Texts in Conversation

In 4Q213a from the Dead Sea Scrolls, Levi prays that no satan rule over him. The Psalms Scroll, 11Q5, uses the same plea in a prayer for deliverance and adds protection from an unclean spirit and an evil inclination.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE

4Q213a 1 17

Aramaic Levi b
Dead Sea Scrolls, Biblical Retellings
10 […] I said, “My Lord, you 11 [… you] alone know 12 […] the ways of truth. Put far 13 […] evil, and fornication drive away 14 […] wisdom and knowledge and strength 15 […] to find your mercy before you 16 […] what is beautiful and what is good before you. 17 [… and] do not let any satan rule over me 18 [… upon] me, my Lord, and bring me near to be yours.”
Date: 160 B.C.E. - 60 B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)

11Q5 19:15

The Great Psalms Scroll
Dead Sea Scrolls, Prayers, Hymns, and Liturgy
12 love your name, and in your shadow I take refuge. When I remember your strength my heart 13 is firm, and on your kindnesses I lean. Forgive my sin, O LORD, 14 and purify me from my iniquity. Grant me a spirit of faithfulness and knowledge; let me not stumble 15 in wrongdoing. Let no satan rule over me, nor an unclean spirit; let neither pain nor an evil 16 inclination take hold of my bones. For you, O LORD, are my praise, and for you I wait 17 all the day. Let my brothers rejoice with me, and my father’s house, who are astonished at your favor
Date: 50 B.C.E. - 50 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References

#7320
“... It is possible, therefore, that both texts, rather than being directly interdependent in one direction or another, draw on a “common interpretation” of Psalm 119.44 This view, if correct, (a) underscores that the writers of these texts and of the underlying tradition were personifying traditional references to evil; and (b) suggests that such a reinterpretation of biblical prayer was more gen- erally widespread than the evidence preserved in 4Q213a and 11Q5 alone. Lange, however, has argued against a dependence of either text on Psalm 119 and, instead, reasons as follows for a literary dependence between the two documents: (1) it is unlikely that both 4Q213a and 11Q5 column xix would have indepen- dently substituted the term “iniquity” of the Psalm with “Satan”; and (2) both texts exhibit “extensive parallels in demonic thought”.45 ...”

* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.

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