The Unlikely Malachi-Jonah Sequence (4QXIIa)

Abstract

Many studies on the formation of the collection of the Twelve Minor Prophets take for granted that the 4QXIIa manuscript provides evidence that the Book of Jonah stood at the end of a scroll of the Twelve and that this sequence could have been the original one. Examination of the reconstruction of the scroll published in the DJD XV volume reveals that the Malachi-Jonah sequence is highly hypothetical and should not be considered as firm evidence.