Charles Peter Comerford

• Millar, Suzanna; Comerford, Charles Peter & Atkins, Peter Joshua (2025). Blinding Birds, Bartered Bodies, and Bestial Betrothals: Exploring Interspecies Intersectionality in the Damascus Document and Book of Tobit. Dead Sea Discoveries. ISSN 0929-0761. Advance Article, p. 1–27. doi: 10.1163/15685179-bja10067. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This article argues that a full analysis of intersectionality in Second Temple literature must attend to nonhuman animals. That is, the societal nexus of intersecting powers—generally recognised to include dynamics like gender, race, class, and disability—is incomplete unless it also attends to dynamics of species. In this article, we substantiate this view by exploring two case studies: portions from the Damascus Document and the Book of Tobit. In these texts, dynamics of species are thoroughly entangled with dynamics of slavery, sex, and bodily status. We draw out three points in particular: first, nonhuman animals and subordinated humans are mutually implicated in intersecting societal power dynamics; second, though working towards domination, these power dynamics might present themselves as beneficial; and third, such dynamics are not inviolable, but can be contravened by expressions of agency from humans and nonhumans alike.

• Comerford, Charles Peter (2024). What of wisdom in the scrolls? Assessing the expansion of the wisdom literature category from the Hebrew Bible to the Dead Sea Scrolls. In Martin, Sara de & Furlan, Anna Lucia (Ed.), Wisdom Discourse in the Ancient World. Routledge. ISSN 9781032778587. doi: 10.4324/9781003485094-6. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Following the publication of a large number of fragmentary texts throughout the 1990s, the category of wisdom literature – represented by the books of Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastes, Sirach, and the Wisdom of Solomon – has been used by researchers to help identify new wisdom texts in the Dead Sea Scrolls corpus.1 However, the proliferation of wisdom texts that have since emerged reflects an inconsistency in the use of the category of wisdom literature that warrants further inquiry. In addition, recent criticism of the category of wisdom literature in biblical scholarship raises further concerns about its extended use in the Dead Sea Scrolls. If the wisdom texts in the Scrolls are predominantly recognised by comparing their content with biblical wisdom literature but the category itself is at risk of crumbling under the weight of scholarly re-evaluation, then what basis is there for researchers to distinguish between wisdom and non-wisdom texts, or even determine whether such distinctions exist?

• Comerford, Charles Peter (2023). The Power of the Wisdom Label in Dead Sea Scrolls Research and the Curious Case of 4Q419 (4QInstruction-Like Composition A). Dead Sea Discoveries. ISSN 0929-0761. 31(1), p. 1–30. doi: 10.1163/15685179-bja10038. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This article tells the story of 4Q419, a manuscript that was once associated with a well-known Wisdom text: 4QInstruction. However, following its removal from 4QInstruction and re-categorisation as an “Unclassified Manuscript” in the 1990s (see dssr 6 and djd 39), 4Q419 has been largely overlooked by the scholarly community. There are two core objectives to this article. First, it encourages scholars to re-engage with a neglected manuscript that still has much to contribute to discussions of pluriformity, textual development, and the scribal background of 4QInstruction. Second, this article attempts to shed light on the ramifications of scholarly adherence to the Wisdom label and raises broader concerns about the degree to which our designated labels influence the way we read, understand, and talk about the Scrolls.

• Comerford, Charles Peter & Scales, Joseph (2022). Categories and Boundaries Special Issue Introduction. Advances in Ancient Biblical and Near Eastern Research. 2(2), p. 1–9. doi: 10.35068/aabner.v2i2.1000. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The articles in this special issue address questions that concern the categorization of various terms, persons, and texts that inform our understanding of ancient Judaism, with a focus on the literature of the Second Temple period.

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• Comerford, Charles Peter & Røsstad, Hilde Kristin (2026). The blind spots of academic quality assurance. doi: https:/qiss.no/blog-post/?n7Je0BNflfa9xtptFyCvzw=%3D. Full text in Research Archive
• Comerford, Charles Peter (2025). Analysing Conjoined Texts: A Material Study of 4Q415 (4QInstructiona) and 4Q414 (4QRitual of Purification A). Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This paper examines the material relationship between two Dead Sea Scroll texts, 4Q414 (4QRitual of Purification A) and 4Q415 (4QInstructiona), which are inscribed on the verso and recto of a single parchment. Despite their conjoined nature, scholarly attention has primarily focused on the textual content of these writings, leading to their treatment as distinct, disembodied entities. 4Q414 and 4Q415 were published in separate volumes of DJD and classified into different literary categories―Halakhah and Wisdom, respectively―which has further reinforced their independent consideration in subsequent scholarship. How does our understanding of these writings change when we begin to take seriously their material proximity? By examining 4Q414 and 4Q415 as a single, bifacial manuscript, this paper offers a new perspective that prioritises their material closeness over their textual differences. This approach involves a detailed examination of early photographs from the Palestine Archaeological Museum to understand how the original editors reconstructed these writings, followed by an inquiry into questions significant to a material philological investigation (how were these writings prepared? What meaning arises from their historical and material connection?). This method not only seeks to enhance our understanding of these specific texts but also contributes to broader discussions on the materiality of the Dead Sea Scrolls, challenging the traditional prioritisation of textual over material analysis

