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SHELAMZION IN QUMRAN 61 also alluding to the same hearsay. The image of the lion tearing prey for his females may remind the reader of a story she or he may have heard, of Yannai and his concubines feasting and at the same time feasting their eyes on the horrific executions. If this interpretation is correct, we find a second instance in Pesher Nahum where an event involving women is alluded to through a biblical verse rather than stated outright. The lionesses of the verse, who are fed by the lion, could be understood as the concubines of Josephus' narrative. The sect uses the verse to inform the reader of women present at the event. On the basis of this interpretation I would like to suggest that another verse mentioned in Pesher Hosea A (4Q166) also alludes to Queen Shelamzion and her reign. Two different pesher interpretations of Hosea were found at Qumran. Both are very fragmentary. They have been distinguished from one another based on the script 6 and, as I will show presently, also on chronology. Pesher Hosea A discusses three verses from Hosea 2: One attempt at a historical interpretation of this pesher was made by Joseph Amusin. 7 Despite the sparse information that the pesher affords, Amusin suggested that the famine alluded to in the interpretation of Hos. 2:11-12 was the one that occurred in spring, 65 BCE, mentioned both in Josephus (Ant. 14.28) and in rabbinic literature (e.g. b. Sot. 49b). 8 This famine occurred during the fraternal 6 See discussion in M. P. Horgan, Pesharim: Qumran Interpretations of Biblical Books, CBQMS 8 (Washington: Catholic Biblical Assocation of America, 1979), 138-39, 148-49. 7 J. D. Amusin, "The Reflection of Historical Events of the First Century B.C. in Qumran Commentaries (4Q161; 4Q169; 4Q166)," HUCA 48 (1977): 123-52. 8 For another opinion see D. Flusser, "Qumran and the Famine during the Reign of Herod," Israel Museum News 6 (1987): 7-16. On the famine in 4QpHos. A, see p. 11.
62 TAL ILAN war between Hyrcanus and Aristobulus, the sons of Queen Shelamzion. Amusin writes, "Strangers" are the troops of the Nabatean King Aretas. He together with Hyrcanus II, who was supported by the Pharisees ("those who lead others astray"), was besieging Aristobulus and his allies, who had to take refuge in the Jerusalem temple. The siege coincided with the celebration of Passover (Nisan 65 BC). During the siege the country was devastated by famine, which Josephus and the Qumran commentator considered to be God's punishment for the crimes committed during the civil war. 9 If his interpretation is correct, it would suggest that the prosperity described ruefully in the previous verse ("For . . . they shall be satiated and they shall forget God ... his commandments [they] threw above their shoulder," 4Q166 ii 3-4) refers to the time of the queen's reign. Once again, the queen is not specifically mentioned either by name or by a code name, but the verses used to describe her are gendered and negative. They describe an unfaithful wife who has played the harlot. The gendered verse alludes to the gendered ruler. Amusin was probably right, and the Qumranites, faithful to their exegetical approach, once again use the verse rather than its exegesis in order to lament the queen's reign. There exists some further evidence to support this conjecture. Hosea 2:10 is a typical diatribe by the prophet against Israel who has committed idolatry, by comparing the people to an unfaithful woman who has played the harlot and been unfaithful to her husband. For this her husband (God) will punish her. Hosea says: "She did not know that it was I who gave her the grain, the wine, and the oil ... Therefore I will take back my grain in its time and my wine in its season. . . ." This verse is playing strongly on Deut. 11:13-14, in which these gifts exactly are mentioned as reward for Israel's obedience. On this positive verse, which describes an ideal existence, the rabbis appended a midrash alluding to the reign of Queen Shelamzion. According to this midrash, found in the tannaitic halakhic midrash on Deuteronomy, Sifre, the time (perhaps the only time) in Jewish history in which the promise of God's bliss to Israel came true was in the days of the queen. It reads: 9 Amusin, "Reflection of Historical Events," 149.
