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This is a comprehensive study of 4QFlorilegium, a much-neglected text from Qumran containing a variety of scriptural passages together with Qumran interpretations of them. An exact understanding of 4QFlorilegium, its manner of composition, and its purpose can be gained only through examination of early Jewish exegetical techniques, regarded by the ancient scribes as authoritative hermeneutical keys to scripture. Such techniques are here analyzed and applied to the process of interpretation in the Florilegium. When first published, this study presented a landmark assessment of the debate over the meaning of midrash and pesher as terms for interpretation. Suggestions are also made about how the liturgical life of the Qumran community may have influenced the way its members interpreted scripture. This innovative study, originally published in 1985, incorporates the Hebrew text of an English translation of the manuscript of 4QFlorilegium.

“This is a major contribution to the discussion of the way in which the O.T. was understood at Qumran and beyond.”
—H. G. M. Williamson, Vetus Testamentum

George J. Brooke is the Rylands Professor of Biblical Criticism and Exegesis at the University of Manchester and the author of numerous books and articles related to the Dead Sea Scrolls, including The Dead Sea Scrolls and the New Testament (2005) and The Complete World of the Dead Sea Scrolls (co-author, 2002).