Using Intertextuality to Identify Authoritative Texts in the Second Temple Period: Pesher Psalms (4Q171) as a Test Case

Many scholars have shown the deep intertextual connections between interpretive works found at Qumran and scriptural passages. For instance, Nitzan has shown how Pesher Habakkuk employs intertextual references to develop ideas that are not found explicitly in the verses before the pesharist. More directly, the pesharist in some cases expounds a verse based on an allusion to a scriptural verse found elsewhere where only knowledge of the latter allows a deep understanding of the pesher and its unique method of interpretation. Since the question of which texts at Qumran and in the Second Temple period were authoritative is still debated it is incumbent upon scholars to develop as many indicators of a text’s authoritativeness as possible, whether it be physical features of discovered manuscripts or evidence within the texts themselves. In this presentation I will attempt to show that it is possible to identify allusions to sectarian texts in Pesher Psalms (4Q171) in the same way as others have identified allusions to Scripture, such that a particular pesher can only be understood by knowing the intertext. Such a claim is important in its own right when approaching the study of sectarian literature, but is also significant because it may offer further parameters for identifying authoritative texts for the Qumran community. With that said, it is important to make clear that my claim is a limited one whose method should be applied cautiously and a discussion of such limitations will be included in my presentation.