Three philological notes on demonological terminology in the Songs of the Sage (4Q510 1 4-6)

This paper discusses demonological terms occurring in the Songs of the Sage (4Q510 1 4-6, with special attention to line 5), which are all derived from an exegetical conflation of Isa 13:21-22 and 34:14, also recorded in rabbinic demonology. Based on the orthographic conventions of Qumran Hebrew, it is argued that the reading ℵ should be preferred over ℵ and interpreted as comprising two different terms. It is further argued that ℵ is to be understood as a phonetic spelling of MT's ℵ? (occurring in both Isa 13:22 and 34:14), while is the Aramaic counterpart of (in the singular, as occurring in Isa 34:14), in accordance to a tradition that is independently documented in Targum Jonathan.