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

JACOB CHERIAN 355
also stands out in other Qumran writings. 19 James Charlesworth has
brought out the import of the allegory where the Righteous Teacher is seen
as God’s “Autumnal Rain” for his followers 20 —quite a remarkable image
for a community living in the arid region of Qumran. There are no other
major leadership images that capture our attention in the Thanksgiving
Hymns (Hodayot a ) apart from these and, of course, that of the nursing-father.
2. THE qdch hrwm AS THE NURSING-FATHER OF THE dxy
(1QH 15.19–22A)
In a section of the Thanksgiving Hymns (Hodayot a ) that many scholars see as
coming from the pen of the Righteous Teacher (see section 1.2), we find a
significant use of parental imagery. The text in focus is 1QH 15.19–22a.
yntdm(h hktqdc[b ].w xwkb zy(hl rcn ldglw (+[m] 19
dsx ynbl b) ynmy#tw [ ]t)w hktm)b hkwmt)w hktyrbl 20
qyxb lylw( (#(#kw[ wm) yd# q]nwyk hp wcpyw tpwm y#n)l Nmw)kw 21
wynmw) 22
(19) the planting (to blossom), 21 and to cause a shoot to grow; to take
refuge in strength and […in] your righteousness. You have upheld me (20)
in your covenant and I will cling to your truth, and […] You have made me
a father (b) to the sons of mercy, (21) like a wet-nurse [Nmw)k] 22 to the men
of wonder; they open wide their mouth like a chi[ld on the breast of its mother]
like a nursing infant in the lap of (22) its wet-nurse [wynmw)].
Interestingly, lines 18b–19a read: “And I depend on the abun[dance of
your compassion] and hope in the [abundance] of your mercy, to cause the
19. See for example 1QpHab 7.3–17.
20. See James H. Charlesworth, “An Allegorical and Autobiographical Poem by the
Moreh has-sedeq (1QH 8.4–11), in “Sha(arei Talmon”: Studies in the Bible, Qumran, and the
Ancient Near East Presented to Shemaryahu Talmon (ed. M. Fishbane, and E. Tov, with W.
W. Fields; Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1992), 295–307; idem, “Autumnal Rain
(hrwmh) for the Faithful Followers of the Moreh (hrwmh): Joel and the Hodayot,” in
Der Mensch vor Gott: Forschungen zum Menschenbild in Bibel, antikem Judentum und Koran.
Festschrift für Hermann Lichtenberger zum 60. Geburtstag (ed. U. Mittmann-Richert, F.
Avemarie, and G. S. Oegema; Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener, 2003), 193–210.
21. “To blossom” is from the previous word (Cychl), the last word on line 18.
22. Interestingly, Mansoor (The Thanksgiving Hymns, 151) translates the term as
“nursing father.” Holm-Nielsen (Hodayot, Psalms from Qumran, 130, 135n36) does note
the parallel with Num 11:12, but translates Nmw) as “foster father.” I do not think that
Nmw) has a masculine aspect in its intrinsic meaning; rather nursing father comes
from the double context in which the word is found: one, a man is using the word;
two, the presence of b) (father) in its immediate literary context.