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12. Tentative restoration: [lifqod kol bene 'asha]mah; cp. Hymns v.7; vi.30; vii.11.
13. Cp. Ps. 59.4.
14. Reading (with Yadin) we-hadal zadon. The rendering attempts to reproduce the imagery of the
latter word; commonly rendered 'arrogance, presumption', it actually derives from the root z-y-d,
'seethe, bubble up', and refers to the seething of wickedness within the soul.
15. For the sentiment, cp. HabC, xi.l. The metaphor is taken from the fact that filth and insanitary
conditions (niddah) lead to symptoms of disease (tahalu'im).
16. Literally, 'judgments of plague/stroke'; cp. Hymns i.33; xi.8.
17. Cp. 'Zadokite' Document, ii.4.
~~4~~
1. Restored from Hab. 2.1.
2. Zech. 3.2. The word here rendered 'rebuke' carries the meaning 'exorcize', as in the incident in The
Memoirs of the Patriarchs where Abram expels Pharaoh's sickness. The word rendered 'devil' is satan,
here used generically, as in Hymns frag, xiv.3; Blessings, L8.
3. Cp. Hymns ix.14-15.
4. Cp. Jer. 4.19; 48.26.
5. Ps. 22.15.
6. Restoring tentatively, [kissi]timoh.
7. I Sam. 2.3; cp. Manual, iii.15; Hymns 126; xii.10.
8. A probable supplement is qisse [haron], lit. 'the times of (Divine) Wrath'. For this eschatological
term, cp. Analytical Index, E. 1 (a).
~~5~~
1. Cp. Hymns i.23, 26, 30.
2. Cp. Hymns iii.21; frag, vii.11 (?).
3. Cp. War, xii.7; Hymns frag, xxiv.2; HFCi 9.12; Bless-ings, i.5. I
4. War, x.14.
5. The manuscript's unintelligible tbw/yt is, I think, a scribal error for tshbyt; cp. Ezek. 23.48.
6. Restoring ro[gez], after Job 3.19. An alternative, suggested by J. Licht, is ri[sh'ah], when the
meaning will be, "Thou wilt lay waste (every) place of wickedness',
7. Cp. Manual, iv.13; Hymns ii.15; xi.22.
8. Literally, 'for the generations of eternity'; cp. Hymns i.16.
9. Tentatively restored: li-me[humah] rabbah; cp. Hymns xii.8.
10. The obscure word 'ninam is here interpreted from the Heb. '-n-n (and Arabic cognate) meaning 'to
feel inner grief, le-chalah being regarded as adverbial, as in, e.g., Exod. 11.1.
11. Restoring, with J. Licht, we-lif[hod]; cp. Manual, iv.2; Hymns x.34; frag. iv.9.
12. Ps. 31.22; cp. War, xiv.9.
13. Literally, 'an ear of flesh ... a mind of flesh'. Perhaps the poet is referring to a personal, not a
general, revelation.
14. Cp. Hymns iv.13, 21.
15. Literally, Thou hast given to the heart of ... an understanding of the Time (Era) of Witness'. For
this eschatological term, cp. Hymns, frag, lix.3. For the concept, cp. Enoch, xcvii.4; xcix.8; c.10-11.
The missing word may be be-[hirechah], Thine elect, chosen ones'.
16. Cp. Hymns x.35.
17. The expression is adapted from Isa. 24.21.
18. Cp. War, iii.6. See also Analytical Index, D. 3.
19. Restored after 'Zadokite' Document, iv.7.
20. See Analytical Index, A. 7.
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Poems From A Qumran Hymnal
1. David
1. Cp. I Sam. 16.11. But here the word has special point, because kings were commonly required to be
taller than any of their subjects. This is said explicitly of Saul (I Sam. 10.23), of Xerxes (Herodotus,
vii, 187) and of the kings of Ethiopia (Athenaeus, xiii, 20). In the Akkadian 'Epic of Creation' (Enuma
elish, i.99), Marduk, who assumes sovereignty over the gods, is said to be of exceptional stature.
Conversely, in the Canaanite Poem of Baal (II AB, ii.59-60), the young Ashtar is rejected as successor
to Baal because he is too small. See T. H. Gaster, Myth, Legend, and Custom in the Old Testament
(1969), §127.
2. The Hebrew word combines the notions of youngest and least significant. Indeed, a late midrash
asserts that David was the latter only, the youngest son of Jesse having been Elihu, mentioned in I
Chron. 27.18. See L. Ginzberg, Legends of the Jews, vi.249, n. 23.
3. David is here described as the shepherd and 'ruler' of Jesse's lambs and kids (not even full-grown
goats !) in contemptuous contradistinction to his eventual role as shepherd and ruler of God's flock.
