X>ea.ci Sea Sc^o>lI® Revised EciiiJ.«3n F> E rs( ti U I r~i BOOKS Table of Contents PENGUIN BOOKS THE COMPLETE DEAD SEA SCROLLS IN ENGLISH Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Preface Introduction A. The Rules The Community Rule - (IQS. 4Q255-64. 4Q280. 286-7. 4Q502. 5QII. 13} Community Rule manuscripts from Cave 4 Entry into the Covenant - (4Q275) Four Classes of the Community - (4Q279) The Damascus Document - (CD. 4Q265-73. 5Q12. 6Q15) Damascus Document manuscripts from Cave 4 The Messianic Rule - (1QSa=1Q28a) The War Scroll - (IQM. 1Q33. 4Q491-7. 4Q471) The War Scroll from Cave 4 - (4Q491 . 493) TheBookofWar-(4Q285. 11Q14) The Temple Scroll - (11QT=11Q19-21 . 4Q365a. 4Q524) MMT (Miqsat Ma'ase Ha- Torah) - Some Observances of the Law - (4Q394-9) The Wicked and the Holy - (4Q1 8 1) 4QHalakhahA-(4Q251) 4QHalakhah B - (4Q264a) 4QTohorot (Purities) A - (4Q274) 4QTohorot B-B - (40276-7) 4Q Harvesting - (4Q284a) The Master's Exhortation to the Sons of Dawn - (40298) 4Q IVIen Who Err -(40306) Register of Rebul<es - (4Q477) Remonstrances (before Conversion?) - (4Q471 ) B. Hymns and Poems The Thanl<sqivinq Hymns - (IQH. IQ36. 4Q427-32) Hymnic Fragment - (4Q433a) Apocryphal Psalms (I) - (IIQPs=IIQ5.4Q88) Apocryphal Psalms (II) - (4Q88) Apocryphal Psalms (III) - (11QapPs=11Q11) Non-canonical Psalms - (4Q380-81 ) Lamentations - (4Q]179.4Q501) Songs for the Holocaust of the Sabbath - (40400^07. 11 Q1 7. Masada 1039-200) Poetic Fragments on Jerusalem and 'King' Jonathan - (4Q448 ) Hymn of Glorification A and B - (4Q491 . fr. 1 1— 4Q471 b) C. Calendars. Liturgies and Prayers Calendars of Priestly Courses - (4Q320-30. 337) Calendrical Document C - (4Q326) Calendrical Document D - (4Q394 1-2) Calendric Signs (Otot) - (4Q319) 'Horoscopes' or Astrological Physiognomies - (4Q186. 4Q534 4Q561) Phases of the Moon - (4Q31 7) A Zodiacal Calendar with a Brontologion - (4Q318) Order of Divine Office - (4Q334) The Words of the Heavenly Lights - (4Q504— 6) Liturgical Prayer - (1Q 34 and 34 bis) Prayers for Festivals - (4Q 507-9) Daily Prayers -(4Q 503) Prayer or Hymn Celebrating the Morning and the Evening - (4Q 408) Blessings - (1QSb=1Q28b) Benedictions - (4Q 280. 286-90) Confession Ritual - (4Q393) Purification Ritual A - (4Q 512) Purification Ritual B - (4Q4]14) A Liturgical Work - (4Q 392-3) D. Historical and Apocalyptic Works Apocalyptic Chronology or Apocryphal Weeks - (4Q 247) Historical Text A - (4Q248) Historical Texts C-E (formerly Mishmarot C) - 4Q331 -3) Historical Text F - (4Q468e) The Triumph of Righteousness or Mysteries - (1 Q27. 4Q299-301 1 ) Time of Righteousness - (4Q 215a) The Renewed Earth - (4Q 475) A Messianic Apocalypse - (4Q521 ) E. Wisdom Literature The Seductress - (4Q184) Exhortation to Seek Wisdom - (4Q185) A Parable of Warning - (4Q302) Sapiential Didactic Work A - (4Q412) A Sapiential Work (i) - (4Q413) A Sapiential Work (ii) - (4Q415-18. 423. 1Q26) A Sapiential Work (ill): Ways of Righteousness - (4Q420-21 ) A Sapiential Work Instruction-like Composition - (4Q424) The Two Ways - (4Q473) Bless. My Soul - (Barki nafshi. 4Q434-438) A Leader's Lament - (4Q439) Fight against Evil Spirits - (4Q444) Songs of the Sage - (4Q51 0-1 1 ) Beatitudes - (4Q525) F. Bible Interpretation Aramaic Bible Translations - (Targums^ The Targum of Job - (11 Q1 0.4Q1 57) The Targum of Leviticus Appendix G. Biblically Based Apocryphal Works Jubilees - (4Q216-28. 1Q17-18. 2Q19-20. 3Q5. 4Q482(?). 1 1Q12) The Prayer of Enosh and Enoch - (4Q369) The Book of Enoch - (4Q201-2. 204-12) The Book of Giants - (1Q23-4. 2Q26. 4Q203. 530-33. 6Q8) An Admonition Associated with the Flood - (4Q370. 4Q1 85) The Ages of the Creation - (4Q1 80) TheBookof Noah-(1Q19. 1Q19 bis. 4Q534-6. 6Q8.19) Words of the Archangel Michael - (4Q529. 6Q23) The Testament of Levi (i) - (4Q213-1 14. 1Q21) Testaments of the Patriarchs: the Testament of Levi or Testament of Jacob - ... The Testament of Judah and Joseph - (4Q538-9) The Testament of Naphtali - (4Q21 5) Narrative and Poetic Composition (formerly 'A Joseph Apocryphon') - (4Q371-3) The Testament of Qahat - (4Q542) The Testament of Amram - (4Q543-9) The Words of Moses - (1 Q22 ) Sermon on the Exodus and the Conquest of Canaan - (4Q374) A Moses Apocryphon - (4Q375) A Moses Apocryphon - (4Q376. 1Q29) A Moses Apocryphon - (4Q408) Apocryphal Pentateuch B (formerly 'A Moses Apocryphon) - (4Q377) A Moses (or David) Apocryphon - (4Q373. 2Q22) Prophecy of Joshua - (4Q522. 5Q9) A Joshua Apocryphon (i) or Psalms of Joshua - (4Q378 — 9) A Joshua Apocryphon (ID (Masada 1039— 211) The Samuel Apocryphon - (4Q160) A Paraphrase on Kings - (4Q382) An Elisha Apocryphon - (4Q481 ) A Zedekiah Apocryphon - (4Q470) A Historico-theoloqical Narrative based on Genesis and Exodus - (4Q462— 4) Tobit-(4Q196— 200 Apocryphon of Jeremiah - (4Q383. 385a. 387. 387a. 388a. 389—90) The New Jerusalem -(4Q554-5.5Q1 5. 1Q32. 2Q24. 4Q232. 1 1Q18) Pseudo-Ezekiel - (4Q385. 386. 385b. 388. 385c) The Prayer of Nabonidus - (4Q242) Para-Danielic Writings - (4Q243-5) The Four Kingdoms - (4Q552-3) An Aramaic Apocalypse - (4Q246) Proto-Esther (?) - (4Q550) List of False Prophets - (4Q339) Listof Netinim-(4Q340) H. Miscellanea The Copper Scroll - (3Q15) Cryptic Texts - (4Q249. 250. 313) Two Qumran Ostraca I. Appendix Index of QumranTexts Major Editions of Qumran Manuscripts General Biblioarapiiv General Index THE STORY OF PENGUIN CLASSICS PENGUIN BOOKS THE COMPLETE DEAD SEA SCROLLS IN ENGLISH Geza Vermes was bom in Hungary in 1924. l-ie studied in Budapest and in Louvain, where lie read Oriental history and languages and in 1953 obtained a doctorate in theology with a dissertation on the historical framework of the Dead Sea Scrolls. From 1957 to 1991 he taught in England at the universities of Newcastle upon Tyne (1 957-65) and Oxford (1965 — 91). He is now Professor Emeritus of Jewish Studies and Emeritus Fellow of Wolfson College, but continues to teach at the Oriental Institute in Oxford. He has edited the Journal of Jewsh Studies since 1971, and since 1991 he has been director of the Oxford Forum for Qumran Research at the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies. Professor Vermes is a Fellow of the British Academy and of the EuropeanAcademy of Arts, Sciences and Humanities. He is the holder of an Oxford D.Litt. and of honorary doctorates from the universities of Edinburgh, Durham and Sheffield. His first article on the Dead Sea Scrolls appeared in 1949 and his first book, Les manuschts du desert de Juda,\n 1953. It was translated into English in 1956 as Discovery in the Judean Desert. He is also the author ofScripture and Tradition in Judaism (1961, 1973, 1983); Jesus the Jew (1973, 1976, 1981, 1983); The Dead Sea Scrolls: Qumran in Perspective (1977, 1981, 1982, 1994); Jesus and the World ofJudaism (1983, 1984); The Religion ofJesusthe Jeiv(1993); and (with Martin Goodman) The Essenes According to the Classical Sources (1989); (with Philip Alexander) Discoveries in the Judaean Desert XXVI (1998) and (also with Philip Alexander) XXXW (2000); An Introduction to the Complete Dead Sea Scrolls (1999, 2000); The Dead Sea Scrolls (The Folio Society, 2000); The Changing Faces of Jesus (2000); The Authentic Gospel of Jesus (2003) and Jesus in his Jewsh Context (2003). He played a leading part in the rewriting of Emil Schiirer's classic work The History of the Jewsh People in the Age of Jesus Christ (1973-87). His autobiography, Prowdenf/a/ Acxiidents (1998), contains a vivid personal account of a life-long involvement with the Dead Sea Scrolls. GEZA VERME^S The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English Revised Edition @ PENGUIN BOOKS PENGUIN BOOKS Published bythe Penguin Group Penguin Bool<s Ltd, 80 Strand, London V\C2R ORL, England Penguin Putnam Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA Penguin Books Australia Ltd, 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia Penguin Books Canada Ltd, 10 Acorn A\enue, Toronto, Ontario, Canada [\/WV3B2 Penguin Books India (P) Ltd, 1 1 CommunityCentre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi - 1 10 017, India Penguin Group (NZ), Cnr Arborne and Rosedale Roads, Abany, Auckland 1310, New Zealand Penguin Books (South Arica) (Pty) Ltd, 24 Sturdee A\finue, Rosebank 21 96, South Arica Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London V\C2R ORL, England www.penquin.com Rrst published in Pelican Books 1962 Reprinted with revisions 1965, 1968 Fourth edition published in Penguin Books 1995 Complete edition published byAlen Lane The Penguin Press 1997 Published in Penguin Books 1998 Revised edition 2004 11 Copyright©G.Vennes, 1962, 1965, 1968, 1975, 1987. 1995, 1997, 2004 Al rights reserwd The extracts on pp. 95 and 247 are reproduced by kind permission of the Israel Museum, Jerusalem; the extracts on pp. 345, 401,415, 459 and 537 are reproduced by kind permission of the Israel Antiquities Authority p. 581 : a cut segment from 77?© Copper Scroll from The Dead Sea Scrolls: A Reappraisal by John Alegro (Penguin Maps drawn by Nigel Andrews The moral right of the author has been asserted elSBN; 978-1-101-16059-6 www.qreenpenquin.co.uk Mixed SoiHti Fsc ;w:-i.:-Mr. Penguin Bool<s is committed to a sustainable future for our business, our readers and our planet. The book in yDur hands is made from paper certified bythe Forest Stewardship Council. http://us.penquinqroup.com ForM and I with love and in loving memory ofP Preface In the spring of 1 947 a young Arab shepherd climbed into a cave in the Judaean desert and stumbled on the first Dead Sea Scrolls. For those of us who lived through the Qumran story from the beginning, the realization that all this happened half a century ago brings with it a melancholy feeling. The Scrolls are no longer a /iscenf discovery as we used to refer to them, but over the years they have grown in significance and now the golden jubilee of the first manuscript find calls for celebration with joy and satisfaction. Following the 'revolution' which 'liberated' all the manuscripts in 1991 - until that moment a large portion of them was kept away from the public gaze - every interested person gained free access to the entire Qumran library. I eagerly seized the chance and set out to explore the whole collection. Today, after four and a half years of intense study I feel confident that I can present the complete canvas of the Dead Sea Scrolls and disclose to the many interested readers the message of these ancient manuscripts about ancient Judaism and to a more limited extent about early Christianity. In its successive editions this book has erKleavoured to serve a dual audience of scholars and educated lay people. Over the years it has grown in size - it contained only 255 pages in 1962 - and I trust also in its grasp of the subject. While this translation of tlie non-biblical Scrolls does not claim to cover every fragmerrt retrieved from the caves, it is complete in one sense: it offers in a readable form all the texts sufficiently well preserved to be understandable in English. In plain words, meaningless scraps or badly damaged manuscript sections are not inflicted on the reader. Those who wish to survey texts consisting only of broken lines, or of single letters and half-letters, should turn to the official series Discoveries in the Judaean Desert, in which every surviving detail is put on record. In addition to the English rendering of the Hebrew and Aramaic texts found in the eleven Qumran caves, two inscribed potsherds (ostraca) retrieved from the Qumran site and two Qumran-type documents discovered in the fortress of iVIasada, and brief introductory notes to each text, this volume aiso provides an up-to-date general introduction, outlining the history of fifty years of Scroll research and sketching the organization, history and religious message of the Qumran Community A Scroll catalogue, an essential bibliography and an index of Qumran texts are appended to facilitate further study and research. Map 1 : The area surrounding the Dead Sea, showing Qumran Map 2: The Caves of Qumran Has the greatly increased source material substarrtiaiiy altered our perception of the writings found at Qumran? I do not think so. Nuances and emphases have changed, but additional information has mainly helped to fill in gaps and clarify obscurities; it has not undermined our earlier conceptions regarding the Community and Its ideas. We had the exceptionally good fortune tfiat all but one of the major non-biblical Scrolls were published at the start, between 1950 and 1956: the Habakkuk Commentary (1950), the Community Rule (1951), the War Scroll and the Thanksgiving Hymns (1954/5) and the best-preserved columns of the Genesis Apocryphon (1 956). Even the Temple Scroll, which had remained concealed until 1967 In a Bata shoebox by an antique dealer, was edited ten years later. The large Scrolls have served as foundation and pillars, and the thousands of fragments as building stones, with which the unique shrine of Jewish religion and culture that is Qumran is progressively restored to its ancient splendour. Finally it is a most pleasant duty to express my warmest thanks to friends and colleagues who helped to make this book less imperfect than it might otherwise have been. First and foremost, I wish publicly to convey my gratitude to Professor Emanuel Tov, editor-in-chief of the Dead Sea Scrolls Publication Project, for his generosity in answering queries and assisting in every possible way My very special thanks are due also to Professor Joseph M. Baumgarten, who allowed me to consult his edition of the Damascus Document fragments from Cave 4 prior to their publication in DJD, and to my former pupil, Dr Jonathan G. Campbell, who did not shirk the onerous task of reading through and commenting on the rather bulky printout of this volume. G.V Preface to the Penguin Classics edition Since the end of 1996, when the text oiThe Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English was sent to the printers, eighteen further tomes of manuscript material have appeared in the series Discoveries in the Judaean Desert (DJDJ.Today, in January 2003, only three more volumes, two biblical and one non-biblical, still await publication before the 39-volume venture, begun in 1955 with DJD I, reaches its fulfilment. When reviewing The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in 1997, John J. Collins wittily predicted: 'It is not inconceivable that a more complete edition may appear a few years hence.' Yet even today's revised and updated version remains in some way incomplete. It is without the scriptural texts found in the caves, which I never intended to include. Luckily these are now available in The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible issued by Martin Abegg, Peter Flint and Eugene Ulrich (Harper San Francisco, 1 999). Neither have I attempted at any stage to present the English translation of every scrap devoid of significance (small, unconnected manuscript remains, broken sentences, single words, half-words or letters). However, I can state even more confidently than I did seven years ago that the reader wiii find in this volume all that is meaningful and interesting in the non-biblical Dead Sea Scrolls. The introductory chapters and the bibliographies have also been brought up to date so that account is taken in them of all fresh material as well as of the continuous advance of Qumran research. The publishers have decided to provide this book with a new niche: forty-one years after its first appearance in 1962 in the Pelican series, it will have its home from now on next to the great works of world literature in the Penguin Classics library. I feel deeply honoured. Oxford, January 2003 G.V Chronology BCB 197 Jmbea became a province of the Sdeodd Empire nded Ae Syrian successors of ALEXANDen thb OIBAT. 187-175 SELEUCUS IV. Beginninj; of I It- lltnistit- infiltration, rcsi-itcd l>y the Zadokiic Hi^h I'ru-it (in i as 111. 175-164 ANTiocHus IV (epipiianes). ONiAS (leposed and nplflCMl bjrlua HdliDopliils hioiliujAMif> 17s JASON opoled Am ottce im fivour of hshbuub, HelltHiihH lH|b Priest from tyt to itfs sci. I St the insdgadon of mbhilaus. an. 169 ANTIOOHVS M bgr mbmbuvs pn&ned and phin- dered die 'Rmple ofjcniaalem. itfS AN I in< iit-s thwarted 1^ the Romans in his second t;iiii[t.iit;ii :ii;;iinsi Kgypt. 1^7 Persecution of those Jews vho opposed die unifi- qnim of Ac S tI m cM Bo^^bo o> dw bids of Qrodk culture and rd^km. Offidal abolition of Jewish rel- igion and practice under threat of death. The Temple transformed into a sanctuary of Olympian /.cu.s. 166 Risini: of the Maocabecs supported by all the trad- ition, il p.irties UDder die leadership of jddas MACCABEE. 164 IhKe. rum,*tSM^ of tfat lkBfk» siflt hdd hf UBHELAVS. 162-150 DEMETRii-s t. MENELAUS executed bv the Syrians. ALCiMus appointed High Priest by the Idng. 161 JUDAS killed in battle. Jonathan assumed leader- ship of die rdwb (itf 1-152 l6o ALCIMVSi the han HeUenizing High Priest, died of a smAc End tjfSytiui military intervention. 152-145 ALBXAHim BALAS usuqKd the Sclcucid throne and ■pp OhHedlONATHAN High Pricst(i52-i4i/' ii<:n). 145-142 ANTIOCHUS VI, son of ALEXANDER, raised to die dmme hy twrnum, fab fidnrliffBiMnliOHMnuH named fowemor of Syria, simon, his broAn^ made military governor of the P:i1cstini;in littond. 143 JONATHAN arrcstcii liy iKvi*no\. 143/2-135/4 siHON High PHesi and ethnarch. 14s JONATHAN executed in prison. 140 Simon's titles oonfiimed as hereditary. Foundation ofdwMMCabMIBtOr Masmonacan, d>-n3st>. 135/4 tiuim BonlefBd by his son-in-bw. 135/4-104 JOBH BTtCANVS I High Priest and ethnarch. Oppoaed by die Pharisees. 104-103 AKiSTOBVurs I High Priesc and king. 103-76 ALBXAMDn JANNAXVS Hl^ PrieS^ Uog^ SBd 0C»- queroT. Resisted by the Pharisees. 71S-67 Ai,F.XANi>RA. widow of .1 AN N A Kv s. quccti. Kricnd of the Pharistrfs. iiyrcam s ii High Pritvt. 67 HVBCANUS 11 lung and High Priest. Deposed by his brother AEirroBVLVs. 67-63 AUSTOSVLOS II long and High Priest Taken prisoner by poupcv in 63 bce after the fatt of Jferusalem. Judaea became a Roman province. 63-40 HvacANUs 11 reinstated as High Priest without the royal tide. 40-37 ANTiGONus, son of AaisTOBULus II, occupied the thfooe and poBtificiH iridi Pai'ihiiii au^pciti mracAN vs maimed aod adkd. 37-4 iiF.RoD THF GRFAT. Eod of Ibmoaaean dputitf. iivRi \Ni s cxfcinfd in 30»<a. 27-14 CI AUGUSTUS emperor. 6 ■« (?) Knh of juvs op hazarbth. 4 bcbhS OB archblavs ethnarch of Judaea and Samaria. 14^37 CB TIBERIUS emperor. 26-jfi PONTIUS PILATE prefect of Judaea. 30^) CnidfixkHiof JE5VS. tf6-7o Rnc JewiA Vfm miSng iriA the tapnre of Jennalem «d the Jciu uuiu u of ifae Tfanple by TlTl'S, 73/74 l-;ill<.t"\his.uia. IJ2-5 Second unsuccessful Jewish War against Rome led by aiMBOH BAH KOSIBA EOKBU)* /. Introduction On the western shore of the Dead Sea, about eight miles south of Jericho, lies a complex of ruins known as Khirbet Qumran. It occupies one of the lowest parts of the earth, on the fringe of the hot and arid wastes of the Wilderness of Judaea, and is today, apart from occasional invasions by coachloads of tourists, lifeless, silent and empty But from that place, members of an ancient Jewish religious community whose centre it was, hurried out one day and in secrecy climbed the nearby cliffs in order to hide away in eleven caves their precious scrolls. No one came back to retrieve them, and there they remained undisturbed for almost 2,000 years. The account of the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, as the manuscripts are inaccurately designated, and of the half a century of intense research that followed, is in itself a fascinating as well as an exasperating story. It has been told many a time, but this fiftieth anniversary of the first Scroll find excuses, and even demands, yet another rehearsal.l A BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF FIFTY YEARS OF DEAD SEA SCROLLS RESEARCH 1. 1947-1967 News of an extraordinary discovery of seven ancient Hebrew and Aramaic manuscripts began to spread in 1948 from Israeli and American sources.^ The original chance find by a young Bedouin shepherd, Muhammad edh-Dhib, occurred during the last months of the British mandate in Palestine in the spring or summer of 1947, unless it was slightly eariier, in the winter of 1946.^ In 1949, the cave where the scrolls lay hidden was Identified, thanks to the efforts of a bored Belgian army officer of the United Nations Armistice Observer Corps, Captain Philippe Lippens, assisted by a unit of Jordan's Arab Legion, commanded by Major-General Lash. It was investigated by G. Lankester Harding, the English Director of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan, and the French Dominican archaeologist and biblical scholar, Father Roland de Vaux. They retrieved hurxJreds of leather fragments, some large but most of them minute, in addition to the seven scrolls found In the same cave. Three of the rolls, an Incomplete Isaiah manuscript, a scroll of Hymns and one describing the War of the Sons of Light against the Sons of Darkness, were purchased in 1947 by the Hebrew University's Professor of Jewish Archaeology, E. L. Sukenik, who proceeded at full speed towards their publication. The other four were entrusted for study and eventual publication by their owner, the Arab metropolitan archbishop Mar Athanaslus, head of the Syrian Orthodox monastery of St Mark In Jerusalem, to the resident staff of the American School for Oriental Research In Jerusalem, Millar Burrows, W H. Brownlee and J. 0. Trever. These three took charge of a complete Isaiah manuscript, the Commentary on Habakkuk and the Manual of Discipline, later renamed the Community Rule. Finally after the splitting of British mandatary Palestine Into Israel and Jordan, at the Ecole BIbllque et Archeologlque Fran^alse In Jordanian Jerusalem two young researchers, the Frenchman Dominique Barthelemy and the Pole Jozef Tadeusz Mlllk, were commissioned by de Vaux and Harding In late 1 951 to edit the fragments collected In Cave I. Between 1951 and 1956, ten further caves were discovered, most of them by Bedouin In the first Instance. Two yielded substantial quantities of material. Thousands and thousands of fragments were found In Cave 4 and several scrolls. Including the longest, the Temple Scroll, were retrieved from Cave II. The previously neglected ruins of a settlement In the proximity of the caves were also excavated by Harding and de Vaux, and the view soon prevailed that the texts, the caves and the Qumran site were Interconnected, and that consequently the study of the script and contents of the manuscripts should be accompanied by archaeological research. Progress was surprisingly quick despite the fact ttiat in those tialcyon days, apart from ttie small Nash papyrus, containing the Ten Commandments, found in Egypt and now in the Cambridge University Library, no Hebrew documents dating to Late Antiquity were extant to provide terms of comparison. In 1948 and 1949, Sukenik published in Hebrew two preliminary surveys entitled Hidden Scrolls from the JudaeanDesert, and concluded that the religious community involved was the ascetic sect of the Essenes, well known from the first-century CE writings of Philo, Josephus and Pliny the Elder, a thesis worked out in great detail from 1951 onwards by Andre Dupont-Sommer in Paris.l The first Qumran scrolls to reach the public, and the archaeological setting in which they were discovered, echoed three striking Essene characteristics. The Community Rule, a basic code of sectarian existence, reflects Essene common ownership and celibate life, while the geographical location of Qumran tallies with Pliny's Essene settlement on the north-western shore of the Dead Sea, south of Jericho. The principal novelty provided by the manuscripts consists of cryptic allusions to the historical origins of the Community launched by a priest called the Teacher of Righteousness, who was persecuted by a Jewish ruler, designated as the Wicked Priest. The Teacher and his followers were compelled to withdraw into the desert, where they awaited the impending manifestation of God's triumph over evil and darkness in the end of days, which had already begun. An almost unanimous agreement soon emerged, dating the discovery, on the basis of palaeography and archaeology to the last centuries of the Second Temple, i.e. second century BCE to first century CE. For a short while there was controversy between de Vaux, who decreed that the pottery and all the finds belonged to the Hellenistic era (i.e. pre-63 BCE), and Dupont-Sommer, who argued for an early Roman (post-63) date. But the finding of further caves and the excavation of the ruins of Qumran brought about, on 4 April 1952, de Vaux's dramatic retraction before the French Academie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres. His revised archaeological synthesis, presented in the 1959 Schweich Lectures of the British Academy while admittedly incomplete, is still the best comprehensive statement available today.^ A third point of early consensus concerns the chronology of the events alluded to in the Qumran writings, especially the biblical commentaries published in the 1950S and the Damascus Document. The so-called Maccabaean theory, placing the conflict between the Teacher of Righteousness and the politico-religious Jewish leadership of the day in the time of the Maccabaean high priest or high priests Jonathan and/or Simon, was first formulated in my 1952 doctoral dissertation, published in 1953,^ and was soon to be adopted with variations in detail by such leading specialists as J. T. Milik, F. M. Cross and R. de Vaux7 As long as the editorial task consisted only of publishing the seven scrolls from Cave I, work was advancing remarkably fast. Millar Burrows and his colleagues published their three manuscripts in 1950 and 1951 .® Sukenik's three texts appeared in a posthumous volume in 1954-5.5 In the interest of speed, these editors generously abstained from translating and Interpreting the texts, and were content with releasing the photographs and their transcription. The best-preserved sections of the Aramaic Genesis Apocryphon followed closely in 1956.15 Even the fragments from Cave I, handled with alacrity and loving care by D. Barthelemy and J. T Milik, appeared in 1955.11 The secrecy rule of later years, restricting access to unpublished texts to a small team of editors appointed by de Vaux, had not yet been applied. On my first visit to Jerusalem in 1952, I was allowed to examine the fragments of the Rule of the Congregation (IQSa), as may be seen from the inclusion in the final edition of a reading suggested by me to the editors. The scroll fragments, partly found by the archaeologists, but mostly purchased from the Arabs, who nine times out of ten outwitted their professional rivals, were cleaned, sorted out and displayed in the so- called Scrollery In the Rockefeller Museum, later renamed the Palestine Archaeological Museum, to become after 1967 once more the Rockefeller Museum. If the mass of material disgorged by Cave 4 had not upset the original arrangements, the scandalous delays in publishing in later years need never have happened. To deal with Cave 4, Father de Vaux improvised, in 1 953 and 1 954, a team of seven on the whole young and untried scholars. Barthelemy opted out, and the brilliant but unpredictable Abbe J. T. Milil<, who later left the Roman Catholic priesthood, became the pillar of the new group. He was joined by the French Abbe Jean Starcky and two Americans, Monsignor Patrick Skehan and Frank Moore Cross. John Marco Allegro and John Strugnell were recruited from Britain, and from Germany Claus-Hunno Hunzinger, who soon resigned and was replaced later by the French Abbe Maurice Baillet. It should have been evident to anyone with a modicum of good sense that a group of seven editors, of whom only two, Starcky and Skehan, had already established a scholarly reputation, was insufficient to perform such an enormous task on any level, let alone to produce the kind of 'last word' edition de Vaux appears to have contemplated. The second serious error committed by de Vaux was that he wholly relied on his personal, quasi-patriarchal authority, instead of setting up from the start a supervisory body empowered, if necessary, to sack those members of the team who might fail to fulfil their obligations promptly and to everyone's satisfaction. Yet before depicting the chaos characterizing the publishing process in the 1970s and 1980s, in fairness it should be stressed that, during the first decade or so, the industry of the group could not seriously be faulted. Judging from the completion around 1060 of a primitive Concordance, recorded on handwritten index cards, of all the words appearing in the fragments found in Caves 2 to 10, it is clear that at an early date most of the texts had been identified and deciphered. The many criticisms advanced in subsequent years, focusing on these scholars' refusal to put their valuable findings into the public domain, should not prevent one from acknowledging that this original achievement, in which J. T. Milik had the lion's share, deserves unrestricted admiration. After the publication of the Cave I fragments in 1 955, the contents of the eight minor caves (2-3, 5-10) were released in a single volume in 1963.1^ In 1965 J. A. Sanders, an American scholar who was not part of the original team, edited the Psalms Scroll, found in Cave II in 1956.15 Finally with its typescript completed and dispatched to the printers a year before the fatal date of 1967, the first poorly edited volume of Cave 4 fragments saw the light of day in 1 968.^ 2. 1967-1990 With the occupation of East Jerusalem in the Six Day War, all the scroll fragments housed in the Palestine Archaeological Museum came under the control of the Israel Department of Antiquities. Only the Copper Scroll and a few other fragments exhibited in Amman remained in Jordanian hands. The Temple Scroll, which until then had been held by a dealer in Bethlehem,!