Qumran Cave 4, XIII: The Damascus Document (4Q266-73).

• Author: Bernstein, Moshe J.
• Position: Review

By JOSEPH M. BAUMGARTEN. Discoveries in the Judaean Desert, vol. 18. Oxford: CLARENDON PRESS, 1996. Pp. xix + 236, 42 plates. $135.

The first "Qumran" text to have been discovered in modern times was the Damascus Document or Zadokite Fragment (siglum: CD), found in the Cairo Geniza and published from two fragmentary manuscripts, one of sixteen pages and one of two pages, by Solomon Schechter in 1910 under the title Fragments of a Zadokite Work. The history of its study falls into two parts. From its initial publication until the discovery and publication of the Dead Sea scrolls, it was the object of many studies to establish its date, provenance and affiliation. Then, soon after the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, it became known that there were at least ten fragmentary copies of this work in the Qumran library, and the Cave 5 and 6 material was published fairly early, but substantial pieces from Cave 4 remained unpublished until the volume under review, despite tantalizing allusions as early as the mid-1950s that they contained a substantial amount of new data.

Joseph M. Baumgarten, one of the pioneers in the analysis of Qumran halakha, took over responsibility for editing the Cave 4 fragments of the Damascus Document (4QD) from their original editor, J. T. Milik, and, in a relatively brief time, has produced an outstanding edition. Each of the eight manuscripts (4Q266-4Q273) is presented separately, with paleographic analysis by Ada Yardeni and physical description by Stephen Pfann, who was also responsible for the computer-generated concordance with which the volume concludes. Where CD exists, the full context of the fragmentary remains is generally given according to it, a very reasonable editorial decision. Overlaps among the Cave 4 manuscripts are indicated by an occasionally inconsistent system of underlines and overlines. The photographic plates of the manuscripts are more than serviceable. I would, however, prefer to have all of the D material presented in an integrated fashion, so that the entire contents could be read straight through rather than followed in outline. Obviously Baumgarten, who has adopted a moderate position among DJD editors in terms of the scope of his commentary, felt that such a presentation would go beyond the parameters and goals of the DJD series.

The text of the Geniza manuscript of CD is comprised, according to a generally accepted analysis, of a hortatory "Admonition" and a legal complex called simply...