Reading an Opisthograph at Qumran

Abstract

The opisthograph manuscripts from Qumran, scrolls written recto and verso, have already received some attention in the history of research. Scholars such as Wise,1 Tov,2 Brooke,3 and most recently Falk4 have proposed lists and in-depth studies of these texts. However, none of them really dwelt on the reading of this corpus in Qumran.5 Is it possible to know how the reading of these particular manuscripts was “performed” at Qumran? Based on Falk’s article, the most recent to date, we would like to propose a typology of the reading of opisthograph texts based on voluminological aspects.6