Discoveries in the Judaean Desert: Volume XIII. Qumran Cave 4: VIII : Parabiblical Texts, Part I

The volume contains a collection of compositions from Cave 4 at Qumran, written during the Second Temple Period and linked to the Hebrew Bible through text, characters, themes or genre. Some were completely unknown before their discovery here. All the documents greatly enhance our understanding of biblial interpretation at this period.

This volume contains a collection of compositions from cave 4 at Qumran. These compositons, written during the Second Temple period, are linked to the Hebrew Bible through text, characters, themes, or genre. Some of them present a reworking, rewriting, or paraphrase of biblical books. Of these texts, Reworked Pentateuch is probably closest to the biblcial books, while Jubilees is somewhat more removed from the text of the Hebrew Bible. Furthest removed from the biblical text in this volume are A Prayer for Enosh and ParaKings. Among the texts here published, Jubilees was known previously from Greek and Ethiopic translations, while Prayer for Enosh, Reworked Pentateuch, ParaKings, and the Commentary on Genesis-Exodus are hitherto unknown, All these documents greatly enhance our understanding of biblical interpretation during the Second Temple Period and of the phenomenon of pseudepigraphy (writing in the name of a famous biblical or religious character) so prevalent in antiquity.