Pub Date : 2022-11-10DOI: 10.1163/15685179-02903004
Geoffrey Khan, H. Najman
This article explores the performance of Jewish sacred textual traditions. Performance, as we define it, is both textual and oral and works dynamically between the two. In the Second Temple period, we show the variety of performance which embodies the vitality of the texts. Performance is a feature of scribal practice and liturgy (e.g., Hodayot). It draws on existing text to create something new (e.g., Apostrophe to Zion). From the Second Temple period into the Middle Ages, we see continued pluriformity in the oral performance of the written text of the Hebrew Bible. Creativity is evident across oral and material representation. The texts discussed throughout this article remained dynamic and diverse. The focus and scope of this article also prepares for many of the ideas picked up by the essays which follow in this volume.
{"title":"Performance in Ancient and Medieval Judaism","authors":"Geoffrey Khan, H. Najman","doi":"10.1163/15685179-02903004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15685179-02903004","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 This article explores the performance of Jewish sacred textual traditions. Performance, as we define it, is both textual and oral and works dynamically between the two. In the Second Temple period, we show the variety of performance which embodies the vitality of the texts. Performance is a feature of scribal practice and liturgy (e.g., Hodayot). It draws on existing text to create something new (e.g., Apostrophe to Zion). From the Second Temple period into the Middle Ages, we see continued pluriformity in the oral performance of the written text of the Hebrew Bible. Creativity is evident across oral and material representation. The texts discussed throughout this article remained dynamic and diverse. The focus and scope of this article also prepares for many of the ideas picked up by the essays which follow in this volume.","PeriodicalId":42669,"journal":{"name":"Dead Sea Discoveries","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2022-11-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42165402","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-11-10DOI: 10.1163/15685179-02903003
B. Kantor
Significant linguistic research has been carried out in the field of language register and its relevance for speech patterns. In various contexts, language users tend to employ different linguistic features, especially but not limited to the realm of pronunciation. In many linguistic communities, there is a higher register of language associated with more formal settings, a lower register of language associated with less formal settings, and a wide spectrum of variation in between. In the context of reading traditions that develop around a sacred text, the same principles may apply. While the pronunciation (or phonology) of the reading tradition often interacts with and is influenced by the vernacular, tradents of the reading tradition often try to preserve a more “archaic,” conservative, and/or simply distinct pronunciation. There appears to be evidence that such a phenomenon was already at play in Biblical Hebrew reading traditions of late antiquity. By comparing Greek and Latin transcriptions of the Biblical Hebrew reading traditions of late antiquity to transcriptions of Hebrew taken from non-biblical sources, we can actually isolate multiple features that demonstrate a distinct difference in pronunciation between biblical and non-biblical sources. The collection of linguistic features characteristic of the reading tradition may properly be termed a “performance register,” the societal implications of which for Jewish communities of late antiquity will be explored in closing.
{"title":"Recitation and Performance in Late Antique Hebrew","authors":"B. Kantor","doi":"10.1163/15685179-02903003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15685179-02903003","url":null,"abstract":"Significant linguistic research has been carried out in the field of language register and its relevance for speech patterns. In various contexts, language users tend to employ different linguistic features, especially but not limited to the realm of pronunciation. In many linguistic communities, there is a higher register of language associated with more formal settings, a lower register of language associated with less formal settings, and a wide spectrum of variation in between. In the context of reading traditions that develop around a sacred text, the same principles may apply. While the pronunciation (or phonology) of the reading tradition often interacts with and is influenced by the vernacular, tradents of the reading tradition often try to preserve a more “archaic,” conservative, and/or simply distinct pronunciation. There appears to be evidence that such a phenomenon was already at play in Biblical Hebrew reading traditions of late antiquity. By comparing Greek and Latin transcriptions of the Biblical Hebrew reading traditions of late antiquity to transcriptions of Hebrew taken from non-biblical sources, we can actually isolate multiple features that demonstrate a distinct difference in pronunciation between biblical and non-biblical sources. The collection of linguistic features characteristic of the reading tradition may properly be termed a “performance register,” the societal implications of which for Jewish communities of late antiquity will be explored in closing.","PeriodicalId":42669,"journal":{"name":"Dead Sea Discoveries","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2022-11-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42449658","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-11-10DOI: 10.1163/15685179-02903005
Johan M.V. Lundberg
The Syriac gospel of Matthew is divided into sentences by means of pausal accent dots, both single clause sentences and complex sentences. This article explores the relationship between these pausal accent dots and verse division, comparing the Syriac dotting system with Greek punctuation marks and Hebrew accents. All three traditions divide the text into larger and smaller sections. In the Hebrew Bible the smaller sections are often classified as verses that are further subdivided through cantillation marks, typically called accents. This article explains why the Syriac dots, also called accents, have a fundamentally different function than the Hebrew accents. It also explores the similarities between the Syriac dots and the Greek punctuation marks. The conclusion is that the “verse” is not a concept that can easily be applied to Syriac Bible manuscripts. Instead, the Syriac dots indicate different types of boundary tones, pauses associated with a specific pitch contour.
