THE RECONSTRUCTION METHOD OF HODAYOT MANUSCRIPTS

Hodayot, in Hebrew means thanksgiving Psalms, is a collection of approximately thirty poems that give thanks to God. Hodayot is an important resource for understanding the piety and religious devotion of those who composed and recited them.In reconstructing of the original scroll, uses direct joins method, vertical alignment of material, horizontal alignment of material, and placement of fragments according to the Scribal Hands.The benefits of this reconstruction: Firstly, the accurate placing of adjacent fragments has enabled more portions of meaningful text to be recovered. Secondly, this method allows the original length of the scroll to be estimated as twenty-seven or twenty-eight columns of forty-one to forty-two lines each. The average length of lines is also known. Thirdly, it is now possible to investigate the overall structure of the collection, particularly when the data from the Cave 4 manuscripts is also considered. This group contains all of the compositions identified as Teacher Hymns and it strengthens the argument that they represent a distinct group by a single author.


Hodayot,
in Hebrew means thanksgiving Psalms, is a collection of approximately thirty poems that give thanks to God. 1 It was named Hodayot by Sukenik because of the distinctive opening phrase -

4QH
From the fragments founds in Cave 4, six more manuscripts were identified that contained text that overlapped with 1QH a (4Q427-432) and, in a few places, fills in material missing from that manuscript (4Q427-432, 4QH a-e , and 4QpapH f ). 9 Five were written on animal skins (4QH a-e ) and one (4QpapH f ) on papyrus. The amount of material that is preserved in these badly damaged copies is limited, but there are some places where a cave 4 fragment preserves words and phrases, even partial psalms, that are not found in 1QH a . They were allotted to John Strugnell, who did extensive work on identifying and analyzing these very fragmentary scrolls; they were eventually published by Eileen Schuller in DJD 29 in 1999. 10

Relationship between 1QH a , 1QH b , and 4QH a-f Manuscript
The 1QH a manuscript is the largest, the most complete, and still the most important copy for working with this collection of poems. 11 In relationship with 6 There are forty-one lines for columns i and xviii, according to the new numbering, and forty-two lines starting from column xix (= xii of the Sukenik' edition), which is where there is a change in handwriting; the second copyist took over from that point to the end of the scroll. Further explanation see on the section of reconstruction 1QH a . See Puech, "Hodayot", 365 and Schuller, "Hodayot", 747. 7 Schuller and Newsom, The Hodayot, 1. 8 D. Barthelemy, O. P. And J. T. Milik, Discoveries in the Judean Desert 1 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1955), 136-143. 9 For the overlapped material, see the relationship' section between the 1QH a , 1QH b , and 4QH a-f manuscript. 10 Schuller and Newsom, The Hodayot, 1. 11 The fact that there are eight copies preserved and that 1QH a was a large and elegantly crafted scroll 1QH b and 4QH a-f , there are some places where those copies can be used to fill in lacuna, both letters and words, in 1QH a . When these copies are incorporated, columns 4-26 of 1QH a are approximately three-quarters complete. 12 1QH b , for instance, is corresponding to 1QH a XV 30-XVI 1 and XVI 13-14. 13 In addition, of the approximately 125 fragments in total of 4QH a-e and 4QpapH f , about forty preserves indicates that these psalms had importance and authority for the community that wrote them and preserved them in the caves near the Dead Sea. 12 How are columns 1-3? Unfortunately, very little remains from the first three and what were probably the last two columns of 1QH a . Column 1, for example, has no fragments that can be placed with any certainty, though it is possible that some of the small unplaced fragments from Scribe A may originate from this first column. Two fragments can be tentatively placed in cols. II and III respectively. It is done through the help of parallel text that has been preserved in other copies. Frag. 16, for instance, has a similar shape and so it may have come from the next column to the right (col. II), at about lines 24-32 (though it is not impossible that it could have come from even one column more to the right, that is col. I). See Emile Puech, "Quelques aspects de la restauration du Rouleau des Hymnes (1QH  13 Puech states that 1QH b overlaps with 1QH a (column vii and viii of the edition princeps). See Puech, "Hodayot", 365. 14 All the material in 4QH a that overlaps with material in 1QH a is from psalms of the 'Hymns of the Community' type. Much of the material is of a somewhat more liturgical nature, that is, psalms containing imperative calls to praise, blessings and first-person plural forms rather than the more usual first-person singular. 4QH b seems to have text that overlaps with passage in 1QH a . 14 In addition to filling in some of the lacuna in 1QH a , 15 the 4Q copies are important as we seek to understand how the collection(s) were put together. The manuscripts vary, however, in content and in the ordering of the psalms. 16 8 10), and the last line of fragment 2 corresponds to 1QH 26:29 (frg. 7 ii 4). The identifiable fragments of 4QpapH f overlap with 1QH a IX 13-XVII 36. IX 1-X 5 as 'Creation Hymn' and X 6-XVII 36 as 'Hymns of the Teacher'. It can be established on material grounds that the scroll began with the psalm of 1QH a column 9, the socalled "Creation Hymn," and continued with the Teacher Hymns. Despite of overlapped materials, there is one psalm that is partially preserved in 4QH a frg. 8 i 13-ii 19 that is not found in any of the preserved columns of 1QH a (though it is possible that is was part of cols. 1-3 or cols. 27-28). A few other fragments of significant size in the 4Q copies have not yet been identified with any text in 1QH a , and there are many tiny fragments with only a letter or partial letter so that it is impossible to say if they overlap or not. For all these fragments, it is necessary to consult the complete publication of the 4Q manuscripts in DJD XXIX. See E. Chazon 15 Stegemann and Schuller, Discoveries in the Judean Desert XL, 40. 16 The variations between overlapping pieces of compositions within the existing manuscripts from Caves 1 and 4 are many orthographic and do not show any evidence of different recensions. See Schuller, "The Cave 4 Hodayot,", 90. collections to 1QH a . 4QH b only appears to be of a similar order and length to 1QH a . 4QH a and 4QH e , on the other hand, clearly have a different order of psalms than that of 1QH a . 17

