E — Wisdom Literature

Beatitudes (4Q525)

1The title given to this piece of wisdom poetry, consisting of fifty mostly small fragments palaeographically dated to the second half of the first century BCE, derives from the repeated use of 'Blessed' ('ashre), modelled on Ps. i, 1, and recalling the Beatitudes of the New Testament (Matth. v, 3-11). The main structural difference between Matthew and 4Q525 lies in that the former each time lists the reward of the virtue for which people are blessed, whereas the Cave 4 text provides ordinary, mostly antithetic, parallelisms instead. For the editio princeps, see E. Puech, DJD, XXV, 115-78. Fr. 2 II [Blessed is] ... with a pure heart and does not slander with his tongue. Blessed are those who hold to her (Wisdom's) precepts and do not hold to the ways of iniquity. Blessed are those who rejoice in her, and do not burst forth in ways of folly. Blessed are those who seek her with pure hands, and do not pursue her with a treacherous heart. Blessed is the man who has attained Wisdom, and walks in the Law of the Most High. He directs his heart towards her ways, and restrains himself by her corrections, and always takes delight in her chastisements. He does not forsake her when he sees distress, nor abandon her in time of strain. He will not forget her [on the day of] fear,

2and will not despise [her] when his soul is afflicted. For always he will meditate on her, and in his distress he will consider [her?] ... [He will place her] before his eyes, so as not to walk in the ways of [folly]. ... Fr. 5 ... [Do not] forsake your [inheri]tance [to the nations] nor your portion to strangers... For the wise... will instruct with sweetness. Those who [f]ear God observe her (Wisdom's) ways and walk in [all] her precepts and do not reject her corrections. The intelligent will bring out... [and all] those who walk in perfection will turn aside injustice, but they will not reject her admonitions and will carry [her] ... The sensible will recognize her ways [and meditate on (?)] her depths. ... will look. Those who love God will withdraw to it (Wisdom) ... Fr. 14 ii II... your feet will [walk] in an open place and you will advance on the high grou[nd of] your [e]nemy. [You will love God with all your heart and with all] your soul, and He will deliver you from all evil. Terror will not come upon you... He will make you inherit. He will fill your days with good and you will w[alk] in great peace ... you will inherit glory.

3And you will end up in the eternal resting place... And all who know you will walk together following your teaching; ... will mourn together and will remember you in your ways. For you were g[ood] ... And now, listen to me, O man of understanding, And let your mind be attentive to the utter[ances of my lips]. Allow knowledge to enter your heart (literally: belly) ... Express [your] utterances with just humility [and] give [not] ... [Do not] turn against the words of your friend so that he will not... to you. Answer as is proper to him who listens to you. Beware... [Do not] pour out your thought before you have heard their words... greatly. First listen to their utterance and afterwards answer ... [With long-]suffering express them and answer correctly among princes. ... with your lips and a stumbling block of the tongue. Beware greatly... lest you are caught by your lips As well as ensnared by [your] tongue ... ... unseemly words... from me and were twisted...

4F. Bible Interpretation 'The Targum of Job', Israel Antiquities Authority Introductory Note Five types of biblical commentary have been recovered from the Qumran caves. The first and least developed form of exegesis is contained in the so-called 'Reworked Pentateuch' texts, consisting of a quasi- traditional text of the Bible, occasionally rearranged and supplemented. To this category belong 4Q158, 364-7, 422, 382, etc. The Temple Scroll (11Q19-20) may also be assigned to this group, as well as the fairly, though not strictly, literal Aramaic translations or Targums of the Hebrew Scriptures (4Q156-7; 11Q10), to which should

