“... The best known of these excerpted texts at Qumran being 4Q175, variously described as ‘4QTestimonia’ or ‘Messianic Anthology’.35 4Q175 was copied by a scribe in the first century BCE on a single sheet. There are four paragraphs with quotations from 1) Deut 5:28-29 and 18:18-19:2) Num 24:15-17; 3) Deut 33:8-11; and 4) Apocryphon of Joshua (= 4QPsJosh [4Q379, fr. 22, col. 2], an interpretation of LXX Josh 6:26). There are short sentences introducing all four paragraphs, but interpretative comment accompanying only the final citation of Joshua 6:26. The verbatim citation of Deuteronomy 33:8-11 is based on a text that is close to 4QDeuth and the final paragraph is in fact a quotation from the Apocryphon of Joshua.36 Presuming that this latter text is sectarian, the Qumran community would appear to have considered the Apocryphon of Joshua as an authoritative text alongside other books that were eventually included in the canon. Textually, the biblical quotations vary from passage to passage: the combination of Deuteronomy 5:28-29 and 18:18-19:2 is found in the Samaritan Pentateuch at Exodus 20:21b; Joshua 6:26 follows the presumed Vorlage of the Septuagint; and the others the MT. In my view, 4Q175 attests to the phenomenon among Jews and subsequently Christians in late Second Temple period of excerpting texts for various purposes, whether for study, liturgical practice or controversy.37 Ostensibly, the first three passages selected by the compiler of 4Q175 have a messianic theme. The passages point to the expectation of different messianic figures: a prophetic one like Moses; a royal one according to Balaam’s prophecy; and a levitical or priestly messiah. The fourth passage sits awkwardly with the first three in that it is an interpretation of the curse, found in Joshua, on anyone who rebuilds the city of Jericho. The man is accursed, a man of Belial, who rebuilds the city to fortify it as a ‘stronghold of ungodliness in Israel’. He may have had either two sons or a brother as accomplice, depending upon how one reads the pesheresque exegesis. In the past, this accursed man has been identified with Simon Maccabee and more recently with John Hyrcanus. In any case, 4Q175 illustrates well the nature of excerpts: they were compiled by someone, but without interpretative comment the original intention or raison d’être is lost. ‘Testimony’ or ‘messianic anthology’ is a partial description of only the first three paragraphs of 4Q175. ...”