Rhetorical Devices in 4QMMT

Abstract

Since the publication in 1994 of 4QMMT in DJD 10 1 a considerable number of studies of the text have appeared. Apart from the important linguistic aspects of the text and its place within the history of the Hebrew language, the main points of focus in scholarly research on 4QMMT have been the halakhic issues or the way biblical law is interpreted in 4QMMT, the contribution of 4QMMT to our understanding of the historical setting of the Qumran documents, and the relation of 4QMMT to other parts of the Qumran library. These are all issues of the highest interest for historical reconstruction. Scholarly interest has also been devoted to studying formal and structural aspects of the document itself. The unusual literary form employed in 4QMMT was emphasized by the editors, E. Qimron and J. Strugnell, in DJD 10, and several studies-although markedly limited in number when compared to the amount of historically oriented studies-have dealt with various aspects of the form, composition, and rhetorical strategy of 4QMMT. The purpose of this paper is to take the survey of rhetorical devices and strategies employed in 4QMMT a little bit further. The Epistolary Form of 4QMMT4QMMT displays the unusual aspect-unusual for the Qumran documents, at least-of being cast in the form of a letter or an epistle.