^ was quickly retrieved with the help of army intelligence and acquired by the State of Israel. Vlgael Yadin, deputy prime minister of Israel in the 1970s, mixing politics with scholarship, managed to complete a magisterial three-volume publication by 1977.1^ A gentlemanly gesture on the part of the Israelis, who decided not to interfere with de Vaux, left him and his scattered troop in charge of the Cave 4 texts.lZ As for the unpublished manuscripts from Cave II, they were handled by Dutch and American academics.l? Father de Vaux, whose anti-Israeli sentiments were no secret, quietly withdrew to his tent and remained inactive until his death in 1971 . Another French Dominican, Pierre Benoit, succeeded him as it were by natural selection in the editorial chair in 1972. The Israeli archaeological establishment, still aloof, conferred its blessing on him. By then, at my instigation, C. H. Roberts, Secretary to the Delegates, i.e. chief executive of Oxford University Press, decided to demand speedier publication, but Benoit's ineffectual rallying call either elicited no response from his men, or produced promises which were never honoured.l? In a lecture delivered in 1977, I coined the phrase which was thereafter often repeated that the greatest Hebrew manuscript discovery was fast becoming 'the academic scandal par excellence of the twentieth century.^ One may ask how and why, after such an apparently propitious beginning, a group of scholars, most of whom were gifted, had turned the editorial work on the Scrolls into such a lamentable story? In my opinion, tlie 'academic scandal of tlie century' resulted from a concatenation of causes. Lack of organization and unfortunate choice of collaborators can be blamed on de Vaux. For the majority of the team members who had other jobs to cope with, the overiong part-time effort caused their original enthusiasm to fade and vanish. J. T. Milil<, the most productive of them until the mid-seventies, appears to have been disenchanted by the cool reception of his highly speculative thesis contained in his edition of The Books olEnochAramaic Fragments of Qumran Cave 4(1976). 'Academic imperialism' was also a fector. It was easier to hold that 'These texts belong to us, not to you!' than to admit that the procrastinating editors had undertal<en more than they could deliver. Add to this the initial unwillingness of the Israelis to shoulder their responsibilities, and, as will be shown, their lack of foresight and repeated misjudgements before, finally, in the late 1980s, they began to take an active part in matters of editorial policy. Need I say more? The inevitable began to happen: in 1980 Patrick Skehan died, followed by Jean Starcky in 1986, both without publishing their assignments. Eugene Uirich and Emile Puech became their heirs, while F. M. Cross and J. Strugnell distributed portions of their texts to serve as dissertation topics for doctoral students at Harvard University. Though responsible for some good, and occasionally excellent, monographs, this unfortunate practice further delayed progress as thesis writers like to keep their cards ciose to their chests untii their PhDs are in the bag. In 1986, a year before his death, Pierre Benoit resigned as editor- in-chief and the depleted international team elected as his successor the talented but tardy John Strugnell, who in thirty-three years failed to produce a single volume of text. In 1987, at a public session of a Scrolls Symposium held in London, I urged him to publish at once the photographic plates, while he and his acolytes carried on with their work at their customary snail pace. This request was met with a one- syllable negative answer. To the surprise of many the Israel Antiquities Authority (or lAA) acquiesced in Strugnell's appointment. His grandiose schemes never bore fruit. In 1990, after a compromising interview given by him to an Israeli newspaper, in which he was reported as having made disparaging remarl<s not only about Israelis, but also about the Jewish religion - he called it horrible - his fellow editors persuaded him to tender his resignation. It was accepted by the lAA on health grounds. Belatedly even the Israelis saw the light, andde facto terminated the thirty-seven-year-old and ultimately disastrous reign of the international team. 3. 1990-2003 After John Strugnell's withdrawal, the very capable Emanuel Tov, Professor of Biblical Studies at the Hebrew University was appointed chief editor, the first Jew and the first Israeli to head the Qumran publication project. He began his activities auspiciously by redistributing the unpublished texts among freshly recruited collaborators. The new editorial team, of which I became a member in 1991 , consists of some sixty scholars compared to the original seven! Unfortunately Tov did not feel free to cancel the 'secrecy rule', introduced and strictly enforced by de Vaux and his successors, prohibiting access to unpublished texts to all but a few chosen editors. However, the protective dam erected around the fragments by the international team collapsed in the autumn of 1991 under the growing pressure of public opinion, mobilized in particular by Hershel Shanks, in the columns of the widely read Biblical Archaeology Review (BAR). The first landmark event leading towards full freedom was the publication in early September by BAR'S parent body the Biblical Archaeology Society, of seventeen Cave 4 manuscripts reconstructed with the help of a computer by Ben Zion Wacholder and Martin Abegg^from the Preliminary Concordance, alluded to earlier, which was privately issued in twenty-five copies (in theory only for the use of the official editors) by John Strugnell in 1988.^ Later in the same month out of the blue came the announcement by William A. Moffett that the Huntington Library of San Marino, California, a renowned research institution, would bring to an end the forty-year-old closed shop by opening its complete photographic archive of the Qumran Scrolls to all qualified scholars._ The lAA and the official editors attempted to resist but, by the end of October, under pressure from the Knesset, Israel's parliament, they were all forced to recognize that the battle was lost and all restrictions had to be lifted. Almost at once, the Scroll photograph archives at the Oxford Centre for Postgraduate Hebrew Studies and at the Ancient Biblical Manuscript Center at Claremont, previously legally compelled to restrict access only to persons approved by Jerusalem, were also thrown open to all competent research scholars. Moreover, in November 1991 the Biblical Archaeology Society published a two- volume photographic edition of the bulk of the Qumran fragments compiled by Robert Eisenman and James Robinson.^ How the two Californian professors obtained the material remains unclear This new policy has had an essentially beneficial effect on Qumran studies. Since vested interests are no longer protected, the rate of publication has noticeably accelerated and from 1992 learned periodicals have been flooded with short or not so short papers by scholars claiming fresh insights. Free competition has expedited the official edition itself. The first Cave 4 volume of biblical texts, announced as imminent by Father Benoit in 1983, actually appeared -pace the 1992 date on the cover page — on 4 March 1993.^ Scholarship and the general public were to become the beneficiaries of the new era of liberty. Only the procrastinators and the selfish stood to lose. By 1996, thanks to the highly efficient stewardship of the editor-in-chief, Emanuel Tov, four further volumes have been published and another four are in the pipeline. Compared with the output of the previous regime, this is an admirable change indeed. At the time of the revision of this book, thirty-six out of the thirty-nine volumes o1 Discoveries in ttie JudaeanDesert (DJD) have appeared, twenty-eight of them since the watershed year of the Scrolls 'revolution' in 1991. THE PRESENT STATE OF DEAD SEA SCROLLS STUDIES Between 1947 and 1956, the eleven Qumran caves yielded a dozen scrolls written on leather and one embossed on copper. To these we have to add fragments on papyrus or leather, the precise number of which is unknown but probably in the order of six figures. About 800 original documents are fully or partly represented. The Cave 4 list alone contains 575titles,^ though it seems that some twenty documents (40342-61) probably originating from non-Qumran Judaean desert locations were mistakenly catalogued as 4Q material. Most scrolls are written in Hebrew, a smaller portion in Aramaic and only a few attest the ancient Greek or Septuagint version of the Bible.^ Among the texts previously known, all the books of the Hebrew Scriptures are extant at least in fragments save Esther, the absence of which may be purely accidental.^ Even Daniel, the most recent work to enter the Palestinian canon in the mid-second century BCE, is attested to by eight manuscripts.^ There are also remains of Aramaic and Greek scriptural translations. Furthermore, the caves have yielded some of the Apocrypha, i.e. religious works missing from the Hebrew Scriptures but included in the Septuagint, the Bible of Greek-speaking Jews. Caves 4 and 11 revealed the Book of Tobit in Aramaic and in Hebrew, Psalm cli, described in the Greek version as a 'supernumerary" psalm, and the Wisdom of Jesus ben Sira or Ecclesiasticus in Hebrew. Part of the latter, chapters xxxixxliv, has also survived at Masada, and hence cannot be later than 73/4 CE, the date when the stronghold was captured by the Romans, and two medieval manuscripts, discovered in the storeroom (genizah) of a synagogue in Cairo in 1896, have preserved about two thirds of the Greek version. A third category of religious books, the Pseudepigrapha, though very popular in some Jewish circles, failed to attain canonical rank either in Palestine or in the Diaspora. Some of them, previously known in Greek, Latin or Syriac translations, have turned up in their original Hebrew (e.g. the Book of Jubilees) or Aramaic (e.g. the Book of Enoch). A good many further compositions pertaining to this class have also come to light, such as fictional accounts relating among others to Joseph, Amram, Moses, Joshua or Jeremiah, as well as apocryphal psalms, five of which have survived also in Syriac translation, others being revealed for the first time at Qumran. The sectarian Dead Sea Scrolls, thought to have been composed or revised by the Qumran Community constitute, with one exception,^ a complete novelty. This literature comprises rule books, Bible interpretation of various kinds, religious poetry. Wisdom compositions in prose and in verse, sectarian calendars and liturgical texts, one of them purporting to echo the angelic worship in the heavenly temple. To these are to be added several 'horoscopes' or, more precisely, documents of astrological physiognomy, a literary genre based on the belief that the temper, physical features and fate of an individual depend on the configuration of the heavens at the time of the person's birth, and a text (brontologion) predicting prodigies if thunder is heard on certain days, with the moon passing through given signs of the Zodiac. Finally, the Copper Scroll alludes in cryptic language to sixty- four caches of precious metals and scrolls, including another copy of this same inventory written without riddles. After a first few gaffes committed before the excavation of the site, the palaeographical, archaeological and literary-historical study of the evidence produced a general consensus among scholars concerning (a) the age, (b) the provenance and (c) the significance of the discoveries. Holders of fringe opinions have recently tended to explain this consensus as tyrannically imposed from above by Roland de Vaux and his henchmen. The truth, however, is that the opinio communis has resulted from a natural evolutionary process - from arguments which others found persuasive even when advanced by single individuals often unconnected with the international team - and not from an almighty establishment forcing an official view down the throats of weaklings. (a) The Dating of the Manuscripts Palaeography was the first method employed to establish the age of the texts. Despite the paucity of comparative material, experts independently arrived at dates ranging between the second century BCE and the first century CE. By the 1960s, in addition to the Qumran texts, they could mal<e use also of manuscripts from Masada (first century CE), as well as from the Murabba'at and other Judaean desert caves yielding first- and second-century CE Jewish writings. A rather too rigid, but useful, comprehensive system was quickly devised by F. M. Cross.^ While admittedly controversial if unsupported either by actual dates in the manuscripts themselves (a phenomenon, alas, unknown at Qumran) or by external criteria, these palaeographical conclusions were to receive a twofold boost from archaeology and radiocarbon dating. The archaeological thesis, based Inter alia on the study of pottery and coins, was formulated by R. de Vaux (cf. note 5 on p. 4). He assigned the occupation of Qumran to the period between the second half of the second century BCE and the first war between Jews and Romans (66-70 CE). Radiocarbon tests were first applied to the cloth wrapping of one of the scrolls as early as 1 951 . The date suggested was 33 CE, but one had to reckon with a 10 per cent margin of error each way^ However, with the improved techniques of the 1990s, eight Qumran manuscripts were subjected to Accelerator Mass Spectrometry or AM S. Six of them were found to be definitely pre-Christian, and only two straddled over the first century BCE/first century CE dividing line.^ Most importantly with a single exception - the Testament of Qahat being shown to be about 300 years earlier than expected - the radiocarbon dates confirm in substance those proposed by the palaeographers. Unfortunately the manuscripts tested in 1990 did not include historically sensitive texts. But in 1994 the lAA invited the Arizona AMS Laboratory at the University of Arizona, Tucson to analyse eighteen texts and two linen fragments. Thirteen of the manuscripts came definitely from Qumran and one of these had already been carbon- dated in Zurich. Three texts were 'date-bearing'. The general conclusion is as follows: 'Measurements on samples of known ages are in good agreement with those known ages. Ages determined from ^^C measurements on the remainder of the Dead Sea Scroll samples are in reasonable agreement with paleographic estimates of such ages, in the case where those estimates are available. '_ On the whole, the results of this second radiocarbon analysis are somewhat disappointing in that, while the dates arrived at accommodate the palaeographic proposals, the margin of error is considerably greater than that appearing in the 1 990 Zurich tests. Nevertheless, Arizona has scored on one highly significant point: the Habakkuk Commentary, chief source of the history of the Qumran sect, is definitely put in the pre-Christian era between 120 and 5 BCE. Inconsequence, fringe scholars who see in this writing allusions to events described in the New Testament will find they have a problem on their hands. In sum, the general scholarly view today places the Qumran Scrolls roughly between 200 BCE and 70 CE, with a small portion of the texts possibly stretching back to the third century BCE, and the bulk of the extant material dating to the first century BCE, i.e. late Hasmonaean or early Herodian in the jargon of the palaeographers. (b) The Provenance of the Manuscripts With negligible exceptions, scholarly opinion recognized already in the 1950s that the Scrolls found in the caves and the nearby ruined settlement were related. To take the obvious example. Cave 4 with its 575 (or perhaps 555) documents lies literally within a stone's throw from the buildings. At the same time, the Essene identity of the ancient inhabitants of Qumran gained general acceptance. Today the Essene theory is questioned by some, but usually for unsound reasons. They adopt a simplistic attitude in comparing the two sets of evidence, namely the classical sources (Philo, Josephus and Pliny the Elder) and Qumran, and any disagreement or contradiction between them is hailed as final proof against the Essene thesis. Yet, if its intricacies are handled with sophistication, it is still the best hypothesis today^ Indeed, it accounts best for such striking peculiarities as common ownership of property and the lack of reference to women in the Community Rule, the probable coexistence of celibate and married sectaries (in accordance with Flavius Josephus' account of two kinds of Essenes), and the remarkable coincidence between the geographical setting of Qumran and Pliny the Elder's description of an Essene establishment near the Dead Sea between Jericho and Engedi. I admit of course that the Scrolls and the archaeological data surrounding them do not always fully agree with the Greek and Latin notices, and that both the Qumran and the classical accounts need to be interpreted and adjusted, bearing in mind that the Scrolls represent the views of initiates against those of more or less complete outsiders.^ But since none of the competing theories associating the Qumran group with Pharisees, Sadducees, Zealots, or Jewish- Christians can withstand critical scrutiny, I remain unrepentant in upholding my statement formulated in 1977 as still valid today: 'The final verdict must ... be that of the proposed solutions the Essene theory is relatively the soundest. It is even safe to say that it possesses a high degree of intrinsic probability.'^ (c) The Significance oftlie Qumran Scroiis The uniqueness of the Qumran discovery was due to the fact that with the possible exception of the Nash papyrus referred to earlier (p. 3), no Jewish text in Hebrew or Aramaic written on perishable material could previously be traced to the pre-Christian period. Before 1947, the oldest Hebrew text of the whole of Isaiah was the Ben Asher codex from Cairo dated to 895 CE, as against the complete Isaiah Scroll from Cave I, which is about a millennium older. The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha, save the Hebrew Ben Sira and the Aramaic fragments of the Testament of Levi from the Cairo Genizah, had survived only in translation. The sectarian writings found in the caves, apart from the already mentioned Damascus Document (p. II), count as a total novelty. To begin with, the Qumran Scrolls and the other Judaean Desert finds have created a new discipline: ancient, i.e. pre-medieval, Hebrew codicology. We now possess concrete evidence that scribes carefully prepared the leather or papyrus on which they were to write, often ruling them, with vegetable ink, kept in ink-wells. Paragraphs and larger unit openings were indicated by symbols in the margins. Longer compositions were written on scrolls, on one side of the sheets only, some of them numbered, which were subsequently sewn together Papyrus documents were often reused, with a different text inscribed on the verso. Short works such as letters were recorded on small pieces of writing material: leather, papyrus, wood or potsherd. By contrast, no book or codex, with pages covered with script on both sides and bound together, has come to light at Qumran, or in any other Judaean Desert site. The Qumran finds have also substantially altered our views concerning the fexf and canon of the Bible. The many medieval Hebrew scriptural manuscripts, representing the traditional or Masoretic text, are remarkable for their almost general uniformity Compared to the often meaningful divergences between the traditional Hebrew text and its ancient Greek, Latin or Syriac translations, the few variant readings of the Masoretic Bible manuscripts, ignoring obvious scribal errors, mainly concern spelling. By contrast, the Qumran scriptural scrolls, and especially the fragments, are characterized by extreme fluidity: they often differ not just from the customary wording but also, when the same book is attested by several manuscripts, among themselves. In fact, some of the fragments echo what later became the Masoretic text; others resemble the Hebrew underlying the Greek Septuagint; yet others recall the Samaritan Torah or Pentateuch, the only part of the Bible which the Jews of Samaria accepted as Scripture. Some Qumran fragments represent a mixture of these, or something altogether different. It should be noted, however, that none of these variations affects the scriptural message itself. In short, while largely echoing the contents of biblical books, Qumran has opened an entirely new era in the textual history of the Hebrew Scriptures.^ The Community's attitude to the biblical canon, i.e. the list of books considered as Holy Writ, is less easy to define, as no such list of titles has survived. Canonical status may be presumed indirectly either from authoritative quotations or from theological commentary. As regards the latter, the caves have yielded various interpretative works on the Pentateuch (the Temple Scroll, reworked Pentateuch manuscripts, the Genesis Apocryphon and other commentaries on Genesis) and the Prophets (e.g. Isaiah, Habakkuk, Nahum, etc.), but only on the Psalms among the Writings, the third traditional division of the Jewish Bible. From the texts available in 1988, I collected over fifty examples of Bible citations which were used as proof in doctrinal expositions, thus indicating that they were thought to possess special religious or doctrinal importance.^ On the other hand, the Psalms Scroll from Gave 11 contains seven apocryphal poems, including chapter L1 of the Wisdom of Jesus ben Sira, not annexed to, but interspersed among, the canonical hymns. This maybe explained as a liturgical phenomenon, a collection of songs chanted during worship; but it may and in my view probably does, mean that at Qumran the concept 'Bible' was still hazy, and the 'canon' open-ended, which would account for the remarkable freedom in the treatment of the text of Scripture by a community whose life was nevertheless wholly centred on the Bible. There are two Apocrypha attested at Qumran. In connection with Tobit one can note that four out of the five Cave 4 manuscripts are in Aramaic and only one in Hebrew, but they all reflect the longer version of the Greek Tobit. So the long-debated original language of this book is still uncertain, but Aramaic has become the likeliest candidate. On the other hand, the Hebrew poem from Ben Sira LI has a patently better chance of reflecting the original than either the Greek translation by the author's grandson, preserved in the Septuagint, or the Hebrew of the medieval Cairo Genizah manuscripts, because the Qumran version alone faithfully reflects the acrostic character of the composition with the lines starting with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet, aleph, bet, gimel, etc. Qumran has also added to the Pseudepigrapha several new works dealing with biblical figures such as Joseph, Qahat, Amram, Moses, Joshua, Samuel. Among the works in this category which were previously known, the Aramaic fragments of Enoch deserve special mention because they appear to attest only four out of the five books of the Ethiopic Enoch.^ Book 2 (i.e. chapters XXXVII-LXXII), which describes the heavenly apocalyptic figure called son of man, a subject on which New Testament scholars have wasted a considerable amount of ink without approaching even the vaguest consensus, is missing at Qumran. Thus the Aramaic Enoch does not support their speculations any more than do the Greek manuscripts, which are also without chapters XXXVII-LXXII of the Ethiopic Enoch.H The contribution of the Scrolls to general Jewsh history is negligible, and even to the history of the Community is fairly limited. The chief reason for this is that none of the non-biblical compositions found at Qumran belongs to the historical genre. The sectarian persons and events mentioned in the manuscripts are depicted in cryptic language as fulfilment of ancient prophecies relating to the last age. The chief sources of sectarian history, the Damascus Document and the Bible commentaries or pesharim, identify the Community's principal enemies as the kings of Yavan (Greece) and the rulers of the Kittim (Romans). Also, the Nahum Commentary's historical perspective extends from Antiochus (no doubt Epiphanes, c. 170 BCE) to the conquest by the Kittim (probably 63 BCE). Names familiar from Jewish or Graeco-Roman history appear here and there. The Nahum Commentary alludes to Antiochus, and to another Syrian Greek king, Demetrius (most likely Demetrius III at the beginning of the first century BCE). Very fragmentary historical calendars from Cave 4 contain the phrase 'Aemilius killed', meaning no doubt Aemilius Scaurus, governor of Syria at the time of Pompeys conquest of Jerusalem in 63. They mention also Jewish rulers of the Maccabaean — Hasmonaean era (second-first centuries BCE), Shelamzion or Salome-Alexandra, widow and successor of Alexander Jannaeus (76- 67 BCE); Hyrcanus and John (Yohanan), either John Hyrcanus I (135/4-104 BCE) or more likely II (63-40 BCE),^ and King Jonathan, Alexander Jannaeus or, in my opinion, more likely Jonathan Maccabaeus (161-143/2 BCE).^ In one respect, despite the absence of detail, the evidence is telling: all these characters belong to the second or the first half of the first century BCE. So also do most of the coins discovered at Qumran. The mainstream hypothesis, built on archaeology and literary analysis, sketches the history of the Scrolls Community (or Essene sect) as follows.^ Its prehistory starts in Palestine - some claim also Babylonian antecedents - with the rise of the Hasidic movement, at the beginning of the second century BCE as described in the first bool< of the IVIaccabees (I IVIac. ii, 42-44; vii, 13-17). Sectarian (Essene) history itself originated in a clash between the Wicked Priest or Priests (Jonathan and/or possibly Simon Maccabaeus) and the Teacher of Righteousness, the anonymous priest who was the spiritual leader of the Community. The sect consisted of the survivors of the Hasidim, linked with a group of dissident priests who, by the mid-second century, came under the leadership of the sons of Zadok, associates of the Zadokite high priests. This history continues at Qumran, and no doubt in many other Palestinian localities, until the years of the first Jewish rebellion against Rome, when possibly in 68 CE the settlement is believed to have been occupied by Vespasian's soldiers. Whether the legionaries encountered sectarian resistance - such a theory would be consonant with Josephus' reference to an Essene general among the revolutionaries^ and to a massacre of the Essenes by the Romans^ - or whether the threatening presence of the contingents of Zealot Sicarii, who had already expelled the Essenes from Qumran, provoked a Roman intervention, are purely speculative matters. One fact is certain, however. No one of the original occupants of Qumran returned to the caves to reclaim their valuable manuscripts. A variation on this theme, called the Groningen hypothesis, postulates a whole series of six Wicked Priests, and identifies the Community not with the main Essene sect but with one of Its splinter groups.!^ The Zealot theory, elaborated In the 1950s in Oxford by Sir Godfrey Driver and Cecil Roth,^ is hard to reconcile with the totality of the available evidence, as most of the Qumran documents predate the Zealot period. More recently Norman Golb of Chicago has launched a forceful attack on the common opinion. His objections, reiterated in a series of papers,^ culminated in 1995 in a hefty tome.* The target of his criticism is the provenance of the scrolls found at Qumran. According to him, the manuscripts originated in a Jerusalem library (or libraries), the contents of which were concealed in desert caves when the capital was besieged between 67 and 70 CE. The chief corollary of the hypothesis is that the Essenes had nothing to do either with the Qumran settlement - a fortress in Golb's opinion^ - or with the manuscripts. The early assumption of Scroll scholars that every non-biblical Dead Sea text was an Essene writing^ might have justified to some extent Norman Golb's scepticism. But nowadays specialists distinguish between Qumran manuscripts written by members of the Essene sect, and others either predating the Community or simply brought there from outside. Emanuel Tov, for instance, has drawn a dividing line on scribal grounds between scrolls produced at Qumran and the rest.^ However, in my view the soft underbelly of the Jerusalem hypothesis is revealed - apart from the patent weakness of the archaeological interpretation, for Qumran is not a fortress - by the composition of the manuscript collection itself, definitely pointing towards a sectarian library. If Cave 4 is taken as representative, whereas several biblical books (Kings, Lamentations, Ezra and Chronicles) are attested only in single copies; and others, as important as Numbers, Joshua, Judges, Proverbs, Ruth and Ecclesiastes, in tm copies, we find ten copies of the Community Rule and nine of the Damascus Document. Over a dozen manuscripts contain sectarian calendars, yet not one mainstream calendar figures among the 575 (or 555) compositions found in that cave! So, if the texts discovered at Qumran came from the capital, can their source have been an Essene library in Jerusalem?^ QUMRAN AND THE NEW TESTAMENT Since Qumran and early Christianity partly overlap, it is not surprising that from the very beginning of Dead Sea Scrolls research some scholars endeavoured to identify the two. The first attempt came from England in the early 1950s, with Jacob Teicher of Cambridge modestly advancing the thesis that Jesus was the Teacher of Righteousness and Saint Paul the Wicked Priest.^ This trend was continued with loud media support by J. M. Allegro's speculation about the role of ammanita muscaiia, a hallucinogenic fungus, in the genesis of the Christian Church.^ It reached its climax with Barbara Thiering's discovery that John the Baptist was the Teacher of Righteousness and the married, divorced and remarried Jesus, father of four children, the Wicked Priest.^ As for Robert Eisenman, he ignores Jesus, and casts instead his brother, James, in the role of the Teacher of Righteousness, with Paul playing the Wicked Priest.^ In my opinion all these theories fail the basic credibility test: they do not spring from, but are foisted on, the texts.