NEJS 117b Dead Sea Scrolls Fall 2017 T, Th 5:00-6:20 PM Professor Jacqueline Vayntrub Lown 311

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1 NEJS 117b Dead Sea Scrolls Fall 2017 T, Th 5:00-6:20 PM Professor Jacqueline Vayntrub Lown Course Overview Collected by Jews in the period of the Second Temple, the Dead Sea Scrolls contain the oldest attested manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible, as well as additional texts featuring biblical characters, instructions, prayers and poetry, and biblical interpretation. This course is intended as an advanced introduction to these and other Second Temple Hebrew and Aramaic texts found in the Judean desert. This course is a text reading seminar, and as such, we will focus on the language of the texts, their translation, as well as their conceptual and thematic relationship to biblical literature, broadly conceived. The course readings have been selected to examine notions of canon, textual authority, and attribution. Graduate students (both MA and PhD) have different course requirements from Undergraduates (see below for details). Everyone, however, will be expected to prepare the readings for each day with the proper tools (text editions, lexica, grammars, and accompanying secondary literature). 2. Course Responsibilities and Grading Success in this 4 credit hour course is based on the expectation that students will spend a minimum of 9 hours of study time per week in preparation for class (readings, papers, discussion sections, preparation for exams, etc.). Graduate Student Course Requirements: 10% of your total grade: Your continuous, active, and thoughtful participation in class discussion. Your diligent preparation of readings. 10% of your total grade: Leading a class session. 30% of your total grade: A midterm exam. 10% of your total grade: Class presentation of your final project. 40% of your total grade: A final paper, developed out of your class presentation double spaced pages. *Participation (10% of your total grade) Come to class ready to listen, participate, and engage thoughtfully with the course material and with other members of the class. If you need to be absent, please inform me ahead of time. Excused absences, outside of religious observance, require a doctor s note. Graduate students are expected to attend the lectures that occur outside of class time as listed on the syllabus, unless they have a scheduling conflict that prevents them from attending. *Leading Class Sessions (10% of your total grade) You will select one class session to lead. All students will need to prepare for all sessions, but the class session you select is the one you are responsible for leading the reading. 1

2 Session leading responsibilities: 1. You are responsible for making sure the reading for your particular session is uploaded onto LATTE. You may select an additional, optional reading (10-15 pp.) of your choosing as relevant. 2. Compile major organizing questions that arise from your study of the primary and secondary source material. 3. Pose these questions to the class, and be ready to evaluate arguments that arise through a discussion of the primary and secondary sources. *Midterm Exam (30% of your total grade) The midterm is scheduled for Thursday, October 26. The exam will cover all the material up to Week 7 of the course. The midterm will emphasize translation and analysis of primary texts we have read in the class, there may be one or two thematically oriented questions. There will be a review session for the exam on Tuesday, October 24. *Class Presentation of your Final Project (10% of your total grade) You will deliver a 20 min. talk to the class on the topic of your final project; you may use handouts, power-point, or both. *Final Paper (40% of your total grade) You will write a 9-11 (double spaced) page paper, deepening your examination of a topic addressed in the course (please clear your topic ahead of time with the course instructor, by Thursday of Week 10). Undergraduate Student Course Requirements: 20% of your total grade: Your continuous, active, and thoughtful participation in class discussion. Your diligent preparation of readings. 30% of your total grade: A midterm exam. 50% of your total grade: A final project (see below) *Participation (20% of your total grade) Come to class ready to listen, participate, and engage thoughtfully with the course material and with other members of the class. If you need to be absent, please inform me ahead of time. Excused absences, outside of religious observance, require a doctor s note. Graduate students are expected to attend the lectures that occur outside of class time as listed on the syllabus, unless they have a scheduling conflict that prevents them from attending. *Midterm Exam (30% of your total grade) The midterm is scheduled for Thursday, October 26. The exam will cover all the material up to Week 7 of the course. The midterm will emphasize translation and analysis of primary texts we have read in the class, there may be one or two thematically oriented questions. There will be a review session for the exam on Tuesday, October 24. 2