{"title":"Dots, Versification and Grammar","authors":"Johan M.V. Lundberg","doi":"10.1163/15685179-02903005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15685179-02903005","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 The Syriac gospel of Matthew is divided into sentences by means of pausal accent dots, both single clause sentences and complex sentences. This article explores the relationship between these pausal accent dots and verse division, comparing the Syriac dotting system with Greek punctuation marks and Hebrew accents. All three traditions divide the text into larger and smaller sections. In the Hebrew Bible the smaller sections are often classified as verses that are further subdivided through cantillation marks, typically called accents. This article explains why the Syriac dots, also called accents, have a fundamentally different function than the Hebrew accents. It also explores the similarities between the Syriac dots and the Greek punctuation marks. The conclusion is that the “verse” is not a concept that can easily be applied to Syriac Bible manuscripts. Instead, the Syriac dots indicate different types of boundary tones, pauses associated with a specific pitch contour.","PeriodicalId":42669,"journal":{"name":"Dead Sea Discoveries","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2022-11-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41496904","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-11-10DOI: 10.1163/15685179-02903006
S. Nasser
This essay explores the tense relationship between the oral and written transmissions in the history of the Qurʾān. While Muslim scholars consider “orality” to be the cornerstone in the process of transmitting their holy text, I argue that writing, in its various forms, was a crucial element in transmitting and validating the Qurʾān. Orality was also an important component in this process of transmission but it also played a theological role in establishing the superiority of the Qurʾān over the Bible. Indeed, the written transmission of the Qurʾān might have been more authoritative than its oral counterpart, which was/is mainly used as an argumentative device to establish the integrity of the text rather than to establish the text itself.
{"title":"Variations on a Theme by Muḥammad","authors":"S. Nasser","doi":"10.1163/15685179-02903006","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15685179-02903006","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 This essay explores the tense relationship between the oral and written transmissions in the history of the Qurʾān. While Muslim scholars consider “orality” to be the cornerstone in the process of transmitting their holy text, I argue that writing, in its various forms, was a crucial element in transmitting and validating the Qurʾān. Orality was also an important component in this process of transmission but it also played a theological role in establishing the superiority of the Qurʾān over the Bible. Indeed, the written transmission of the Qurʾān might have been more authoritative than its oral counterpart, which was/is mainly used as an argumentative device to establish the integrity of the text rather than to establish the text itself.","PeriodicalId":42669,"journal":{"name":"Dead Sea Discoveries","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2022-11-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48445274","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-11-10DOI: 10.1163/15685179-02903002
Arjen Bakker
This essay examines Qumran texts that not only perform blessing but also reflect on the activity of blessing itself, and thereby offer an opportunity to better understand the urge and necessity behind the growth of liturgical cycles that generate traditions of prayer. The paper looks at three texts, the hymns of the maśkîl, the Hymn to the Creator, and 4Q408, in which the performance of blessing is presented as acknowledgment of the creator through the lens of primordial time and the actualization of creation narratives. The essay argues that the way in which divine beings are imagined as perceiving and responding to the act of creation forms a model that liturgical performers emulate in order to approach as much as possible the holiness of these higher beings. This example demonstrates the interaction between interpretation and performance and their impact on the emergence and growth of textual traditions, both oral and written, in the Second Temple period.
