Great Psalms Scroll

[5] 11Q5 has generated a lot of interest in scholars due to its large difference from the Masoretic Psalter, "both in ordering of contents and in the presence of additional compositions".

[6] It contains several compositions that are not present in the Masoretic Psalter of 150 hymns and prayers and therefore, "challenges traditional ideas concerning the shape and finalization of the book of Psalms".

It is a prayer for deliverance from sin and Satan, giving thanks for experiences in the past while using biblical vocabulary, style, and form.

[11] The version of Psalm 151, discovered at Qumran, adopts a more biographical tone, giving it the sound of a hymn associated with the figure of David.

It references many Psalms associated with David, including 364 songs for each day of the year, conforming to calendars found in distinctively sectarian texts among the Dead Sea Scrolls.

[12] However, various theories, including those of James A. Sanders, M. H. Goshen-Gottstein, Patrick Skehan and Peter Flint, argue for different purposes or functions of the scroll.

James Sanders proposed that this manuscript contained an arrangement created prior to the fixation of the Masoretic Psalter of 150 Psalms.

[6] In contrast, M. H. Goshen-Gottstein proposed that the scroll is a secondary liturgical collection based on the already standardized Masoretic Psalter.

[6] Peter Flint suggested that the scroll is a collection of 52 psalms, in correlation with the 52 weeks of the solar calendar, with 4 extra pieces arguing David's authorship.