4Q448

4Q448, often called the "Hymn to King Jonathan," is a piece of parchment from among the Dead Sea Scrolls containing two separate short works, part of Psalm 154 and a prayer mentioning King Jonathan.

The only King Jonathan in early Jewish history was Alexander Jannaeus ("Jannaeus" being an abbreviated form of "Jonathan") and it is widely believed that this was the King Jonathan of 4Q448,[1][2] though some doubt has been raised over the identification.[3]

The first column of the prayer may read:

1 "the holy city,
2 for Jonathan the king
3 and all the congregation of your people
4 Israel
5 which have been dispersed to the four
6 winds of the heavens
7 let peace be on all of them
8 and your kingdom"[4]
9 "And may your name be praised"[5]

Others translate the first line quite differently:

"Arise O Holy One"[6]

If this text does in fact portray Alexander Jannaeus in a favorable light, it discounts his identification as the Wicked Priest, a figure mentioned in other scrolls. For the reading that the text is *against* Alexander Jannaeus, according to K. Penner, E. Main, A Lemaire, D. Harrington and J. Strugnell, G. Lorein, and S. Goranson, with bibliography, see Goranson in the references.

Footnotes

  1. ↑ "Alexander Jannaeus is the most likely candidate", VanderKam, James, and Flint Peter, The Meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls (HarperSanFrancisco, 2002) p.291.
  2. ↑ Wise, Michael, Abegg, Martin Jr, and Cook, Edward The Dead Sea Scrolls: A New Translation (HarperSanFrancisco, 1996) p.399.
  3. ↑ See Vermes, G., "The So-called King Jonathan Fragment (4Q448)" in JJS 44 (1993) 294-300.
  4. ↑ Translation provided in VanderKam, James, and Flint Peter, The Meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls (HarperSanFrancisco, 2002) p.291. In this translation "your" is twice capitalized ("Your"), implying reference to God. Garcia Martinez (loc. cit.) doesn't capitalize it.
  5. ↑ Garcia Martinez, Florentino, and Tigchelaar, Eibert J.C., The Dead Sea Scrolls: Study Edition Vol. 2 (Leiden: Brill, 1998) p.929.
  6. ↑ For example, Garcia Martinez, Florentino, and Tigchelaar, Eibert J.C., The Dea Sea Scrolls: Study Edition Vol. 2 (Leiden: Brill, 1998) p.929.

References

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