War Traditions from the Qumran Caves

Now available in Open Access thanks to the support of the University of Helsinki. In this volume, Hanna Vanonen offers a fresh view to the Milhamah and Sefer ha-Milhamah manuscripts by producing a thorough close-reading analysis of them, paying attention not only to their contents but also to manuscripts as material artifacts. Vanonen demonstrates that studying the stability and instability of the War traditions does more justice to the complex material than a traditional chronological literary-critical model. In addition, Vanonen argues that at least liturgical use and study purposes may have created needs for producing different manuscripts that were simultaneously important. "V. has provided a solid and well documented study of all significant fragments of the War Texts from Cave 4 and 11...her careful observation of the material facts is a fresh and important contribution to the understanding of the various purposes, audiences, and uses of these manuscripts." Jean Duhaime, Montreal, Theologische Literaturzeitung 149 (2024) 1/2