Paper Accepted for Qumran Program Unit at SBL 2012 in Chicago

4QPs^x/4QPs89 presents us with a version of Psalm 89 that is intriguing both because of its textual variations and also because of its verse order. Although Flint, et al., in DJD XVI, see this text as preserving “one of the sources of Psalms 89” or “possibly a very early form of this Psalm,” I will argue that the text is an example of reworked scripture, an interpretation of the biblical Psalm 89, that has been reordered and reworded to fit the author’s eschatological vision.  The manner in which this psalm has been reworked in this scroll follows common Qumran exegetical practice and is similar to what has been done elsewhere in the Qumran library with other scriptural passages, including Psalm 18 in 4Q381 and 2 Samuel 7 in 4QFlor — the biblical passage has been reshaped, with words altered or removed and lines selected and transposed in order to better suit the author’s needs.  In 4QPs89, the wording and order of verses (when compared to that of the MT and LXX versions) seem to emphasize the Davidic/royal figure, the power that he will have, and his role in establishing the elect people in the End Times.

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