On Maśkîl in the Judean Desert Documents
Résumé
This article suggests that the phrase LMŚKYL in the Judean Desert texts is best interpreted on the analogy of the Septuagint (LXX) and Targum (T) translations of the biblical Psalm heading MŚKYL, namely, as an abstract noun understood adverbially: “(intended for) insight.” This hypothesis is tested by means of a global survey of the occurrences of the word MŚKYL in the DSS corpus. It is concluded (i) that, when the phrase LMŚKYL occurs in headings and colophons, it is, in fact, best interpreted in the abstract sense of “(intended) for insight,” (ii) that, in those passages in which MŚKYL does not occur in a heading or colophon, and is not preceded by the preposition L, an abstract interpretation of the noun is often possible, though not always preferable, (iii) that a number of occurrences of MŚKYL are probably best interpreted as an adjective, “wise,” and (iv) that the interpretation of the word MŚKYL as the title of a specific officer or functionary, sectarian or otherwise, is the weakest of the interpretive options here surveyed.
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