G — Biblically Based Apocryphal Works

A Joshua Apocryphon (i) or Psalms of Joshua (4Q378—9)

1Usually designated by the misnomer 'Psalms of Joshua', this badly mutilated composition represents a rewritten account of the story of Joshua. 4Q378, written in Herodian formal script, consists of twenty- seven mostly tiny fragments, while the late Hasmonaean 4Q379 comprises forty-one. The majority of the fragments are too small for meaningful translation. According to Carol Newsom, the overall form of the composition is a farewell speech by Joshua. It contains admonitions, curses and prayers (e.g. 'prayer for our sins', 4Q378 6 i, 1.4, a prayer listing the twelve tribes of Israel—Levi, Reuben, Gad, and Dan are legible, 4Q379 1), songs ('songs of praise', 4Q379 22 ii, 7, and a praise mentioning Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Eleazar and Ithamar, 4Q379 17). The biblical text used recalls the Septuagint and the Samaritan Pentateuch. The numbering of the fragments appears to be arbitrary, as it does not correspond to the sequence of the biblical story. 4Q379 22 ii is quoted in 4QTestimonia (4Q175). For the editio princeps, see Carol Newsom, DJD, XXII, 241—99. 4Q378 14 ... And the children [of Israel] wept [for Moses in the plains of Moab (Deut. xxxiv, 8) by the Jordan at] Jericho at Bethjeshimoth [as far as Abel-shittim (Num. xxxiii, 48—9) for thirty days and (then) the days of weeping and] mourning for Moses were ended (Deut. xxxiv, 8). And the children of Israel ... [the covenant wh]ich the Lord made for ... ... Thy [dr]ead and fear ...

24Q378 II ... for the Lord yo[ur God] ... [to es]tablish his words which he spoke ... [the oath] which he swore to Abraham to give [him] a good and broad [land], a land of brooks of water, [of fountains and springs, flowing forth in val]leys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, [of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and] honey (Deut. viii, 7—8). For [this is] a land flowing with milk and honey; ( ... a land] who[se sto]nes are iron and out of whose hi[ll]s [you can dig] copper (Deut. viii, 9) ... 4Q378 22 i ... Moses, O my God. And he did not annihilate them because of their sins ... thy people by the hand of Joshua, minister of thy servant Moses thy ... by the hand of Moses(?) to Joshua for the sake of thy people ... [the covenant] which thou hast made with Abraham ... ... loving-kindness to thousands 4Q379 12 ... they [cr]ossed (the Jordan) on dry grounds (cf. Josh. iv, 22) in [the fi]rst month of the forty-f[irst] year of their exodus from the lan[d] of Egypt (cf. Josh. iv, 19). That was a jubilee year at the beginning of their entry into the land of Canaan. And the Jordan overflows its banks from the f[our]th (?) month until the wheat harvest ... 4Q379 22 ii (combined with 4Q175, lines 21-30)

3Blessed be the Lord, the God of I[srael] ... When Josh[ua] fini[sh]ed off[ering prai]se in [his] thanksgivings, [he said]: C[ursed be the m]an who rebui[1]ds [this cit]y! [May he lay its foundations] on [his] first-born, and [s]et its gate on [his y]oungest son (Josh. vi, 26). Behold, an [accur]sed [man of Belial] [has risen] to be[com]e a fowler's net to his people and a cause of destruction to all his neighbour[s]. And [his brother] arose [and ruled in li]es, both of them being instruments of violence. They have rebuilt [th]is [city] and have set up for it a wall and towers to make it a stronghold of ungodliness in Israel and a horror in Ephraim and in Judah and a great evil among the children of Jacob. [And they have com]mitted an abomination in the land and a great blasphemy and sh[ed blood] like wa[ters on the ramparts of the daughter] of Zion and in the precincts of Jerusalem ...

4A Joshua Apocryphon (ii) (Masada 1039—211) Two fragments detached from an apocryphal account of the end of the Book of Joshua are thought by their editor, S. Talmon, to have originated at Qumran. The composition belongs to the genre of 'rewritten Bible' and testifies to a freedom in retelling scriptural stories. The handwriting places the manuscript towards the turn of the era. For a preliminary edition, see Shemaryahu Talmon, 'Fragments of a Joshua Apocryphon—Masada 1039—211 (final photo 5254)', JJS 47 (1996), 128—39. Fr. A ... they were afraid ... [they were praising] the name of the Most High for they saw th[at ... God] was fighting for His people against their enemies [and they were not afraid ... ] because of them for God was with them and blessed them and sa[ve]d them. [And whatever] he said about them happened to them and no word [fe]ll to the ground, and He multiplied their [seed greatly].