Barkhi Nafshi Explained
4Q Barkhi Nafshi (Hebrew "Bless Oh My Soul", not to be confused with Psalm 104) is a Second Temple period Jewish work found at Qumran. It can be generally described a collection of Hebrew language hymns giving thanksgiving for deliverance and other benefits received from God.[1] Seely identifies the text as a late Hasmonean or early Herodian sectarian work.[2] The hymns contain abstraction of the concept of deliverance from the evil thought, or yetzer ha ra, as in 4Q438 4a ii.6 where Tigechelaar has demonstrated an intertextual relationship between the Satan of Zechariah 3 and the "clothing" of the speaker of Barkhi Nafshi.[3]
Components
- 4Q434 Barkhi Nafshi a SL71 156 SL93/93a Weinfeld, Seely, DJD XXIX (1999), plates XVII–XIX
- 4Q435 Barkhi Nafshi b SL73 327 SL93a Weinfeld, Seely, DJD XXIX (1999), pl. XX
- 4Q436 Barkhi Nafshi c SL72 325 SL73a Weinfeld, Seely, DJD XXIX (1999), pl. XXI
- 4Q437 Barkhi Nafshi d SL74 325 516 SL73a Weinfeld, Seely, DJD XXIX (1999), pls. XXII–XXIII
- 4Q438 Barkhi Nafshi e SL87 259 SL87 Weinfeld, Seely, DJD XXIX (1999), pls. XXIII–XXIV
Notes and References
- Christian Beginnings and the Dead Sea Scrolls p95 080102837X John Joseph Collins, Craig A. Evans 2006 "Barkhi Nafshi (Bless, O My Soul) (4Q434–38) Five collections of fragments of a work given the name Barkhi Nafshi (Bless, O My ... found in 4Q435 and 4Q437 4Q435 has textual parallels to 4Q436 and 4Q437 4Q436 contains text also found in 4Q435 4Q437 has parallels to 4Q434, 4Q435, and 4Q438 4Q438 has text in common with 4Q437 It is probable that each of the five collections represents only a ..."
- Sapiential, Liturgical and Poetical Texts from Qumran: 9004116842 International Organization for Qumran Studies. Meeting, Maurice Baillet, Daniel Keith Falk "Furthermore, Seely believes that Barkhi Nafshi is a sectarian work: the late Hasmonean or early Herodian date of the extant manuscripts, the full orthography of 4Q436 and 4Q437, and the general tone of the vocabulary being similar to much ..."
- Miryam Brand Evil Within and Without: The Source of Sin and Its Nature as Portrayed in Second Temple Literature Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht (15 May 2013) p. 47
