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

232 THE QUMRAN CONCEPT OF TIME
the prayers addressing God, comprising 1QM 12.7–16, 139 affirms that
“the congregation of your Holy Ones (is) in our midst for an everlasting
help” ([ M]ymlw( rz(l wnkwtb hky#wdq td(w; 1QM 12.7). The prayer
continues by asserting that even God is in their midst:
For the Lord (is) holy and the glorious king (is) with us, with the Holy
Ones, migh[ty ones and] the host of angels (are) in our ranks;
and the mighty one of wa[r] (is) in our congregation and the host of his
spirits (is) with our foot-soldiers and our horsemen […]
)bc[w Myr]wbg My#wdq M( wnt) dwbkh Klmw ynwd) #wdq )yk
wnydwqpb 140 Myk)lm
]wny#rpw wnyd(c M( wyhwr )bcw wntd(b [hm]xlmh rwbgw
(1QM 12.8–9).
The imagery of God’s presence on the side of Israel in the war draws
from biblical traditions. This influence is explicit in 1QM 10.1–5 which
quotes Deut 20:2–4 (cf. Deut 7:21, 23:10–15; Exod 23:20–33):
And thus he made known to us that you (are) in our midst, O great and
fearful God ()rwnw lwdg l) wnbrqb ht) )yk), to plunder all our enemies
be[fore u]s. And he taught us concerning our generations, saying,
“When you draw near to war, the priest shall stand and say to the people,
‘Hear, O Israel, you (are) drawing near today to war against your enemies.
Do not fear and do not let your hearts be faint and do not be alar[med, and
do n]ot tremble before them, for your God (is) going with you to war for
you with your enemies to save you’” (Mxlhl Mkm( Klwh Mkyhwl) )yk
(y#whl Mkybyw) M( Mkl). 141
The language is personalized in another version of the War Scroll 142 in
which the subject speaks in the first person singular:
139. The boundaries of the prayer are indicated by the vacant line 6 and the vacat
at the end of line 16. A parallel is preserved in 4Q492 (4QM2) frag. 1 and the prayer
bears similarities to that in 1QM 19 (see notes to Duhaime, “War Scroll,” [PTSDSSP
2], 120). The prayer begins by addressing God; “And you, O God,…” (l) ht)w;
1QM 12.7).
140. Cf. 1QM 19.1: )b]cw wnt) dwbkh Klmw wnryd) #wdq )yk (“For our
majestic one (is) holy and the glorious king (is) with us and the h[ost…].”
141. For differences with the MT, see Yadin, ibid., 304. Translation generally follows
Duhaime, ibid., [PTSDSSP 2].
142. The fragmentary remains of 4Q491 (4QM1) frag. 11, col. 1 do not preserve
parallels with the extant portions of 1QM; column 2, however, may preserve parallels
to 1QM 16.3–6. Duhaime judges 1QM and 4QM to preserve different recensions
of the War Scroll (ibid., [PTSDSSP 2], 82), a judgment confirmed by the apparatus
provided by Charlesworth and Strawn.