"The Time of Testing": The Use of Hebrew Scriptures in 4Q171's Pesher of Psalm 37

Abstract

This study demonstrates how the content and structure of the interpretive sections of 4Q171 that are derived from Psalm 37 rely, to a large degree, on allusions to various biblical texts. This is posited because of rare or otherwise conspicuous words found within the glosses. These word-associations are sometimes quite complex and to a great extent are derived through an exegetical technique whereby cognates, which are found in linked texts, have been connected in what has been named a "cascading gezeirah shawah ." Not only do the verses alluded to shed light on the connotations and interpretations of particular words in the interpretive sections of the Pesher, but they also allow for an understanding of how the author developed the flow of words and motifs that appear in the Pesher. After analyzing how the development of the interpretive sections is accomplished through the exegetical technique of "biblical allusion," the study demonstrates how it is precisely this technique that allows for the recognition of the way in which the Pesher's thematic structure corresponds to the sectioning of the text imposed by interspersed vacats . This is achieved by illustrating how the text of each section, as constructed by the surrounding vacats , is unified either by its biblical allusions which display a consistency of theme or by dependence on a block of biblical verses that relate to one or more of the themes found in the Pesher. Next, the study explains how the themes of the sections of the Pesher themselves display a consistency which points to an overarching theme that underlies the pesherist's interpretation of the Psalm in its entirety. This uniting theme of 4Q171 is one of "testing," based on biblical Exodus/ Wilderness typology and its three forms of testing mediated through the root נ-ס-ה. Finally, it is shown that the three nets of Belial are also based on these three forms of testing.

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