The Paleo-hebrew Leviticus Scroll From Qumran.

Abstract

A critical edition of the Leviticus scroll and its fragments (under the siglum 11QpaleoLev) of the Rockefeller collection (Jerusalem) is presented. 11QpaleoLev consists of miscellaneous, useless bits; fifteen fragments, one of which remains unidentified; and one scroll of seven columns, the last of which is incomplete. Its contents are the following: 10:4-7; 11:27-32; 13:3-9; 13:39-43; 14:16-21; 14:53-15:5; 16:34-17:5; 18:27-19:4; 20:1-6; 21:6-11; 22:21-27; 23:22-29; 24:9-14; 25:28-36; 26:17-26; 27:11-19. The history of the find is traced from the purchase of the scroll and its introduction into the scholarly community to its present state in the Rockefeller scrollery. A physical description follows including discussion of the writing materials and the mode of scribal presentation. A brief analysis of the script in comparison with the paleo-Hebrew characters of the Hasmonean coins indicates a date of ca. 100 B.C.E. The transcription of the text is accompanied by a critical apparatus which includes variant readings from the ancient versions and remarks on the text of the scroll. Postexilic orthography is examined on the basis of eight representative exemplars from Qumran; four spelling systems are discerned: (1) Conservative, (2) Proto-Rabbinic, (3) Proto-Samaritan, and (4) Hasmonean. The texts are described typologically and the range of patterns are given a chronological reference. The spellings of 11QpaleoLev are categorized and found to be representative of the Proto-Rabbinic kind. Since 11QpaleoLev antedates the period of textual stabilization, it is an important witness to the history of the transmission of the Pentateuch. Its readings are discussed in light of the major textual traditions; an examination of fifty-seven readings indicate a mixed filiation. The textual findings of the scroll are related to the problems of current text-critical thought. Photographs (1:1) are provided in the Appendix.