^ These - to say the least - improbable speculations as well as the no less fantastic claim that Qumran Cave 7 yielded remains of the Gospel of Mark and other New Testament writings in Greek^ need not detain us any longer. Turning to the real relationship between the Scrolls and the New Testament, this can be presented under a threefold heading. (1) We note (a) fundamental similarities of language (both in the Scrolls and in the New Testament the faithful are called 'sons of light'); (b) ideology (both communities considered themselves as the true Israel, governed by twelve leaders, and expected the imminent arrival of the Kingdom of God); (c) attitude to the Bible (both considered their own history as a fulfilment of the words of the Prophets). However, all correspondences such as these may be due to the Palestinian religious atmosphere of the epoch, without entailing any direct influence. (2) More specific features, such as monarchic administration (i.e. single leaders, overseers at Qumran, bishops in Christian communities) and the practice of religious communism in the strict discipline of the sect and at least in the early days in the Jerusalem church (cf. Acts ii, 44-5), would suggest a direct causal connection. If so, it is likely that the young and inexperienced church modelled itself on the by then well-tried Essene society. (3) In the study of the historical Jesus, the charismatic- eschatological aspects of the Scrolls have provided the richest gleanings for comparison. For example, the Prayer of Nabonidus, known since the mid-1 950s,^ and concerned with the story of Nabonidus' cure by a Jewish exorcist who forgave his sins, provides the most telling parallel to the Gospel account of the healing of a paralytic in Capernaum whose sins Jesus declared forgiven.^ The second example is the so-called Resurrection fragment (4Q521, cf. below, pp. 412-3).^ In this poem, the age of the eschatological kingdom is characterized, with the help of Psalm cxivi, 7-8 and Isaiah Ixi, 1, by the liberation of captives, the curing of the blind, the straightening of the bent, the healing of the wounded, the raising of the dead and the proclamation of the good news to the poor Likewise, in the Gospels, victory over disease and the devil is viewed as the sure sign of the initial manifestation of God's reign. Jesus is reported to have announced: if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, the Kingdom of God has come upon you. (Lk. xi, 20) Similarly to John the Baptist's inquiry whether Jesus was the final messenger the following reply is sent: Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind recei\fi their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. (Matth. xi, 4-5) Note furthermore that Community Rule 4:6 lists healing as the chief eschatological reward and that according to the Palestinian Aramaic paraphrases of Genesis ill, 15 the days of the Messiah will bring an ultimate cure to the children of Eve wounded by the serpent in the garden of Eden.^ QUMRAN'S GREATEST NOVELTY If one had to single out the most revolutionary novelty furnished by Qumran, its contribution to our understanding of the genesis of Jewish literary compositions could justifiably be our primary choice. Comparative study of biblical manuscripts, where no two copies display the same text, and of sectarian worl<s, attested in a number of sometimes startlingly different redactions, has revealed in one leading scholar's words 'insufficiently controlled copying'.^ In my view, however, the phenomenon would better be described as scribal creative freedom. Qumran manuscripts of Scripture, and even more of the Community Rule and the War Scroll, indicate that diversity not uniformity reigned there and then, and that redactor-copyists felt free to improve the composition which they were reproducing. Or, to quote myself. The Dead Sea Scrolls have afforded for the first time direct insight into the creative literary-religious process at work within that variegated Judaism which flourished during the last two centuries of quasi- national independence, before the catastrophe of 70 CE forced the rabbinic successors of the Pharisees to attempt to create an 'orthodoxy' by reducing dangerous multiplicity to a simple, tidy and easily controllable unity.^ Looking at the Qumran discoveries from an overall perspective, it is - 1 believe - the student of the history of Palestinian Judaism in the inter- Testamental era (150 BCE-70 CE) who is their principal beneficiary. For such an expert, the formerly quite unknown sectarian writings of the Dead Sea literature have opened new avenues of exploration in the shadowy era of the life of Jesus, the rise of Christianity and the emergence of rabbinic Judaism. From the Jewish side, it was previously poorly documented. The rabbis of the first and second centuries CE had not permitted religious writings of that epoch to go down to posterity unless they conformed fully to their ideas, and although some of these texts were preserved by Christians (viz. the Apocrypha and many of the Pseudepigrapha), the fact that they had served as a vehicle for Church apologetics caused their textual reliability to be suspect. But the Scrolls are unaffected by either Christian or rabbinic censorship, and now that their evidence is complete, historians will be thoroughly acquainted, not with just another aspect of Jewish beliefs or customs, but with the whole organization, teaching and aspirations of a religious community flourishing during the last centuries of the Second Temple. The Scrolls have understandably awakened intense interest in the academic world, but why have they appealed so strongly to the imagination of the non-specialist? I would say, the outstanding characteristic of our age appears to be a desire to reach back to the greatest attainable purity to the basic truth free of jargon. Affecting the whole of our outlook, it has necessarily included the domain of religious thought and behaviour, and with it, in the Western world, the whole subject of Judaeo-Christian culture and spirituality. A search is being made for the original meaning of issues with which we have become almost too familiar and which with the passing of the centuries have tended to become choked with inessentials, and it has led not only to a renewed preoccupation with the primitive but fully developed expression of these issues in the Scriptures, but also to a desire for knowledge and understanding of their prehistory. The laws and rules, hymns and other liturgical works as well as the Bible commentaries of the Qumran Community respond to this need in that they add substance and depth to the historical period in which Jewish Christianity and rabbinic Judaism originated. They reveal one facet of the spiritual ferment at work among the various Palestinian religious parties at that time, a ferment which culminated in a thorough re-examination and re interpretation of the fundamentals of the Jewish faith. By dwelling in such detail on the intimate organization of their society on the role attributed to their Teacher and on their ultimate hopes and expectations, the sect of the Scrolls has exposed its own resulting synthesis. This in its turn has thrown into relief and added a new dimension to its dissenting contemporaries. Thus, compared with the ultra-conservative rigidity of the Essene Rule, rabbinic Judaism reveals itself as progressive and flexible, while the religion preached and practised by Jesus of Nazareth stands out invested with religious individuality and actuality. Also, by comparison to all three, the ideology of the Gentile Church sounds a definitely alien note.^ Yet at the same time, the common ground from which they all sprang, and their affinities and borrowings, show tliemselves more clearly than ever before. It Is no exaggeration to state that none of these religious movements can properly be understood independently of the others. Essenism is dead. The brittle structure of its stiff and exclusive brotherhood was unable to withstand the national catastrophe which strucl< Palestinian Judaism in 70 CE. Animated by the loftiest of ideals and devoted to the observance of 'perfect holiness', it yet lacked the pliant strength arxJ the elasticity of thought and depth of spiritual vision which enabled rabbinic Judaism to survive and flourish. And although the Teacher of Righteousness clearly sensed ttie deeper obligations implicit in the Mosaic Law, he was without the genius of Jesus ttie Jew who succeeded in urKOvering the essence of religion as an existential relationship between man and man and man and God. //. The Community Since the early 1950s, the information garnered from the Scrolls and from Qumran's archaeological remains has been combined by experts to form a persuasive portrait of the people to which they allude. Yet for all the advances made in knowledge and understanding, the enigma of the sect is by no means definitely solved. After all this time, we are still not certain that we have collated the whole evidence correctly or interpreted it properly Questions continue to arise in the mind and there is still no way to be sure of the answers. Our perplexity is mainly due to an absence in the documents, singly or together, of any systematic exposition of the sect's constitution and laws. The Community Rule legislates for a group of ascetics living in a kind of 'monastic' society, the statutes of the Damascus Document for an ordinary lay existence; MMTCMqisaf Ma'ase ha-Torah, or Some Observances of the Law) probably echoes the prehistory or early history of the sect; and the War Rule and Messianic Rule in their turn, while associated with the Community Rule and the Damascus Document, and no doubt reflecting to some extent a contemporary state of affairs, first and foremost plan for a future age. Taken together, however, it is clear from this literature that the sectaries regarded themselves as the true Israel, the repository of the authentic traditions of the religious body from which they had seceded. Accordingly, they organized their movement so that it corresponded faithfully to that of the Jewish people, dividing it into priests and laity (or Aaron and Israel), and the laity grouped after the biblical model into twelve tribes. This structure is described in the War Scroll's account of reconstituted Temple worship as it was expected to be at the end of time: ... the twelve chief Priests shall minister at the daily sacrifice before God ... Below them ... shall be the chiefs of the Levifes fothe number of twete, one for each fribe ... Below fhem shall be the chiefs of the tribes ... f/Q/wrr, 1-3) still following the biblical pattern, sectarian society (apart from the tribe of Levi) was further distinguished into units of Thousands, Hundreds, Fifties and Tens (IQS 11, 21; CD XIII, 1-2). To what extent these figures are symbolical, we do not know, but it is improbable that 'Thousands' amounted to anything more than a figure of speech. It is not irrelevant, in this connection, to note that the archaeologists have deduced from the fact that the cemetery contained 1 ,100 graves, dug over the course of roughly 200 years, that the population of Qumran, an establishment of undoubted importance, can never have numbered more than 150 to 200 souls at a time. Also, it should be borne in mind that the total membership of the Essene sect in the first century CE only slightly exceeded 'four thousand' (Josephus, Antiquities X\/\\\, 21). To consider now the two types separately, the 'monastic' brotherhood at Qumran alludes to itself in the Community Rule as 'the men of holiness' and 'the men of perfect holiness', and to the sect as 'the Community and 'Council of the Community or 'the men of the Law' (4QS'^=4Q258). The establishment was devoted exclusively to religion. Work must have formed a necessary part of their existence; it is obvious from the remains discovered at Qumran that they farmed, made pots, cured hides and reproduced manuscripts. But no indication of this appears in the documents. It is said only that they were to 'eat in common and bless in common and deliberate in common' (IQS VI, 2-3), living in such a way as to 'seek God with a whole heart and soul' (IQS 1, 1-2). Perfectly obedient to each and every one of the laws of Moses and to all that was commanded by the Prophets, they were to love one another and to share with one another their 'knowledge, powers and possessions' (IQS I, II). They were to be scrupulous in their observance of the times appointed for prayer, and for every other aspect of a liturgical existence conducted apart from the Temple of Jerusalem and its official cult. 'Separate from the habitation of unjust men' (IQS VIII, 13), they were to study the Torah in the wilderness and thereby 'atone for the Land' (IQS VIII, 6, 1 0) and its wicked men, for whom they were to rxjurish an 'everlasting hatred' (IQS ix, 21), though this went together with a firm conviction that their fate was in God's hands alone. And the poet proclaims in the Hymn with which the Community Rule ends: I will payto no man the reward of ey'l; I will pursue him with goodness. Forjudgementof all the living is with God Aid it is He who will render to man his reward. (IQSx, 17-18) They were to be truthful, humble, just, upright, charitable arxJ modest. They were to watch in community for a third of every night of the year, to read the Book and to study the Law and to bless together. (IQS VI, 7-8) These are, as may be seen, mostly the sort of recommendations to be expected of men devoting themselves to contemplation. A point to bear in mind, however, is that the contemplative life is not a regular feature of Judaism. An additional distinctive trait of these sectaries is that another qualification was required of them besides holiness: they were expected to become proficient in the knowledge of the 'two spirits' in which all men 'walk', the spirits of truth and falsehood, and to learn how to discriminate between them. They were taught in the so- called 'instruction concerning the Two Spirits', the earliest Jewish theological tractate incorporated into the Community Rule, how to recognize a 'son of Light' or potential 'son of Light, and how to distinguish a 'son of Darkness' belonging to the lot of Belial (IQS III, 13- IV, 25; cf. below pp. 73-4). The hierarchy at Qumran was strict and formal, from the highest level to the lowest. Every sectary was inscribed in 'the order of his rank' (IQS VI, 22) - the term 'order' recurs constantly - and was obliged to keep to it in all the Community meetings and at table, an order that was subject to an annual review on the Feast of the Renewal of the Covenant. But after democratic beginnings, with the 'Congregation' (literally, 'the Many) as such forming the supreme authority, testified to by what seems to be the earliest formulation of the communal constitution (cf. 4QS'''''=4Q256, 258, see below, pp. 118-19), the 'sons of Zadok, the priests', members of the 'Zadokite' high-priestly family, took over the leadership of the sect. Although nothing to this effect is mentioned specifically in the Community Rule, the superior, the so-called mebaqqer or Guardian, was undoubtedly one of their number, as was the Bursar of the Congregation entrusted with handling the material affairs of the Community In their hands lay the ultimate responsibility for decisions on matters of doctrine, discipline, purity and impurity, and in particular everything pertaining to 'justice and property" (IQS IX, 7). It was also a basic rule of the order that a priest was required to be present at any gathering of ten or more members who were meeting for debate, Bible study or prayer. A priest was to recite the grace before the common meals and to pronounce blessings (IQS VI, 3-8). He was no doubt the man whose duty it was to study the Law continually (IQS VI, 7; VIII, 11-12). One interesting feature of the priesthood at Qumran is that their precedence was absolute. In Judaism as represented by the Mishnah, the priest is superior to the Levite, the Levite to the Israelite, and the Israelite to the 'bastard' (Horayot III, 8). But the priestly precedence is conditional. If the 'bastard' is a man of learning, we are told, and the High Priest an uneducated 'boor', 'the bastard ... precedes the High Priest'. The highest office was vested in the person of the Guardian, known also, it would seem, as the 'IVlaster' {maskil). The Community was to be taught by him how to live in conformity with the 'Book of the Community Rule' (IQS 1,1; 4QS^=4Q255), and to be instructed by him in the doctrine of the 'two spirits'. He was to preside over assemblies, giving leave to speak to those wishing to do so (IQS VI, 11-13). He was to assess, in concert with the brethren, the spiritual progress of the men in his charge and rank them accordingly (IQS VI, 21-2). And negatively he was not to dispute with 'the men of the Pit (or Dawn)' and not to transmit to them the sect's teachings (IQS IX, 16-17). Of the sect's institutions, the most significant appears to have been the Council of the Community, or assembly of the Congregation. From a passage ordering all the members to sit in their correct places - 'the Priests shall sit first, and ttie elders second, and all the rest of the people according to their rark' (IQS VI, 8-9) - the Courrcil seems to have been a gathering of the whole community, under the priests and men of importance, marshalled by the Levites, and with the Guardian at the head. But in another text, generally held to be an early section, the rule is as follows: In the Council of the Community there shall be twel\« men and three Priests, perfectly \«rsecl in all that is re\fialed of the Law, whose wori<s shall be truth, righteousness, justice, ioving-l<indness and humility They shall preserve the faith in the Land with steadfastness and meekness and shall atone tor sin bythe practice of justice and bysuffering the sorrows of aflliction. They shall walk with all men according to the standard of truth and the rule of the time. (IQS VIII, 1-4) These three priests and twelve men are referred to also as 'fifteen men' in a hybrid version of the Community Rule and the Damascus Document (4Q265 fr 7 ii). Their presence was obviously essential: both documents state that when they 'are in Israel, the Council of the Community shall be established in truth' (IQS VIII, 4-5; 4Q265 fr. 7 11, 7- 8). But whether they formed the nucleus of the sect as a whole, or the minimum quorum of the leadership of the Community symbolically portrayed as consisting of the twelve tribes and the three Levitical clans, or a special elite within the Council designated elsewhere 'the Foundations of the Community", must be left open to question. The purpose of the meetings is in any case clear It was to debate the Law, to discuss their current business, to select or reject newcomers under the guidance of the Guardian, to hear charges against offenders and to conduct a yearly inquiry into the progress of every sectary, promoting or demoting them in rank, again under the Guardian's supervision (IQS v, 23-4; VI, 13-23). During their sessions, order and quiet were to prevail: a person wishing to offer his opinion or ask a question was to crave permission in a prescribed way. He was to rise and tell the Guardian and the Congregation, 'I have something to say to the Congregation' and then wait for their consent before going ahead (IQS VI, 8-13). The procedure followed in inquiries into infringements of the Law and the sect's Rule has been preserved, and the list of faults with their corresponding sentences tells us more about the mentality of the Dead Sea ascetics than any isolated exposition of their doctrine and principles can do. Beginning with the blackest sins: any transgression, by commission or omission, of 'one word of the Law of Moses, on any point whatever' earned outright expulsion. No former companion might from then on associate with the sinner In any way at ail (IQS VIII, 21-4). Expulsion followed, secondly, the pronouncement for any reason whatever of the divine Name: If any man has uttered ttie [Most] N^nerable Name, ewn though friMolously or as a result of shock, or for any other reason whatever, while reading the Book or blessing, he shall be dismissed and shall return ... no more. (IQS VI, 27-VII, 2) Thirdly, a sectary was expelled for slandering the Congregation (IQS VII, 16). Fourthly, he was sent away for rebelling against the 'Foundations' of the Community: VVhoe\«r has murmured against the authority of the Community shall be e;^elled and shall not return. (IQS VII, 17) Lastly where a man had been a member of the Council for at least ten ^ars and had then defected to 'walk in the stubbornness of his hearf , not only was he to be expelled, but the same judgement was extended to any of his former colleagues who might take pity on him and share with him their food or money (IQS VII, 22-3). The remaining oftences are of a kind that might be confessed and censured in any Christian religious order of today, though one cannot perhaps say the same of the penances imposed for them. In a descendinq order of gravity: a man who 'betrayed the truth and walked in the stubbornness of his heart' (IQS VII, 18-21), or transgressed the Mosaic Law Inadvertently (IQS VIII, 24-IX, I), was visited with two years of penance. He was to lose his rank and during the first year be separated from the 'purity of ttie Congregation, and during the second year, from its 'drink'. Both notions will be developed presently. He was then to be re-examined by the Congregation and subsequently returned to his place In the order. Lying in matters of property, In all probability the partial concealment of personal possessions, earned exclusion from 'purity for a year and a cut by one quarter in the food ration (IQS VI, 25-7). The penal code of 4Q265, which closely resembles that of IQS, prescribes for deceiving a companion an exclusion for six months and a halving of the guilty person's food portion. Disrespect to a companion of higher rank, rudeness and anger towards a priest, slander and deliberate insult, all earned one year of penance and exclusion from 'purity (IQS VI, 25-7; VII, 2-5). After this, tine sentences decrease to six montlns, three months, thirty days and ten days of penance. For lying deliberately and similarly deceiving by word or deed, for bearing malice unjustly, for taking revenge, for murmuring against a companion unjustly and also for going 'naked before his companion, without having been obliged to do so' - a curious proviso - tlie sectary was to atone for six montlis. For failing to care for a companion and for speaking foolishly: three montlis. For falling asleep during a meeting of the Council, for leaving the Council while members were standing (in prayer?), for spitting in Council, for 'guffawing foolishly, for being 'so poorly dressed that when drawing his hand from beneath his garment his nakedness has been seen': thirty days. The penal code contained in another of the Cave 4 manuscripts of the Damascus Document (4Q266) mentions also ten days' penance, in addition to the thirty days' expulsion inflicted on someone who has fallen asleep during a meeting! And for leaving an assembly three times without reason, for interrupting another while speaking, for gesticulating with the left hand: ten days (IQS VII, 15). A fascinating fragment (4Q477) has preserved in writing cases of misbehaviour by named sectaries: 'Yohanan son of ...' was 'short-tempered'; 'Hananiah Notos' led astray 'the spirit of the Community and either pampered himself or sliowed favouritism to his near kin(?); atxJ another 'Hananiah son of Sim[on]' 'loved' something no doubt prohibited. That the common table was of high importance to Qumran daily iife is evident from the ^ct that only the fully professed and the faultless, that is to say those who were 'inscribed ... for purity' and not subsequently disqualified, were allowed to sit at It. There Is no explicit mention of a ritual bath preceding the meals, but from various references to purification by water, as well as the presence of bathing installations at Qumran, It is likely that the sectaries immersed themselves before eafing as did the Essenes acconding to Josephus {War 11, 129). But little more Is learnt of the meal Itself from the Community Rule than that when the table had been 'prepared for eating, and tfie new wine for drinking', the priest was to be the first to bless the food and drink (IQS VI, 4-5). The implication would be that after him the others did the same, an inference supported by the iVlessianic Rule, where a similar meal is described attended by two iVlessiahs (IQSa ii, 17-21). Some uncertainty surrounds the meaning of 'new wine', but it would seem from the use in the Scrolls (with the exception of the Temple Scroll), of the alternative Hebrew words for wine - tirosh and yayin - that the latter often has pejorative connotations. iVIore likely than not, the 'wine' drunk by the sectaries, 'the drink of the Congregation', was unfermented grape-juice. Another topic to be considered under the heading of communal iife and institutions is the crucial one of induction into the sect. And if it should seem strange to place it towards the end rather than at the beginning, the explanation is that with an idea, however sketchy of what was entailed by adherence to the movement, the process by which it admitted a Jew Into its company becomes easier to follow. According to the regime adopted at Qumran, a person desiring to join the sect remained on probation, certainly for two years and possibly for three or more. His first move was to appear before the Guardian 'at the head of the Congregation', meaning no doubt during a session of the Congregation, who inquired into his principles to discover if he was a suitable postulant, if they were satisfied, he 'entered the Covenant' (IQS Vi, 13-15). That is to say, he solemnly swore there and ttien to adhere to the Torah as the sect interpreted it, vowing by a binding oath to return with all his heart and soul to e\«ry commandment of ttie Law of Ntoses in accordance with all ttiat has been revealed of it to the sons of Zadok... the Keepers of the Cownant. (IQS V, 7-9) After a further period of unspecifiecl length, during which he received instruction from the Guardian 'in aii the ruies of the Community', he appeared orxie more before the Congregation, who confirmed him as a mvice or dismissed him. But although he was now accepted into the Council of the Community, he was nevertheless still not admitted to 'purity' for another full year. The same rule applied also in the group represented by 4Q265 fr. 1 . This concept of pure things {tohorah, taharah or tohomt, literally 'purity' or 'purities') needs some comment. It seems to designate here as in rabbinic literature ritually pure food (cf. also 4Q274 I), as well as the vessels and utensils in which it is contained or cooked. It includes also garments. The tohorot, moreover, are distinguished by the rabbis Irom mashqin, liquids, the latter being considered much more susceptible to contract impurity than solid comestibles. Hence, in ordering the novice not to touch the pure things of the Congregation, the Community forbade him all contact with its pots, plates, bowls and necessarily the food that they held. He was not, in effect, to attend the common table and had to eat elsewhere. Although the context is very different, a parallel rule figures in the Temple Scroll (LXIII, 13-14), prohibiting a Gentile woman married to her Jewish captor to touch his tohorah for seven years. During this first year of the novitiate, the newcomer could not share the sect's property At a third Community inquiry, he was examined for 'his understanding and observance of the Law' and, if his progress was judged to be adequate, he handed over his money and belongings to the 'Bursar of the Congregation', but they were set aside and not yet absorbed into Community ownership. During this second year, furthermore, the ban on touching the pure things was relaxed, but he could still not touch liquids, the 'Dnrk [mashqeh] of the Congregation' (IQS VI, 20-21 ; VII, 20; cf. also 4Q284 I). Finally, with the second year over, the novice had once more to undergo an examination, after which, 'according to ttie judgement of the Congregation', he was at iast inscribed among the brethren in the order of his ranl< 'for the Law, and for justice, and for purity. Also, his property was amaigamated with theirs and he possessed the right from ttien on to speal< his mirxl in the Council of the Community (IQS VI, 13-23). In sum, this strict and extended curriculum fails into two stages. The postulant is first brought into the Covenant, swearing total fidelity to the Mosaic Law as interpreted by the sect's priestly teachers, and to 'separate from all the men of injustice who walk in ttie way of wicl<edness' (IQS v, 10-11). He then secondly embarks on a course of training as a preliminary to joining the 'holy Congregation' (IQS v, 20). In other words, entering the Covenant and entering ttie Community was not one act, but two. It has long been debated whether the Qumran sectaries were married or celibate. From the image of their life projected so far on the basis of the Community Rule, few will probably disagree that the idea of the presence of women among them appears Incongruous. The impression received is that of a wholly masculine society: indeed, they were actually enjoined not to 'follow a sinful heart and lustful eyes, committing all manner of evil' (IQS 1, 6). In further support of the argument for celibacy the word ishah, woman, occurs nowhere in the Community Rule. Or rather, to be more exact, it Is encountered once in the final Hymn, in the cliche, 'one born of woman' (IQS xi, 21). IMoreover, against the Cave 4 Damascus Document regulation (4Q270 fr. 7), which envisages a membership of married people and imposes the penalty of expulsion on anyone murmuring against 'the Fathers' but only a ten-day penance for murmuring against 'the IVIothers', the Community Rule speaks only of the crime of murmuring against 'the authority of the Community" (IQS VII, 17). Silence concerning the presence of women seems therefore deliberate. Yet the fact cannot be overlooked that although in the main graveyard itself the twenty-six tombs so far opened at random (out of 1,100) have all contained adult male skeletons, the archaeologists have uncovered on the periptieries of ttie cemetery ttie bones of six women and three children too (R. de Vaux, Archaeology and the Dead Sea Scrolls, 47- 8; J.