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

DENNIS T. OLSON 305
(1Q34) and J. C. Trever. 13 The script of 1Q34–1Q34 bis is early Herodian,
dating to some time around 50 B.C.E.
Only three fragments of 4Q507 contain legible writing. Fragment 1
contains a communal confession of sin, whereas fragments 2 and 3 praise
the deity through a blessing formula: “Blessed be the Lord.” Fragment 3
contains a doxological double “Amen,” which signals the end of a prayer
of praise. J. Starcky initially arranged the text of 4Q507, and M. Baillet
was the first to publish the collection as Prayers for Festivals. 14 J. Strugnell
noted some similarities in style and form between the prayers of 4Q507
and the prayers in 1QH, but the content of the two sets of prayers are
quite different. 15 The Herodian script of 4Q507 situates these prayers in
the early-first century C.E.
4Q508 is made up of 43 fragments that contain numerous allusions to
festivals in the Jewish liturgical year. M. Baillet was also the first to publish
these texts, dating them to a time early in the first century C.E. 16
Baillet argues that fragments 1, 3, 7, 30 and 39–41 are similar to parts of
1Q34–1Q34 bis , which are clearly connected to the Day of Atonement festival.
The prayers contain references to “the festival of your compassion,”
“a festival of repentance,” and the verb “to atone.” Other indirect and possible
allusions to Jewish festivals in these fragmentary prayers include
“the [pr]oduce of our land for wav[ing]” (Festival of the Barley Harvest),
the “beginnings of months” (Festival of the New Moon), and a “festival
of honor and holine[ss]” (unknown). 17 Other themes encountered in
4Q508 include an emphasis on the covenant relationship between God
and the community, the holiness of God, the confession of sin,
atonement, and the doxological double “Amen” at the end of individual
prayers. The references to “his covenant” (frag. 4 line 2) and “offerings,”
“sacrifice,” and “contribu[tions]” (frag. 9, line 1, frag. 15, lines 1, 17) probably
allude to the harvest and covenant remembrance festival of
Pentecost or Shavuot. The three-fold offerings of “grain, new wine and
olive oil” are mentioned in fragment 13 line 3 in 4Q508, echoing the
13. Jozef T. Milik, “Recueil de prières liturgiques (1Q34 bis ),” in Qumran Cave 1 (ed.
D. Barthélemy and J. T. Milik; DJD 1; Oxford: Clarendon, 1955), 136, 152–55; John
C. Trever, “Completion of the Publication of Some Fragments From Qumran Cave
I,” RevQ 19 (1965), 323–36.
14. Baillet, ibid., 175–77.
15. John Strugnell, “Le Travail d’edition: des Fragments Manuscripts de Qumran,”
RB 63 (1956): 54.
16. Baillet, ibid., 177.
17. Ibid., 177.