• Comerford, Charles Peter (2025). Tracing the Journey of Dead Sea Fragments: Visualised by a Case Study of 4Q409 (4QLiturgical Work A). Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  How do scattered fragments discovered in desert caves become manuscripts? This paper will explore the complex journey of Dead Sea fragments from discovery to publication. By analysing a digital archive of early photographs provided by the Leon Levy Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Library, this study meticulously tracks the “movement” of individual fragments within the Palestine Archaeological Museum. By creating a visual narrative of these movements, this analysis will demonstrate how fragment groupings evolved over time, shedding light on the formation of distinct “fragment clusters” and highlighting the fluid and dynamic nature of manuscript reconstruction. Using 4Q409 as a case study―which is part of the broader manuscript group 4Q409–4Q426 identified by John Strugnell in DJD 34―this paper marks the beginning of a deeper exploration of the processes involved in reconstructing manuscripts from the Dead Sea Scrolls corpus.

• Comerford, Charles Peter; Gimse, Ingrid Breilid; Kjeldsberg, Ludvik A. & Justnes, Årstein (2025). Nye perspektiver i forskningen på Dødehavsrullene. Full text in Research Archive
• Comerford, Charles Peter (2025). If these fragments could talk... Considering new approaches for analysing Dead Sea Fragments. Full text in Research Archive
• Comerford, Charles Peter (2024). The Tragic Tale of Karen Thommisdaatter Snedichers: A Witch of Kristiansand. Full text in Research Archive
• Comerford, Charles Peter (2024). 4QInstruction: The Making of a (Wisdom) Text. Full text in Research Archive
• Comerford, Charles Peter (2024). מבין as Protagonist or Participant? Understanding the Addressee(s) in 4QInstruction. Full text in Research Archive
• Comerford, Charles Peter (2023). What’s in a Name? The Many Names of "4QInstruction". Full text in Research Archive
• Comerford, Charles Peter (2022). The Power of the Sapiential Label in Qumran Scholarship and the Curious Case of 4Q419 (4QInstruction-Like Composition A). Full text in Research Archive
• Comerford, Charles Peter (2022). Categories and Labels in Dead Sea Scrolls Research. Full text in Research Archive
• Comerford, Charles Peter (2022). Review of Sacred Texts and Disparate Interpretations: Qumran Manuscripts Seventy Years Later. Edited by Henryk Drawnel. Journal of Theological Studies. ISSN 0022-5185. doi: 10.1093/jts/flac100. Full text in Research Archive
• Comerford, Charles Peter (2022). Review of The Cave 3 Copper Scroll: A Symbolic Journey. By Jesper Høgenhaven. Journal of Theological Studies. ISSN 0022-5185. doi: 10.1093/jts/flac099. Full text in Research Archive
• Comerford, Charles Peter (2021). Before Wisdom Literature: Examining Insights from Early Research on Wisdom in the Dead Sea Scrolls. Full text in Research Archive
• Comerford, Charles Peter (2019). What do we talk about when we talk about wisdom? Terminology, definition, and genre. Full text in Research Archive
• Comerford, Charles Peter (2024). Reading Beyond Wisdom: Rethinking the Textual Identity of 4QInstruction. University of Birmingham. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This study re-examines the textual identity assigned to the Dead Sea Scrolls manuscripts 1Q26, 4Q415–4Q418, 4Q418a+c, and 4Q423. These manuscripts are understood to be copies of a composition that was identified as a wisdom text during the early stages of its reconstruction. It is currently referred to by a variety of names, such as 4QInstruction, Musar le-Mevin (“Instruction for an Understanding One”) or חכמת רז נהיה ("Wisdom of the Raz Nihyeh”). This thesis contends that the generic identity assigned to this work has become an interpretative straitjacket that limits our understanding of the textual remains to the domains of wisdom and instruction. The first half shows how the earliest identification of these manuscripts as “wisdom” and “sapiential” by early editors established the tone for future scholarly engagement, and the second half attempts to disentangle this assigned identity by re-evaluating key concepts within the surviving text that have been principally interpreted through the lens of wisdom. By setting aside its longstanding sapiential identity―by reading beyond wisdom―this study seeks to contribute a fresh interpretation of these manuscripts and to pave the way for new perspectives to come to the fore.

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