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Re: Multiplicity of Scribal Hands
Robert Kraft wrote:
>
> After my undergrad DSS class the other day, one of the senior
> associates, Al Perlstein, and I were thinking out loud about possible
> ways to explain the multiplicity of "scribal hands" represented in the
> DSS.
Everyone in the community "having his turn" at the scribal
table could be an explanation if the multiplicity of scribal hands
is an argument against the Qumran connection. I have seen this
argument used against Qumran as a source for the DSS corpus but I
have never seen an estimate of the number of "scribal hands"
represented in the texts.
We have no way of knowing if there was a "turnover rate" for
the 200 or so Qumranites or whether or not every Essene in the
Essene Quarter of the Upper City (maybe 1000 or more) or in Palestine
and Syria (several thousand more) was required to do some time at
"headquarters."
Jack Kilmon
jpman@accesscomm.net