Material Reconstruction of 4Q22 in Aid of Literary Criticism of the Book of Exodus

Abstract

The second tabernacle account (Exod 35–40) is found in four discrete versions, namely, in the MT, the SP, the LXX, and the Old Latin translation documented in the Codex Monacensis. This paper seeks to shed light on which version of this account was included in 4Q22. The preserved text in 4Q22 ends at Exodus 37:16. Yet, by material reconstruction of the scroll, it is possible to estimate the amount of the missing text between the extant fragments in the last columns of the scroll (cols. XXXVIII–XLV) and between the last preserved column of 4Q22 and the end of the scroll. Thus, despite the complexity of the textual evidence and the fact that the findings are based on reconstruction, this paper suggests that 4Q22 included a version of the second tabernacle account that is similar to the account found in the SP. Finally, this paper discusses the implications of this suggestion for the textual history of the tabernacle materials in the book of Exodus.