-P. Humbert, Fouilles de Kh. Qumran, 346-52). A more extensive exploration of thie cemetery would eliminate most of these uncertainties. The Damascus Document, the hybrid Community Rule-Damascus Document text (4Q265) and the Temple Scroll, as well as the Messianic Rule and occasionally the War Rule and MMT, are concerned with a style of religious existence quite at variance with that at Qumran. In the 'towns' or 'camps', as the Damascus Document terms them (CD XII, 19, 23), adherents of the sect lived an urban or village life side by side with, yet apart from, their fellow Jewish and Gentile neighbours. They had wives and reared children, but clearly their sexual morality followed particularly strict rules. A Cave 4 Damascus Document manuscript lays down that 'whoever has approached his wife, not according to the rules, (thus) fornicating, he shall leave and will not return again' (4Q270 fr. 7 i). The married sectaries employed servants, engaged in commerce and trade (even with Gentiles), tended cattle, grew vines and corn in the surrounding fields, and discharged their duties to the Temple by way of offerings, but in doing so they were obliged like their brothers in the desert to show absolute obedience to the Law and to observe the sect's 'appointed times'. There is no indication, however, that the continual and intensive study of the Torah played any part in their lives. Nor in their regard is there any mention of instruction in the doctrine of the two spirits, as membership of the group was a birthright and not the outcome of a process of selection and training. How many of these people, if any lived in Jerusalem is not known, but they must at least have visited the city from time to time, since a statute forbids them to enter the 'house of worship' (possibly the Temple) in a state of ritual uncleanness, or to 'lie with a woman in the city of the Sanctuary to defile the city of the Sanctuary with their uncleanness' (CD I, 22; XII, 1;TSXLV, 11-12). Little is revealed in the Damascus Document of how the life span of the individual progressed in the 'towns', and for this we have to turn to the IVIessianic Rule in the hope that it reflects contemporary actuality as well as the ideal life of an age to come. According to the latter Rule, members of the Covenant were permitted to marry at the age of twenty, when they were estimated to have reached adulthood and to 'l<now [good] and evil' (IQSa 1, 9-11). For the subsequent five years they were then allowed to 'assist' (as opposed to tal<ing an active part) at hearings and judgements. At twenty-five, they advanced one grade further and qualified to 'wort< in the service of the Congregation' (IQSa 1, 12-13). At thirty, they were regarded as at last fuiiy mature and couid 'participate' in the affairs of the tribunals and assemblies, taking their place among the higher ranl<s of the sect, the 'chiefs of the thousands of Israel, the chiefs of the Hundreds, Fifties and Tens, the Judges and the officers of their tribes, in all their families, [under the authority] of the sons of [Aarjon the Priests' (IQSa 1, 8-16). As office-holders, they were expected to perform their duties to the best of their ability and were accorded more honour or less in conformity with their 'understanding' and the 'perfection' of their 'way. As they grew older, so their burdens became lighter (iQSa 1, 19). As at Qumran, supreme authority rested in the hands of the priests, and every group of ten or more was to include a priest 'learned in the Bool< of iVIeditation' and to be 'ruled by him' (CD Xiii, 2-3). His precedence, on the other hand, is not represented as absolute in the 'towns', it is explicitly stated that in the absence of a properly qualified priest, he was to be replaced by a Levite who would perform all the functions of a superior except those specially reserved in the Bible to the priesthood such as applying the laws of leprosy (CD Xiii, 3-7). The Cave 4 manuscripts of the Damascus Document (4Q266, 269, 272-3) describe at length the diagnosis of the onset and eventual cure of skin disease. Priests with speech defects, those who had been prisoners of war or had settled and been active among Gentiles were disqualified from performing priestly duties or eating 'sacred food' (4Q266 fr. 5). The Cave 4 version of the Damascus Document legislates also on agricultural priestly dues (4Q266fr. 6; 271fr. 2). As in the Community Rule, the head of the 'camp' is designated in the Damascus Document, as well as in 4QD^ (4Q266 fr. 5 i) and in the hybrid 4Q265 fr. 1 ii, as the mebaqqer or Guandian. He appears, however, not to be supported by a council. In fact, the words 'Council of the Community' are absent from this document apart from the transitional 4Q265 frs. 1 ii and 7 ii, where the use of the term is more generai in the first case and represents the ideal nucleus of the sect in the second. There is reference to the 'company of israei' , on the advice of which it would be licit to attacl< Gentiles (CD XII, 8), but this type of war council, mentioned also in the Messianic Rule (IQSa 1, 26), can surely have had nothing to do with the assemblies described in the Community Rule. (The only possible parallel is the 'council of Holiness' in CD XX, 24, in which a not strictly observant member was to be judged.) The Guardian of the 'camps', in any case, stands on his own as teacher arxl helper of his people. He stiall love them, writes the author. as a father lo\«s his children, and shall canythem in all their distress like a shepherd his sheep. He shall loosen all the fetters which bind them that in his Congregation there maybe none that are oppressed or brol<en. (CD XIII, 9-10) The Guardian was to examine newcomers to his congregation, though not, it should be noted, to determine their 'spirit', and was to serve as the deciding authority on the question of their admission (cf also 4Q265 fr. 1 ii). These offices are of course already familiar to us from the Community Rule. But an additional task of the mebaqqer in the towns was to ensure that no friendly contact occurred between his congregation and anyone outside the sect. Whatever exchanges took place had to be paid for; and even these transactions were to be subject to his consent (CD XIII, 14-16). Instead of dealing with offenders in Community courts of inquiry, the towns had their tribunals for hearing cases, equipped moreover with 'judges'. These were to be ten in number, elected for a specific term and drawn from the tribes of Levi, Aaron and Israel: four priests and Levites, and six laymen (CD x, 4-7). They were to be not younger than twenty-five and not older than sixty - in the Messianic Rule, which also speaks of judges, ttie age-limits are thirty and sixty years (IQSa 1, IS- IS) - and were to be expert in biblical law and the 'constitutions of the Covenant'. The arrangemerrt would seem, in fact, to be fairly straightforward. Yet it is not entirely so. For exampie, it is evident that the Guardian was aiso impiicated in iegai matters; he had to determine whether a proper case had been made out against a sectary and whether it should be brought before the court (CD ix, 16-20), and in certain cases he appears to have imposed penalties on his own (CD XV, 13-14). The 'Priest overseeing the Congregation' of one of the Cave 4 fragments of the Damascus Document (4Q270 1r. 7 i-ii) appears to perform the same single judicial function as the Guardian in the case of an inadvertent sin. We are not told whether the ten judges sat together, whether they were all drawn from the locality in which they lived, or whether they travelled as it were on circuit as nowadays. The code of law they were expected to administer, as laid down In the Damascus Document, differs in content from that of the Community Rule. Furthermore, although, unlike the Qumran code, a sentence is prescribed only rarely sometimes it is the death penalty We have here, in addition to matters relating primarily to communal discipline to a large extent identical with the Community Rule, a more detailed sectarian reformulation of scriptural laws regulating Jewish life as such. The first group of statutes, concerned with vows, opens with the injunction that in order to avoid being put to death for the capital sin of uttering the names of God, the sectary must swear by the Covenant alone. Such an oath would be fully obligatory and might not be cancelled (CD XVI, 7-8). If he subsequently violated his oath, he would then have only to confess to the priest and make restitution (CD xv, 1- 5). The sectary is also ordered not to vow to the altar articles acquired unlawfully or the food of his own house (CD xvi, 13-15), and not to make any vow 'in the fields' but always before the judges (CD IX, 9- 10). He Is threatened with death if he 'vows another to destruction by the laws of the Gentiles' (CD IX, 1). As for the right conferred by the Bible on fathers and husbands to annul vows made by their daughters or wives, the Damascus Document limits it to the cancellation of oaths which should have never been made in the first place (CD XVI, 10-12; for a somewhat different rule, see TS Llll, 16-LIV, 5). It Is clearly stated that no accusation Is valid without prior warnings before witnesses (CD IX, 2-3). A record of reported moral failings (4Q477) has already been quoted (cf. above, pp. 31-2). A few ordinances are concerned with witnesses. No one under tlie age of twenty was to testify before the judges in a capital charge (CD ix, 23-X, 2). Aiso, whereas the normai bibiicai custom is that two or three witnesses are needed before any sentence can be pronounced (Deut. xix, 15; cf. also IIQTS LXI, 6-12), a single witness being quite unacceptable, unustestis nullus testis, sectarian law allowed the indictment of a man guilty of repeating the same capital offence on the testimony of single witnesses to the separate occasions on which it was committed, providing they reported it to the Guardian at once and that the Guardian recorded it at once in writing (CD IX, 17-20). With regard to capital cases, to which should be added apostasy in a state of demonic possession (CD XII, 2-3), the adultery of a betrothed girl (4Q159, fr 224, 10-11), slandering the people of Israel and treason (TS LXIV, 6-13), it is highly unlikely that either the Jewish or the Roman authorities would have granted any rights of execution to the sect. So this is probably part of the sect's vision of the future age, when it as Israel de jure would constitute de facto the government of the chosen people. The penal code of the Damascus Document (4Q270) stipulates irrevocable expulsion in the case of a man 'fornicating' with his wife. This may refer to illicit sexual relations with a menstruating woman or, perhaps more lil<ely, with a pregnant or post-menopausal woman since, as Josephus clearly states in connection with married Essenes, sex between spouses was licit only if it could result in conception (War 11, 161). A section devoted to Sabbath laws displays a marked bias towards severity In time, rabbinic law developed the Sabbath rules in still greater detail than appears here, but the tendency is already manifest. The sectary was not only to abstain from labour 'on the sixth day from the moment when the sun's orb is distant by its own fullness from the gate (wherein it sinks)' (CD x, 15-16), he was not even to speak about work. Nothing associated with money or gain was to interrupt his Sabbath of rest (CD x, 18-19). No member of the Covenant of God was to go out of his house on business on the Sabbath. In fact, he was not to go out, for any reason, further than 1 ,000 cubits (about 500 yards), though he could pasture his beast at a distance of 2,000 cubits from liis town (CD x, 21 ; XI, 5-6). He could not cook. He could not pick and eat fruit and other edible things 'lying in the fields'. He could not draw water and carry it away, but must drink where he found it (CD X, 22-3). He could not strike his beast or reprimand his servant (CD XI, 6, 12). He could not carry a child, wear perfume or sweep up the dust in his house (CD XI, 10-11). He could not assist his animals to give birth or help them if they fell into a pit; he could, however, pull a man out of water or fire without the help of a ladder or rope (CD xi, 13-14, 16-17). Interpreting the Bible restrictively (Lev. xxiii, 38), the secfs lawmaker (or makers) commanded him to offer no sacrifice on the Sabbath save the Sabbath burnt-offering, and never to send a gift to the Temple by the hand of one 'smitten with any uncleanness permitting him thus to defile the altar' (CD xi, 19-20). He was also never to have intercourse while inthe 'city of the Sanctuary (CD XII, 1-2; 1 1QTS XLV, 1-12). The punishment imposed for profaning the Sabbath and the feasts in any of these ways was not death as in the Bible (Num. XV, 35), nor even expulsion as in the Community Rule. It was seven years' imprisonment. It shall fall to men to keep him In custody find If he Is healed of his emor, they shall keep him In custody for sewn ^ars and he shall afterwards approach the Assembly. (CD XII, 4-6) In the last group, the ordinances appear to be only loosely connected, though some of them involve relations with the larger Jewish-Gentile world. One such forbids killing or stealing from a non-Jew, 'unless so advised by the company of Israel' (CD XII, 6-8). Another proscribes the sale to Gentiles of ritually pure beasts and birds, as well as the produce of granary and wine-press, in case they should blaspheme by offering them in heathen sacrifice. MMT further prohibits acceptance of offerings (wheat or meat) by Gentiles (4Q394 frs. 3-7). A ban is similarly laid on selling to Gentiles foreign servants converted to the Jewish faith (CD XII, 11). But in addition to these regulations affecting contacts with rran-Jews, a few are concerned with dietary restrictions. Thus: No man shall defile himself by eating any live creature or creeping thing, fix>m the lar>£ie of bees to all creatures which creep in water. (CD XII, 12-13) Others deal with the laws of purity (CD XII, 1 6-1 8) and purification (CD X, 10-13) and with uncleanness resulting from various sexual discharges and childbirth (4Q266 fr. 6 i-ii). Outside the Damascus Document, the B section of MMT (4Q394-5), 4QPurities (4Q274, 276- 7, 284) and the Temple Scroll (11QTS XLV-LI) provide ample information on purity matters, including the law relative to the burning of the 'red heifer' whose ashes were a necessary ingredient for the making of the 'water for (removing) uncleanness' (MMT 4Q394 3-7 i, 395; 4Q276-7). Two types of meeting are provided for, with equal laconism: the 'assembly of the camp' presided over by a priest or a Levite and the 'assembly of all the camps' (CD XIV, 3-6). Presumably the latter was the general convention of the whole sect held on the Feast of the Renewal of the Covenant, the annual great festival alluded to in 4QD (266, 270), when both the 'men of holiness' and the 'men of the Covenanf confessed their former errors and committed themselves once more to perfect obedience to the Law and the sect's teachings. According to the available texts, the sectaries were to be mustered and inscribed in their rank by name, the priests first, the Levites second, the Israelites third. A fourth group of proselytes is unique to the 'towns', but as has been observed these were Gentile slaves converted to Judaism. A further remark that in this order the secf s members were to 'be questioned on all matters' leads one to suppose that the allusion must be to the yeariy inquiry into their spiritual progress mentioned in the Community Rule (CD XIV, 3-6). Two Cave 4 manuscripts of the Damascus Document describe the expulsion ceremony of an unfaithful member. He was cursed and dismissed by the Priest overseeing the Congregation and cursed also by all the inhabitants of the camps. Should the latter maintain contact with the renegade, they would forfeit their own membership of the sect (4Q266fr. 11 ii; 270fr. 7 i-ii). Apart from these familiar directions, we learn only that the priest who mustered ttie gathering was to be between thirty and sixty years old and, needless to say, 'learned in the Book of Meditation'. The 'Guardian of all the camps', in his turn, was to be between thirty and fifty, arxJ to have 'mastered all the secrets of men and the language of all their clans'. He was to decide who was to be admitted, and anything connected with a 'suit or judgement' was to be brought to him (CD XIV, 7-12). As for the initiation of new members, the Statutes appear to legislate for young men reaching their majority within the brotherhood and for recruits from outside. This is not entirely clear, but the instruction that an aspirant was not to be informed of the sect's rules until he had stood before the Guardian can hardly have applied to a person brought up within its close circle (CD xv, 5-6, 1 0-1 1 ). Of the sect's own young men the Damascus Document writes merely: find all those who ha\« entered the Co\finant, granted to all Israel for e\er, shall make their children who have reached the age of enrolment, swear with the oath of the Co\«nant (CD XV, 5-6) The Messianic Rule is more discursive. There, enrolment into the sect is represented as the climax of a childhood and youth spent in study Teaching of the Bible and in the 'precepts of the Covenant' began long before the age of ten, at which age a boy embarked on a further ten years of instruction in the statutes. It was not until after all this that he was finally ready. From [his] VDuth theyshaii instruct him in the Booi< of IVfedltation and shali teach him, according to his age, the precepts of the Ckjvenant. Tfiey [shaii beedujcated in their statutes for ten years the age of twenty ^ears [he shall t>e] enrolled, that he may enter upon his allotted dut'es In the midst of his family(and) be joined to the lioly congregation. (IQSa 1, 6-9) The newcomer from outside who repented of his 'corrupted way was to be enrolled 'with the oath of the Covenant' on the day that he spol<e to the Guardian, but no sectarian statute was to be divulged to him 'lest when examining him the Guardian be deceived by him' (CD xv, 7-11). Nevertheless, if he broke that oath, 'retribution' would be exacted of him. The text subsequently becomes fragmentary and unreliable, but he is told where to find the liturgical calendar which his oath obliges him to follow. As for the exact determination of their times to which Israel turns a blind eye, behold it is strictly defined in the Book of the Divisions of the Times into their Jubilees and Weeks. (CDXN/l,2-4) It should be added here that one big difference between the organization of the brethren in the towns and those of the 'monastic' settlement is that new members were not required to surrender their property. There was none of the volurrtary communism found at Qumran. On the other hand, where the desert sectaries practised common ownership, those of the towns contributed to the assistance of tfieir fellows in need. Every man able to do so was ordered to hand over a minimum of two days' wages a month to a charitable fund, and from It tfie Guardian and the judges distributed help to the orphans, the poor, the old and sick, to unmarried women without support and to prisoners held in foreign hands and in need of redemption (CD XIV, 12-16). When the two varieties of sectarian life are compared, we find many similarities, especially since the fragments of 4QD and 4Q265 have become accessible, but some of the differences still remain striking. In the desert of Qumran men lived together In seclusion; In the towns they were grouped in families, surrounded by non-members with whom they were In Inevitable though exiguous contact. The desert brotherhood was to keep apart from the Temple in Jerusalem until the restoration of the true cult in the seventh year of the eschatological war; the town sectaries participated in worship there. The judges of the towns had no counterparts at Qumran. The Qumran Guardian was supported by a Council; the town Guardians acted independently Unfaithful desert sectaries were sentenced to irrevocable excommunication, or to temporary exclusion from the common life, or to suffer lighter penances; the penal code concerned with the towns envisages also the death penalty (whether actually executed or not) as well as corrective custody The common table and the 'purity associated with it played an essential role at Qumran; in connection with the towns the common meal, but not the pure food, goes unmentioned. Furthermore, at Qumran all the new recruits came from outside; in the towns, some were converts but others were the sons of sectaries. The desert novices underwent two years of training and were instructed in the doctrine of the 'two spirits'; the towns' converts were subjected to neither experience. In the desert, property was owned in common; in the towns, it was not. And last but not least, the desert community appears to have practised celibacy whereas the town sectaries patently did not. Yet despite the dissimilarities, at the basic level of doctrine, aims and principles, a perceptible bond links the brethren of the desert with those of the towns. They both claim to represent the true Israel. They both are led by priests, Zadokite priests according to 1QS, the Damascus Document and the Messianic Rule, but not 4QS''(=4Q256), 4QS^ (=4Q258) and MMT^ Both form units of Thousands, Hundreds, Fifties and Tens, both insist on a wholehearted return to the Mosaic Law in accordance with their own particular Interpretation of it. They are both governed by priests (or Levltes). The principal superior, teacher and administrator of both Is known by the unusual title of mebaqqer In both cases, initiation into the sect Is preceded by entry into the Covenant, sworn by oath. Both groups convene yearly to review the order of precedence of their members after an inquiry into the conduct of each man during the previous twelve months. Above all, both embrace the same 'unorthodox' liturgical calendar that sets them apart from the rest of Jewry. There can be only one logical conclusion: this was a single religious movement with two branches. It does not, however, answer all our questions, it does not tell us in particular whether the differentiation resulted from a relaxation or from a hardening of the original ascetic rules. Neithier are we told wfiether the sectaries of desert and towns maintained regular contact among themselves. After all, the history of religions furnishes scores of examples of sister sects which turned into mortal enemies. Did the Qumran and towns fellowships profess and practise unity? A few vital clues suggest that they did. One IrKlication of a living relationship between the two groups derives from the Qumran library itself. In it were discovered no less than ten copies of the Damascus Document and other writings reflecting the same form of life. It seems hardly lii<ely that they would have figured so prominently among the Qumran literary treasures if they had been the rule bool<s of some rival institution. Besides, there was no trace of any other booi< in the caves relating to an opposing religious faction except perhaps in the shape of rebuttal in IVIIVIT. Another pointer towards unity appears in the passage of the Damascus Document outlining the procedure for the 'assembly of all the camps' and prescribing that the members were to be 'inscribed by name' in hierarchical rani<. This clause corresponds exactly to the statute in the Community Rule ordaining a yearly rani<ing of the sectaries (IQS 11,1 9-23), with a solemn ritual for the Renewal of the Covenant (for an analysis of the rite, see pp. 80-81 ). This leads us to suppose that the Feast of the Covenant, when the desert brethren held their annual spiritual survey was also the occasion for that of the towns. Can we go further still and establish that the two ceremonies tooi< place, not only at the same time, but at the same place? In effect, the literary and archaeological evidence tends to support the theory that the 'assembly of all the camps', identical with the yearly assembly of the Qumran branch, gathered at Qumran. The first clue turns on the qualifications of the mebaqqer of the Community Rule and the Damascus Document respectively. As may be remembered, the superior at Qumran was required to be expert in recognizing 'the nature of all the children of men according to the i<ind of spirit which they possess' (IQS 111, 13-14), while the mebaqqeroi the towns was to be concerned rather more with a man's 'deeds', 'possessions', 'ability', etc., than with his inner spirit. When, however, the Damascus Document describes the attributes needed of the 'Guardian of all the camps', what do we find but a reformulation of those accredited to the superior of the desert community, that he shouid krK>w 'all the secrets of men and all the languages of their clans'? It would emerge from this, therefore, that the Guardian of all the camps and the Guardian at Qumran were one arKi the same person. The next hint comes from the fact that the Damascus Document is directed to both desert and town sectaries. As an example, the passage from the Exhortation advising men to choose whatever is pleasing to God and to reject whatever he hates, 'that you may walk perfectly in all His ways arxl not follow after thoughts of the guilty inclination and after eyes of lusf (CD 11, 15-16), seems to be addressed to celibates. Yet in this very same document we later come upon injunctions aimed explicitly at non-celibates: And if they live in camps according to the rule of the Land, marrying and begetting children, they shall walk according to the Law and according to the statute concerning binding vans, according to the rule of the Law which savB, Befueen a man and his vwfe and belneen a latierandhis son (Num.XX)^ 17). (CD VII, 6-9) The Exhortation would seem in short to be a sermon intended for delivery on a certain occasion to married and unmarried members of the sect; and as its theme is perseverance in the Covenant, the appropriate setting would be the Feast of the Renewal of the Covenant in the third month (4Q266 fr. II; 270 fr 7 i-ii), i.e. the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost (see below, pp. 79-80), and the venue, Qumran. These literary pointers are supported by two archaeological finds. Firstly, the twenty-six deposits of animal bones buried on tine Qumran site - goats, sheep, lambs, calves, cows or oxen - have for long intrigued sctxjiars. Can J. T. Milik be correct in identifying them as the remains of meals served to large groups of pilgrims in the Qumran mother-house of the sect (Ten Years of Discovery in the Wilderness of Judaea, p. 117)? Naturally, he too connects the gathering with the Covenant festival. The second archiaeological clue also Is concerned with bones. The skeletons of four women and one child, and possibly of two further female bodies and those of two children, were found in the extension of the Qumran cemetery. Now, if the Renewal of the Covenant was attended by sectaries from the towns and their families, this may well account for the presence of dead women and children among the othen/vise male si<eietons of the graveyard proper. Drawing the threads of these various arguments together, there would seem to be little doubt not only that the desert and town sectaries were united In doctrine and organization, but that they remained in actual and regular touch with each other, under the ultimate administrative and spiritual authority of the shadowy figure of the Priest, of whom we hear so little, and his dominant partner, the Qumran Guardian, Guardian of all the camps. Qumran, it seems, was the seat of the sect's hierarchy and also the centre to which all those turned who professed allegiance to the Council of the Covenant. APPENDIX: THE ESSENES AND THE QUMRAN COMMUNITY The Essenes Prior to Qumran, the primary sources concerning the Essenes, a Jewish religious community flourishing during the last two centuries of the Second Temple era (c. 150 BCE-70 CE), were furnished by the Greek writings of two Jewish authors, Philo of Alexandria (That Every Good Man Should be Free, 75-91 ; Apology for the Jem, quoted in Eusebius, Praeparaf/o evangelica VIII, 6-7) and Flavius Josephus {War 11, ^^9S^■, Antiquities XVIII, 18-22), and by the Roman geographer and naturalist, Pliny the Elder, who left a short but very important notice in La\in (Natural History v, 17, 4[73]). For a more detailed account, see Geza Vermes and Martin Goodman, The Essenes According to the Classical Sources (Sheffield, 1989). Despite the apparent importance attributed to it by Philo, Josephus and Pliny, the sect is not explicitly mentioned either in the New Testament or in rabbinic literature. There is no general agreement regarding the meaning of the group's name: Essaioi or Essenoi in Greel<, and Esseni in Latin. The designation may signify 'the Pious', or 'the Healers', devoted to the cure of body and soul. If the latter interpretation is adopted, it provides a parallel to the Greek Therapeutai, the title given by Philo to an Egyptian-Jewish ascetic society akin to the Essenes (ci.HJP 11, 593-7; Vermes-Goodman, The Essenes ... , 15-17). There are a number of other, less well- established, explanations. The membership of the Palestinian group exceeded four thousand. Josephus and Philo locate them in Judaean towns; Pliny refers only to a single Essene settlement in the wilderness between Jericfio and Engedi. Individual congregations, directed by superiors, resided in commonly occupied houses. Initiation consisted of one year of probation, and two years of further training, leading to full table- fellowship on swearing an oath of loyalty to the sect. Only adult men qualified according to Philo and Pliny but Josephus reports that boys were also trained by them. Serious disobedience resulted in expulsion from the order. One of the principal characteristics of the Essenes was common ownership of property New members handed over their belongings to the superiors, who collected also the wages earned by every sectary. Agriculture was the main Essene occupation. Having renounced private possessions, the members received all that they needed: food, clothes, care. Further peculiarities included the wearing of white garments; ritual bathing before meals which were given only to initiates, and cooked and blessed by priests; the rejection of animal sacrifice and of oaths to support their statements, and, above all, of marriage. Josephus, however, admits that one Essene branch adopted the married state as long as sex was used only for the purpose of procreation. Theologically, they showed extreme reverence for the Law and were famous for their strictest observance of the Sabbath. Their esoteric teachings were recorded in secret bool<s. Experts in the healing of body and soul, they also excelled in prophecy They preferred belief in Fate to freedom of the will and, rejecting the notion of bodily resurrection, envisaged a purely spiritual afterlife. Essenes and Qumran The common opinion identifying or closely associating the Qumran sectaries with the Essenes is based on three principal considerations. 