3 *Final Project (50% of your total grade) You will prepare written materials (a brochure and guide) for a museum exhibit of a particular Dead Sea Scrolls text. This should include your own translation and explanation of the text you have selected, a discussion for museum-goers of the relevance of this text in the biblical literary tradition and its relationship to other texts found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. The guide should be 7-9 pp. double spaced, not including any images you wish to put in the guide. Include as your sources, in addition to all of the readings assigned to that topic in the Course Syllabus, an additional eight sources that you have read and engaged, which you have discovered through your course readings (or otherwise assigned by the instructor for your particular topic). The project will be due the last day of finals week. 3. Class Policies Attendance and participation are a key part of the learning experience in this class. Your participation and attendance grade is based on your attendance in all classes (you are permitted one unexcused absence, beyond that absences without a doctor s note or otherwise excused by the instructors will affect your grade). Your preparation and participation means having read the assigned reading and making an effort to understand the ideas in these readings, being prepared to raise meaningful questions about the readings, and being willing to share your ideas and respond respectfully to the contributions of other students in the class. Absence from exams: The midterm exam is scheduled for November 2. If you have an excused conflict with this exam date, notify me as soon as possible. I will allow in these cases a makeup midterm exam. An excused conflict is defined as a) an excused absence from me, obtained within the first two weeks of the course; b) an emergency or sudden illness. In the case of sudden illness, I expect a note from the health center or a physician. In the case of a different type of emergency, a makeup midterm exam is at my discretion. Absence from the final exam is a matter handled by the registrar s office. Assignment Submissions and Due Dates: The final papers are due Wednesday, December 20 by 6pm on LATTE. Any papers turned in after that point are considered late. Late papers will be marked down by 10% per day. Laptops and Cellphones: Use of laptops are permitted in class solely for note-taking, and for reference to text editions, readings, and Bible concordance software. Please keep your cellphones off during class. Academic Honesty: You are each responsible for your own work. You will be responsible for the content and quality of your own individual assignments. If you produce and submit work that is not your own, you will have violated Brandeis University s policies on academic integrity. You are responsible for making yourself familiar with and following the University s policies on academic integrity ( Allegations of violations of this policy will be forwarded to the Office of Campus Life for potential referral to the Student Judicial System. If sanctioned, you could be failed from the course and suspended from the University. 3

4 Special Accommodations: If you are a student with an officially documented disability at Brandeis and wish to have a reasonable accommodation in this class, you should contact the instructors immediately. 4. Contacting the instructor I will make an effort to answer s in a timely manner, but do not expect an answer to s between the hours of 7pm and 9am. Office Hours Please come by at posted office hours (Thursdays 1-3 PM) or make an appointment to meet. 5. Reading All readings unless otherwise stated will be either scanned and uploaded to LATTE, or the responsibility of the session leader to scan and upload. You are required to acquire: Mroczek, The Literary Imagination in Jewish Antiquity (2016) Qimron, The Hebrew of the Dead Sea Scrolls (1986) Reymond, Qumran Hebrew (2014) Summary of primary texts: 4Q41 4Q171 11Q Q215 11Q5 27:2-11 1Q (Aramaic) 4Q216 7:1-17 4Q416 2 iii 4Q184 Mas 1h (Ben Sira) SirB (Ben Sira ms B) SirC (Ben Sira ms C) 4Ezra (Syriac ms 6th c. CE) See other resources below. 4

5 6. Course Schedule *indicates required reading for Graduate Students only Week 1. Thursday, August 31 Topic: Course overview; Finding the Dead Sea Scrolls 1. Collins, The Dead Sea Scrolls: A Biography, Chapter 1 Part I. Beyond the Book Week 2. Tuesday, September 5 Topic: Torah and the Dead Sea Scrolls 1. 4Q41 2 i-iv 2. Collins, Uses of Torah in the Second Temple Period *3. White, The All Souls Deuteronomy and the Decalogue Thursday, September 7 Guest Lecture Professor Jeffrey Stackert, University of Chicago, Lown 315 Syntactic Issues in Interpretive Revision: From the Bible to Qumran Week 3. Tuesday, September 12 Topic: Canon as a Problematic Framework Class Leader: 1. 4Q171 (4QPesher Psalms a ) 2. Psalm 37 and 45 in MT 3. Mroczek, The Literary Imagination in Jewish Antiquity, 3-50 Thursday, September 14 Same as September 12, add 4. Jokiranta, Social Identity and Sectarianism in the Qumran Movement, *5. Berrin, Qumran Pesharim *6. Pardee, A Restudy of the Commentary on Psalm 37 from Cave 4 Week 4. Tuesday, September 19 Topic: Outside the Canon Class Leader: 1. 11Q (Temple Scroll) 2. Kaufman, The Temple Scroll and Higher Criticism 3. White Crawford, Rewriting Scripture in Second Temple Times (selection) *4. Levinson and Zahn, Revelation Regained: The Hermeneutics of י כ and ם א in the Temple Scroll, 3-43 in A More Perfect Torah 5

