Pescher
A Pescher ( Hebrew פשר, Pl. Pesharim) is a literary genre of biblical interpretation as found in the Dead Sea Scrolls . A mostly prophetic text is interpreted in terms of the author's own presence, but this again in ciphers. To what extent historical data of the Qumran community and its environment can be obtained from these often dark allusions is controversial.
term
The related Hebrew roots פשר and פתר, as well as their equivalents, פתר in Aramaic and pasharu in Akkadian , cover the semantic field “solve, explain, (dreams) interpret”. Biblical references can be found v. a. in the Joseph story and in the book of Daniel , where they relate to interpreting dreams. Especially in Daniel, the term is also used to denote the deciphering of prophetic texts or predictions. In this sense it is used as a generic name in the Qumran Scrolls.
shape
Pesharim are characterized by the citation of biblical texts and explicit identification of their interpretation, which distinguishes them from other forms of more implicit scriptural interpretation. The interpretation is introduced by a formula that usually contains the word פשר, in its basic form or with suffixes, as well as the words אשר or על, thus something like "(his) interpretation (relates) to ...".
A distinction is made between continuous (ongoing) Pesharim, such as the Pescher to the Prophet Habakkuk (1QpHab) or the Pescher B to the Prophet Hosea (4Q167), and discontinuous; These Pesharim cite and interpret only selected passages of biblical books, sometimes including interpretations of other books, for example the Psalms -Pescher A (4Q171) or Isaiah -Pescher C (4Q163). In addition, there are also thematic pesharim, which make use of a - mostly eschatological - basic theme and develop it along biblical texts. Examples of this are the Melchizedek midrash (11Q13) and the so-called midrash on eschatology (4Q174 + 177). However, the usual names of the last two texts already indicate that the genre boundaries to the Midrash are blurring here.
Text editions and translations
- James H. Charlesworth et al. a. (Ed.): Pesharim, other Commentaries and Related Documents (The Dead Sea Scrolls. Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek Texts with English Translations 6B). Tubingen; Louisville 2002, ISBN 0-664-22588-8 .
literature
- Joseph D. Amusin: The Reflection of Historical Events of the First Century BCE in Qumran Commentaries (4Q161; 4Q169; 4Q166). In: Hebrew Union College Annual 48 (1977), 134-146.
- Shani L. Berrin: Article Pesharim. In: Lawrence H. Schiffman; James C. VanderKam (Ed.): Encyclopedia of the Dead Sea Scrolls. New York 2000, 644-647.
- George Brooke: Qumran Pesher: Toward the Redefinition of a Genre. In: Revue de Qumran 10 (1979-1981), 483-503.
- Maurya P. Horgan: Pesharim. Qumran Interpretations of Biblical Books (Catholic Biblical Quarterly. Monograph Series 8). Washington 1979.