1. There is no better site than Qumran to correspond to Pliny's settlement between Jericho and Engedi. 2. Chronologically Essene activity placed by Josephus in the period between Jonathan Maccabaeus (c. 150 BCE) and the first Jewish war (66-70 CE) and the sectarian occupation of the Qumran site coincide perfectly. 3. The similarities of common life, organization and customs are so fundamental as to render the identification of the two bodies extremely probable as long as some obvious differences can be explained. A good many contradictions appear in the diverse sources and are not simply due to a lack of harmony between the Scrolls and the Graeco- Latin documents. Thus Qumran attests both communism and private property; married and unmarried states. Likewise, Josephus speaks of celibate and married Essenes and, as has been noted (p. 38 above), the prohibition to 'fornicate' with one's wife remarkably echoes the married Essenes' ban on marital sex when the woman was not in a state to conceive. ^ Furthermore, the Qumran movement incorporated two separate branches and the manuscripts reflect an organizational and doctrinal development of some two centuries. It would be unreasonable to expect complete agreement among the sources. It must finally be borne in mind that the sectarian compositions were written by initiates for insiders, whereas Pliny and Philo, and to some extent even Josephus (although he claims to have undergone a partial Essene education), are bound to have reproduced hearsay evidence, unlil<ely to echo fully the views and beliefs prevalent among members. Hence the identification of Essenism and the Qumran sect remains in my view the lil<eliestof all proposed solutions. ///. The History of the Community The absence from the Dead Sea Scrolls of historical texts proper should not surprise us. Neither in the inter-Testamental period, nor in earlier biblical times, was the recording of history as we understand it a strong point among the Jews. Chroniclers are concerned not with factual information about bygone events, but with their religious significance. In Scripture, the 'secular' past is viewed and interpreted by the prophets as revealing God's pleasure or displeasure. Victory or defeat in war, peace or social unrest, abundance of harvest or famine, serve to demonstrate the virtue or sinfulness of the nation and to forecast its future destiny And when prophecy declined in the fifth century BCE, it was still not succeeded by a growth of historiography: only the memoirs of Ezra and Nehemiah and the retelling of the age- old stories of the kings of Israel and Judah in the Books of Chronicles belong to the historical genre. It was followed instead by eschatological speculation, by apocalyptic visions of the end of time, with tlieir awe-inspiring beaste and battles, and by announcements of the ultimate triumph of truth and justice in a future Kingdom of God. In the Scrolls, the apocalyptic compositions form part of this later tradition. On tlie other hand, apart from occasional snippets in a liturgical calendar (4Q322, 324), an odd poem alluding to 'King' Jonathan (40448), and deductive conclusions made from the comparative study of rules, most of the krwwiedge we possess of the sect's history originates from works of Bible interpretation. The Qumran writers, while meditating on the words of tfie Old Testament prophets, sought to discover in tliem allusions to tlieir own past, present and future. Convinced tfiat they were living in the last days, they read the happenings of their times as the fulfilment of biblical predictions. Yet all that these non-historical sources provide are fragments. Even with the help of the archaeological data from Qumran they cannot be made into a consistent and continuous narrative. For an understanding of the sect's past as it developed within the larger framework of late Second Temple Jewish history, we have to rely principally on Flavius Josephus, the Palestinian Jew who became a Greek man of letters, and on other Jewish Hellenists, such as the authors of the Books of the Maccabees, and Philo of Alexandria, all of whom inherited the Greek predilection for recording and interpreting the past and set out to depict the life of the Jews of Palestine in itself, and as part of the Graeco-Roman world, from the early second century BCE to the first anti-Roman war in 66-70 CE. It is only with the help of the wider canvas painted by these ancient writers that places can be found for the often cryptic historical allusions contained in the Scrolls. 1 INTER-TESTAMENTAL JEWISH HISTORY: 200 BCE-70 CE At the beginning of the second century BCE, Palestinian Jewry passed through a state of crisis. Alexander the Great had conquered the Holy Land in 332 BCE and, after the early uncertainties which followed his death, it became part of the empire of the Greeks of Egypt, known as the Ptolemies. During the third century, the Ptolemies avoided, as much as possible, interfering with the internal life of the Jewish nation and, while taxes were required to be paid, it remained urKlerthe rule of the High Priest and his council. Important ctianges in the patterns of population nevertheless took place during this time. Hellenistic cities were built along the Mediterranean coast, such as Gaza, Ascalon (Ashkelon), Joppa (Jaffa), Dor and Acco, re-named Ptolemais. Inland also, to the south of the Lake of Tiberias, the ancient town of Beth Shean was reborn as the Greek city of Scythopolis; Samaria, the capital city of the Samaritans, was Hellenized as Sebaste; and in Transjordan, Rabbath-Ammon (Amman) was re-founded as Philadelphia. In other words, Greeks, Macedonians and Hellenized Phoenicians took up permanent residence on Palestinian soil and the further spread of Greek civilization and culture was merely a matter of time. With the cxjtxiuest of the Holy Land by the Seleucids, or Syrian Greei<s, in 200 BCE, the first signs appeared of Jews succumbing to a foreign cultural influence. In the apocryphal Book of Ecclesiasticus, dated to the beginning of the second century BCE, its author, Jesus ben Sira, a sage from Jerusalem, rages against those 'ungodly men' who have 'forsaken the Law of the Most High God' (xli, 8). But the real trouble started wtien Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175-164 BCE) officially promoted a Hellenizing programme in Judaea that was embraced with eagerness by the Jewish elite. The leader of the modemist faction was the brother of the High Priest Onias III. Known as Jesus among his compatriots, he adopted the Greek name of Jason, and set about transforming Jerusalem into a Hellenistic city by building a gymnasium there and persuading the Jewish youth to participate in athletic games. As 2 Maccabees describes the situation: So Hellenism reached a high point with the introduction of foreign customs through the boundless wickedness of the Impious Jason, no true High Priests a result, the priests no longer had any enthusiasm for their duties at the altar, but despised the temple and neglected the sacrifices; and In defiance of the law they eagerty contributed to the e)f>enses of the wrestling-school whenever the opening gong called them. They placed no value on their hereditary dignities, but cared abow e\«rylhing for Hellenic tionours. (2 Mac. iv, 13-15) Jason was succeeded by two other High Priests with the same Greek sympathies, Menelaus and Alcimus. In 169 BCE Antiochus IV visited Jerusalem and looted the Temple. But when in 167 he actually prohibited the practice of Judaism under pain of death and rededicated the Jerusalem Sanctuary to Olympian Zeus, the 'abomination of desolation', the opponents of the Hellenizers finally rose up in violent resistance. An armed revolt was instigated by the priest IVIattathias and his sons the IVIaccabee brothers, supported by all the traditionalist Jews, and in particular by the company of the Pious, the Asidaeans or Hasidim, 'stalwarts of Israel, every one of them a volunteer in the cause of the Law' (1 Mac. ii, 42-3). Led by Judas Maccabaeus and, after his death on the battlefield, by his brothers Jonathan and Simon, the fierce defenders of Judaism were abie not only to restore Je\/vish worship in Jerusalem, but against aii expectations even managed to eject the ruling Seleuclds and to liberate Judaea. The Maccabaean triumph was, however, not simply a straightfon/vard victory of godliness and justice over idolatry and tyranny; It was accompanied by serious social and religious upheavals. There was firstly a change in the pontifical succession. With the murder in 171 BCE of Onlas III and the deposition of the usurper, his brother Jason, the Zadoklte family from which the Incumbents of the High Priest's office traditionally came, lost the monopoly which it had held for centuries. Furthermore, when Onias IV, the son of Onias ill, was prevented from taking over the High Priesthood from Meneiaus, he emigrated to Egypt and In direct breach of biblical law, which authorizes only a single sanctuary in Jerusalem, erected a Jewish temple in Leontopoiis with the blessing of King Ptolemy Phiiometor (182-146 BCE). His inauguration of Israelite worship outside Zion, with the connivance of some priests and Levites, must have scandalized every Palestinian conservative, especially other priests wtra belonged, or were allied, to the Zadokite dynasty. There was trouble also within the ranks of the iVIaccabees themselves. The Hasidim - or part of their group - defected when Aicimus, whom they trusted, was appointed High Priest in 162 BCE. This move on their part turned out to be naive ; Aicimus' Syrian allies massacred sixty of them in one day (1 iVIac. vii, 2-20). Lastly a major political change came about when Jonathan iVIaccabaeus, himself a priest but not a Zadokite, accepted in 153-152 BCE pontifical office from Alexander Baias, a usurper of the Seieucid throne. Alexander was anxious for Jewish support and was not mistaken in thinking that an offer of the High Priesthood would be irresistible. For the conservatives this was an illegal seizure of power But they were even more scandalized by the appointment In 140 BCE, following Jonathan's execution in 143- 142 by the Syrian general Tryphon, of Simon Maccabee as High Priest and hereditary leader of the people by means of a decree passed by a Jewish national assembly. From then on, until Pompeys transformation of tlie independent Jewish state into a Roman province in 63 BCE, Judaea was ruled by a new dynasty of High Priests, later Priest-Kings, known as the Hasmonaeans after tfie grandfather of the Maccabees, Hasmon, or Asamonaeus according to Josephus fWar 1, 36). During the intervening years, all Simon's successors, but especially John Hyrcanus I (1 34-1 04 BCE) and Alexander Jannaeus (1 03-76 BCE), for whom their political role took precedence over their office of High Priest, occupied one by one the Hellenistic cities of Palestine and conquered the neighbouring territories of kJumaea in the south, Samaria in the centre and Ituraea in the north. Throughout this period of territorial expansion, the Hasmonaean rulers enjoyed the support of ttie Sadducees, one of ttie three religious parties first mentioned under Jonathan Maccabaeus (cf. Josephus, Antiquities X\\\, 171) and regular allies of the government. They were opposed by the Pharisees, an essentially lay group formed from one of the branches of the Hasidim of the IVIaccabaean age. Already in the days of John Hyrcanus I there was Pharisaic objection to his usurpation of the High Priesthood, though they were willing to recognize him as national leader (Antiquities XIII, z 88-98), but on one other occasion, at least, their opposition was overcome by force. Accused of plotting against Alexander Jannaeus in 88 BCE in collusion with the Syrian Seleucid king Demetrius III Eucaerus, 800 Pharisees were condemned by Jannaeus to die on the cross (Antiquities xm, 380-83; War 1 , 96-8). After Pompeys seizure of Jerusalem, the Hasmonaean High Priesthood continued for another three decades, but the political power formerly belonging to them passed to the Judalzed Idumaean, Herod the Great, when he was promoted to the throne of Jerusalem by Rome in 37 BCE. It is to the last year or two of his reign - he died in 4 BCE - that the Gospels of Matthew and Luke date the birth of Jesus of Nazareth (Matth.ii,1;Lk.i, 5). After the ephemeral rule of the successor to Herod the Great, Herod Archelaus (4 BCE-6 CE), who was deposed by Augustus for his misgovernment of Jews and Samaritans alike, Galilee continued in semi-autonomy under the Herodian princes Antipas (4 BCE-39 CE) and Agrippa (39-41 CE), but Judaea was placed under the direct administration of Roman authority. In 6 CE, Coponius, the first Roman prefect of Judaea, amved to tal<e up his duties there. This prefectorial regime, wtiose most notorious representative was Pontius Pilate (26- 36 CE), lasted for thirty-five years until 41 , when the emperor Claudius appointed Agrippa I as king. He died, however, three years later, and in 44 CE the govemment of the province once more reverted to Roman officials, this time with the title of procurator. Their corrupt and unwise harKlling of Jewish affairs was one of the chief causes of the war of 66 which led to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE, and to the subsequent decline of the Sadducees, the extinction of the Zealots in Masada in 74, the disappearance of the Essenes, arKi the survival and uncontested domination of the Pharisees and their rabbinic successors. It is into this general course of events that the history of Qumran has to be inserted. Document by document the Scrolls will be scrutinized and the literary information combined, both with the findings of Qumran archaeology and with the incidental reports provided by Josephus. In the end it is hoped that the history of the Essene sect will begin to fall reliably into place. 2 THE HISTORY OF THE ESSENES (a) Concealed References in the Scrolls The search for clues to the origins and story of the movement begins with the Damascus Document because it is a writing particularly rich in such hints. Here, the birth of the Community is said to have occurred in the 'age of wrath', 390 years after the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, l<ing of Babylon. At that time, a 'root' sprung 'from Israel and Aaron', i.e. a group of pious Jews, laymen and priests, came into being in a situation of general ungodliness. These people 'groped for the way for twenty years, and then God sent them a 'Teacher of Righteousness' to guide them 'in the way of His heart' (1 , 5-11). The Teacher did not meet with unanimous approval within the congregation, and a faction described as 'seel<ers of smooth things', 'removers of the bounds' and 'builders of the wall', all metaphors seeming to point to religious laxity and infidelity turned against him and his followers. The leader of the breakaway party, though accorded a number of unflattering sobriquets, such as 'Scoffer', 'Liar' or 'Spouter of Lies', seems to be one and the same person. His associates erred In matters of ritual cleanness, justice, chastity, the dates of festivals and Temple worship; they were lovers of money and enemies of peace. In the ensuing fratricidal struggle, the Teacher and those who remained faithful to him went Into exile In the 'land of Damascus' where they entered into a 'new Covenant'. There, the Teacher of Righteousness was 'gathered in', meaning that he died. In the meantime, the wicked dominated over Jerusalem and the Temple, though not without experiencing God's vengeance at the hands of the 'Chief of the Kings of Greece'. A similar picture emerges from the Habakkuk Commentary with its explicit mention of desertion by disciples of the Teacher of Righteousness to the Liar, and also by members unfaithful to the 'new Covenant'. The allusions to the protagonists of the conflict are sharper in this work than in the Damascus Document. We learn that the villain, known in this Scroii as the 'Wicked Priest' as well as the 'Liar' and 'Spouter of Lies', was 'caiied by the name of truth' before he became Israel's ruler and was corrupted by wealth and power (VIII, 8-11)- the implication being that for a time he had met with the sect's approval. Subsequently however, he defiled Jerusalem and the Temple. He also sinned against the Teacher of Righteousness and his disciples, chastising him while the 'House of Absalom' looked silently on (v, 9- 12), and confronting him in his place of exile on the sect's Day of Atonement (xi, 6-8). He 'vilified and outraged the elect of God', 'plotted to destroy the Poor', i.e. the Community and stole their riches. As a punishment, God delivered him 'into the hand of his enemies', who 'took vengeance on his body of flesh' (IX, 2). At the last judgement, predicts the Commentary, the Wicked Priest will empty 'the cup of wrath of God'. His successors, ttie 'last Priests of Jeaisalem', are also charged with amassing 'money atxl wealth by plundering the peoples', I.e. foreigners. But, so the commentator asserts, all their riches and booty will be snatched from them by the KIttIm, the conquerors of the world commissioned by God to pay them their just deserts. Because of lacunae, one cannot be quite sure from the Habakkuk Commentary that the Teacher was a priest. The Commentary on Psalms (Ps. xxxvll, 4Q171, 173), by contrast, makes this plain. Interpreting verses 23-4, it reads: 'this concerns the Priest, the Teacher of [Righteousness]'. It further supplies a significant detail by assigning to 'the violent of the nations', that Is to say to the Gentiles as opposed to the Jews, the execution of judgement on the Wicked Priest. Another point of Interest Is that the enemies of the sect are alluded to as 'the wicked of Ephralm and Manasseh', I.e. as of two distinct factions. They appear also In the Commentary on Nahum. In the Messianic Anthology or Testlmonia (4Q175), references appear In the final section, borrowed from a Joshua Apocryphon or Psalms of Joshua (4Q379 fr. 22 II), to two 'instruments of violence' who ruled Jerusalem. They are cursed for making the city a 'stronghold of ungodliness' and for committing 'an abomination' In the land. They are also said to have shed blood 'like water on the ramparts of the daughter of ZIon'. The relationship of the two tyrants to one another cannot be established with certainty because of the fragmentary nature of the manuscript. They could be father and son. On the other hand, the expression 'Instruments of violence' depends on Genesis xllx, 5 where It describes the brother murderers, Simeon arxJ Levi, the destroyers of Shechem. The Nahum Commentary moves on to an age following that of the Teacher of Righteousness and the Wicked Priest, as neither of them Is mentioned. The principal character here Is the 'furious young iion', a Jewish ruler of Jerusalem. He Is said to have taken revenge on the 'seekers of smooth things', whom he reproached for having Invited 'Demetrius' the king of Greece to Jerusalem. The attempt failed; no foreigner entered the city 'from the time of Antlochus until the coming of the rulers of the KIttIm'. The enemies of the 'furious young Hon' were 'hanged alive on the tree', a familiar Hebrew circumlocution for crucifixion. As in ttie Commentary on Psalm xxxvll, the sobriquets 'Ephraim' and 'Manasseh' are attached to the Community's opponents. 'Ephraim' is said to 'walk in lies and falsehood', but because of gaps in the manuscript, the description of 'IVIanasseh' is less clear. It seems nevertheless that this party included great men', 'mighty men' and 'men of dignity'. The Nahum Commerrtary was the first of the Qumran Scrolls to disclose historical names: those of two Seleucid kings, Antiochus and Demetrius. But tfieir Identity has still to be determined because nine monarchs in all bore the first name, and three the second. Additional names figure in various Cave 4 manuscripts of a liturgical calendar (4Q331-3): 'Sheiamzion', the Hebrew name of Queen Salome- Alexandra, widow of Alexander Jannaeus, who reigned from 76 to 67 BOB; 'Hyrcanus' and 'John', probably John Hyrcanus ii, son of Alexandra and High Priest from 76 to 67 and again from 63 to 40; and 'Emiiius', no doubt iVI. Aemiiius Scaurus, the first Roman governor of Syria from 65 to 62 BCE, who is charged with killing people. Note also that the Baiakros of 4Q243 may be the Seleucid usurper Alexander Baias. A remarkable piece of prayer-poetry (4Q448) refers to 'King Jonathan' in connection with Jerusalem and diaspora Jewry. A good case has been made out by E. and H. Eshei (IE J 42, 1992, 199-229) for identifying him with Alexander Jannaeus, but in my opinion an even stronger argument points towards Jonathan iVIaccabaeus as 'King Jonathan' (cf JJS44, 1993, 294-300). Also, one of the proposed readings of line 9 of the List of False Prophets (4Q339), '[John son of Simjon', would provide an allusion to John Hyrcanus I. Finally the person called Potlaos - Ptoilas - Peithoiaos (4Q468e) may refer to one of two historical figures who lived either in the middle or the end of the first century BCE. in the Commentaries on Habakkuk and Nahum, the Kittim are represented as instruments appointed by God to punish the ungodly priests of Jerusalem. The War Rule, however, testifies to a changed attitude towards them on the part of the sect by making the Kittim appear as the chief allies of Belial or Satan and the final foe to be subjugated by the tiosts of the sons of Light. The Rule of War (4Q285), although very fragmentary, appears to point in the same direction. Several Qumran Hymns reflect the career arxl sentimerrts of a teacher, possibly of the Teacher of Righteousness himself According to them, he was opposed by 'irrterpreters of error', 'traitors', 'deceivers', and 'tliose who seek smooth things', all of whom were formerly his 'friends' and 'members of [his] Covenant', bearers of the 'yoke of [his] testimony". In one of them, the reference to a 'devilish scheme' is reminiscent of the allusion in the Habakkuk Commentary to the visit of the Wicked Priest to the Community's place of exile in order to cause them 'to stumble': Teachers of lies [ha\« smoothed] Thy people [with words], and [false prophets] have led them astray... Dieyhave banished me from myland like a bird from its nest.. And they, teachers of lies and seers of falsehood, have schemed against me a devilish scheme, to e)change the Lawengraysd on my heart by Thee for the smooth things (which they speak) to Thy people. yVid they withhold from the thirsty the drink of knowledge, and assuage their thirst with vinegar, that they may gaze on thel r strayi ng, on theirfbllyconceming their feast-dais, on their fall into the snares. (IQH XII [formerly IV], 7-12) Another Hymn appears to hirrt at the Teacher's withdrawal from society and to announce with confidence his eventual glorious justification: For Thou, OGod, hast sheltered me from the children of men, and hast hidden Thy Law [within me] against the time when Thou shouldst reveal ThysalNationtome. (IQH XIII [formerly V], 11-12) Some scholars consider these poems autobiographical, i.e. written by the Teacher, but this is mere speculation. It would be unrealistic, taking into account the vagueness of all these statements, the cryptic nature of the symbolism and the entire lack of any systematic exposition of the secf s history, to expect every detail to be identified. We can, however, attempt to define the chronological framework of the historical references and thus be in a position to place at least some of the key events and principal personalities within the context of Jewish history as we know it. (b) The Chronological Framework The chronological setting of Qumran history may be reconstructed from archaeological and literary evidence. The excavations of 1951-6 date the beginning, the terminus a quo, of the sectarian establishment to 150-140 BCE and its end, the terminus ad quem, to the middle of the first war against Rome, 68 CE.™ The literary allusions, particularly the identifiable historical names, confirm this general finding. It goes without saying, however, that the initial phases of the Community's existence must have preceded by some years or decades the actual establishment of the sect at Qumran. The first task therefore is to examine the Scrolls for indications of its origins. The Nahum Commentary implies that a king by the name of Antiochus was alive at the beginning of the period with which the documents are concerned. This Antiochus, although one among several so called, can only have been Antiochus IV Epiphanes, notorious for his looting of Jerusalem and the profanation of the Temple in 169-168 BCE. More significant as a chronological pointer is the dating, in the Damascus Document, of the sect's beginnings to the 'age of wrath', 390 years after the conquest of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BCE. This should bring us to 196 BCE but, as is well known, Jewish historians are not very reliable in their time-reckoning for the post-exilic era. They do not seem to have had a clear idea of the length of the Persian domination, and they were in addition not free of the theological influence of the Book of Daniel, where a period of seventy weeks of years, i.e. 490 years, is given as separating the epoch of Nebuchadnezzar from that of the Messiah. As it happens, if to this figure of 390 years is added, firstly twenty (during which the ancestors of the Community 'groped' for their way until the entry on the scene of the Teacher of Righteousness), then another forty (the time span between ttie death of the Teacher and the dawn of the messianic epoch), the total stretch of years anived at is 450. And if to this total is added the duration of the Teacher's ministry of, say forty years - a customary round figure — ^the final result is the classic seventy times seven years. Yet even if the literal figure of 390 is rejected, there are still compelling reasons for placing the 'age of wrath' In the opening decades of the second pre-Christian century. Only the Hellenistic crisis which occurred at that time, and which Is recalled in various Jewish literary sources from the last two centuries BCE, provides a fitting context for the historical allusions made in the sectarian writings (cf. Daniel ix-xi; Enoch xc, 6-7; Jubilees XXIII, 14-19; Testament of Levi XVII; Assumption of Moses IV-V). Also, it is the Hasidim of the pre- Maccabaean and early Maccabaean era who best correspond to the earlier but unorganized group as it is described there (cf pp. 51-2). As for the terminus ad quern of Qumran history, as this is linked to the appearance of the Kittim, we have to determine who these people were. In its primitive sense, the word 'Kittim' described the inhabitants of Kition, a Phoenician colony in Cyprus. Later the name tended to be applied indiscriminately to those living in 'all islands and most maritime countries' (Josephus, /\nf/qw/f/es 1, 128). But from the second century BCE, Jewish writers also used 'Kittim' more precisely to denote the greatest worid power of the day In Maccabees (i, 1; viii, 5) they are Greeks; Alexander the Great and Perseus are called kings of the 'Kittim'. In Daniel xi, 30 on the other hand, the 'Kittim' are Romans; it was the ambassador of the Roman senate, Poppilius Laenas, brought to Alexandria by 'ships of Kittim', i.e. the Roman fleet, who instructed the 'king of the North', the Seleucid monarch Antiochus Epiphanes, to withdraw at once from Egypt. The term 'Romans' is substituted for 'Kittim' already in the old Greek or Septuagint version of Daniel xi, 30. None of these texts is critical of the 'Kittim'. They are seen as the ruling force of the time, but not as hostile to Israel. In fact, in Daniel they humiliate the enemy of the Jews. It is not till a later stage, especially after 70 CE, that they come to symbolize oppression and tyranny. In the Habakkuk Commentary, the portrait of the Kittim is neutral, as In Maccabees and Daniel. (In the Damascus Document they play no part; the alien adversary there is the 'Chief of the Kings of Greece'.) Feared and admired by all, they are seen to be on the point of defeating the 'last Priests of Jerusalem' and confiscating their wealth, as they have done to many others before. Such a representation of a victorious and advancing might would hardly apply to the Greek Seleuclds of Syria, who by the second half of the second century BCE were in grave decline. But it does correspond to the Romans, whose thrust to the east In the first century BCE resulted in their triumphs over Pontus, Armenia and Seleucid Syria, and finally, with ttie arrival of Pompey in Jemsalem in 63 BCE, in ttie transformation of the Hasmonaean state Into Judaea, a province of the Roman republic. Since the Identlficafion of the 'KIttIm' as Romans Is nowadays generally accepted, It will suffice to cite a single, but very striking, feature In the Habakkuk Commentary to support It. Interpreting Hab. 1 , 14-16 as referring to the 'KIttIm', the commentator writes: 'This means that they sacrifice to their standards and worship their weapons of war' (IQpHab. VI, 3-5). Now this custom of worshipping the signa was a characteristic of the reiigion of the Roman armies both In republican and in imperial times, as Josephus testifies in his report of the capture of the Temple of Jerusalem by the legionaries of Titus In 70. The Romans, now that the rebels had fled to the city and the Sanctuary itself and all around it were in flames, earned their standards into the Temple court, and setting them up opposite the eastem gate, there sacrificed to them. (War VI, 316) It Is also worth nofing that the 'KIttIm' of the War Scroll, the final opponents of the eschatologlcal Israel, are subject to a king or emperor (/T!e/e/(/)). Previously, In the Commentaries of Habakkuk and Nahum, they are said to have been governed by rulers (moshelim). In sum, therefore, the fime-llmlts of the sect's history appear