4Q448, often called the "Hymn to King Jonathan," is a piece of parchment from among theDead Sea Scrolls, found inCave 4, containing two separate short works, part ofPsalm 154 and a prayer mentioning a KingJonathan (Yəhōnatan).
The only King Jonathan in Jewish history wasAlexander Jannaeus ("Jannaeus" being an abbreviated form of "Jonathan") and it is widely believed that this was the King Jonathan of 4Q448,[1][2] though some doubt has been raised over the identification.[3]
If this text does in fact portray Alexander Jannaeus in a favorable light, it discounts his identification as theWicked Priest, a figure mentioned in other scrolls. For the reading that the text is against Alexander Jannaeus, according to K. Penner, E. Main, A Lemaire, D. Harrington and J. Strugnell, G. Lorein, and S. Goranson, with bibliography, see Goranson in the references, as well as Emmanuelle Main in the footnotes. In this interpretation, the prayer is asking God himself to rise against the king.[7]
According to Steudel (2006), 4Q448 is quite similar to the larger manuscript4QMMT based on philological analysis. Therefore these two manuscripts may have originally belonged to the same composition.[8]
^"Alexander Jannaeus is the most likely candidate", VanderKam, James, and Flint Peter,The Meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls (HarperSanFrancisco, 2002) p.291.
^Wise, Michael, Abegg, Martin Jr, and Cook, EdwardThe Dead Sea Scrolls: A New Translation (HarperSanFrancisco, 1996) p.399.
^See Vermes, G., "The So-called King Jonathan Fragment (4Q448)" inJJS 44 (1993) 294-300.
^Translation provided in VanderKam, James, and Flint Peter,The Meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls (HarperSanFrancisco, 2002) p.291. In this translation "your" is twice capitalized ("Your"), implying reference to God. Garcia Martinez (loc. cit.) doesn't capitalize it.
^For example, Garcia Martinez, Florentino, and Tigchelaar, Eibert J.C.,The Dead Sea Scrolls: Study Edition Vol. 2 (Leiden: Brill, 1998) p.929.
^abMain, Emmanuelle, “For King Jonathan or Against? The Use of the Bible in 4Q448.” Biblical Perspectives: Early Use and Interpretation of the Bible in Light of the Dead Sea Scrolls, 1998, 113–35. doi:10.1163/9789004350298_009.
^A. Steudel,4Q448 – The Lost Beginning of MMT? in F. Garcia Martinez et al. (eds),From 4QMMT to Resurrection (STDJ, 61; Leiden: Brill, 2006)
Eshel, E., Eshel, H., Yardeni, A., "A Qumran Composition Containing part of Ps. 154 and a Prayer for the Welfare of King Jonathan and his Kingdom",IEJ 42 (1992) 199–229.
