Habakkuk Commentary  [1QpHab]

Aramaic: Pesher Habakkuk: "interpretation" or "solution" of Habakkuk.

Four & a half foot scroll [13 columns] found in cave 1 at Qumran interpreting the Hebrew prophet as envisioning the defeat of a "wicked priest" who "ruled over Israel" but defiled himself by amassing wealth, robbing "the poor" & persecuting an exiled "teacher of righteousness." Scholars generally see these references as veiled allusions to events linked to the founding of the sect that wrote the Dead Sea scrolls but debate the historical identity of the characters. The "wicked priest" is most often identified with a Hellenized Hasmonean ruler, especially Alexander Jannai. Soon after its discovery (1947) it was acquired by Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

Other resources on line:

  • Habakkuk Commentary. Images of 3 sections of the scroll [posted by Orion Center, at Hebrew U.]

  • Commentary on Habakkuk Scroll. Enlargeable image of complete scroll [archived online by the Digital Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit of the Israel Museum, Jerusalem].

  • The Dead Sea Habakkuk Scroll. 1959 article by F. F. Bruce analyzes the commentator's exegetical method & critiques Cecil Roth's identification of the wicked priest [archived by Biblical Studies (UK)].

Other important Dead Sea Scrolls

Perspective on the World of Jesus

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