to be at one extreme the beginning of the second century BCE, and at the other some moment during the Roman Imperial epoch. I.e. after 27 BCE. And this latter date is determined by Qumran archaeology as coinciding with the first Jewish war, and even more precisely with the arrival of the annies of Vespasian and "Titus in the neighbourhood of the Dead Sea in June 68 CE. (c) Decipherment of Particular Allusions The 'age of wrath' having been identified as that of the Hellenistic crisis of the beginning of the second century BCE, the 'root' as the Hasidim of the pre-Maccabaean age, and the 'Kittim' as the Romans, the next major problem is to discover who was, or were, the principal Jewish enemy or enemies of the sect at the time of the ministry of the Teacher of Righteousness variously known as the 'Scoffer', the 'Liar' , the 'Spouter of Lies' and the 'Wicked Priest' (IQpHab, 4QPs^, CD). It is not unreasonable to conclude that all these insults are directed at the same individual. It would appear from the Damascus Document that the 'Scoffer' and the 'Liar' (cf. also 4QpPs^ POCXVIO) were one and the same ('when the Scoffer arose who shed over Israel the waters of lies', CD 1 , 14). And we read of the 'Wicked Priest' that he was called 'by the name of truth' (1 QpHab VIII, 8-9) at the outset of his career, the inference being that later he changed into a 'Liar'. Another basic premise must be that the person intended by the fragments of information contained in the Scrolls became the head, the national leader, of the Jewish people. For although biblical names are often used symbolically, Including that of 'Israel', the actions attributed to the 'Wicked Priest' make little sense if the person In question did not exercise both pontifical and secular power. He 'ruled over Israel'. He 'robbed... the riches of the men of violence wfK) rebelled against God', probably Jewish apostates, as well as 'the wealth of the peoples', i.e. the Gentiles. He built 'his city of vanity with blood', committed 'abominable deeds in Jerusalem and defiled the Temple of God' (IQpHab VIII). Taken separately, these observations might be understood allegorically, but considered together, they constitute a strong argument for recognizing the 'Wicked Priest' as a ruling High Priest in Jerusalem. The 'Wicked Priest', then, was a Pontiff who enjoyed good repute before he assumed office. He was victorious over his adversaries at home and abroad. He rebuilt Jerusalem (cf. IQpHab VIII, 8-11; 4Q448). And he was eventually captured and put to death by a foreign rival. The chronological guidelines established in the preceding section locate the period in which this individual flourished between the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes (175-164 BCE) and the probable date of the foundation at Qumran (150-140 BCE). During that time, five men held the office of High Priest. Three of ttiem were pro-Greek: Jason, Menelaus and Alcimus. The remaining two were the Maccabee brothers, Jonathan and Simon. All the Hellenizers can be eliminated as candidates for the role of 'Wicl<ed Priest' since none can be said to have enjoyed anything like good repute at the beginning of their ministry. Jason and Alcimus fail also because neither was killed by an enemy, as implied in IQpHab VIII-IX. Jason died in exile (2 IVIac. v, 7- 9) and Alcimus in office (1 IVIac. ix, 54-6). The Maccabee brothers, by contrast, meet all the conditions. The careers of both men fall easily into two stages, marked, in the case of Jonathan, by his acceptance of the High Priesthood from Alexander Balas, and In the case of Simon by his willingness to become a hereditary High Priest. Both were also 'instruments of violence' and both died by violence. Jonathan is nevertheless to be chosen rather than Simon because he alone suffered the vengeance of the 'Chief of the Kings of Greece' and died at the hands of the 'violent of the nations', whereas Simon was murdered by his son-in-law (i IVIac. xvi, 14-16). A gallant defender of Jewish religion and independence, Jonathan succeeded the heroic Judas In 161 BCE when the latter fell In battle. But he qualified for the epithet 'Wicked Priest' when he accepted in 153-152 BCE from Alexander Balas, a heathen usurper of the Seleucid throne who had no right to grant them, the pontifical vestments which Jonathan was not entitled to wear. Captured later by a former general of Alexander Balas, Tryphon, he was killed by him at Bascama in Transjordan (1 IVIac. xiii, 23). Concerning the identity of the 'last Priests of Jerusalem', the passion for conquest, wealth and plunder for which they are reproached points to the Hasmonaean priestly rulers, from Simon's son, John Hyrcanus I (134-104 BCE), to Judas Aristobulus II (67-63 BCE). There can in particular be little doubt that the 'furious young lion'. designated also as 'the last Priest' in a badly damaged Commentary on Hosea (4Q167 11 2-3), was one of them, namely Alexander Jannaeus. The application to him of the words of Nahum, 'who chokes prey for its lionesses', and the report that the 'young lion' executed the 'seekers of smooth things' by 'hanging men alive', accord perfectly with the known story that Jannaeus crucified 800 Pharisees whilst feasting with his concubines (cf above, p. 53). From this it follows that 'Ephraim', equated in the Commentary on Nahum with the 'seekers of smooth things', symbolizes the Pharisees, and that if so, 'Manasseh' and his dignitaries must refer to the Sadducees. In other words, the political and doctrinal opponents of the Essene community, though itself with proto-Sadducaean links on account of its priestly leadership as insinuated by MMT, were the Sadducees and the Pharisees. This division of Jewish society into three opposing groups corresponds to the conformation described by Josephus as existing from the time of Jonathan Maccabaeus (Antiquities XIII, 171), but the new insight provided by the Scrolls suggests that the united resistance to Hellenism first fell apart when the Maccabees, and more precisely Jonathan, refused to acknowledge the spiritual leadership of the Teacher of Righteousness, the priestly head of the Hasldlm. From then on, the sect saw its defectors as 'Ephraim' and 'Manasseh', these being the names of the sons of Joseph, associated in biblical history with the apostate Northern kingdom, and referred to itself as the 'House of Judah', the faithful South. Unfortunately, on the most vital topic of all, the question of the identity of the Teacher of Righteousness, we can be nothing like as clear. If the 'Wicked Priest' was Jonathan Maccabaeus, the Teacher would, of course, have been one of his contemporaries. Yet all we know of him is that he was a priest (IQpHab 11,8; 4QpPs [XXXVII ii, 15=4Q171]), no doubt of Zadokite affiliation, though obviously opposed to Onias IV since he did not follow him to Egypt and to his unlawful Temple in Leontopolis.il He founded or re-founded the Community He transmitted to them his own distinctive Interpretation of the Prophets and, if we can rely at least indirectly on the Hymns, of the laws relating to the celebration of festivals. The 'Liar' and his sympathizers in the congregation of the Hasidim disagreed witli Hm, and after a violent confrontation between the two factions In which the 'Liar' gained the upper hand, the Teacher and his remaining followers fled to a place of refuge called 'the land of Damascus': it has been suggested that this is a cryptic designation of Babylonia, the original birthplace of the group, or else that 'Damascus' Is a symbolical name for Qumran. The 'House of Absalom' gave the Teacher of Righteousness no help against the 'Liar', writes the Habakkuk commentator (IQpHab v, 9-12), the implication being that this was support on which he might have relied. If 'Absalom' Is also a symbol, it doubtless recalls the rebellion of Absalom against his father David, and thus points to the perfidy of a close relation or intimate friend of the Teacher. On the other hand, since the 'House of Absalom' is accused not of an actual attack but simply of remaining silent during the Teacher's 'chastisement', this allegorical solution may not be convincing. The allusion may then be a straightfon/vard one. A certain Absalom was an ambassador of Judas Maccabaeus (2 Mac. xi, 17), and his son IVIattathias was one of Jonathan's gallant officers (1 Mac. xi, 70). Another of his sons, Jonathan, commanded Simon's army which captured Joppa (1 Mac. xiii, 11). Meanwhile, even in his 'place of exile' the Teacher continued to be harassed and persecuted by the Wicked Priest. In this connection, the most important and painful episode appears to have been the Priest's pursuit of the Teacher to his settlement with the purpose of pouring on him 'his venomous fury". Appearing before the sectaries on 'their Sabbath of repose', at the 'time appointed for rest, for the Day of Atonement', his intention was to cause them 'to stumble on the Day of Fasting'. It is impossible to say, from the evidence so far available, precisely what happened on this portentous occasion, or whether it was then or later that the Wicked Priest 'laid hands' on the Teacher 'that he might put him to death'. The wording is equivocal. For example, the verb in IQpHab xi, 5, 7, translated 'to confuse', can also mean 'to swallow up', and some scholars have chosen to understand that the Teacher was killed by the Wicked Priest at the time of the visit. On the other hand, we find recounted in the imperfect tense (which can be rendered into English as either the future or the present tense): 'The wicked of Ephraim and Manasseh ... seek/will seek to lay hands on the Priest and the men of his Counoii... But God redeems/will redeem them from out of their hand' (4QpPs3 pCXXVII, II, l7-l9=4Qi7G). In other words, we neither know who the founder of the Essenes was, nor how, nor where, nor when he died. Only writers upholding the most uniikeiy Christian identification of the Community claim to be better informed, but disagree among themselves. J. L. Teicher thought the Teacher was Jesus. For Barbara Thiering Jesus was the Wicked Priest, John the Baptist the Teacher; R. H. Eisenman rejects both and prefers James the Just, 'the brother of the Lord', as the Teacher of Righteousness. Only the sensation-seeking media tiave been taken in by their theories. it has been suggested that this inability to identify the Teacher of Righteousness in the context of the IVIaccabaean period undermines the credibility of the reconstruction as a whole. Is it conceivable, it is asked, that a figure of the stature of the Teacher should have left no trace in the literature relating to that time? The answer to this objection is that such writings are to aii intents and purposes restricted to the Books of the IVIaccabees, sources politically biased in favour of their heroes and virtually oblivious of the very existence of opposition movements. Josephus himself relies largely on 1 Maccabees and cannot therefore be regarded as an independent witness. But even were this not so, and he had additional material at his disposition, his silence vis-a-vis the Teacher of Righteousness would still not call for particular comment since he also makes no mention of the founder of the Pharisees. And incidentally, not a few historians hold that he has nothing to say either of Jesus of Nazareth. The so-called Testimonium Fiavianum (Antiquities XVIII, 63-4), they maintain, is a Christian interpolation into the genuine text o1 Antiquities (though others, myself included, think that part of the text is authentic). Be this as it may not a word is breathed by him about Hiiiei, the greatest of the Pharisee masters, or about Yohanan ben Zakkai, who reorganized Judaism after the destruction of the Temple, although both of these men lived in Josephus' own century and Yohanan was definitely his contemporary. Admittedly ttie various fragments of information gleaned from the Dead Sea Scrolls result in an unavoidably patchy story, but it is fundamentally sound, and the continuing anonymity of the Teacher does nothing to impair it. For the present synthesis to be complete it remains now to turn to Josephus for his occasional historical references to individual Essenes and to Essenism. To begin with it should be pointed out that four members of the Community are actually mentioned by the Jewish historian, three of them associated with prophecy one of the distinctive interests of the Teacher of Righteousness himself. The first, called Judas, is encountered in Jerusalem surrounded by a group of pupils taking instruction in 'foretelling the future', which probably means how to identify prophetic pointers to future events. Josephus writes of him that he had 'never been known to speak falsely in his prophecies', and that he predicted the death of Antigonus, the brother of Aristobulus I (104- 103 BCE) (Antiquities XIII, 311-13). A second Essene prophet, Menahem, apparently foretold that Herod would rule over the Jews (xv, 373-8). Herod showed his gratitude to him by dispensing the Essenes, who were opposed to all oaths except their own oath of the Covenant, from taking the vow of loyalty imposed on all his Jewish subjects. A third Essene named Simon interpreted a dream of Archelaus, ethnarch of Judaea (4 BCE-6 CE), in 4 BCE to mean that his rule would last for ten years (XVII, 345-8). John the Essene, the last sectary to be referred to by Josephus, was not a prophet, but the commander or strategos of the district of Thamna in north-western Judaea, and of the cities of Lydda (Lod), Joppa (Jaffa) and Emmaus at the beginning of the first revolution (War 11, 567). A man of 'first-rate prowess and ability', he fell in battle at Ascalon (III, II, I9).Z? Finally Josephus depicts in vivid language the bravery of the Essenes subjected to torture by the Romans. The war with the Romans tried their souls through and through by every \srietyof test. Racked and twisted, burned and broken, and made to pass through every instrument of torture in order to induce them to blaspheme their lawgi\«r or to eat some forbidden thing, they refused to yield to either demand, nor e\«r once did they cringe to their persecutors or shed a tear Smiling in their agonies and mildly deriding their tormentors, they cheerfully resigned their souls, confident that they would recei\« them back again. (War 11, 152-3) Since it would appear from tliis passage tliat tlie Romans were persecuting not individuals, but a group, it is tempting, bearing in mind the archaeologists' claim that the Qumran settlement was destroyed by the Romans, to associate it with the story of Essenes captured by the Dead Sea. If such a surmise is correct, the sect's disappearance from history may well have been brought about in the lethal blow suffered by its central establishment during the fateful summer of 68 CE. The fact that no attempt was made to recover nearly 800 manuscripts from the caves confirms, it would seem, such a reconstruction of the end of Qumran and, with the annihilation of its central establishment, of the whole Essene movement. IV The Religious Ideas of the Community The first essays in tlie 1950s on tlie religious outlool< of tlie Qumran sect all suffered from a serious defect in that scholars in those days tended to envisage the Scrolls as self-contained and entitled to independent treatment. Today, with the hindsight of five decades of research and with the entire corpus to hand, it is easier to conceive of the theology of the Community as part of the general doctrinal evolution of ancient Judaism. Nevertheless, it is no simple task to follow that development itself, the reason being that the systematic exposition of beliefs and customs is not a traditional Jewish discipline. In a sense, the Instruction on the Two Spirits, incorporated in the Community Rule, alluded to earlier (p. 28), is an exception, forming the one and only doctrinal treatise among ancient Hebrew writings. The theology of Judaism, biblical, inter- Testamental, medieval or modern, when written by contemporary Jewish authors, is often modelled consciously or unconsciously on Christian dogmatic structures: God, creation, human destiny, messianic redemption, judgement, resurrection, heaven and hell. Such structures may and sometimes do distort the religious concepts of Judaism. For example, the interest of the Church in the messianic role of Jesus is apt to assign a greater importance to Messianism in Jewish religion than the historical evidence justifies, and Paul's hostility to the 'legalism' of Israel obscures the Jewish recognition of the humble realities of everyday life prescribed by the Law as no mere 'works' but as a path to holiness walked in obedience to God's commandments. 1 THE COVENANT Since the key to any understanding of Judaism must be the notion of the Covenant, it may safely be taken as an introduction to Essene religious thought. The history of mankitxJ and of the Jewish people has seen a series of such covenants. God undertool< never to destroy manl<ind again by a flood; in exchange, Noah and his descendants were required to abstain from stiedding human blood and, on the ritual level, from eating animal 'flesh with the life, which is the blood, still in it' (Gen. ix, 1-17). To Abraham, who was childless and landless, God offered posterity arxJ a country, provided he led a perfect life and marked his body and that of all his male progeny with a visible reminder of the Covenant between himself and heaven, circumcision (Gen. xvii, 1-14). Again, in the days of Moses the Israelites were declared 'a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation' (Exod. xix, 5), God's special possession, on condition that they obeyed the Torah, the divine Teaching of the religious, moral, social and ritual precepts recorded in the Pentateuch from Exodus xx and repeated in the farewell discourse addressed by IVIoses to his people in the Book of Deuteronomy After the conquest of Canaan and the distribution of the land to tlie tribes, the fulfilment of God's promise to Abraliam, the Covenant was renewed by Joshua and the Israelites reasserted their commitment to their heavenly Helper (Jos. xxiv). From then on, the biblical story is one of continuous unfaithfulness to the Covenant. But God was not to be thwarted by human unworthiness and ingratitude, and for the sake of the handful of just men appearing in every generation he allowed the validity of the Covenant to endure. Though he punished the sinful and the rebellious, he spared the 'remnant' because of their fidelity to it. From time to time, saintly leaders of the Jewish people, King David and King Josiah before the Babylonian exile (2 Sam. vii; 2 Kings xxiii, 1-3) and Ezra the Priest after the return from Mesopotamia (Neh. viii-x), persuaded them to remember their Covenant with God with solemn vows of repentance and national rededication; but the promises were usually short-lived. This would no doubt account for the development of an idea in the sixth century BCE of a 'new Covenant' founded not so much on undertakings entered into by the community as on the inner transformation of every individual Jew for whom the will of God was to become, as it were, second nature. The time is coming ... when I will make a new Co\«nantwith Israel... This is the new Co\enant which I will make with Israel in those da^ ... I will set my law within them and write it on their hearts... (Jer. XXX/, 31-3; tea. liv, 13) It was this same Covenarrt ideology that served as the foutxJation of the Qumran Community's basic beliefs. The Essenes not only considered themselves to be the 'remnant' of tfieir time, but the 'remnant' of all time, the final 'remnanf. In the 'age of wrath', while God was making ready to annihilate the wicked, their founders had repented. They had become the 'Converts of Israel' (cf. CD IV, 2; 4Q266 fr. 5 i). As a reward for their conversion, the Teacher of Righteousness had been sent to establish for them a 'new Covenant', which was to be the sole valid form of tfie eternal alliance between God and Israel. Consequently their paramount aim was to pledge themselves to observe its precepts with absolute faithfulness. Convinced that they belonged to a Community which alone interpreted the Holy Scriptures correctly, theirs was 'the last interpretation of the Law' (4Q266 fr. 11; 270 fr. 7 ii), and they devoted their exile in the wilderness to the study of the Bible. Their intention was to do according to all that had been 'revealed from age to age, and as the Prophets had revealed by His Holy Spirit' (1QS VIII, 14-16; cf. 4Q265 fr. 7 ii). Without an authentic interpretation it was not possible properly to understand the Torah. All the Jews of the inter-Testamental era, the Essenes as well as their rivals, agreed that true piety entails obedience to the Law, but although its guidance reaches into so many corners of life - into business and prayer, law court and kitchen, marriage-bed and Temple - the 613 positive and negative commandments of which it consists still do not provide for all the problems encountered, especially those which arose in the centuries following the formulation of biblical legislation. To give but one example, the diaspora situation was not envisaged by the jurists of an autonomous Jewish society. Torah interpretation was entrusted to the priests and Levites during the first two or three centuries following the Babylonian exile. Ezra and his colleagues, the ancient scribes of Israel, 'read from the book of the Law... made its sense plain and gave instruction in what was read'. In this passage from the Book of Nehemiah viii, 8, Jewish tradition acknowledges the Institution of a regular paraphrase of Scripture known as Targum, or translation into the vernacular of the members of the congregation. When the parties of the Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, etc., came into being with their different convictions, they justified them by interpretations suited to their needs. A classic example of idiosyncratic Bible Interpretation in the Scrolls concerns a law on marriage. Since no diriectly relevant ruling is given in the Pentateuch on whether a niece may marry her uncle, Pharisaic and rabbinic Judaism understands this scriptural silence to mean that such a union is licit. When the Bible wishes to declare a degree of kinship unlawful, it does so: thus we read apropos of marriage between nephew and aunt, 'You shall not approach your mother's sister' (Lev xviii, 13). Thus a tradition surviving in the Babylonian Talmud is able to go so far as even to praise marriage with a 'sister's daughter' and to proclaim it as a particularly saintly and generous act comparable to the loving-kindness shown to the poor and needy (Yebamoth 62b). The Qumran Essenes did not adopt this attitude at ail. On the contrary, they regarded an uncle-niece union as straightforward 'fornication', interpreted correctly they maintained, the Leviticus precept signifies the very opposite of the meaning accepted by their opponents; the truth is that whatever applies to men in this respect applies also to women. MDses said, Vbu shall not approach your mother's sister (i.e. your aunt); she is your mother's near kirj (Lev xJiu, 13). But although the laws against incest are written for men, they also apply to women. WAien, therefore, a brother's daughter uncovers the nakedness of her father's brother, she is (also his) near kin. (CD V, 8-11) The Temple Scroll proclaims clearly this prohibition in proper legal terms: A man shall not take the daughter of his brother or the daughter of his sister for this is abominable. (11QTLXVI, 16-17) Again, according to the strict views of the sectaries, fidelity to the Covenant demanded not only obedience to the Law/, to all that God has 'commanded by the hand of Moses', but also adherence to the teaching of 'all His servants, the Prophets' (1QS 1 , 2-3). Although not expressly stated, this special attention to the Prophets implies, firstly that the Essenes subscribed to the principle incorporated Into the opening paragraph of the Sayings of the Fathers in the Mishnah that the Prophets served as an essential link in the transmission of the Law from Moses to the rabbis. M3ses recei\«d the Torah from (God on) Sinai and passed it on to Joshua; Joshua to the Elders (= Judges): the Elders to the Prophets; and the l^phets passed it on to the members of the Great /Assembly (= the leaders of Israel in the post-e»lio age). (Aboth 1, 1) The second inference to be drawn is that the sect believed the Prophets to be not only teachers of morality, but also guides in the domain of the final eschatological realities. But as In the case of the Law, their writings were considered to contain pitfalls for the ignorant and the misinformed, and only the Community's sages knew how to expound them correctly Properly understood, the Books of Isaiah, Hosea and the rest Indicate the right path to be followed in the terrible cataclysms of the last days. A simple reading can convey only their superficial meaning, but not their profounder significance. The Book of Daniel sets the biblical example here when it announces that Jeremiah's prediction that the Babylonian domination would last for seventy years Is not to be taken literally; the real and final message is that seventy times seven years would separate Nebuchadnezzar from the coming of the Messiah (Dan. Ix, 21-4). But the Qumran sectaries went even further than Daniel. They argued that it is quite impossible to discover the meaning without an inspired interpreter because the Prophets themselves were ignorarrt of the full import of what they wrote. Habakkuk, for instance, was commanded to recount the history of the 'final generation', but he did so without having any clear idea of how far ahead the eschatological age lay. God 'did not make known to him when time would come to an end'. Knowledge of the authentic teaching of the Prophets was the supreme talent of the Teacher of Righteousness. The surviving Bible commentaries are almost all concerned with predictions concerning the ultimate destiny of the righteous and the wicked, the tribulations and final triumph of the 'House of Judah' and the concomitant annihilation of those who had rebelled against God. But in addition to this general evidence of the subject-matter, the Scrolls directly impute to the Teacher a particular God-given insight into the hidden significance of prophecy. He was 'the Teacher of Righteousness to whom God made known all the mysteries... of His servants the Prophets' (IQpHab VII, 1-5). He was 'the Priest [in whose heart] God set [understanding] that he might interpret all the words of His servants the Prophets, through whom He foretold all that would happen to His people' (IQpHab 11, 8-10). He was the Teacher who 'made known to the latter generations that which God had done to the latter generation, the congregation of traitors, to those who departed from the way" (CD 1, 12-13). The Teacher's interpretation alone, propagated by his disciples, offered true enlightenment and guidance. Supported in this way by the infallible teaching of the Community, the sectary believed himself to be living in the true city of God, the city of the Covenant built on the Law and the Prophets (cf. CD VII, 13-18). Again and again, the architectural metaphors used In the Scrolls suggest security and protection. The sect Is a 'House of Holiness', a 'House of Perfection and Truth' (IQS VIII, 5, 9), a 'House of the Law' (CD XIX (B2), 10, 13); it is a 'sure House' (CD III, 19) constructed on solid foundations. Indeed the language used Is reminiscent of Isaiah xxviii, 16, and of Jesus' simile about the Church built not on sand but on rock (Matth. vii, 24-7; xvi, 18): But I shall be as one who enters a fortified city, as one who seeks refuge behind a /i/g/j wall ... I will [lean on] Thytmth, OmyGod. For TTiou wilt set the foundation on rock and the fmmewDti< by the measuring-ODrd oijustce; and the tried stones [Thou wilt la^^ bythe plumb-line [of truth], to [build] a mighty [wail] w^ich shall not sway and no man entering there shall stagger. (1QH XIV [formerly Vl], 24-7) Fortified by his membership of the brotherhood, the sectary could even carry his notions of solidity and finnness over into his own self so that he too became a 'strong tower': Thou hast strengthened me before the battles of wickedness... Thou hast made me like a sfrong tower, a high wall, and hast established my edifice upon rock; eternal foundations serwfor myground, and all my rampatis are a tied wall which shall not sway (IQHxvpbrrneHyVII], 7-9) 2 ELECTION AND HOLY LIFE IN THE COMMUNITY OF THE COVENANT In the ideology of the Old Testament, to be a member of the chosen people is synonymous with being party to the Covenant. Israel willingly accepts the yoke of the Law given on Sinai, and God in his turn acknowledges her as His 'special possession' (Exod. xix, 5): For \ou are a people holy to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession, out of all the peoples that are on the face of the earth ... \bu shall therefore be careful to do the commandment, and the statutes, and the ordinances which I command you this day. (Deut. vii, 6, 11) Theoretically, there is no distinction between election de Jure and election de facto: every Jew is chosen. But already in biblical times a deep gulf is in fact seen to divide righteous observers of the Covenant from the wicked of Israel. Though not deprived of their birthright, the unfaithful are viewed as burdened with guilt and as such excluded, provisionally at least, from the congregation of the children of God. The fully developed concept of election is summarized in the Palestinian Talmud by the third-century CE Galilean Rabbi Lazar Expounding the words of Deuteronomy quoted above, he comments: \Mienthe Israelites do the will of the Holy One, blessed be He, they are called sons; but when they do not do His will, they are not called sons. (Kiddushin 61c) Inevitably, for the Qumran Essenes such a notion of Covenant membership was far too elastic. Consistent with their approach to legal matters, their attitude in regard to the Covenant was that only the initiates of their own 'new Covenant' were to be reckoned among God's elect and, as such, united already on earth with the angels of heaven. God has given them to His chosen ones and has caused them to inherit the lot of the HolyOnes. He has joined their assembly to the Sons of Heaven, to be a Councii of the Community, a foundation of the