6 Lecture September 19: Lecture by Professor Annette Reed (NYU) Tauber Colloquium, 12:20-2:20 PM Lown 315 Scribalism and the Beginnings of Jewish Demonology no class Thursday, September 21 Week 5. Tuesday, September 26 Class cancelled. (Professor giving lecture at University of Chicago) Thursday, September 28 Class Leader: Topic: Parabiblical Literature 1. 4Q215 (Testament of Naphtali) 2. Stone, The Genealogy of Bilhah (1996) Himmelfarb, R. Moses the Preacher and the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, (1984) *4. Halpern-Amaru, Bilhah and Naphtali in Jubilees: A Note on 4QTNaphtali (1999) 1-10 Part II. Poetics of Attribution Week 6. Tuesday, October 3 (Brandeis Thursday Schedule) Class Leader: Topic: Authorship and Authoritative Texts 1. 11Q 5 27:2-11 ( David s Compositions in 11QPsalms a ) 2. Mroczek, The Literary Imagination in Jewish Antiquity, Kugel, David the Prophet, in Poetry and Prophecy: The Beginnings of a Literary Tradition. *4. Najman, Torah of Moses: Pseudonymous Attribution in Second Temple Writings, in Past Renewals. No class Thursday, October 5 6

7 Part III. Text Production and Transmission Week 7. Tuesday, October 10 Class cancelled. (Professor giving lecture at Columbia University) Make individual meetings this week and next about your class leading sessions and research paper topics. Wednesday, October 11 (Brandeis Thursday Schedule) Class Leader: Topic: Theorizing Scribal Production 1. Ben Sira 44:1-16 (Mas 1h 7:6-22; SirB 13v 1-18) 50:25-29 (SirB 20r 5-10) 51:1-12 (SirB 20r 11-18; 20v 1-11) 2. Mroczek, The Literary Imagination in Jewish Antiquity, Week 8. Tuesday, October 17 Readings: same as October 11, add: 3. Ben Sira MS B 51:12a-o (SirB 20v 12-18; 21r 1-8) 4. Wright, From Generation to Generation: The Sage as Father in Early Jewish Literature, in Praise Israel for Wisdom and Instruction: Essays on Ben Sira and Wisdom, the Letter of Aristeas and the Septuagint. Thursday, October 19 Class Leader: 1. 1Q (Genesis Apocryphon) 2. Garcia Martinez, Parabiblical Literature from Qumran and the Canonical Process, Revue de Qumran 25 (2012): *3. Bernstein, The Genesis Apocryphon: Compositional and Interpretive Perspectives, in A Companion to Biblical Interpretation in Early Judaism. Tuesday, October 24 Midterm Review Session Week 9. Thursday, October 26 Midterm Exam Lecture: Professor Rhiannon Graybill (Rhodes College) 3:30-4:50 PM, Lown 315 7

8 IV. Reimagining the Library Week 10. Tuesday, October 31 Class Leader: Topic: Torah as Revelation 1. Mroczek Najman, Interpretation as Primordial Writing: Jubilees and its Authority Conferring Strategies, in Past Renewals. 3. Lambert, How the Torah of Moses Became Revelation: An Early, Apocalyptic Theory of Pentateuchal Origins, Journal for the Study of Judaism 47:1 (2016), Jubilees (chapters 2-6 in English) Edition (Ethiopic) Vanderkam, The Book of Jubilees: A Critical Text (1989) 5. Kugel, A Walk Through Jubilees (2012) commentary pp Thursday, November 2 same as October 31, add: 6. 4Q216 7:1-17 Week 11. Tuesday, November 7 Topic: Reimagining Instruction Class Leader: 1. 4Q416 2 iii (4QInstruction) 2. Goff, 4QInstruction (2013) (text and commentary) 3. Goff, 4QInstruction (2013) 1-30 (introduction) Thursday, November 9 same as November 7, add: 4. Najman, Jewish Wisdom in the Hellenistic Period: Towards the Study of a Semantic Constellation. In Is There a Text in this Cave? Studies in the Textuality of the Dead Sea Scrolls in Honour of George J. Brooke. Pages Najman, Ethical The Transformation of the Text and the Self. Journal of Theological Studies October, 2017 Week 12. Tuesday, November 14 Topic: Inscribing Gender in Instruction Close 1. 4Q184 Wiles of the Wicked Woman 2. Ben Sira 25:13-26:28 (Sir C 5r:5-12; 5v:1-12; 6r:1-11) 3. Wright and Edwards, She Undid Him with the Beauty of her Face (Jdt 16.6): Reading Women s Bodies in Early Jewish Literature 8

