Maskil, Community, and Religious Experience in the Songs of the Sage (4Q510–511) 1

Abstract

© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2012 DOI: 10.1163/156851712X624480 Dead Sea Discoveries 19 (2012) 1–27 brill.nl/dsd Maskil, Community, and Religious Experience in the Songs of the Sage (4Q510–511) 1 Joseph L. Angel Yeshiva University, New York jangel@yu.edu Abstract The present study seeks to illuminate how the recitation of the prophylactic magical hymns known as 4QSongs of the Sage engendered religious experience for worshipers. Previous research on this composition has focused on locating it within the broader streams of early Jewish magical and apocalyptic tradition, but little attention has been paid to the apotropaic function of the Songs within the larger religious