1QH a
For 1QH a , this meant presenting first the twelve columns that were joined and relatively well preserved, and the 'the crumpled mass' of seventy fragments arranged basically according to size. 18 When 1QH a came into Sukenik's possession, he described it as "a badly damaged scroll" preserved in two separate parts, "three sheets, each one with four columns, or a total of twelve columns 19 ... and a crumpled mass of about 70 detached fragments of various sizes". 20 He recognized immediately that two scribes were involved in copying the manuscript, due to the change of hand: the one scribe wrote up until column 11 line 22 (column 19 line 25 in the reconstructed scroll), then another scribe took over in the middle of the 17 To comprehend the order, see picture 9 for comparison of order between 1QH a and 4QH a . To see the comparison between the whole scrolls of hodayot. 18 Stegemann and Schuller, Discoveries in the Judean Desert XL, 2. 19 It constitutes plates i-xii in Sukenik. The sheets are about thirteen inches high contain as many as forty lines to a column. See Sukenik, The Dead Sea Scrolls, 1-23. 20 The latter was difficult to open and was the last to be unrolled. The greater portion of the parchment is dark, to extremely dark, brown and some pieces have become black due to the ravages of time. Menahem Mansoor, The Thanksgiving Hymns, (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1961), 4; Sukenik, The Dead Sea Scrolls, 3. 21 To see the difference, see picture 19. 22 Lack of understanding of these two ordering and numbering of Hodayot will create confusion when interacting with the sources. line and completed the scroll. 21 As a result, it can be determined whether a detached fragment, even a very small one, came from the beginning or the end section of the scroll.
The Order and Number of the Columns in 1QH a Because there are two types of the ordering and numbering of hodayot, it is important to know the differences between them. 22 The early studies of 1QH a used the column and line numbers assigned in the principal edition by Sukenik. 23 This numbering system, however, has been largely superseded by that of Stegemann and Puech. It was the publication in the late eighties of a paper by Puech which changed the perception of the structure of 1QH a .Then, this led to a gradual adoption of the Stegemann and Puech' reconstruction and re-numbering of the material.

