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orion 4Q448

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	To Christophe Batsch--

> n'oubliez pas que la discussion sur 4Q448 a fini par montrer - de facon
> convaincante IMO - que ce texte n'est pas "pro-Hasmonean" mais nettement
> HOSTILE au "roi Jonathan" : cf. Lemaire 1997 et Main 1998 (argumentation
> fondée sur la comprehension de la preposition 'al)
> 
	Thanks for the comment and bibliography.  These 
	references are not available in the library here, and
	perhaps may not be to some others either.  Would 
	you be able to summarize in a paragraph or two the 
	arguments of Lemaire and Main in favor of the 
	"against" interpretation?

	In particular, are any comparative examples cited
	of a hymn written _against_ a figure?  Are not the 
	Bible and Qumran hymns and psalms, etc. usually
	"concerning" or "about" or "for" /Topic X/, except 
	for curses?  But 4Q448 has a Psalm and then this
	Hymn--how likely is this to be a curse text?  Do Lemaire
	or Main have any positive arguments from context within 
	the hymn itself to support the "against" interpretation?  
	(Or is it not stronger than a "could be" argument 
	combined with expectations derived from other texts 
	concerning expected view toward Hasmonean figures?)

	For what its worth, I put 4Q448 in the Brill microfiche 
	(PAM 43.545) under a microscope with strong lighting,
	and the "Jonathan" reading looks good, except for
	one surprise detail.  Isn't the reported reading YWNTN?
	(As in DJD XXV, p. 79.)  The letters Y, N, T and even 
	the final N look clear under the microscope--but the
	Waw may not be there!  Where the Waw is supposed
	to be is in a crease, and under the microscope the hue
	is the lighter hue of shadow rather than the darker hue
	of ink.  Don't want to claim certainty on this, but it 
	LOOKS like a reading simply of YNTN.  This would
	be the name "Jonathan" no less, but the spelling would
	now become identical to that attested on Alexander 
	Jannaeus coins (Schurer, I, p. 604): YNTN.

	Greg Doudna
	Copenhagen