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Liturgical Works
Among the invaluable manuscripts of the Dead Sea Scrolls are numerous fragments of liturgical texts pertaining to the ritual life of Jews living around the turn of the common era. These fascinating writings include prayers for annual festivals, a covenant renewal liturgy, a mystical liturgy for Sabbath sacrifices, a grace ceremony for mourners, daily and weekly prayers, liturgies of purification, and perhaps even a wedding ceremony. In this volume, the first to be published in the Eerdmans Commentaries on the Dead Sea Scrolls series, James Davila introduces, translates, and provides a detailed exegesis of these important documents.
The book begins with a general introduction to the Qumran library and Jewish liturgical traditions. Davila then provides an introduction, translation, notes on the original Hebrew, and line-by-line commentary for each of the Qumran liturgical works. Davila's excellent translation work combines overlapping fragmentary manuscripts into a single, smoothly flowing text, and his commentary includes numerous fresh insights and observations on these writings. Giving full attention to parallel texts found in the Hebrew Bible and other Jewish and Christian writings through late antiquity, Davila firmly situates the Qumran liturgical works in their historical context in Second Temple Judaism and discusses their significance as background to the Jewish liturgy, Jewish mysticism, and Christian origins.
Shedding light on a period of Jewish history whose ritual life formerly lay almost entirely in darkness, this volume makes--and subsequent ECDSS volumes will make--a valuable contribution to our understanding of the biblical world.
The book begins with a general introduction to the Qumran library and Jewish liturgical traditions. Davila then provides an introduction, translation, notes on the original Hebrew, and line-by-line commentary for each of the Qumran liturgical works. Davila's excellent translation work combines overlapping fragmentary manuscripts into a single, smoothly flowing text, and his commentary includes numerous fresh insights and observations on these writings. Giving full attention to parallel texts found in the Hebrew Bible and other Jewish and Christian writings through late antiquity, Davila firmly situates the Qumran liturgical works in their historical context in Second Temple Judaism and discusses their significance as background to the Jewish liturgy, Jewish mysticism, and Christian origins.
Shedding light on a period of Jewish history whose ritual life formerly lay almost entirely in darkness, this volume makes--and subsequent ECDSS volumes will make--a valuable contribution to our understanding of the biblical world.
- GenresReligion
349 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2001
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November 21, 2014
This book has a chapter about 4Q502 of which I’m writing my candidate’s thesis. I read the whole book to get some overview of liturgical texts.
I found the introduction and commentary for 4Q502 useful for me. Davila supports Baillet’s hypothesis that the text is a marriage ritual and he presents his arguments for accepting Baillet’s view. Since Baillet’s translation was published in DJD 1982, Baumgarten and Satlow have published their differing opinions but Baillet hasn’t written an answer to their critique. Davila mentions supporting information that Baillet himself didn’t provide, so it’s a good update for Baillet’s marriage ritual –hypothesis.
I’m still going to take a better look at the details and the translation, but I can say I’m glad I found this book!
I found the introduction and commentary for 4Q502 useful for me. Davila supports Baillet’s hypothesis that the text is a marriage ritual and he presents his arguments for accepting Baillet’s view. Since Baillet’s translation was published in DJD 1982, Baumgarten and Satlow have published their differing opinions but Baillet hasn’t written an answer to their critique. Davila mentions supporting information that Baillet himself didn’t provide, so it’s a good update for Baillet’s marriage ritual –hypothesis.
I’m still going to take a better look at the details and the translation, but I can say I’m glad I found this book!
Displaying 1 of 1 review