{"title":"The Performance of Blessing as Imitation of Divine Beings","authors":"Arjen Bakker","doi":"10.1163/15685179-02903002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15685179-02903002","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 This essay examines Qumran texts that not only perform blessing but also reflect on the activity of blessing itself, and thereby offer an opportunity to better understand the urge and necessity behind the growth of liturgical cycles that generate traditions of prayer. The paper looks at three texts, the hymns of the maśkîl, the Hymn to the Creator, and 4Q408, in which the performance of blessing is presented as acknowledgment of the creator through the lens of primordial time and the actualization of creation narratives. The essay argues that the way in which divine beings are imagined as perceiving and responding to the act of creation forms a model that liturgical performers emulate in order to approach as much as possible the holiness of these higher beings. This example demonstrates the interaction between interpretation and performance and their impact on the emergence and growth of textual traditions, both oral and written, in the Second Temple period.","PeriodicalId":42669,"journal":{"name":"Dead Sea Discoveries","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2022-11-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49398930","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-11-10DOI: 10.1163/15685179-02903008
Marijn van Putten
The Quranic text today is recited in ten canonical reading traditions with two distinct canonical transmissions each. These reading traditions are distinct in their phonological and morphological details, as well as the interpretation of the ambiguous consonantal text. However, they all have in common that they adhere to the consonantal skeleton of the standard Quran text. Despite this adherence, on rare occasions readers do deviate from this standard text. This paper examines those cases, and explores the reasons why the canonical readers felt licensed to do so. Especially ʾAbū ʿAmr was prone to deviate from the consonantal text in cases of perceived grammatical issues. Moreover, the readers occasionally deviated from their regional consonantal text when other regional codices had another form. Finally, readers deviated from the consonantal text, in cases where the text came in conflict with the pausal spelling principle.
{"title":"When the Readers Break the Rules","authors":"Marijn van Putten","doi":"10.1163/15685179-02903008","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15685179-02903008","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 The Quranic text today is recited in ten canonical reading traditions with two distinct canonical transmissions each. These reading traditions are distinct in their phonological and morphological details, as well as the interpretation of the ambiguous consonantal text. However, they all have in common that they adhere to the consonantal skeleton of the standard Quran text. Despite this adherence, on rare occasions readers do deviate from this standard text. This paper examines those cases, and explores the reasons why the canonical readers felt licensed to do so. Especially ʾAbū ʿAmr was prone to deviate from the consonantal text in cases of perceived grammatical issues. Moreover, the readers occasionally deviated from their regional consonantal text when other regional codices had another form. Finally, readers deviated from the consonantal text, in cases where the text came in conflict with the pausal spelling principle.","PeriodicalId":42669,"journal":{"name":"Dead Sea Discoveries","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2022-11-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44224893","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-11-10DOI: 10.1163/15685179-02903007
Elizabeth Stell
This article examines performance as part of the prophetic and revelatory in ancient Jewish literature. The body of the article centres on the so-called “prophetic actions” within the biblical corpus. Scholarship’s use of this category has highlighted nonverbal performance as a part of prophecy but raises questions regarding the efficacy of these varied actions as well as their distinction from written or spoken prophecy. Here I reapply J.L. Austin’s speech act theory to further examine their function. Isaiah 20:1–6 and Jeremiah 51:59–64, my central case studies, demonstrate not only the variety among these performances but also how interwoven they are with prophetic biography, writing, and speech. Exploring such phenomena through this more flexible lens further illuminates the continued significance of performance and prophecy in the Second Temple period, which the article demonstrates using 11QPsalmsa and the Exagoge of Ezekiel.
{"title":"Beyond Oral and Written Prophecy","authors":"Elizabeth Stell","doi":"10.1163/15685179-02903007","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15685179-02903007","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 This article examines performance as part of the prophetic and revelatory in ancient Jewish literature. The body of the article centres on the so-called “prophetic actions” within the biblical corpus. Scholarship’s use of this category has highlighted nonverbal performance as a part of prophecy but raises questions regarding the efficacy of these varied actions as well as their distinction from written or spoken prophecy. Here I reapply J.L. Austin’s speech act theory to further examine their function. Isaiah 20:1–6 and Jeremiah 51:59–64, my central case studies, demonstrate not only the variety among these performances but also how interwoven they are with prophetic biography, writing, and speech. Exploring such phenomena through this more flexible lens further illuminates the continued significance of performance and prophecy in the Second Temple period, which the article demonstrates using 11QPsalmsa and the Exagoge of Ezekiel.","PeriodicalId":42669,"journal":{"name":"Dead Sea Discoveries","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2022-11-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47805567","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-11-10DOI: 10.1163/15685179-02903001
Ayhan Aksu
4Q509/4Q496/4Q506 is the only opisthograph from Qumran with extant evidence for three different compositions: the recto preserves a copy of Festival Prayers (4Q509), and the verso contains copies of the War Scroll (4Q496) and Words of the Luminaries (4Q506). This article investigates the circumstances under which these texts were written down together, and explores a potential performative setting for this manuscript. Palaeographic and codicological examination indicates that the manuscript preserves extracts of these three compositions and shares similar scribal features on both the recto and verso. Literary and form-critical analysis suggests a performative context for Festival Prayers, Words of the Luminaries, and the War Scroll. Based on these considerations, I argue that different scribes wrote 4Q509, 4Q496, and 4Q506 intentionally together in order to create a liturgical collection on a single manuscript—highlighting the scribe as a collectionneur that purposely selected passages from different texts that were of importance.