Sukenik' Order and Number of the
Columns. 24 In Sukenik's edition, 25 the twelve columns 23 Svend Holm-Nielsen, Hodayot Psalms from Qumran (Denmark: Universitetsforlaget I Aarhus, 1960) and Menahem Mansoor, The Thanksgiving Hymns, 33-44. 24 Stegemann and Schuller, Discoveries in the Judean Desert XL, 13-53. 25 When Sukenik acquired the Thanksgiving Scroll, it was in two bundles. He described them as follow: the part which was opened first [the first bundle] contains three sheets, each one with four columns, or a total of twelve columns (cols. I-XII). The sheets were not found regularly rolled up into one another, as was the case with the Sons of Light scroll [= 1QM]. Instead, two disconnected sheets were casually rolled togetherwere probably cols. V-VIII and cols. IX-XII -, and into the folds of this roll a third sheet had been forced . . The second part [the second bundle] of the Thanksgiving Scroll was, by the time it reached our hands, a crumpled mass of about seventy detached fragments of leather of assorted sizes.
Journal Theology (Kerugma) E-ISSN: 2622-0962 P-ISSN: 2621-8038 of the first bundle are reproduced from pls. 35-46, and the fragments of the second bundle on pls. 47-58. Sukenik started with the observation that in the bundle of fragments that he had opened last. 26 The latter are arranged according to size and according to the scribe who wrote them: pls. 47-51 contain five single columns which were written by one scribe, three columns of which, on pls. 48-50, are connected with another. The rest can be divided into two groups: to one group, pl. 56-57, (cols. XIII-XVII) and frgs. 10-44; 27 to the other group, pl. 53-55, 58, belong to col. XVIII and frgs. 1-9 and 45-66. 28 This division corresponds to the paleographic findings from cols. I-XII that came from the first bundle. 29 greatly facilitated by the changed in handwriting at column XIX (=XII Sukenik's edition), by the direct joining points of numerous fragments and the sheets to be juxtaposed, and by the shapes of the breaks that were repeated at regular spaces in the rolled scroll, all proving that the fragments came from one and the same scroll. Thus, column XVIII of the edition should be considered an erroneous column, and its fragmentswhich certainly do not fit togethershould 26 Then on pl. 52, there are three fragments that Sukenik put together to form a column (col. XVIII); these were written by another hand. On pls. 53-55, there are the largest fragments (frgs. 1-9) of the second hand; then pls. 56-57 contain the small fragments of the first hand (frgs. 10-44), and on pl. 58 are the remaining smaller fragments of the second hand (frgs. 45-66). 27 Scribe A 28 Scribe C 29 According to Sukenik, most of these columns were written by a single scribe, but another scribe took over in the middle of col. XIX 29 (XI 26). The identification of this scribe with Scribe C of the fragments was, for Sukenik, indisputable. See picture 19 as an evidence. 30 33 This method is called as placement made on the basis of the reconstruction. The original beginning of the scroll was badly destroyed by damage that eroded the scroll from within. The consequences of this damage are naturally less pronounced the greater distance from the origin of the damage, moving toward the middle part of the scroll. It is therefore striking that in the reconstructed scroll, cols. IV (XVII + frg. 14), V (XIII + frgs. 15a, 31, 17, 15b) immediately to the left, the transition from col. V to col. VI (that is, frgs. 15b + 18 +22), and likewise the upper part of Sukenik's col. XIV all preserve the upper parts of the column that extend on average about 6 cm higher compared to the upper edge of the following columns: Sukenik's col. XV in the reconstructed col. VII, and Sukenik's col. XVI in the reconstructed col. VIII. This is even more striking because in the next column, col. IX (I), not  37 Through the investigation of the overall structure of the collection, scholars find out how much material was missing at the begging and at the end

