The Dead Sea Scrolls on Miriam’s Song

Reworked Pentateuch

2nd Century BCE or 1st Century CE

Fragment 7

5And [Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister,] took [the timbrel in her hand] and all the women came out behind her with [timbrels and in choirs] (Exodus 15:20).

Fragment 6

Column 2

1you despise (?) [ . . . ] 2for the majesty of [ . . . ] 3you are great, the savior [ . . . ] 4the enemy’s hope has died and he is for[gotten . . .] 5they have…

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According to Exodus 15:20–21, after the Israelites miraculously crossed the sea, escaping the Egyptians, Moses’ sister Miriam led the women in song. However, the biblical text provides just a single verse of Miriam’s song, in contrast to the eighteen verses of the song led by Moses. A fragmentary parabiblical text from the Dead Sea Scrolls called Reworked Pentateuch presents what seems to be a longer version of her song. (The song appears in Reworked Pentateuchc, the third Reworked Pentateuch manuscript found among the Dead Sea Scrolls at Qumran.)

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Biblical Narratives in Early Jewish Imagination

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Ancient Jewish Literature

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