{"title":"The Qumran Opisthograph 4Q509/4Q496/4Q506 as an Intentional Collection of Prayers","authors":"Ayhan Aksu","doi":"10.1163/15685179-02903001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15685179-02903001","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 4Q509/4Q496/4Q506 is the only opisthograph from Qumran with extant evidence for three different compositions: the recto preserves a copy of Festival Prayers (4Q509), and the verso contains copies of the War Scroll (4Q496) and Words of the Luminaries (4Q506). This article investigates the circumstances under which these texts were written down together, and explores a potential performative setting for this manuscript. Palaeographic and codicological examination indicates that the manuscript preserves extracts of these three compositions and shares similar scribal features on both the recto and verso. Literary and form-critical analysis suggests a performative context for Festival Prayers, Words of the Luminaries, and the War Scroll. Based on these considerations, I argue that different scribes wrote 4Q509, 4Q496, and 4Q506 intentionally together in order to create a liturgical collection on a single manuscript—highlighting the scribe as a collectionneur that purposely selected passages from different texts that were of importance.","PeriodicalId":42669,"journal":{"name":"Dead Sea Discoveries","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2022-11-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41990695","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-10-21DOI: 10.1163/15685179-bja10034
M. Klukowski
The paper discusses four motifs of the king in 4QMMT: (1) blessings and curses in the history of the monarchy (C 18–20); (2) call to reflect on the deeds of the kings of Israel (C 23b–24); (3) call to study the writings related to King David (C 10); and (4) call to reflect on David’s deeds (C 25–26). The analysis of these motifs leads to the conclusion that they were not only intended to show the addressee the kings of Israel as role models, but by intertwining them with quotations from the Book of Deuteronomy, they were also to serve as historical evidence that would testify to the veracity of the blessings and curses foretold in the Law (Deut 28–30), and as a result, underline the seriousness of the situation in which the Law was still not properly obeyed in Israel.
{"title":"The Significance of the Motif of the King in 4QMMT","authors":"M. Klukowski","doi":"10.1163/15685179-bja10034","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15685179-bja10034","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 The paper discusses four motifs of the king in 4QMMT: (1) blessings and curses in the history of the monarchy (C 18–20); (2) call to reflect on the deeds of the kings of Israel (C 23b–24); (3) call to study the writings related to King David (C 10); and (4) call to reflect on David’s deeds (C 25–26). The analysis of these motifs leads to the conclusion that they were not only intended to show the addressee the kings of Israel as role models, but by intertwining them with quotations from the Book of Deuteronomy, they were also to serve as historical evidence that would testify to the veracity of the blessings and curses foretold in the Law (Deut 28–30), and as a result, underline the seriousness of the situation in which the Law was still not properly obeyed in Israel.","PeriodicalId":42669,"journal":{"name":"Dead Sea Discoveries","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2022-10-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45315448","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-10-21DOI: 10.1163/15685179-bja10033
E. Tigchelaar
This article presents a new transcription of 4Q9 on the basis of the new photographs and the identification of four more fragments. The irregular hand and the scribal errors indicate that the scribe was not very skilled. Orthographically and morphologically the text is very close to the Samaritan Pentateuch.
{"title":"A New Transcription and Assessment of 4Q9 (4QGenesisj)","authors":"E. Tigchelaar","doi":"10.1163/15685179-bja10033","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15685179-bja10033","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 This article presents a new transcription of 4Q9 on the basis of the new photographs and the identification of four more fragments. The irregular hand and the scribal errors indicate that the scribe was not very skilled. Orthographically and morphologically the text is very close to the Samaritan Pentateuch.","PeriodicalId":42669,"journal":{"name":"Dead Sea Discoveries","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2022-10-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48178831","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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