the-bible-and-the-dead-sea-scrolls

240 PSALMS AND PSALTERSINTHEDEAD SEA SCROLLS
Jews in the first half of the first century C.E. Subsequent discussion surrounding
the Psalms scrolls concerns four theses developed by Sanders,
constituting what Peter Flint terms the “Qumran Psalms Hypothesis.” 22
• Gradual Stabilization: 11QPsa (= 11Q5) witnesses to a Psalter that was
being gradually stabilized, from beginning to end.
• Textual Affiliations: Two or more Psalters are represented among the scrolls
from the Judean Desert.
• Status: 11QPsa (= 11Q5) contains the latter part of a true scriptural Psalter.
It is not a secondary collection that is dependant upon Psalms 1–150 as
found in the Received Text [MT].
• Provenance: 11QPsa (= 11Q5) was compiled at Qumran and thus may be
termed the “Qumran Psalter.”
3. ASSESSMENT OF THE “QUMRAN PSALMS HYPOTHESIS”
3.1 Stabilization of the Psalter
The first thesis states that 11QPsa (= 11Q5) witnesses to a Psalter that
was being gradually stabilized, from beginning to end. Any evaluation
must recognize that various groupings of psalms are present in 11QPsa (= 11Q5), other Psalms scrolls, and the Masoretic Psalter. We may regard
agreement between the MT and the scrolls as indicative of stability (e.g.,
Psalms 49 → 50 in 4QPsc [= 4Q85]), while disagreement in order or content
provides evidence of fluidity (e.g., Psalms 103 → 112 in 4QPsb [=
4Q84] illustrates fluidity in order, and Psalm 109 → Apostrophe to Zion in
4QPsf [= 4Q88] shows fluidity of content). Using the criteria of order23 and
content, 24 statistics emerge that provide two bases for comparison
between Psalms 1–89 and Psalms 90–150. 25 These are the proportion of
agreements and conflicts with the order of the MT (table 1), and the overall
number of times that specific psalms are joined to nonmasoretic compositions
(table 2). When viewed together, these results provide a firm
basis for comparing the stability and fluidity of Psalms 1–89 and 90–150
in relation to each other.
23. I.e., differing arrangements of adjoining psalms.
24. I.e., the linkage with compositions present in or absent from the Masoretic Psalter.
25. This methodology derives from Gerald H. Wilson’s pioneering investigation of
the consecutive arrangement of Psalms in the scrolls, in “The Qumran Psalms
Manuscripts and the Consecutive Arrangement of Psalms in the Hebrew Psalter,”
CBQ 45 (1983): 377–88. Wilson’s work reinforced the thesis that these manuscripts
attest to overall stability for Psalms 1–89, and to general fluidity for Psalm 90 onward.