Second Temple Literature and Historical Events

Question: Please direct me to a chronology of Second Temple literature, including Apocrypha, Pseudepigrapha and the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Answer: This Timeline , developed by Dr. Charles Ess of Drury University in Missouri, provides a chronology of selected Second Temple literature in its historical context--both by date, by political event, and by milestone in the development of early Judaism.

Two of the resources described in the December 10 posting include selected apocrypha, pseudepigrapha and Dead Sea Scrolls in their historical context. The Timetables of Jewish History: a Chronology of the Most Important People and Events in Jewish History by Judah Gribetz (Simon & Schuster, 1993) is best used for Second Temple writings via its index. Look up the title of the ancient book you are researching; you will be referred to the relevant listing by date and column. A Timeline of Jewish Texts also includes a few Second Temple compositions.

The Chronology of Jewish Literature provides a dated listing of selected Biblical and post-Biblical books, with dates of composition, co-related to major historical events. This website was created by a Dutch historian, Jona Lendering.

More comprehensive information about the dating and historical background of Second Temple literature can be found in individual articles in standard encyclopedias such as the Encyclopedia Judaica, The Anchor Bible Dictionary, the Encyclopedia of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the Cambridge History of Judaism:

-- The "Apocyrpha and Pseudepigrapha" article in the Encyclopedia of the Dead Sea Scrolls (Oxford University Press, 2000) indicates which of these texts are represented among the Dead Sea Scrolls, along with a probable date for these particular copies. This encyclopedia is an excellent resource for an overview on each Dead Sea text and on the genres found in the Judean Desert -- for example, see these articles: "The Damascus Document" , "Hodayot", "Psalms, Hymns, and Prayers" and "Rules" .

--The "Apocrypha" article in The Anchor Bible Dictionary (Doubleday, 1992) lists the main texts along with probable dates of composition.

--The Table of Contents of James Charlesworth's The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, 2 volumes (Doubleday, 1983) clearly lists the title of each document, along with a range of dates for its probably composition. The introduction to each chapter goes into much more detail about the composition dates, including different dates for different parts of each text.

--A "Chronological Table" listing concurrent events in Palestine, Rome/Italy, Egypt and other parts of the ancient Near East is in the back (or front) of volumes 1, 2 and 3 of the Cambridge History of Judaism (Cambridge University Press, 1984-2006). These tables focus on political and military events, merely providing the historical background, without mentioning any texts.

Decoding Dead Sea Scrolls Designations

Question:

What exactly is 1Q22 I 1-2 ? I know it is from one of the Dead Sea Scrolls, but which one, and what do the letters and numbers mean? I also saw a reference to 1QDM – what is that?

Answer:

To understand citations from Dead Sea Scrolls, it is helpful to segment the elements:

In this example, 1Q22 and 1QDM are two different ways of referring to the same scroll.

The first two elements, 1Q, identify the cave number and location: Qumran cave one.

Knowing the possible cave (or site) abbreviations will help you distinguish the elements of the citation. Here is a selected list of additional sites where Judean Desert documents have been found:



There are multiple methods of identifying the individual manuscripts. Each document found at a site has been assigned a unique number. Thus 1Q22 means manuscript number 22 found at Qumran cave number 1.

An alternate method of identifying a manuscript is by using a standard abbreviation for its contents. This standard abbreviation is often based on a transliteration of the Hebrew name for the text. In this example, DM is the abbreviation for Dibre Mosheh, or Sayings of Moses. In some cases, the abbreviation is based on a description in a European language. In addition, some of Dead Sea Scrolls are also known by a “popular” title.

Here is a sample list of typical names of Dead Sea Scroll texts, and their abbreviations:


Many texts have been found in multiple copies. These copies are distinguished from one another with a superscript after the text designation. For example, these three different copies of Hodayot were all found in Qumran cave 4:

4QHa (also known as 4Q427)
4QHb (also known as 4Q428)
4QHc (also known as 4Q429)

The next element in your citation is Roman numeral I, referring to column one of the scroll. The final element, the Arabic numerals 1-2, refer to lines one and two, within the specified column.

There are many exceptions to these generalities, in part because the field of Dead Sea Scroll research is still actively evolving. For more a more detailed explanation of scroll nomenclature, extensive lists of Dead Sea Scroll manuscripts, and the texts themselves, please consult the following sources:

The Dead Sea Scrolls: Hebrew Aramaic and Greek texts with English translations. James Charlesworth, ed. (1994- )
REF BM 487 A3 1994a
[Document numbers and document names listed at the end of each volume]

Encyclopedia Of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Lawrence Schiffman and James VanderKam, eds. (2000)
REF Oversize BM 487 E53 2000
[Document lists and indexes in volume 2]

The SBL Handbook of Style for Ancient Near Eastern, Biblical, and Early Christian Studies. Alexander, Patrick, et al, eds. (1999)
Reserve PN147 .S26 1999
[8.3.5 Dead Sea Scrolls and related Texts, and Appendix F: Texts From the Judean Desert]

Discoveries in the Judaean Desert . Emanuel Tov, ed. (1955-)
REF Oversize BM 487 A1