Making Sense of Fragmentary Qumran Aramaic Texts. Two Case Studies on Contradictory Grammatical vs. Content or Genre Considerations

Fragmentary ancient texts are notoriously difficult to interpret. In this article, I offer case studies on two short sections of Qumran Aramaic texts. Part 1 analyses the various possible syntactic parsings of 4Q242 1–3, 4 and assesses the extent to which they conform to the grammar of Qumran Arama...

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Main Author: Christian Stadel
Format: Article
Language:deu
Published: The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin 2024-08-01
Series:The Biblical Annals
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Online Access:https://czasopisma.kul.pl/index.php/ba/article/view/17101
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author Christian Stadel
author_facet Christian Stadel
author_sort Christian Stadel
collection DOAJ
description Fragmentary ancient texts are notoriously difficult to interpret. In this article, I offer case studies on two short sections of Qumran Aramaic texts. Part 1 analyses the various possible syntactic parsings of 4Q242 1–3, 4 and assesses the extent to which they conform to the grammar of Qumran Aramaic. Based on this assessment, I present my interpretation of the line and offer a potential reconstruction for the end of the preceding line 3. Part 2 shows how methodological decisions of the modern editors of 4Q560 1 I, 3; 5 on the text’s similarity to later Jewish incantations (or lack thereof ) have yielded completely different interpretations. In this respect, I argue that the Aramaic is ambiguous, allowing for at least two different coherent readings.
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spelling doaj-art-9e35e8d470c643319fdd28a9dbed321f2025-08-20T02:12:14ZdeuThe John Paul II Catholic University of LublinThe Biblical Annals2083-22222451-21682024-08-0114410.31743/ba.17101Making Sense of Fragmentary Qumran Aramaic Texts. Two Case Studies on Contradictory Grammatical vs. Content or Genre ConsiderationsChristian Stadel0Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Fragmentary ancient texts are notoriously difficult to interpret. In this article, I offer case studies on two short sections of Qumran Aramaic texts. Part 1 analyses the various possible syntactic parsings of 4Q242 1–3, 4 and assesses the extent to which they conform to the grammar of Qumran Aramaic. Based on this assessment, I present my interpretation of the line and offer a potential reconstruction for the end of the preceding line 3. Part 2 shows how methodological decisions of the modern editors of 4Q560 1 I, 3; 5 on the text’s similarity to later Jewish incantations (or lack thereof ) have yielded completely different interpretations. In this respect, I argue that the Aramaic is ambiguous, allowing for at least two different coherent readings. https://czasopisma.kul.pl/index.php/ba/article/view/17101Dead Sea ScrollsAramaic4Q242 Prayer of Nabonid4Q560 Magical Textsyntaxgenre
spellingShingle Christian Stadel
Making Sense of Fragmentary Qumran Aramaic Texts. Two Case Studies on Contradictory Grammatical vs. Content or Genre Considerations
The Biblical Annals
Dead Sea Scrolls
Aramaic
4Q242 Prayer of Nabonid
4Q560 Magical Text
syntax
genre
title Making Sense of Fragmentary Qumran Aramaic Texts. Two Case Studies on Contradictory Grammatical vs. Content or Genre Considerations
title_full Making Sense of Fragmentary Qumran Aramaic Texts. Two Case Studies on Contradictory Grammatical vs. Content or Genre Considerations
title_fullStr Making Sense of Fragmentary Qumran Aramaic Texts. Two Case Studies on Contradictory Grammatical vs. Content or Genre Considerations
title_full_unstemmed Making Sense of Fragmentary Qumran Aramaic Texts. Two Case Studies on Contradictory Grammatical vs. Content or Genre Considerations
title_short Making Sense of Fragmentary Qumran Aramaic Texts. Two Case Studies on Contradictory Grammatical vs. Content or Genre Considerations
title_sort making sense of fragmentary qumran aramaic texts two case studies on contradictory grammatical vs content or genre considerations
topic Dead Sea Scrolls
Aramaic
4Q242 Prayer of Nabonid
4Q560 Magical Text
syntax
genre
url https://czasopisma.kul.pl/index.php/ba/article/view/17101
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