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

278 THE IMPORTANCE OF ISAIAH AT QUMRAN
Horgan’s criteria seem a bit rigid, however, considering the quite fragmentary
state of these texts and the actual variations from her ideal represented
in the texts themselves. Among the Isaiah pesharim, for
instance, Horgan considers 4QIsa c (4Q57) anomalous, because it does
not limit its biblical citations to the continuous sections of Isaiah, but
rather cites passages from Jeremiah and Zechariah and alludes to other
passages from Hosea and Zechariah. 24 Moreover, there are places in
pap4QpIsa c (4Q163) where verses or whole sections of Isaiah are
skipped, and Horgan concludes that “the omissions seem to be deliberate.”
25 One may question whether either of these features are as anomalous
as Horgan implies. One should not make too much of the lack of
citations of other biblical books in the pesharim given the very limited
corpus and the extremely fragmentary state of the preserved texts.
Moreover, the omission of significant sections of the biblical book being
commented on is by no means unique to pap4QpIsa c . The famous
Habakkuk Pesher (1QpHab) limits itself to the first two chapters of
Habakkuk, and 4QpIsa b (4Q162) skips from Isa 5:14 to 5:24. This last
example is worth looking at in more detail.
After citing Isa 5:11–14, 4QpIsa b 2.6–7 simply identifies the pleasureloving
inhabitants of Jerusalem addressed in these verses with the “men
of scoffing who are in Jerusalem.” This identification is not introduced
with any of the formulas containing the word pe 4s ]er, but with a simple nominal
clause introduced by the demonstrative pronoun: “these are the men
of scoffing who are in Jerusalem” (Myl#wryb r#) Nwclh y#n) Mh hl)).
Though Horgan curiously fails to mention it, this designation for the
Jerusalemite opponents of the Qumran community is clearly derived from
Isa 28:14, where Isaiah addresses his opponents in Jerusalem with the following
words: “Therefore, hear the word of Yahweh, you men of scoffing,
You rulers of this people who are in Jerusalem” (y#n) hwhy-rbd w(m# Nkl
Myl#wryb r#) hzh M(h yl#m Nwcl). Having made this identification
by the allusion to Isa 28:14, the Qumran commentator then returns to
his treatment of Isaiah 5 by identifying the scoffers of Isa 28:14 with
those mentioned in Isa 5:24c who reject the teaching of Yahweh. The
transition is again accomplished by using a simple nominal clause to
introduce a slightly modified citation of the biblical text: “They are those
who reject the teaching of Yahweh and spurn the word of the Holy One of
Israel” (wc)n l)r#y #wdq trm) t)w hwhy trwt t) ws)m r#) Mh).
The commentator then continues the citation of the biblical text with Isa
24. Horgan, Pesharim, 237–38.
25. Ibid., 238.