Re-considering the Dating and Recipient of MiqṢat Ma'ase Ha-Torah

REVIEW ESSAY RE-CONSIDERING THE DATING AND RECIPIENT OF MIQ~AT MA 'ASE HA-TORAH Israel Knohl The Hebrew University, Jerusalem A review of Qumran Cave 4V, Miq~at Ma'ase Ha-torah. By Elisha Qimron and 10hn Strugnell. Discoveries in the ludean Desert X. Pp. xiv + 235. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1994. Cloth, $60.00. This volume provides us with a critical edition of a document which is of greatest importance both for the general study of the history of halacha in the time of the Second Temple. and. specifically, for our understanding of the Qumran sect. No reader of this volume can help but be impressed by the editors' achievement in producing such a fine edition of the scroll, which was not preserved in full and was reconstructed from six partial manuscripts. In so doing, they have redeemed this important text from a fate of obscurity. Even if we might question their reading of a certain word or letter, this volume is without a doubt an exemplary work, which can serve as a standard for future editions of texts from the Qumran library. In addition, the authors have provided us with a thorough and comprehensive discussion of the language and the halacha of the scroll (in the halachic discussion, the editors were aided by Prof. I. Sussmann, who also contributed an important appendix to the volume). In my view, the only chapter which raises some difficulty is chapter four, which deals with the dating of Miq$at Ma'ase Ha-Torah (MMT). In the opening paragraph of the chapter (4.1.1, p. 109) the authors state that the upper limit in dating the scroll is determined by the earliest manuscript (4Q398), which dates from about 75 B.C.E. This assertion, however, contradicts the discussion in the first chapter (p. 34), where this manuscript is described as belonging to the "early Herodian" period. This contradiction apparently stems from the fact that the dating in the fourth chapter is Strugnell's, while in the first chapter this manuscript was dated by Ada Yardeni. In a recent lecture Strugnell adopted Yardeni's claim that this manuscript was written in the early Herodian period, that is, between 50 Hebrew Studies 37 (1996) 120 Review Essay and 1 B.C.E" This dating is close to the dating given by Prof. F. M. Cross (50-25 B.C.E.) in his important article on the development of Hebrew script.2 In trying to determine the identity of the intended recipient of the scroll, the authors rely heavily on the phrase "for your welfare and the welfare of your people" (101'?' 1?) which appears on line 27 of section ill (p. 62). From this they conclude that the work is addressed to one of the political leaders of Israel and suggest that it is one of the Hasmonean rulers (paragraph 4.2.65, p. 117). After examining the various possibilities, they conclude that MMT was most probably sent to Jonathan the Hasmonean and that it was composed between the years 159-152 B.C.E., when there still could have been cordial relations between the leader of the sect and the Hasmonean ruler. According to this suggestion, the authors of MMT wish to explain to Jonathan the grounds of their dispute with their opponents, who later came to be known as the Pharisees (p. 121). They further suggest that MMT is the text referred to in the 4Qppsa, where it is stated that the leader of the Qumran sect, the Teacher of Righteousness, sent "precepts and law" (n,,", p,n) to the "wicked priest" (l'Ul,n In:li1).3 I find the dating of the composition of MMT to the early Hasmonean period problematic, since all the manuscripts of the scroll date from the Herodean period (see pp. 3, 14, 18,21,34,39). If MMT was composed in the Hasmonean period, we could have expected to find at least one manuscript from that time. It seems, then, that we need to look elsewhere for the events which led to the composition of the scroll. In what follows, I would like to suggest an interpretation of one of the passages which the...