dssdead-sea-scrolls
D — Historical and Apocalyptic Works
Part 2
A single tiny fragment preserves a damaged historical text referencing either Ptollas (a companion of Archelaus on his journey to Rome) or Peitholaus (a pro-Roman figure tied to Jewish casualties in the mid-first century BCE). The surrounding context involves civil violence, the killing of large numbers of people, and Roman-era political intrigue in Judea. The text is too fragmentary to permit doctrinal or typological reading; it stands as a damaged witness to the turbulent Roman-period history within which the covenant community labored.
1
A tiny fragment is the only surviving part of a historical document containing the unusual name of Pwtl'ys. The editor, M. Broshi, reads it as Ptollas, a Hellenized form of the Hebrew name Putiel, and probably identical with a companion of Herod's son Archelaus, who accompanied him to Rome in BCE. The journey was preceded by civil riots in Jerusalem which were suppressed by the army, killing three thousand people ' Two other scholars, D. R. Schwartz and W. Horbury, suggest a reading of Peitholaus, a pro-Roman Jew associated with the massacre of many of his compatriots in mid-first century BCE. For the editio princeps, see M. Broshi, DJD, XXXVI, 407-11.
2
to kill the multitude of men.. Potlaus/Potlays. And the persons that
