Discoveries in the Judaean Desert XVII: Qumran Cave 4. XII

Three scrolls of the two books of Samuel were discovered in Cave 4 at Qumran and their full publication has been long awaited. Ever since the 1950s, they have been at the forefront of scholarly investigation of the textual criticism of the Hebrew Bible. It is no exaggeration to say that the critical study and exegesis of the books of Samuel are no longer possible without these three scrolls in conjunction with that of the Masoretic Text and the Septuagint.