Pesher
/ˈpɛʃər/noun
A method of scriptural interpretation, especially the Qumran practice of explaining ancient prophecy as referring to contemporary events.
Did you know?The Qumran writers used pesher to claim that biblical prophecies secretly revealed the identities and fate of people living in their own community.
Etymological Timeline
Biblical Hebrew and Jewish Palestinian Aramaic
Hebrew/Aramaic
פשר / פשר
“To explain, interpret, or make something understood; the related noun referred to an explanation or interpretation.”
Second Temple period
Aramaic
peshar
“An interpretation or revealed explanation, especially of a difficult text or dream.”
1st Century BCE–1st Century CE
Qumran Aramaic
pesher
“A community interpretation linking a prophetic passage directly to contemporary people and events.”
1947 onward
English
pesher
“A scholarly term adopted after the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls for this distinctive Qumran interpretive technique.”
Modern English
English
pesher
“A commentary or interpretive text that explains biblical prophecy as being fulfilled in the interpreter’s own historical situation.”