5be added some small fragments of the Greek Bible from Caves 4 and 7. The second type, represented by the Genesis Apocryphon, sets out to render the Bible story more intelligible and attractive by giving it more substance, by reconciling conflicting statements, and by reinterpreting in the light of contemporary standards and beliefs any passages which might seem to give offence. In a somewhat similar manner, a Commentary on Genesis from Cave 4 (4Q252) attempts to adjust the chronology of the Flood to the specific sectarian calendar of the Qumran Community. The third type of commentary departs from the biblical text and, relying on one or several passages, creates a new story. Among others, the Admonition associated with the Flood (4Q370, 185), the Words of Moses (1Q22), the New Jerusalem texts (4Q554-5, 5Q15, etc.) and the Prayer of Nabonidus (4Q242), inspired by Genesis, Deuteronomy, Ezekiel and Daniel respectively, come into this category. The fourth and most characteristic form of exegesis applies prophetic texts to the past, present and future of the sect. Normally the commentator expounds a biblical book verse by verse, e.g. Isaiah (4Q161-4); Nahum (4Q169); Habakkuk (1QpHab); the Psalms (4Q171, 173), etc., but some works - A Midrash on the Last Days (4Q174), The Heavenly Prince Melchizedek (11Q13), etc. - follow the traditional Jewish example and assemble passages from different parts of Scripture in order to develop a common theme. Finally, a substantial amount of free compositions modelled on the Bible, e.g. Jubilees (4Q216-28), Enoch and the Giants (4Q201-12, 530-33), or circulating together with the Bible, e.g. the Para-Danielic fragments (4Q243-5), and works attributed to Noah (1Q19, etc.), the Patriarchs Levi (4Q213-14, 537-41), Moses (4Q374-7, 390), and many others constitute a fifth category of exegesis. In one way, the Aramaic and Hebrew manuscripts of one of the Apocrypha, the Book of Tobit (4Q196-200), pertain to this class.

6Aramaic Bible Translations (Targums) Two books of the Hebrew Bible have survived in Aramaic translation in the Qumran caves. A small scroll, found in Cave 11 and measuring 109 cm, has preserved in Aramaic a large portion of the last seven chapters of the Book of Job. Twenty-seven smaller fragments cover parts of Job xvii, 14 to xxxvi, 33. This text, together with small remains from Cave 4 of Leviticus (4Q156=xvi, 12-21, see below) and of another manuscript of Job (4Q157=iii, 5-9; iv, 16-v, 4), represent the oldest extant Aramaic renderings of the Hebrew Bible. The translation of Job frequently differs from the customary text of the Hebrew Bible, but it is unclear whether the divergences are due merely to the difficulty of translating poetry, or to a Hebrew original not identical with the traditional Scripture. Hebrew Jobxl, 12 Look on every one that is proud and bring him low; and tread down the wicked where they stand. 11 Qar Job And every proud spirit you will smash; and extinguish the wicked below them. It is clear, on the other hand, that the prose narrative of xlii, 9-11 displays notable departures from the text known to us, as may be seen from the following parallel translations: Hebrew Job xlii (9) So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did what the Lord had told them; and

7the Lord accepted Job's prayer. (10) And the Lord restored the 11 Qar Job (9)... God. God heard the voice of Job and forgave them (his friends') their sins because of him. (10) And God returned fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends; and the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. (11) Then came to him all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and ate bread with him in his house; and they showed him sympathy and comforted him for all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him; and each of them gave him a piece of money (or: sheep) and a ring of gold. to Job with mercy and doubled all that he had owned. (11) All his friends, brothers and acquaintances came to Job and they ate bread with him in his house, and they comforted him for all the misery that God had brought on him and each gave him a ewe-lamb and a ring of gold. The English version provided below (Job xxxvii, 11 to xlii, 11) should therefore be read side by side with the translation of the canonical Job. It will be noticed that Job xxxix, 24 is missing from the Aramaic and xlii, 3 is replaced by xl, 5. Furthermore, in Job xxxviii, 7 the phrase 'angels' is substituted for 'sons of God', a doctrinally suspect expression since Jews rejected the idea of God having children. The same substitution is found in the Greek Septuagint and the Targum of Job used in rabbinic Judaism. Similarly the Targum to Lev. xvi, 14 and xvi, 20 (4Q156) specifies, as do the later Targums, that 'the Holy' designates 'the House of Holiness' or 'Sanctuary'. In short, the Qumran Targums prefigure to some extent the style of the later Targums without attesting, however, the exegetical expansions which characterize the Palestinian Targums to the Pentateuch. For the editio princeps of 11Q10, see J. P. M. van der Ploeg et al., Le Targum de Job de la grotte XI de Qumrân (Leiden, 1971); for a new edition, see F. Garcia Martinez, E. J. C. Tigchelaar and A. S. van der Woude, DJD, XXIII, 79-180. For the Targums of Leviticus and Job (4Q156, 157), see J. T. Milik, DJD, VI, 85-91.