Buiiding of Hoiiness, an eternal Plantation throughout aii ages to come. (1QSXI, 7-9) They insisted, moreover, on the individual election of each sectary. The ordinary Jew envisaged errtry into the congregation of the chosen primarily through birth, and secondly through the symbolical initiation of an eight-day-old male \rfari submitted to circumcision. An Essene became a member of either branch of his sect by virtue of the deliberate and personal adult commitment of himself. For this reason, as will be remembered, even children bom to married members and brought up in their sctiools liad to wait until tlieir twentieth birthday before they were allowed to make their solemn vows of entry into the Covenant. Also, believing in divine forelcrxswledge, they considered their adherence to the 'lot of God' as ttie effect of grace, as having been planned for each of them in heaven from all eternity They, the elect, were guided by the spirit of truth in the ways of light, while the unprivileged, Jew and Gentile alike, were doomed to wander along paths of darkness. The section of ttie Community Rule known as the Instruction on the Two Spirits gives a fascinating description of these two human groups, the chosen and the unchosen. The IVIaster shall instruct all the sons of light and shall teach them the nature of all the children of men according to the kind of spirit which they possess ... From the God of Knowledge comes all that is and shall be. Before ever they existed He established their whole design, and when, as ordained for them, they come into being, it is in accord with His glorious design that they accomplish their task without change ... He has created man to govern the world, and has appointed for him two spirits in which to walk until the time of His visitation: the spirits of truth and injustice. Those born of truth spring from a fountain of light, but those born of injustice spring from a source of darkness. All the children of righteousness are ruled by the Prince of Light and walk in the ways of light, but all the children of injustice are ruled by the Angel of Darkness and walk in the ways of darkness. The Angel of Darkness leads all the children of righteousness astray and until his end, all their sins, iniquities, wickedness, and all their unlawful deeds are caused by his dominion in accordance with the mysteries of God... But the God of Israel and His Angel of Truth will succour all the sons of light. For it is He who created the spirits of Light and Darkness and founded every action upon them and established every deed [upon] their [ways]. And He loves the one everlastingly and delights in its works for ever; but ttie counsel of the other He loathes and for ever hates its ways. (IQSIII, 13-IVI) Convictions of this l<ind, with their theories of individual election and predestination, coupled with a precise knowledge of the boundary dividing right from wrong, can lead to self-righteousness and arrogant intolerance of the masses thought to be rejected by God. The Essenes, however, appear to have concentrated more on the blessedness of the chosen than on the damnation of the unpredestined. Besides, they could always argue that Jews who refused to repent and remained outside the new Covenant were responsible for their own doom. But the spiritual masters of the Community were doubtless aware of the danger of the sin of pride to which their less enlightened brothers were exposed and attacked it on three fronts. The Qumran Hymns, unlike certain biblical Psalms (e.g. Psalm xxvi) which testify to an acute form of sanctimoniousness, never cease to emphasize the sectary's frailty, unworthiness and total dependence on God. Clay and dustthat I am, what can I devise unless Thou wish it, and what contri\« unless Thou desire it? What strength shall I \r\a\e unless TTiou l<eep me upright and how shall I understand unless by (the spirit) which Thou hast shaped for me? (IQH XVIII pbrmeriyx], 5-7) Not only is election itself owed to God's grace, but perseverance in the way of holiness cannot be counted on unless he offers his continuous help and support. When the wielded rose against TliyCo\«nant and the damned against Thy wonj, I said in mysintiilness, 'I am forsaken by Thy Covenant' But calling to mind the might of Thy hand and the greatness of Thy compassion, I rose and stood ... I lean on Thygrace and on the multitude of Thy mercies. (IQH XII [formerly IV], 34-7) Another theme constantly stressed in Essene teaching is that not only is God's assistance necessary in order to remain faithful to his Law; the very l<nowledge of that Law is a gift from heaven. All their special understanding and wisdom comes from God. From the source of His righteousness Is myjustification, and from His man«iious m^teries is ttie ligtitin mytieart. luVeyes ha>« gazed on that which is eternal, on wisdom conceaied ifom men, on l<nowiedge and wise design (hidden) from the sons of men; on a fountain of righteousness and on a storehouse of power, on a spring of glory (hidden) fi^m tie assembly of flesh. God has gi\en them to His chosen ones as an e>«rlasting possession, and has caused them to inherit the lot of the HolyOnes. (IQSXI,5-8) The sentiments expressed in tlie IHymns, of love and gratitude and awareness of God's presence, represent a true religiousness and must liave lielped tlie sectary not to allow his life - governed as it was by laws and precepts-to slide into one of mere religious formalism. Thou hast upheld me with certain truth; Thou hast delighted me with ThyHolySplrit and [hast opened my heart] till this day... The abundance of (Thy) forgiveness is with my steps and infinite mercy accompanies Thyjudgementof me. Until I am old Thou wilt care for me; for myfather knew me not and my mother abandoned me to Thee. For Thou art a father to all [the sons] of Thy truth, and as a woman who tenderly loves her babe, so dost Thou rejoice in them; and as a foster-father bearing a child in his lap, so carBstTiiou for all TTiy creatures. (IQH XVII pbrmeriy IX], 32-6) Whether the average Essene actually succeeded in fulfilling his high ideals, we cannot of course know: experience past and present has shown that paths to sanctity devised by organized religion are beset with snares. As has been noted earlier (pp. 31-2 on 4Q477), in some individual cases, moral shortcomings were actually recorded. But there can be no doubt of the sectaries' intention. The aim of a holy life lived within the Covenant was to penetrate the secrets of heaven in this world and to stand before God for ever in the next. Like Isaiah, who beheld the seraphim proclaiming 'Holy holy holy, and like Ezekiel, who in a trance watched the winged cherubim drawing the divine throne-chariot, and like the ancient Jewish mystics who consecrated themselves, despite official disapproval by the rabbis, to the contemplation of the same throne-chariot and the heavenly Palaces, the Essenes, too, strove for a similar mystical knowledge, as one of their number testifies in a description of his own vision of the ministers of the 'Glorious Face'. The [cherujbim prostrate themsel\«s before Him and bless. ^ they rise, a whispered divine VDlce [is heard], and there is a roar of praise. When they drop their wings, there is a [whisperejd divine WDice. The cherubim bless the image of the ttirone-chariot abo\fi the firmament, [and] they praise [the majesjty of the luminous fimiament beneath His seat of glory When the wheels advance, angels of holiness come and go. From between His glorious wheels there is as itwereafieryMSion of most holyspirits. About them, the appearance of rivulets of fire in the likeness of gleaming brass, and a work of ... radiance in many-coloured glory mar\eiious pigments, clearly mingled. The spirits of the living 'gods' mo\« perpetually with the glory of the mar\ellous chariot(s). The whispered \oice of blessing accompanies the roar of their ad\snce, and they praise the Holy One on their way of return. VUien they ascend, they ascend marwiiously and when they settle, ttiey stand still. The sound of joyful praise is silenced and there is a whispered blessing of the 'gods' in all the camps of God. (4Q40520,ii-22) 3 WORSHIP IN THE COMMUNITY OF THE COVENANT In addition to the worship of God offered through a life of holiness, the Qumran sectary had more particularly to perform the ritual acts prescribed by Moses in the correct manner and at the righit times. The earthly liturgy was interxJed to be a replica of that sung by the choirs of angels in the celestial Temple. To judge from the many references to it, the time elemerrt both calendric and horary was crucial. The Community Rule lays down that the Community was not to 'depart from any command of God concerning their times; they shall be neither early nor late for any of their appointed times, they shall stray neither to the right nor to the left of any of His true precepts' (IQS 1, 13-15). This injunction asks for exact punctuality in regard to the two daily moments of prayer meant to coincide with and replace the perpetual burnt-offering sacrificed in the Temple at sunrise and sunset (Exod. xxix, 30; Num. xxviii, 4), but it demands in addition a strict observance of tfie sect's own liturgical calendar. He shall bless Him [with the oflering] of the lips at the times ordained by Him: at the beginning of the dominion of light, and at its end when it retires to its appointed place; at the beginning of the watches of darkness when He unlocks their storehouse and spreads them out, and also at their end when they retire before the light; when the hea\«nly lights shine out from the dwelling-place of Holiness, and also when they retire to the place of Qory; at the entry of the (monthly) seasons on the da^s of the new moon, and also at their end when they succeed to one another ... (IQS IX, 26-x, 4) To understand the peculiarity of Essenism in this respect, a few words need to be said about the calendar followed by non-sectarian Judaism. Essentially, this was regulated by the movements of the moon; months varied in duration from twenty-nine to thirty days and the year consisted of twelve months of 354 days. Needless to say, such a lunar year does not con-espond to the four seasons determined by the movements of the sun In terms of solstices and equinoxes. The shortfall of about ten days between the lunar and the solar years was therefore compensated for by means of 'irrtercalation', i.e. by Inserting after Adar (February/IVIarch), the twelfth month of the year, a supplementary 'Second Adar' at the end of every thlrty-sIx lunar months. The Qumran sect rejected this seemingly artificial system and adopted instead a chronological reckoning, probably of priestly origin, based on the sun, a practice attested also in the Book of Jubilees and 1 Enoch, and fully laid out In the remains of a series of calendrlcal documents (4Q320-30). The outstanding feature of this solar calendar was its absolute regularity in that, instead of 354 days, not divisible by seven, It consisted of 364 days, I.e. fifty-two weeks precisely Each of Its four seasons was thirteen weeks long divided into three months of thirty days each, plus an additional 'remembrance' day (IQS x, 5) linking one season to another (13x7 = 91 = 3 x 30 + I). In tune In this way with the 'laws of the Great Light of heaven' (IQH XII, 5) and not with the 'festivals of the nations' (4QpHos=4Q171 11, 16), Qumran saw Its calendar as corresponding to 'the certain law from the mouth of God' (IQH XX [formerly XII], 9). Its unbroken rhythm meant furthermore that the first day of the year and of each subsequent season always fell on the same day of the week. For the Essenes this was Wednesday, since according to Genesis i, 14-19, It was on the fourth day that the sun and the moon were created. Needless to add, the same monotonous sequence also implied that all the feasts of the year always fell on the same day of the week: Passover, the fifteenth day of the first month, was always celebrated on a Wednesday; the Feast of Weeks, the fifteenth day of the third month, always on a Sunday; the Day of Atonement, the tenth day of the seventh month, on a Friday; the Feast of Tabernacles, the fifteenth day of the seventh month, on a Wednesday etc. This solar calendar with Its eternal regularity cannot of course stand up to the astronomical calculation of 365 days 5 hours 48 minutes and 48 seconds to the year, but the Scrolls so far published give no indication of how the Essenes proposed to cope with this inconvenience, or whether indeed they were even aware of it. One practical consequence of the sect's adherence to a calendar at variance with that of the rest of Judaism was that its feast-days were worl<ing days for other Jews and vice versa. The Wicl<ed Priest was thus able to travel (journeys of any distance being forbidden on holy days of rest) to the 'place of exile' of the Teacher of Righteousness while he arxl his followers were celebrating the Day of Atonement (cf. above, p. 55). In fact, it is likely that the persecutors of the sect deliberately chose that date to oblige the sectaries to attend to them on what they considered to be their 'Day of Fasting' and 'Sabbath of repose', and thus 'confuse them and cause them to stumble'. The same sort of story is told in the Mishnah of the Patriarch Gamaliel II, who endeavoured to humiliate Rabbi Joshua ben Hananiah by sending him the following instruction: 'I charge you that you come to me with your staff and your money on the Day of Atonement according to your reckoning' (Rosh ha-Shanah II, 9). Another peculiarity of the liturgical calendar of the Community, attested in the Temple Scroll, was the division of the year into seven fifty-day periods - hence the name pentecontad calendar - each marked by an agricultural festival, e.g. the Feast of New Wine, the Feast of Oil, etc. A similar system is mentioned by Philo in connection with the Therapeutae in his book. On the Contemplative Life. One of these festivals, the Feast of the New Wheat, coincided with the Feast of Weeks and was for the Essenes/Therapeutae also the principal holy day of the year, that of the Renewal of the Covenant, the importance of which is discussed above (p. 44). From the Book of Jubilees, where, as has been said, the same calendar is followed, it is clear that Pentecost (the Feast of Weeks), together with the Feast of the Renewal of the Covenant, were celebrated on the fifteenth day of the third month (Jub. VI, 17-19; cf also 4Q266 fr. II ii; 270 fr. 7 ii). An outline of the ceremony performed on this holy day, with its confession of sin and its blessings and curses, is preserved in the Community Rule (IQS I, 16-11, 25; cf also 4Q280, 286-7). The sectaries assemble for the service in strict hierarchical order: the priests first, ranked in order of status, after ttiem the Levites, and lastly 'all ttie people one after another in their Thousands, Hundreds, Fifties and Tens, that every Israelite may know his place in the Community of God according to the everlasting design' (IQS 11, 22-3). Blessing God, the priests then recite his acts of loving-kindness to Israel and the Levites recall Israel's rebellions against him. This recognition of guilt is fbllowed by an act of public repentance appropriate to a community of converts. V\fe ha\fi straied! We have [disobeyed!] V\te and our fathers before us have sinned and acted wickedly in wail<ing [counter to the precepts] of truth and righiteousness. [Aid God hias] judged us and our lathers aiso; but He has bestowed His bountifui mercy on us from ewrlasting to e\«riasting. (IQS I, 24-11, 1) After the confession, the priests solemnly bless the converts of Israel, calling down on them in particular the gifts of wisdom and knowledge : May He biess y^u with all good and present you from all evil! May He lighten yDur heart with iife-giving wisdom and grant yDU eternai l^nowledgel h/by He raise His merciful face towards y^u tor everlasting bliss! (IQS II, 2-4) This paraphrase of the blessing of Israel which God commanded IVIoses to transmit to Aaron and his sons in Numbers vi, 24-6, and which recalls the fourth of the daily Eighteen Benedictions of traditional Judaism, is accompanied by a Levitical curse of the party of Belial and a special malediction directed by both priests and Levites at any sectary whose conversion may be insincere: Cursed be the man who enters this Co\«nant while walking among the idols of his heart, who sets up before himself his stumbling-block of sin so that he may backslide! Hearing the words of this Covenant he blesses himself in his heart and says, 'Peacebewithme,e\«n though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart'... (IQS II, 11-12) The Cave 4 sources of the Damascus Document depict also tfie ritual of dismissal from the Community. The Priest overseeing the Congregation, addressing God, declares: Thou hast cursed those who transgress (the boundary) but we maintain it. Thereupon 'the dismissed man shall leave arxl whoever eats from what is his or greets the man who has been dismissed, and agrees with him, ... his judgement shall be complete' (4Q266 fr. 11 III; 270 fr. 7 11). Each benediction arKi curse is approved by the wtxjle congregation with a twice repeated 'Amen'. The ceremony of the Renewal of the Covenant seems to be the only rite described in any detail in the Community Rule and the Damascus Document, but as the Essenes laid so much emphasis on the full and punctilious observance of the Law of Moses it may be tal<en for granted that they did not omit the many other basic acts of Jewish religion arxl worship. The fact that ttie Community Rule is satisfied simply to state without any specification thiat a single deliberate transgression of the Mosaic Law would entail irrevocable expulsion from the sect implies that the elite sectaries subject to this rule did not need detailed guidance: they were supposed to be fully versed in the Torah. Legislation addressed to less well-trained members, contained in the Damascus Document and in the Temple Scroll, is more discursive. Circumcision, for example, which was certainly practised, is mentioned in connection with female uncleanness after childbirth when Leviticus xii, 3 is cited in passing (4Q266 fr. 6 ii). It is also referred to figuratively in the context of severing ttie 'foreskin of the evil inclination' (IQS v, 5), or possibly and by implication as the 'Covenant of Abraham' mentioned in connection with (Gentile) man-servants (CD XII, II; XVI, 6). The laws of purity were also assuredly essential to the sect, and some practical guidance is given in IIQTS XLVI-LI, 4Q274- 84, and MMT. Tine dietary iaws are dealt with in the Damascus Document, MMT and the Temple Scroll. For instance, the eating of 'live creatures' (e.g. iarvae of bees, fish and locusts) is declared to be prohibited in CD XII, 11-15. MMT states tliat a live animai foetus must be slaughtered before becoming fit for consumption (4Q396 frs. 1 -21 ). Further laws appear in the Temple Scroll XLVII-XLVIII. Josephus also remarks that an Essene was fbrt)iclden to eat food prepared by people not belonging to the brotherhood (War^^ , 143). On three other topics, the Qumran sources are less taciturn: ritual ablutions, Temple worship and the sacred meal. Discussed already as part of the life of the sect, it remains now to consider the doctrinal significance of these rites. Josephus, as will be recalled, observes that the Essenes took a ritual bath twice dally before meals (cf. War 11, 129, 132). 4Q414- entitied 'Baptismal llturg/ - deals definitely with such a bathing ritual but the text is so mutilated that no readable translation is possible. As regards the bath itself, the Damascus Document adds that the minimum quantity of clean water required for a valid act of purification was to be the amount necessary to cover a man (CD x, 12-13). This is not of course an Essene invention, but typically where the IVlishnah prescribes a minimum of forty seahs (about 120 gallons), the sect's teaching concentrates on the practical purpose of the IVlishnaic rule, namely that 'in them men may Immerse themselves' (Mikwaot VII, I), and eliminates the obligation of having carefully to measure out what that quantity should be. Of greater interest, however, is the theological aspect, with its insistence on a correlation between the inner condition of a man and the outer rite. The wicked, according to the Community Rule, 'shall not enter the water ... for they shall not be cleansed unless they turn from their wickedness' (IQS v, 13-14). True purification comes from the 'spirit of holiness' and true cleansing from the 'humble submission' of the soul to all God's precepts. For it is tiirougii tiie spirit of true counsel concerning tlie wa>s of man thiat all his sins shall be expiated ... He shall be cleansed from all his sins by the spirit of holiness ... and his Iniquity shall be expiated by the spirit of uprightness and humility when his flesh Is sprinkled with purifying water and sanctified by cleansing water, it shall be made dean by the humble submission of his soui to aii the precepts of God. (IQS III, 6-9) The second issue has to do with the sect's attitude towards the Temple and Temple sacrifice. While some Essenes, notwithstanding their vow of total fidelity to the Law of Moses, rejected the validity of the Sanctuary and refused to participate (temporarily) in its rites (cf. Philo, Omnis probus 75; Josephus, Antiquities XVIII, 1 9), they evaded the theological dilemma in which this stand might have placed them by contending that until the rededication of the Temple, the only true worship of God was to be offered in their establishment. The Council of the Community was to be the 'Most Holy Dwelling for Aaron' where, 'without the flesh of holocausts and the fat of sacrifice', a 'sweet fragrance' was to be sent up to God, and where prayer was to serve 'as an acceptable fragrance of righteousness' (IQS VIII, 8-9; IX, 4-5). The Community itself was to be the sacrifice offered to God in atonement for Israel's sins (IQS VIII, 4-5; 4Q265 fr. 7 ii). Besides this evidence in the Community Rule, the equation of the Council of the Community with the Temple also appears in the Habakkuk Commentary (XII, 3-4) in a most interesting interpretation of the word 'Lebanon'. Traditionally 'Lebanon' is understood by ancient Jewish interpreters to symbolize 'the Temple'. For example, Deuteronomy iii, 25, 'Let me go over ... and see ... that goodly mountain and Lebanon', is rendered in Targum Onkelos as, 'Let me go over ... and see ... that goodly mountain and the Temple'. The Qumran commentator, explaining the Habakkuk text, 'For the violence done to Lebanon shall overwhelm you' (Hab. 11, 17), proceeds from the belief that the Council of the Community is the one valid Temple. He then sets out to prove it by directly associating Lebanon with the Council in the conviction that the traditional exegesis will be familiar to all his readers: Lebanon = Temple. Temple = Council of the Community, ergo Lebanon = Council of the Community.Z^ The symbolical approach of the sect to sacrificial worship may account for Essene celibacy (where it was practised). Sexual abstinence was imposed on those participating in the Temple services, both priests and laymen; no person who had sexual intercourse (or an involuntary emission, or even any physical contact with a menstruating woman) could lawfully take part. More importantly still, bearing in mind the central place occupied by prophecy in Essene doctrine, clear indications exist in inter-Testamental and rabbinic literature that a similar renunciation was associated with the prophetic state. Thus Moses, in order always to be ready to hear the voice of God, is said by Philo to tiave cleansed himself of 'all calls of mortal nature, food, drink, and intercourse with women' (Life of Moses 1 1 , 68- 9). Consequently, despite the attempt made by Philo and by Josephus to attribute the sect's celibacy to misogyny, a more reasonable explanation would be that it was thought that lives intended to be wholly consecrated to worship and wholly preoccupied with meditation on prophecy should be kept wholly, and not just intermittently, pure. The common table of the Essenes, the third special cultic subject to be examined, has already been discussed in Chapter II (p. 32), but one remaining point needs to be mentioned, namely that since the rules relating to the daily meal and the messianic meal are the same, it is not unreasonable to infer from the New Testament parallel that the former was thought to prefigure the latter As is well known, the evangelist Matthew portrays the Last Supper as the prototype of the great eschatological feast, quoting Jesus as saying: I tell >ou, I shall not drink again of this frultof the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's Kingdom. (Matth. XXV/, 29) 4 FUTURE EXPECTATIONS IN THE COMMUNITY OF THE COVENANT The Essene sect was bom into a world of eschatological ferment, of intense expectation of the end foretold by the Prophets. Using biblical models as vehicles for their own convictions, the Teacher of Righteousness and the Community's sages projected an image of the future which is elaborate and colourful, but which cannot always be fully comprehended by us, partly because some of the associations escape us, and partly because of gaps in the extant texts. They foresaw in their Community's story the fulfilment of the prophetic expectations concerning the salvation of the righteous. It was from their ranks, swollen by the re-conversion of some of the 'Simple of Ephraim' (4QpNah=4Q1 69 III, 4-5) who had caused such distress by their previous apostasy, and by ottier Jewish recruits (IQSa I, 1-5; cf. also 4Q471 % that the sons of Light would go to battle against the sons of Darkness. The Community or the 'exiles of the desert' would move to Jerusalem after a preliminary attack on the 'army of Belial', symbolized by the 'ungodly of the Covenant' and their foreign allies from the environs of Judaea, and an assault on the KIttIm occupying the Holy Land. These events were expected to cover a period of six years. The seventh, the first sabbatical year of the War, would see the restoration of Temple worship. Of the remaining thirty-three years of Its duration, four would be sabbatical years, so the War would be waged during twenty-nine: against the 'sons of Shem' for nine years, against the 'sons of Ham' for ten years, and against the 'sons of Japheth' for another ten years (IQM l-ll). The final confiict would end with the total defeat of the 'King of the KIttIm' and of Satan's hosts, and with the joyful celebrations of the Hero, I.e. God, by the victorious sons of Light. [Rise up, O Hero! Lead offTlnycapti\«s, OGIorious One! Gather up] "Riyspoils, OAjthorof mightydeeds! Lay Thy hand on the neck of Thine enemies and Thyfeet [on the pile of the slain! Smite tile nations. Thine ad>«rsaries], and dewDur the flesh of ttie sinnerwith Tliysword! Rll Thyland witti glory and Thine intieritance witti blessing! [Let there be a multitude of catUe in Thyfields, and in] Thy palaces [sil\«rand gold and precious stones]! OZion, rejoice greatly! Rejoice all you cities of Judah! [Keep yaur gates evsr open thatttie] hosts of the nations [maybe bnought in]! Their kings shall sene you and all yDur oppressors shall bow down before ^u; [theyshall lick the dust of yourfeet. Shout for joy, Odaughters of] my people! Deck yDursel\«s with glorious jewels [and rule o\/er the kingdom of the nations! So\«reigntyshall be to the Lord] and e\«riasting dominion to Israel. (IQMXIX, 2-8) Such was to be the course of the War in its earthly dimensions. But it would possess in addition a cosmic quality. The hosts of the sons of Light, commanded by the 'Prince of the Congregation', were to be supported by the angelic armies ied by the 'Prince of Light', also known in the Scrolls as the archangel IVIichael or Melchizedek. Similarly, the 'ungodly of the Covenant' arKi their Gentile associates were to be aided by the demonic forces of Satan, or Belial, or Melkiresha'. These two opposing camps were to be evenly matched, and God's intervention alone would bring about the destruction of evil (IQM XVIII, 1-3). Elsewhere the grand finale is represented as a judgement scene in which the heavenly prince Melchizedek recompenses 'the Holy Ones of God' and executes 'the vengeance of the judgements of God' over Belial and his lot (IIQMelch II, 9, 13). Yet, if my interpretation of another non-messianic composition (40246) is correct, the symbolical opponent, usurping in this writing the title 'son of God' and 'son of the Most High', is said to be overcome by 'the people of God' ready to establish with the help of the Great God an eternal kingdom. The role of the priests and Levites in this imaginary ultimate grappling of good with evil, as described in the War Scroll, emerges as that of norvcombatants, performing various battle rituals and directing the various war activities (advance, retreat, ambush, etc.). However, it is more difficult to determine the function of the commander-in-chief, the so-called 'Prince of the Congregation'. We learn that on his shield will be inscribed his name, the names of Israel, Levi and Aaron, and those of the twelve tribes and their chiefs (IQM v, 1 -2); but little room appears to be left in the War Rule for him to act as the Royal Messiah. God himself Is the supreme agent of salvation and after him in importance is Michael. In some other Scrolls, by contrast, the theme of Messianism is more prominent. Complex and sui generis, it envisages sometimes one messianic figure, royai, Davidic, triumphant (4Q285, 4Q161, and tlie Damascus Document speai<ing of tine Messiali - in tlie singular, cf. 4Q266 fr. 11 1, 12 - of Aaron and Israel), again and again two, and once possibly even three IVIessiahs. The lay King-Messiah, otherwise known as the 'Branch of David', the 'Messiah of Israel', the 'Prince of [all] the Congregation' and the 'Sceptre', was to usher in, according to the sect's book of Blessings, 'the Kingdom of his people' and 'bring death to the ungodly" and defeat '[the kings of the] nations' (IQSb v, 21 , 25, 28). The recently and groundlessly advanced theory that 'the Prince of the Congregation, Branch of David' of 4Q285 is a suffering and executed Messiah is contradicted both by the immediate context and the broader exegetical framework of Isaiah x, 34-xi, I on which 4Q285 depends (cf 4Q161,frs. 8-10; IQSb v, 20-29). As befits a priestly