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HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES: FROM THE H
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HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES: FROM THE H
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CONTENTS Preface vii Abbreviations
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PREFACE After the first three Orion
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ABBREVIATIONS AB Anchor Bible ANRW
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HISTORY OF THE JEWS AND JUDAISM
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JUDEAN NATIONALISM IN THE LIGHT OF
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JUDEAN NATIONALISM 5 The absence of
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JUDEAN NATIONALISM 7 was not a vagu
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JUDEAN NATIONALISM 9 'tribal' natur
Page 22 and 23: JUDEAN NATIONALISM 1 1 rnon culture
Page 24 and 25: JUDEAN NATIONALISM 13 Anderson emph
Page 26 and 27: JUDEAN NATIONALISM 15 Jews of antiq
Page 28 and 29: JUDEAN NATIONALISM 17 we find refer
Page 30 and 31: JUDEAN NATIONALISM 19 The evidence
Page 32 and 33: JUDEAN NATIONALISM 21 cannot learn
Page 34 and 35: JUDEAN NATIONALISM 23 the removal o
Page 36 and 37: 12 Community Rule 13 Leviticus 14 E
Page 38 and 39: JUDEAN NATIONALISM 27 dence from ot
Page 40 and 41: THE KITTIM IN THE WAR SCROLL AND IN
Page 42 and 43: KITTIM IN THE WAR SCROLL AND IN THE
Page 56 and 57: ANTIOCHUS IV EPIPHANES IN JERUSALEM
Page 58 and 59: ANTIOGHUS IV EPIPHANES IN JERUSALEM
Page 68 and 69: SHELAMZION IN QUMRAN: NEW INSIGHTS
Page 70 and 71: SHELAMZION IN QUMRAN 59 Pharisees,
Page 74 and 75: SHELAMZION IN QUMRAN 63 ["If you wi
Page 76 and 77: SHELAMZION IN QUMRAN 65 the same va
Page 78 and 79: SHELAMZION IN QUMRAN 67 pesher was
Page 80 and 81: DESCRIPTIONS OF THE JERUSALEM TEMPL
Page 94 and 95: COMMUNITY AND COVENANT
Page 96 and 97: THE CONCEPT OF THE COVENANT IN QUMR
Page 98 and 99: THE CONCEPT OF THE COVENANT 87 nuit
Page 100 and 101: THE CONCEPT OF THE COVENANT 89 refo
Page 102 and 103: THE CONCEPT OF THE COVENANT 91 the
Page 104 and 105: THE CONCEPT OF THE COVENANT 93 cove
Page 106 and 107: THE CONCEPT OF THE COVENANT 95 ment
Page 108 and 109: THE CONCEPT OF THE COVENANT 97 puni
Page 110 and 111: THE CONCEPT OF THE COVENANT 99 "who
Page 112 and 113: THE CONCEPT OF THE COVENANT 101 nam
Page 114 and 115: THE CONCEPT OF THE COVENANT 103 it"
Page 116 and 117: "[T]HE[Y] DID NOT READ IN THE SEALE
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"[T]HE[Y] DID NOT READ IN THE SEALE
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Page 138 and 139:
COMMUNAL FASTS IN THE JUDEAN DESERT
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COMMUNAL FASTS 129 The word (also t
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COMMUNAL FASTS 131 the time of Hero
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COMMUNAL FASTS 133 It is clear that
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COMMUNAL FASTS 135 snares of Belial
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COMMUNAL FASTS 137 Priest persecute
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COMMUNAL FASTS 139 law-breakers in
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COMMUNAL FASTS 141 It may also be r
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COMMUNAL FASTS 143 These excerpts s
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COMMUNAL FASTS 145 to suggest other
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THE COMMUNITY OF GOODS AMONG THE FI
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COMMUNITY OF GOODS 149 The two Gree
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COMMUNITY OF GOODS 151 summary repe
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COMMUNITY OF GOODS 153 no buying or
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COMMUNITY OF GOODS 155 Although the
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COMMUNITY OF GOODS 157 her husband,
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COMMUNITY OF GOODS 159 makes use of
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4:36-37 to each as any might have n
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NATURAL SCIENCES AND THE SCROLLS
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THE GENETIC SIGNATURE OF THE DEAD S
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GENETIC SIGNATURE OF THE DEAD SEA S
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ANALYSIS OF MICROSCOPIC MATERIAL AN
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ANALYSIS OF MICROSCOPIC MATERIAL 17
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ANALYSIS OF MICROSCOPIC MATERIAL 17
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HOW NEUTRON ACTIVATION ANALYSIS CAN
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NEUTRON ACTIVATION ANALYSIS 181 Met
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NEUTRON ACTIVATION ANALYSIS 183 tai
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NEUTRON ACTIVATION ANALYSIS 185 tai
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INDEX OF MODERN AUTHORS Abegg, M. G
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Lauterbach, J. Z. 114 n. 30 Lehnard
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Genesis 9:4 10:4 Exodus 14:13 19:8
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8:13-14 9-10 1 Chronicles 3:3 12:39
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Pseudo-Philo, LAB 8-9 Testament of
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CD (Damascus Document) 1:7 1:10-13
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. Baba Batra 21a b. B Mesi'a 104a b
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Aristotle, Me. Eth. 19.8.1168b Cice
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STUDIES ON THE TEXTS OF THE DESERT
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37. Goodblatt, D., A. Pinnick & D.R
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