9 Thursday, November 16 Topic: Special seminar on the State of the Field, Part I. Discussion with Matthew Suriano SBL Annual Meeting Program Book Assignment: Select a panel, read the abstracts, and be ready to discuss with the class. *If you are not attending SBL, select a recent journal issue of JBL, ZAW, JSJ, Revue de Qumran, or Biblical Interpretation.* Lecture: Professor Matthew Suriano (University of Maryland, College Park) 3:30-4:50 PM, Lown 315 Week 13. Tuesday, November 21 Topic: Special seminar on the State of the Field, Part II. Short Presentations on Panels attended at SBL (or a recent journal issue if you did not attend). 5 minutes each. no class Thursday, November 23 Week 14. Tuesday, November 28 Topic: Counting and Canons 1. 4Ezra 14 (in Syriac or English depending on your skill set) Syriac Text: Bidawid, 4 Esdras in The Old Testament in Syriac According to the Peshitta Version vol. 4.3 (1973) Commentary: Stone, Fourth Ezra: A Commentary on the Book of Fourth Ezra (1990) 2. Mroczek Najman, The Exemplary Protagonist: The Case of 4Ezra in Old Testament Pseudepigrapha and the Scriptures. Thursday, November 30 Topic: Finding the Dead Sea Scrolls: Discovery stories as paratexts 1. Mroczek, True Stories and the Poetics of Textual Discovery, Bulletin for the Study of Religion 45 (2016): (LATTE) 2. Denzey-Lewis, Rethinking the Rethinking of the Nag Hammadi Codices, Bulletin for the Study of Religion 45 (2016): Tuesday, December 5 Class presentations Week 15. Thursday, December 7 Class presentations 9

10 7. Materials and Tools: 1. Texts and Editions -The Leon Levy Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Library -The series Discoveries in the Judaean Desert (DJD) (Oxford: Clarendon) - available as reference in the Judaica section. - The Dead Sea Scrolls Handbook, D. Diamant and D. Parry. 2. Translations - The Dead Sea Scrolls Study Edition, F. Garcia-Martinez and E. Tigchelaar (don t rely on this) - The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English, G. Vermes (also problematic) 3. Grammars - Qimron, The Hebrew of the Dead Sea Scrolls (1986) - Reymond, Qumran Hebrew (2014) 4. Reference - Encyclopedia of the Dead Sea Scrolls, Schiffman and Vanderkam (2000) - Fitzmyer, A Guide to the Dead Sea Scrolls and Related Literature (2008) - Oxford Handbook of the Dead Sea Scrolls, Lim and Collins (2010) - Collins, The Dead Sea Scrolls: A Biography (2013) 5. Bibles -Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (BHS) -Biblia Hebraica Leningradensia (BHL) -Rahlfs, Septuaginta 6. Concordances - Mandelkern, Concordance on the Bible (Hebrew-Latin) -Even-Shoshan, Concordance to the Bible (Biblical Hebrew-Modern Hebrew) - Accordance software 7. Lexica - Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB), A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament - Koehler-Baumgartner (HALOT), A Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament - Botterweck-Ringgren-Willis, Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament -Ben-Yehuda, ה ש ד ח ה ו ה נ ש י ה ת י ר ב ע ה ן ו ש ל ה ן ו ל מ 8. Biblical Hebrew Grammars -Gesenius-Kautzsch-Cowly (GKC), Gesenius Hebrew Grammar - Joüon-Muraoka, A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew - Waltke-O Connor, Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax - Long, Biblical Hebrew Foundations. A Concise Historical Grammar of the Phoneme through the Word (online) 10

11 9. Article Databases - JSTOR - ATLA - RAMBI 11