For 'shepherd's 'king', cp., in the Old Testament, II Sam. 5.2; 7.7; Jer. 3.15. Mesopotamian and
Homeric kings likewise affected this title.
4. Literally, 'cannot testify1, but the word has the connotation of oral deposition; and that is here the
point.
5. That is, my songs of praise.
6. That is, my proficiency in tending the sheep. (The word does not mean simply 'my works' in the
sense of 'my compositions'.)
7. Cp. I Sam. 16.12.
8. Cp. I Sam. 16.7ff.
9. Cp. Gen. 39.6.
10. Cp. I Sam. 16.7.
11. Cp. I Sam. 16.8; Ps. 78.70-71.
12. For this title cp. I Sam. 9.16; 13.14; 25.30; Isa. 55.4.
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II. Invitation to Grace After Meals
1. Literally, 'multitude'.
2. Literally, 'confess the majesty of His name'. The 'name' in Hebrew signifies also the outward
manifestation.
3. Verses 1-2, missing in the Qumran manuscript, are here supplied from the Syriac version.
4. Literally, 'unite your (individual) selves'.
5. Literally, 'of the Most High'. The meaning is that there is a supernal power which works salvation.
6. The Hebrew means simply, 'join in fellowship together', the expression being modelled (as again in
v.13) on Ps. 122.3. To render, 'form a community', and to draw therefrom a reference to the Qumran
Brotherhood, strains the syntax.
7. Literally, 'multitude'.
8. The word, 'Lord' (Heb. 'Adon), has special point: the meaning is that although the Most High is the
particular Lord of Israel, His sovereignty is universal.
9. Literally, 'avow the majesty of the Most High'.
10. For the Hebrew expression (though in a slightly different sense), cp. Num. 4.3; Ps. 20.4.
11. Cp. Deut. 8.10.
12. The manuscript has 'eyes', but the verb is in the singular. Hence the text must be corrected in
accordance with the Syriac version.
13. For this expression cp. Isa. 32.2; Jer. 14.8; 15.11; 30.7; Ps. 37.39. In the Qumran texts it has a
quasi-eschatological meaning, as in Dan. 12.1.
14. Literally, 'establish/upraise the horn'—a common Biblical expression for 'triumph'. It is not clear
whether this refers to the triumph of Israel in general (as in Ezek. 29.21; Ps. 148.14) or, more
specifically, to the raising up of a future Messianic King (as in Ps. 132.17). I think the former is more
probable; see next note.
15. Literally 'and from Israel a judge of peoples'. It is not clear whether this means that God will raise
up from Israel one who will be judge of all peoples, or that He Himself is such a judge. In light of Ps.
67.4, whence the expression is taken and where it refers to God, I think the latter more probable, the
strict translation then being, '(Bless the Lord) ... Who judges (all) peoples from Israel'. Nor do I think
that 'judges' here refers to the Final Judgment; the Hebrew word means simply 'governs'. The
sentiment is that of Isa. 2.3.
16. This expression echoes Exod. 33.7. The verse, missing from the manuscript, is here supplied from
the Syriac version.
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III. Plea for Grace
1. Jer. 18.19.
2. From v. 13 it is apparent that the poet is praying for relief from sickness, albeit only metaphorical.
The verse therefore harks back to the words of I Kings 8.38f. (=II Chron. 6.29): 'If plague or sickness
befall them, then hear the prayer or supplication of every man ... as each one spreads out his hands (lit.
palms) towards this house; hear it in heaven Thy dwelling and forgive, and act' (NEB). For the
expression, 'Thy holy abode', cp. also Deut. 26.15; Jer. 25.30; Zech 2.17; Ps. 68.6; II Chron. 30.27.
3. Cp. Isa. 37.17; Pss. 17.6; 31.3; 86.1.
4. Cp. I Sam. 1.27; Ps. 106.15.
5. Reading tippare'a (3rd sg. fern.), and taking the subject to be nafshi ('my soul') in the preceding line.
Cp. Wolsey's 'If I had served my God with half the zeal/I served my king, He would not in mine age/
have left me naked to mine enemies': Shakespeare Henry VIII, iii,2.
6. Vocalizing gemuli, rather than gemule, as in the editio Princeps,
7. Reading yashub, rather than yashib, as in the editio Princeps.
8. This is the epithet applied to God in the traditional blessing on hearing bad news; cf. Mishnah,
Berachoth, ix.2.
9. Cp. Ps. 143.2.
10. Cp. Ps. 119.34.
11. Cp. Ps. 119.7, 108.
12. The expression is suggested by Ps. 145.5.
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