The Benefits of this Reconstruction
Firstly, the accurate placing of adjacent fragments has enabled more portions of meaningful text to be recovered. Secondly, this method allows the original length of the scroll to be estimated as twenty-seven or twenty-eight columns of forty-one to forty-two lines each. The average length of lines is also known. 36 Thirdly, it is now possible to investigate the overall structure of the collection, particularly when the data from the Cave 4 manuscripts is also considere 37 This group contains all of the compositions identified as Teacher Hymns and it strengthens the argument that they represent a distinct group by a single author. 38

1QH b
Only two fragments remain from this manuscripts (1Q35). 39 Those fragments, however, do not belong to 1QH a . 40 On the basis of content, the double transmission of a single psalm in the same scroll would be very surprising; the double transmission of a series of three psalms in one and the same scroll would be inconceivable and without and they know also the original order of the psalms in this 1QH a copy. Most significantly, it is clear that the so-called 'Hymns of the Teacher' come more or less in the middle of the scroll, preceded and followed by 'Hymns of the Community'. 38  parallel in similar collections. 41 Furthermore, in line 5 of 1Q35 1, the shape of lamed is clearly different from that of the lamed in 1QH a . 42 It can also be noted that in 1Q35 the scribe always joined the middle stroke of the sin (1Q35 I 2, 13) to the left stroke, whereas Scribe A of 1QH a is careful to draw it unjoined between the two side strokes. 43 However, based on the observation to multiple fragments, it is hard to find consistency of these shapeslamed and sin -, thus, this argument is unconvincing. 44 Materially, their shapes are very different from 1QH a . Thus, they must come from a second scroll of the same collection of psalms (or a scroll of at least part of the collection) that is designated as 1QH b . 45

4Q Hodayot Manuscripts
The six copies from Cave 4 are all fragmentary and badly damaged. 46 Five are written on leather (4QH a-e ) and one on papyrus (4QpapH f ).

Authorship
The authorial unity of the Hymns is challenged because the trend of current research is to distinguish two types of Hymns: the "Hymns of the Teacher," or Thanksgiving Hymns on occasion of a revelation or of a personal release, and the "Hymns of the Community," soteriological confession Hymns by different authors where the "I" has not autobiographical coloring but refers to the members of the Community (Morawe, Jeremias and Kuhn). 67 However, an unmistakable unity of style and vocabulary reveals the single authorship of hodayot. 68

Summary of Contents
This collection should be subdivided into two major categories based on the content, vocabulary, and style. In the first group of psalms, the so-called "Hymns of the Teacher," the person, the Teacher of Righteousness, who speaks has an exalted position and often makes the claim to function as a mediator of revelation to others. 69 In the second category of psalms, the so-called "Hymns of the Community," the "I" seems to be the corporate voice of the community. The underlying unity of the Hymns is that they are a kind of meditation in which the theological subject is generally dealt with three major areas of focus: God, 70 the salvation of the just, 71 and the final doom of the godless-beginning with their leader Belial-in an eschatological war. 72 All these psalms start with a fixed introductory formula, either "I thank you, O Lord" or "Blessed are you, Lord". It is followed by his reason for offering thanks by recounting what God has done for him. 73 The main body of each psalm can be quite varied in form and content. Sometimes there is an extended and elaborate development of a specific image or motif. 74 There is no standard concluding formula; in the biblical psalms of thanksgiving there was often mention in the concluding section of offering sacrifice and fulfilling vows in experience of the Teacher of Righteousness as well as the early formative years of the community; a minority of scholars have emphasized, however, that much of this language is very formulaic and taken from the biblical psalter, and could be applied more generally to any member of the community. See Puech, 'Hodayot', 365. 70 God's greatness and perfection is described, along with his justice and kindness, and his forgiveness. 71 The Hymns speak of the persecution and suffering to which the faithful person falls victim and of his hope for the victory of God the Father, and for the punishment of the wicked. Thus, a member belongs to the group of the just or lo the small remnant for whom God is already manifesting his power and mercy, while he will fully manifest his power and justice at the Visitation-Judgment, when all the wicked are destroyed, both Jews and pagans alike (compare the War Scroll). For the just, it will be a time of rejoicing, rewards, delights of Paradise, eternal glory, and peace in the world that has been renewed and purified in the universal conflagration, while Belial will be cast into the burning place of eternal Doom. 72 The conception of eschatology is the same, whether it be in the "Hymns of the Teacher" or in the "Hymns of the Community." The allusions to the total eschatological war, the final and decisive the Temple, but this element is not found in any of these texts.

