contain portions from the Torah, and the other texts contain parts of Psalms (2) and Ezekiel (1). Thus, of fifteen or sixteen literary texts found at Masada, 26.5% or 25% represent the Torah, as compared with merely 8.4% (78 texts) of the 930 Qumran texts (counting scrolls containing two books, such as 4QGen-Exod a , only once, and not including tefillin and mezuzot). A similar percentage pertains to the Psalms scrolls, two scrolls at Masada (13.5% or 12.5%) as opposed to 36 scrolls at Qumran (4%). This situation resembles that of the biblical scrolls left behind by the Bar Kochba fighters, that consisted mainly of texts from the Torah and Psalms in Murabba>at (MurGen, MurExod, MurNum, MurDeut, MurIsa, MurXII), Nah≥al H≥ever (5/6H≥evNum a ; 5/6H≥evPs; XH≥ev/SeNum b ; XH≥ev/SeDeut), Nah≥al S≥eat and of the Greek Minor Prophets from Nah≥al H≥ever, that are similar in this connection to the Ezekiel scroll from Masada. (3) The identifying of the Masada biblical texts with the textual tradition that was to become the central text of Judaism (MT), as reflected in rabbinic literature and in the medieval manuscripts, points to a community which must have been closely connected to the Jerusalem spiritual center where the proto-rabbinic texts were at home. This assumption is corroborated by the large proportion of biblical texts found at Masada. On the other hand, Qumran reflects biblical texts of a different textual nature, and the Qumran proto-Masoretic texts are less similar to the medieval tradition than those found at Masada and at the sites dating to the time of the Second Jewish Revolt. See my paper “The Text of the Hebrew/Aramaic and Greek Bible” (n. 168). (4) If our understanding is correct that MasUnidentified Text heb or ar (Mas 1p) is Hebrew, no Aramaic literary texts were found at Masada, while some 130 such texts were found at Qumran. Two further points should be noticed with regard to the non-Hebrew texts. (5) Statistically, the number of Greek texts at Masada (at least 11 texts together with fragments of several additional texts; the total number is similar to the fifteen/sixteen Hebrew texts from Masada) greatly exceeds the Greek texts found at Qumran (probably 27 of an overall number of 930 texts). (6) No Latin texts were found at Qumran, while some were found at Masada. The similarities between the corpora of Qumran and Masada are not expected as these features are absent from the collections of texts found in Murabba>at, Nah≥al H≥ever, S≥e
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SCRIBAL PRACTICES AND APPROACHE S R
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DEDICATED TO THE SCRIBES WHO WROTE
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Contents vii CONTENTS Text Editions
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Contents ix Chapter 8: Scribal Trad
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xii Text Editions Sam. Pent (SP) A.
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xiv Periodicals, Reference Works, a
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REFERENCES AND SUNDRY ABBREVIATIONS
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xviii List of Tables 21. Scrolls wi
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xx Preface This book contains thous
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1 INTRODUCTION a. Purpose and natur
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Scribal Practices and Approaches Re
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Copyists, scribes, and soferim 2 SC
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3 WRITING AND WRITING MATERIALS The
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4 TECHNICAL ASPECTS OF SCROLL WRITI
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(4) No indication Scribal Practices
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5 WRITING PRACTICES The writing pra
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6 SCRIPTS 293 a. Square (Jewish) sc
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7 SPECIAL SCRIBAL CHARACTERISTICS O
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SCRIBAL PRACTICES AND APPROACHE S ... - Emanuel Tov

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