Pesher Psalms

Pesher Psalms 1–5

2nd Century BCE–1st Century CE

Column 1

[ . . . ] 20[ . . . He will make your justice come out like the dawn and your rights like mi]dday (Psalm 37:6). 21[Its interpretation concerns the congregation of the poor who are ready to do] the will of 22[God . . . ] the arrogant ones choose 23[ . . . who l]ove slovenliness and misdirect…
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Remains of commentaries on Psalms 37, 45, 57, 68, and 127 survive from Caves 1 and 4, though some of them are too fragmentary to be rendered into English. Pesher Psalmsa (4Q171) is mainly a commentary on Psalm 37. It is primarily concerned with the destiny of the just and the wicked, which it expounds in relation to the history of the sect and its opponents, including the struggle between the sect’s Teacher of Righteousness and the Wicked Priest.

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Biblical Interpretation from Qumran

2nd Century BCE–1st Century CE
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The Origins of Judean Sectarianism

1st Century BCE–1st Century CE

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