The Mermaid and the Partridge ─ Essays from the Copenhagen Conference on Revising Texts from Cave Four

A project to revise volume V in the series Discoveries in the Judaean Desert (of Jordan) has been underway for a number of years, and recently the original team invited other scholars specializing in the texts under question aboard. The new expanded team met in Copenhagen in June 2009 mostly to plan how to bring the project to a timely completion. However, there was also opportunity to share achievements so far, and the 13 papers here were selected from that category. Among the topics are re-reading 4QPesher Isaiah A (4Q161) 40 years later, whether 4Q173a is a fragment of an eschatological midrash, theme and genre in 4Q177 and its scriptural selections, a full edition of 4q186, 4QZodiacal Physiognomy, and allusions to the end of the Hasmonean Dynasty in Pesher Nahum 4Q169. Annotation c2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

George J. Brooke, Rylands Professor of Biblical Criticism and Exegesis at the University of Manchester, has written and published extensively on numerous topics related to the scrolls found at Qumran, especially on the scriptural interpretation in them.Jesper Hogenahven, Professor at the University of Copenhagen, has published extensively on prophetic texts in the Old Testament and Dead Sea Scrolls in particular.