The Bible and the Dead Sea Scrolls: The ... - josephprestonkirk

238 PSALMS AND PSALTERSINTHEDEAD SEA SCROLLS
4QPs e [= 4Q87], 4QPs f [= 4Q88], 11QPs b [= 11Q6], 11QPs d [= 11Q8])
now preserve material from both Psalms 1–89 and 90–150. While this may
be the result of severe damage, it may also suggest that some scrolls originally
contained material from only the earlier part of the book of Psalms, while
others presented material from the later part.
b. The Large Psalms Scroll from Cave 11
As the largest of all the extant Psalms manuscripts, 11QPsa [= 11Q5] features
prominently in discussions concerning the book of Psalms at
Qumran. The manuscript was copied around 50 C.E. and preserves
forty-nine compositions—with at least one more (Psalm 120) now missing
but originally present—in the following order: 18
Psalm 101 → 102 → 103; 109; 118 → 104 → 147 → 105 → 146 → 148
[+ 120] → 121 → 122 → 123 → 124 → 125 → 126 → 127 → 128 → 129
→ 130 → 131 → 132 → 119 → 135 → 136 (with Catena) → 145 (with
postscript) → 154 → Plea for Deliverance → 139 → 137 → 138 → Sirach 51
→ Apostrophe to Zion → Psalm 93 → 141 → 133 → 144 → 155 → 142 →
143 → 149 → 150 → Hymn to the Creator → David’s Last Words → David’s
Compositions → Psalm 140 → 134 → 151A → 151B → blank column [end]
Such an arrangement is obviously quite different from that found in the
MT and LXX Psalters. This single manuscript would soon give rise to
heated debate, as outlined and assessed in the next section.
2. EARLY PROPOSALS CONCERNING THE PSALMS SCROLLS
2.1 A Note on Terminology
Terminology commonly used with respect to the Psalter is often inadequate
for discussing this book in the Dead Sea Scrolls. Because the
masoretic collection is the only Hebrew Psalter to have survived in its
complete form, the MT is used as the basis for comparison with the various
Psalms scrolls. This easily leads to the false supposition that the MT-
150 Psalter is normative, while all others are aberrant or secondary. It is
essential that we use neutral language as far as possible, which requires
avoiding terminology inappropriate to the Second Temple period. In particular,
the terms “biblical,” “canonical,” “noncanonical,” and “masoretic”
should not be employed with reference to the Qumran era, since they presuppose
the closure of the Hebrew canon, which took place later. Terms
18. For the siglum “→” see n10 (above).