The Use of Hodayot
There is very little thing to know about how these psalms were used at Qumran. There are no specific headings or concrete directions for usage on a certain day, month, week, or year like those in other prayer collections. The length of many of the compositions, the absence of set formulas and congregational responses, and the complexity of both the poetic style and the development of ideas have suggested to many scholars that they were intended primarily for personal private meditation and/or instruction. But at least some of these psalms may have been used liturgically in the worship life of the community. 75 judgment in the heights on earth and in the underworld Abyss, as well as reference to punishment in the infernal Sheol, and to reward with the sons of heaven are found in both categories. 73 For example, "because you have placed my soul in the bundle of the living" (1QH a 10:22). See Mansoor, The Thanksgiving Hymns, 3-5. 74 A tree planted in a garden (1QH a 16:5-27), a fortified city (1QHa 14:28-32), or woman in labor (1QH a 11:8-14). In a few psalms, there are extended descriptions of the eschatological future, with particular emphasis on the destruction of Belial and all the spirits of wickedness (1QH a 11:26-37). One long poem toward the end of 1QH a (23:1-25:33) reflects on the fallen angels and the introduction of sin into the world. See the similarities and dissimilarities for further explanation. 75 Themes such as the weakness and sinfulness of the human condition and the doxological confession of divine graciousness would be especially appropriate on occasions such as the liturgy for entrance into and renewal of the covenant (1QS 1:18-2:18); perhaps secondarily, these psalms came to be used as part of the daily "entering the covenant of God" (1QS 10:10). There are certain themes in common with the morning blessings in later rabbinic prayer (e.g., knowledge; creation) but the links are general rather than specific. It is tempting to wonder whether these psalms might have been used when the Many Journal Theology (Kerugma) E-ISSN: 2622-0962 P-ISSN: 2621-8038

Related To Other Texts
Old Testament These psalms seem very "biblical-like" because they make extensive use of biblical phraseology and images. Hundreds of allusions have been identified, most of them from Psalms, 76 Isaiah, and Deuteronomy. Only rarely is there a direct quotation of as much as a whole line; instead, the biblical words and phrases are reworked and reconfigured in an anthological style. The author also expresses, like in the Psalms, his feelings of adoration, praise, gratitude, trust, and faithfulness, while at the same time acknowledging his weakness, fear, guilt, repentance, and sometimes their desire for vengeance for the wickedness of their adversaries and the sinners. 77

Qumran
In terms of literary genre, other fragments that should also be included within this literary genre are the fragments of the hymnic compositions such as 1Q36-40, 3Q6, 6Q18, 8Q5, 11Q15-16, the end of 1QRule of the Community ix.26-xi. In addition, the Hymns that are scattered throughout the War Scroll (1QM xii-xix) and the parallels in War Scroll b (4Q492), and particularly War Scroll a (4Q49111), which attests to some overlaps with 4QH a , the Prayer of Michael, and 1QH a xxvi. More broadly, they ought to be related to the Songs of the Sage a-b (4Q510-4Q511), the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice a-b gathered "to watch together for a third of each night of the year . . . to bless together" (1QS 6:8). See Schuller, 'Hodayot', 747-748. 76 In giving thanks to God the Creator and the one who exercises Divine Providence for his deeds of kindness toward their author(s). Ibid. 77 Ibid, 367. 78 Chazon, Qumran Cave 4 XX, 3.