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

478 THE APOCRYPHA AND PSEUDEPIGRAPHA
in the two collections. Both Daniel and Esther, of course, were augmented
considerably in the Greek translation, while Jeremiah appears in
a much shorter form in the LXX. The Greek Psalter is one psalm longer
than its Hebrew counterpart, and this Psalm 151 is also included in the
the first Psalms scroll from Cave 11 (11Q5 = 11QPs a ) where it occupies
col. 28.3–14. In this Psalms scroll it is the last poem (the space on the
leather for another column is left blank), just as it is in the Greek Psalter.
In the Cave 11 copy it follows Ps 134:1–3 from which it is separated by
a blank line; Psalm 150 appeared earlier, in 26.4–8.
Psalm 151 begins with a superscription, which is interesting in comparison
with the Greek, because the two have virtually nothing in common.
The shorter Hebrew version (y#y Nb dywdl hywllh) contrasts
sharply with the Greek, in which the composition is named ou{toj o(
yalmo\j i0dio&grafoj ei0j Dauei _d kai _ e!cwqen tou= a)riqmou= o#te
e)monoma&xhsen tw|~ Golia&d. Thus, the Hebrew version says nothing
about the psalm falling outside the numeration; rather it takes a shorter
form that one might expect in the Hebrew psalms and does not yet contain
a notice about the occasion for the poem. 40 Nevertheless, it does
highlight the Davidic nature of the collection and with the preceding
psalms in the scroll justifies Sanders’s conclusion:
11QPs a (= 11Q5) closes with psalms that deal with David’s youth, his
musicianship, his elevation to leadership of his people, and his manifest
ability to carry out, with piety and courage, the responsibilities of that
office. In the climactic placement of these psalms at the end of the scroll we
have evidence enough, with the prose composition in the preceding column
listing David’s musical compositions, that at Qumrân David was considered
the author of the psalter. 41
The Hebrew poem itself falls neatly into two parts. Psalm 151 A (col.
28.3–12) centers on David’s musical ability, through which he was
enabled to praise God, and on the story of his selection as king in 1 Sam
16:1–13. Lines 3–12 in col. 28 correspond with what is found in the Greek
Ps 151:1–5 and are marked off from what follows by leaving the space in
the remainder of line 12 blank. Actually the two versions differ in many
details, which can be seen clearly in Sanders’s edition where he places
them side-by-side 42 ; in some other instances the Hebrew has a much
40. Ibid., 58.
41. Ibid., 63–64.
42. The NRSV as presented in The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocryphal/
Deuterocanonical Books (ed. B. M. Metzger and R. E. Murphy; New York: Oxford
University Press, 1991), 283–84 offers translations of the Hebrew and Greek copies
with explanations.