What Is Pesher Habakkuk?

Among the first of the Dead Sea Scrolls to be discovered, Pesher Habakkuk (1QpHab) has become representative of the pesher genre owing to its well-preserved condition. The text comprises a continuous interpretation of Habakkuk 1–2, the original message of which is reinterpreted in reference to the history and experiences of the Qumran sect. The text’s underlying hermeneutic is that the words of the prophet Habakkuk contain deeper levels of meaning, which were revealed to the Teacher of Righteousness, an important figure in the community’s history. It seems to narrate episodes from the group’s past, including betrayals by former members and persecution by outsiders, and makes veiled allusions to historical events and figures. Accordingly, the text is replete with sobriquets, among them the Wicked Priest, probably a cipher for numerous Hasmonean priest-kings; the Kittim, a codename for the Romans; and the Man of the Lie, a rival leader. The interpreter employs a hermeneutic of revelation alongside a number of other exegetical techniques. He also takes into account textual variants of the biblical text he expounds, an indication that textual fluidity was yet a vital part of the received tradition.

Critical of the Hasmoneans and other social groups, Pesher Habakkuk offers an unflattering perspective on the socioeconomic and political situation in the late second and first centuries BCE. Many scholars have read the document with an eye to reconstructing the history of the group behind the scrolls while also seeking to identify the historical figures to whom various sobriquets refer. However, the reliability of the text’s historical narrative remains in question, and one must consider issues such as memory and group identity construction in making use of this material.

Only one copy of Pesher Habakkuk is preserved, which is also the case for the other pesharim. The text shows a clear awareness of the Hasmoneans and of the Roman presence in Judaea, but it does not allude to Herod. For this reason, scholars date it somewhere between 63 and 30 BCE.