The Nahash passage
The Nahash passage is a section of the First Book of Samuel found in one of the Dead Sea Scrolls but not in any other manuscript of the Bible.
The passage (from the scroll known as 4QSama or 4Q51, first published in 1953) appears between chapters 10 and 11 of the First Book of Samuel. It may be translated as follows:
- Now Nahash the King of the Ammonites oppressed the tribe of Gad and the tribe of Reuben severely. He put out the right eye of all of them, and brought fear and trembling on Israel. Not one of the Children of Israel to the east of the River Jordan remained whose right eye Nahash the King of the Ammonites had not put out, save 7,000 men who had escaped from the Ammonites and fled to Jabesh-Gilead.
Most experts believe that the passage was in the original version of Samuel and was somehow lost. It is noted in particular that Josephus seems aware of the passage. However, there are dissenting opinions. The passage is included in the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, but not in any other translation outside scholarly commentaries.
References[edit]
Publication[edit]
- Cross, F. M., "A New Qumran Biblical Fragment", Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, 132 (1953) pp15-26
- Cross, F. M. et al., "51. 4QSama", Qumran Cave 4: XII, 1-2 Samuel, Discoveries in the Judaean Desert vol 17, Clarendon, Oxford (2005) pp1-216 and Plates I-XXIII
Supporting Originality[edit]
- Ulrich, E. C., The Qumran Text of Samuel and Josephus, Scholars Press, Chico, California (1978; ISBN 0-89130-256-5) pp166-170
- Carter, P. Kyle, I Samuel (Anchor Bible vol. 8), Doubleday, New York (1980; ISBN 0-385-06760-7) pp198-202
- Tov, Emanuel, Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible (2nd ed), Fortress Press, Minneapolis (2001; ISBN 0-8006-3429-2) pp342-4
- Klein, Ralph W., 1 Samuel (Word Bible vol. 10, 2nd ed), Thomas Nelson, Nashville (2008; ISBN 9780718025311) pp102-3
Opposing Originality[edit]
- Pisano, Stephen, Additions or Omissions in the Books of Samuel, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Gottingen (1984; ISBN 3-525-53679-8) pp91-98
- Tsumura, David, The First Book of Samuel, Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, Michigan (2007; ISBN 978-0-8028-2359-5) pp302-3