sect, however, the Priest-Messiah comes first in the order of precedence; he is also called the 'Messiah of Aaron', the 'Priest', the 'Interpreter of the Law' (cf. IQSa II, 20). The King-Messiah was to defer to him and to the priestly authority in general in all legal matters: 'As they teach him, so shall he judge' (4Qplsa=4Q161 frs. 8-11, 1.23). The 'Messiah of Aaron' was to be the final Teacher, 'he who shall teach righteousness at the end of days' (CD VI, II). But he was also to preside over the battle liturgy (IQM xv, 4; XVI, 13; XVIII, 5) and the eschatological banquet (IQSa II, 12-21). It seems that there are some allusions suggesting that the eschatological High Priest was expected to undergo suffering and humiliation before being glorified (see4Q4lb, 491 fr. II, 541, fr. 9). The third figure, 'the Prophet', is mentioned directly though briefly only orK:e: we are told that his arrival was expected together with that of the Messiahs of Aaron and Israel (IQS Ix, II). The whole messianic phrase Is absent, however, from all the extant 4Q manuscripts of the Community Rule. Viewed in the context of inter-Testamental Jewish ideas, the Prophet was to be either an Elijah returned as a precursor of the Messiah (Mai. iv, 5; 1 Enoch xc, 31, 37; Matth. xi, 13; xvii, 12), or as a divine guide sent to Israel In the final days (I Mac. Iv, 46; xlv, 41 ; Jn. I, 21), no doubt Identical with 'the Prophet' promised by God to Moses ('I will raise up for them a prophet like you ... He shall convey all my commands to them', Deut xviii, 15-18; cf. Acts iii, 22-3; vii, 37). An identification of 'the Prophet' with a 'new Moses' is supported by the inciusion of the Deuteronomy passage in the Messianic Anthology or Testimonia from Cave 4 (4Q175) as the first of three messianic proof- texts, the second being Balaam's prophecy conceming the Star to rise out of Jacob (Num. xxiv, 15-17), and the third, the blessing of Levi by Moses (Deut. xxxiii, II), prefiguring respectively the royai Messiah and the Priest-Messiah. if it is proper to deduce from these not too explicit data that, if ever expected by the Qumran sect, the messianic Prophet (or prophetic Messiah) was to teach the truth revealed on the eve of the establishment of the Kingdom, it would follow that his part was to all intents and purposes the same as that attributed by the Qumran Essenes to the Teacher of Righteousness. If this is correct, it would not be unreasonable to suggest that at some point of the sect's history the coming of the Prophet was no longer expected; he was believed to have already appeared in the person of the Teacher of Righteousness. The evidence available does not permit categorical statements on the sectaries' views about what was to follow the days of the Messiahs. Some kind of metamorphosis was awaited by them, as is clear from the Community Rule - 'until the determined end, and until the Renewal' (IQS IV, 25). But one cannot be sure that it was understood as synonymous with the new creation of the Apocalypses of Ezra (vii, 75) and Baruch (xxxii, 6). Similarly the 'new Jerusalem' described in various manuscripts (cf. IQ32; 2Q24; 4Q554-555; 5Q15; 11Q18) does not match by definition the Holy City descending from above of I Enoch (xc, 28-9) or Revelation xxi, but could be an earthly city rebuilt according to the plans of angelic architects. As for the afterlife proper, and the place it occupied in Essene thought, for many centuries in the biblical age Jews paid little attention to this question. They believed with most peoples in antiquity that after death the just and wicked alike would share a miserable, shadowy existence In Sheol, the underworld, where even God is forgotten: 'Turn, O Lord, save my life,' cries the psalmist, 'for in death there is no remembrance of thee; in Sheol who can give thee praise?' (Ps. vi, 5; cf. Isa. xxxviii, 18; Ps. Ixxxviii, 10-12, etc.) The general hope was for a long and prosperous life, many children, a peaceful death in the midst of one's family, and burial In the tomb of one's fathers. Needless to say, with this simple outlook went a most sensitive appreciation of the present time as being the only moment In which man can be with God. Eventually, the Innate fear of death, and the dissatisfaction of later biblical thinl<ers with a divine justice that allowed the wicl<ed to flourish on earth and the just to suffer, led to attempts In the post-exilic era to solve this fundamental dilemma. The idea of resurrection, or rather of the reunification of body and soul after death, first appears as a metaphor In Ezeklel's vision of the re-blrth of the Jewish nation after the Babylonian captivity as the re-anlmatlon of dry bones (Ezek. xxxvll; cf. also 4Q385 frs. 2-3). Later, after the historical experience of martyrdom under the persecution of Antlochus Epiphanes, resurrection was expected to be tfie true reward of individuals who freely gave their lives for God — I.e. for their religion (Dan. xll, 2; 2 Mac. vll, 9; xll, 44; xlv, 46, etc.). At the same time, the notion of Immortality also emerged, the Idea that the righteous are to be vindicated and live for ever in God's presence. This view Is developed fully In the Greek apocryphal Book of Wisdom (III, l-V, 16). Josephus tells us that the Essenes subscribed to this second school of thought. According to him, they adopted a distinctly Hellenistic concept of Immortality holding the flesh to be a prison out of which the Indestructible soul of the just escapes Into limitless bliss 'In an abode beyond the ocean' after Its final deliverance (War II, 154-8). Resurrection, implying a retum of the spirit to a material body, can thus play no part In this scheme. Until recently the Scrolls themselves have not been particularly helpful. The Hymns Include equivocal statements such as, 'Hoist a banner, O you who He In the dust! O bodies gnawed by worms, raise up an ensign ...!' (1QH XIV [formerly VG, 34-5; cf XIX [formerly xl], 10- 14), which may connote bodily resurrection. On the other hand, the poet's language may just be allegorical. Immortality, as distinct from resurrection. Is better attested. The substance of Josephus' account Is confirmed, though not surprisingly without any typically Hellenistic colouring (no doubt introduced by him to please his Greek readers). The Community Rule, discussing the reward of the righteous and the wicked, assures the just of 'eternal joy in life without end, a crown of glory and a gannent of majesty in unending light' (IQS IV, 7-8), and sinners of 'eternal torment and endless disgrace together with shameful extinction in the fire of the dark regions' (IQS IV, 12-13). It Is Interesting to observe that immortality was not conceived of as an entirely new state, but rather as a direct continuation of the position attained on entry irrto the Community From that momerrt, the sectary was raised to an 'everlasting height' and joined to the 'everlasting Council', the 'congregation of the Sons of Heaven' (1QH xi [formerly HI], 20-22). Shortly after the 'liberation' of the Scrolls in 1991 a previously unknown poetic text, usually designated as the 'Resurrection fragment (4Q521), surfaced which, echoing Isaiah bd, 1, describes God in the age of the Messiah as healing the wounded and reviving the dead. If this poem is an Essene composition and not a psalm dating to the late biblical period, It can be said that one out of many hundreds of Qumran manuscripts definitely testifies to the secfs belief In bodily resurrection. In sum, the portrait of the sectary as It Is reflected In his religious Ideas and Ideals bears the marks of a fastidious and deeply committed observance of the Mosaic Law, an overwhelming assurance of the correctness of his beliefs, and certainty of his own eventual salvation. But whereas these characteristics may strike readers today as far too self-confident, one would do well not to overlook other traits conspicuous, In particular, In the Essenes' prayers and hymns, which testify to an absolute dependence on the Almighty and a total devotion to what was believed to be God's cause. For without Thee no wayis perfect and without TTiy will nothing is done. ItisTliouwho hast taught all knowledge and all things come to pass by Thy will. There is none beside Thee to dispute Thy counsel or to understand all TTiy holy design, or to contemplate the depth of Thymjsteries and the power ofThy might Who can endure Thyglory, and what is the son of man in the midst of Thy wonderful deeds? What shall one born of woman be accounted before Thee? Kneaded fhjm tie dust his abode is tlie nourisliment of worms. He is but a shape, but moulded day, and inclines towards dust (IQSXI, 17-22) List of Abbreviations BAR Biblical Arcbaeolofy Revifw BASOR Bullrlin of :he Ammran Schools tfOritmul Setanh CBQ Cnhul:. HiHiail Quarterly CD Cairo Damascus Document OJO Diiama m thijmttm Daat. (Mbnl igj^ DSS Dead Sa ScraOi DSSV R.EUeniti>iiindM.Wiie,XkI3M<jtejMfrUHPwra« Shaftesbuiy/Kockpoc^ Mm*, 199a Fr. Fngment f^P E. Schiirer. G. Vermes, F Milhr nd M. GoodnwB, I 111. l-dinlniriih. S ^7 lEJ Israel Exploration Journal JBL Journal of Biblical Litcraturt JJS Journal ofJev.'isb Smdtes JNES Journal of Near Eastern Stttdits JQR Jru:isb Quarterly Review JSJ Jnurniil for ihi- Stmiy ofJmAum JSS Joiiril.tl '■/ Sf/niri, Studitt iM AUlhamah''\\'ar Rule MMT MtprnMa^MM^ammObmaMat^hnr MQC J. IVeboDe Barren and L.\%gasMo«iiMi;«di^3fcJMU^ Qltmran Confess I'^tji. \*<>ls. I-II, t-HHw>, I99X NTS Nni- TesiiiMciti S:ndii-- p /><vf/'fj-=5cctanan Bible commentary Ps^ Ps.ilms Scroll a=iiQPs» Q Quinran cave (iQ, 2Q, etcaQumnn cave i, 2, etc.) XQ BuHfJfQmmtm S SMMaComiiniiiityRiiloiQS Sa Serekb: Appendix a=Messianic RulcslQS* Sli Srrrk-h: ApiKnilix l)=Blissini;s i (,)SI) S-D Hybrid Communily Rulc-Uamascus Documeot (|Q>65) TS HHiikScnifoiQTS UDSS A PnUmimmj ttHm ^ttt UfnUAtiD-tSmSotmi^ ed. B. Z. lUcfaolder and M. G. AbegK I^Uagm. 1991-5. Note on This Translation The purpose of this translation is to enable the reader to come into direct contact with the literary works found at Qumran. The English does not follow slavishly the Hebrew and Aramaic originals but aims at being faithful, intelligible and as far as possible readable. For this reason the Hebrew word order had to be altered and the numbering of the English lines, which often did not correspond to those of the manuscript, had to be sacrificed. However, since the 1995 fourth Penguin edition, every fifth line of the manuscript has been indicated in the margin of the translation. As stated in the preface, only meaningful texts are included in this volume, with the occasional exception of some broken lines which nevertheless reveal important information. When the same writing is extant in several manuscripts, the translation either represents a composite text, or indicates significant variarrts, but identical passages are not normally repeated. Experts are referred to the DJD volumes. Lacunae impossible to complete with any measure of confidence are indicated by dots in the translation. Texts supplied from a different manuscript of the same document appear between { }. Hypothetical but likely reconstructions are placed between [ ] and glosses necessary for fluency between ( ). Biblical quotations appearing in the text are printed In italics, as well as the titles and headings which figure in the manuscripts. Each scroll is divided into columns. The beginning of each of these columns is indicated in the translation by bold Roman numerals: I, II, III, etc. The word vacat Indicates an empty space in the manuscript. Finally, I wish to ackrowledge here the considerable debt we all owe to J. T. Milik and J. Strugnell for their pioneering decipherment of many ofthe Cave 4 texts. A. The Rules 'The Manual of Discipline', Israel Museum, Jerusalem The Community Rule (IQS, 4Q255-64, 4Q280, 286-7, 4Q502, 5QII, 13) Discovered in Cave I, tlie eleven relatively well-preserved colunnns of this manuscript (IQS) were first published in 1 951 by M. Burrows under the title The Manual of Discipline (The Dead Sea Scrolls of St Mark's Monastery, II, New Haven). Important fragments of ten other manuscripts of the Rule containing a certain number of variant readings were also found in Cave 4 (4QS^"' = 4Q255-64), and two small fragments in Cave 5(5Q11=1QS II, 4-7 and 13 quoting IQS 111,4- 5 and II, 19). Qther citations of the Community Rule, especially the penal code from 1QS VII, may be found in the 4Q fragments of the Damascus Document (cf. 4Q266, fr. 10 and 270, fr. 7) and in the hybrid S-D (4Q265). The latter quotes also from 1QS IV, VI and VIII, Finally 4Q502, fr 16 includes a quotation from IQS IV, 4-6. See also 1 1Q29 in DJD, XXIII, 433-4, quoting IQS VII, 23. The 1Q manuscript bears the stamp of editorial modification. For instance, in column x the original 'I will concea/ knowledge with discretion' is corrected to 'I will impart knowledge with discretion'. The section covered by columns VIII-IX was particularly subjected to alteration as indicated by corrections and interlinear additions in 1 QS, but remarkably none of these appears in the 408 manuscripts. The same section is considerably abridged in 408^=40259, where the text jumps from 108 VIII, 15 directlyto ix, 12. The Community Rule is probably one of the oldest documents of the sect; its composition may have originated around 100 BCE, and the Cave I copy itself is said to have been produced during the quarter of a century following that date. It seems to have been intended for the Community's teachers, for its Masters or Guardians, and contains extracts from liturgical ceremonies, an outline of a tractate on the spirits of trutli and faisefiood, statutes concerned witli initiation into tine sect and witli its common iife, organization and discipline, a penai code, and finaiiy a poetic dissertation on the fundamental religious duties of the Master and his disciples, and on the sacred seasons proper to the Community. Literary analysis suggests that the main document begins at 1 QS v, 1 . This is where AQS'^ (=4Q258) starts. The preceding columns in 1QS l-IV prefix to the Rule proper a liturgical text (1QS 1, l-lll, 11) and the probably independent tractate on the two spirits (1QS III, 12-IV, 25). Among the 4Q manuscripts only4QS'^ (=4Q256) contains remnants of all the sections of 1 QS. The other documents represent either 1 QS l-IV or 1QS V-Xl. 4QS^ {4Q259) substitutes, it seems, the text of 4QOtot (4Q3 1 9) for that of 1 QS X-XI. There are, to my knowledge, no writings in ancient Jewish sources parallel to the Community Rule, but a similar type of literature flourished among Christians between the second and fourth centuries, the so-called 'Church Orders' represented by works such as the Didache, the Didascalia, the Apostolic Constitution. The contents of 1QS may be divided into three main sections, but further subheadings appear in the text itself; 1. Entry into the Covenant, followed by an Instruction on the two spirits (l-IV). 2. Statutes relating to the Council of the Community (V-IX). 3. Directives addressed to the Master, and the Master's Hymn (IX-XI). Some of the variant readings appearing In the Cave 4 manuscripts have been adopted In this translation, but the significantly different texts of 4QS'' (4Q258) and 408^ (4Q259) will be appended to 1 QS. For the editio princeps of 1QS, see M. Burrows eta/.. The Dead Sea Scrolls of St Mark's Monastery Vol.11, Fasc. 2:Plates and transcription of the Manual of Discipline, 1951. Of. also J. H. Charlesworth et ai, eds.. The Dead Sea Scrolls Vol. I: Rule of the Community and Related Documents, 1994, 1-51. S. Metso, The Textual Development of the Qumran Community Rule (1997). 1QS I [The Master shall teach the saijnts to live(?) {according to the Book} (4Q255, 257) of the Community [Rul]e, that they may seek God with a whole heart and soul, and do what is good and right before Him as He commanded by the hand of Moses and all His servants the Prophets; that they may love all that He has chosen and hate all that He has rejected; that they may abstain from all evil and hold fast to all good; that they may practise truth, righteousness, and justice upon earth and no longer stubbornly follow/ a sinful heart and lustful eyes, committing all manner of evil. He shall admit into the Covenant of Grace all those who have freely devoted themselves to the observance of God's precepts, that they may be joined to the counsel of God and may live perfectly before Him in accordance with all that has been revealed concerning their appointed times, and that they may love all the sons of light, each according to his lot in God's design, and hate all the sons of darkness, each according to his guilt in God's vengeance. All those who freely devote themselves to His truth shall bring all their knowledge, powers and possessions into the Community of God, that they may purify their knowledge In the truth of God's precepts and order their powers according to His ways of perfection and all their possessions according to His righteous counsel. They shall not depart from any command of God concerning their times; they shall be neither early nor late for any of their appointed times, they shall stray neither to the right nor to the left of any of His true precepts. All those who embrace the Community Rule shall enter into the Covenant before God to obey all His commandments so that they may not abandon Him during the dominion of Belial because of fear or terror or affliction. On entering the Covenant, the Priests and Levites shall bless the God of salvation and all His faithfulness, and all those entering the Covenant shall say after them, 'Amen, Amen!' Then the Priests shall recite the favours of God manifested in His mighty deeds and shall declare all His merciful grace to Israel, and the Levites shall recite the iniquities of the children of Israel, all their guilty rebellions and sins during the dominion of Belial. And after them, all those entering the Covenant shall confess and say: 'We have strayed! We have [disobeyed!] We and our fathers before us have sinned and acted wickedly in walking [counter to the precepts] of truth and righteousness. [And God has] judged us and our fathers also; II but He has bestowed His bountiful mercy on us from everiasting to everlasting.' And the Priests shall bless all the men of the lot of God who walk perfectly in all His ways, saying: 'May He bless you with all good and preserve you from all evil! IVlay He lighten your heart with life- giving wisdom and grant you eternal knowledge! IVlay He raise His merciful face towards you for everlasting bliss!' And the Levites shall curse all the men of the lot of Belial, saying: 'Be cursed because of all your guilty wickedness! May He deliver you up for torture at the hands of the vengeful Avengers! IVlay He visit you with destruction by the hand of all the Wreakers of Revenge! Be cursed without mercy because of (4Q256) the darkness of your deeds! Be damned in the shadowy place of everlasting fire! May God not heed when you call on Him, nor pardon you by blotting out your sin! May He raise His angry face towards you for vengeance! May there be no "Peace" for you in the mouth of those who hold fast to the Fathers!' And after the blessing and the cursing, aii those entering the Covenant shall say, 'Amen, Amen!' And the Priests and Levites shall continue, saying: 'Cursed be the man who enters this Covenant while waiking among the idols of his heart, who sets up before himself his stumbiing-biock of sin so that he may backsiide! Hearing the words of this Covenant, he blesses himself in his heart and says, "Peace be with me, even though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart" (Deut. xxix, 18-19), whereas his spirit, parched (for iack of truth) and watered (with iies), shall be destroyed without pardon. God's wrath and His zeal for His precepts shall consume him in everiasting destruction. All the curses of the Covenant shall cling to him and God wiii set him apart for evil. He shall be cut off from the midst of all the sons of light, and because he has turned aside from God on account of his idols and his stumbling-block of sin, his lot shall be among those who are cursed for ever.' And after them, all those entering the Covenant shall answer and say, 'Amen, Amen!' Thus shall they do, year by year, for as long as ttie dominion of Belial endures. The Priests shall enter first, ranked one after another according to the perfection of their spirit; then the Levites; and thirdly, all the people one after arrather in their Thousands, HurxJreds, Fifties, and Tens, that every Israelite may know his place in ttie Community of God according to the everlasting design. No man shall move down from his place nor move up from his allotted position. For according to the holy design, they shall all of them be in a Community of truth and virtuous humility, of loving-kindness and good intent one towards the other, and (they shall all of them be) sons of the everlasting Company. No man [shall be in the] Community of His truth wtio refuses to enter [the Covenant of] God so that he may walk in the stubbomness of his heart, for III his soul detests the wise teaching of just laws. He shall not be counted among the upright for he has not persisted in the conversion of his life. His knowledge, powers, and possessions shall not enter the Council of the Community for whoever ploughs the mud of wickedness returns defiled (?). He shall not be justified by that which his stubborn heart declares lawful, for seeking the ways of light he looks towards darkness. He shall not be reckoned among the perfect; he shall neither be purified by atonement, nor cleansed by purifying waters, nor sanctified by seas and rivers, nor washed clean with any ablution. Unclean, unclean shall he be. For as long as he despises the precepts of God he shall receive no instruction in the Community of His counsel. For it is through the spirit of true counsel concerning the ways of man that all his sins shall be expiated, that he may contemplate the light of life. He shall be cleansed from all his sins by the spirit of holiness uniting him to His truth, and his iniquity shall be expiated by the spirit of uprightness and humility And when his flesh is sprinkled with purifying water and sanctified by cleansing water, it shall be made clean by the humble submission of his soul to all the precepts of God. Let him then order his steps {to walk} (4Q255) perfectly In all the ways commanded by God concerning the times appointed for him, straying neither to the right nor to the left and transgressing none of His words, and he shall be accepted by virtue of a pleasing atonement before God and it shall be to him a Covenant of the everiasting Community. The Master shall Instruct all the sons of light and shall teach them the nature of all the children of men according to the kind of spirit which they possess, the signs Identifying their works during their lifetime, their visitation for chastisement, and the time of their reward. From the God of Knowledge comes all that Is and shall be. Before ever they existed He established their whole design, and when, as ordained for them, they come into being, it is in accord with His glorious design that they accomplish their task without change. The laws of all things are in His hand and He provides them with all their needs. He has created man to govern the worid, and has appointed for him two spirits in which to walk until the time of His visitation: the spirits of truth and injustice. Those born of truth spring from a fountain of light, but those born of injustice spring from a source of darkness. All the children of righteousness are ruled by the Prince of Light and walk in the ways of light, but all the children of injustice are ruled by the Angel of Darkness and walk in the ways of darkness. The Angel of Darkness leads all the children of righteousness astray and until his end, all their sin, iniquities, wickedness, and all their unlawful deeds are caused by his dominion in accordance with the mysteries of God. Every one of their chastisements, and every one of the seasons of their distress, shall be brought about by the rule of his persecution; for all his allotted spirits seek the overthrow of the sons of light. But the God of Israel and His Angel of Truth will succour all the sons of light For it is He who created the spirits of Light and Darkness and founded every action upon them and established every deed [upon] their [ways]. And He loves the one IV everlastingly and delights in its works for ever; but the counsel of the other He loathes and for ever hates its ways. These are their ways In the worid for the enlightenment of the heart of man, and so that all the paths of true righteousness may be made straight before him, and so that the fear of the laws of God may be instilled in his heart: a spirit of humility, patience, abundant charity unending goodness, understanding, and intelligence; (a spirit of) mighty wisdom which trusts In all the deeds of God and leans on His great loving-kindness; a spirit of discernment in every purpose, of zeal for just laws, of holy intent with steadfastness of heart, of great charity towards all the sons of truth, of admirable purity which detests all unclean idols, of humble corKluct sprung from an understanding of all things, and of faithful concealment of the mysteries of truth. These are the counsels of the spirit to the sons of truth in this world. And as for the visitation of all wtio walk in this spirit, it shall be healing, great peace in a long life, and fruitfulness, together with every everlasting blessing and eternal joy in life without end, a crown of glory and a garment of majesty in unending light. But the ways of the spirit of falsehood are these: greed, and slackness in the search for righteousness, wickedness and lies, haughtiness and pride, falseness and deceit, cruelty and abundant evil, ill-temper and much folly and brazen insolence, abominable deeds (committed) in a spirit of lust, and ways of lewdness in the service of uncleanness, a blaspheming tongue, blindness of eye and dullness of ear, stiffness of neck and heaviness of heart, so that man walks in all the ways of darkness and guile. And the visitation of all who walk in this spirit shall be a multitude of plagues by the hand of all the destroying angels, everlasting damnation by the avenging wrath of the fury of God, eternal torment and endless disgrace together with shameful extinction in the fire of the dark regions. The times of all their generations shall be spent in sorrowful mourning and in bitter misery and in calamities of darkness until they are destroyed without remnant or survivor. The nature of all the children of men is ruled by these (two spirits), and during their life all the hosts of men have a portion of their divisions and walk in (both) their ways. And the whole reward for their deeds shall be, for everlasting ages, according to whether each man's portion in their two divisions is great or small. For God has established the spirits in equal measure until the final age, and has set everlasting hatred between their divisions. Truth abhors the works of injustice, and injustice hates all the ways of truth. And their struggle is fierce in all their arguments for they do not walk together. But in the mysteries of His understanding, and in His glorious wisdom, God has ordained an end for injustice, and at the time of the visitation He will destroy it for ever. Then truth, which has wallowed in the ways of wickedness during the dominion of injustice until the appointed time of judgement, shall arise in the world for ever. God will then purify every deed of man with His truth; He will refine for Himself the human frame by rooting out all spirit of injustice from the bounds of his flesh. He will cleanse him of all wicked deeds with the spirit of holiness; like purifying waters He will shed upon him the spirit of truth (to cleanse him) of all abomination and Injustice. And he shall be plunged into the spirit of purification, that he may Instruct the upright in the knowledge of the Most High and teach the wisdom of the sons of heaven to the perfect of way. For God has chosen them for an everiasting Covenarrt and all the glory of Adam shall be theirs. There shall be no more lies and all the works of Injustice shall be put to shame. Until now ttie spirits of truth and injustice struggle in the tiearts of men and they walk in both wisdom and folly. According to his portion of truth so does a man hate injustice, and according to his inheritance in the reaim of injustice so is he wicked and so hates truth. For God has established the two spirits in equal measure until the determined end, and until the Renewal, and He knows the reward of their deeds from all eternity He has allotted them to the children of men that they may know good [and evil, and] that the destiny of all the living may be according to the spirit within [them at the time] of the visitation. y And this is the Ruie for the men of the Community who have freeiy pledged themselves to be converted from all evil and to cling to all His commandments according to His will They shall separate from the congregation of the men of injustice and shall unite, with respect to the Law and possessions, under the authority of the sons of Zadok, the Priests who keep the Covenant, and of the multitude of the men of the Community who hold fast to the Covenant. Every decision concerning doctrine, property and justice shall be determined by them. They shall practise truth and humility in common, and justice and uprightness and charity and modesty in aii their ways. No man shall walk in the stubbornness of his heart so that he strays after his heart and eyes and evil inclination, but he shall circumcise in the Community the foreskin of evil irxilination and of stiffness of neck that they may lay a foundation of truth for Israel, for the Community of the everlasting Covenant. They shall atone for all those in Aaron who have freely pledged themselves to holiness, and for those in Israel who have freely pledged themselves to the House of Truth, and for those who join them to live in community and to take part in the trial and judgement and condemnation of all those who transgress the precepts. On joining the Community, this shall be their code of behaviour with respect to all these precepts. Whoever approaches the Courrcil of the Community shall enter the Covenant of God in the presence of all who have freely pledged themselves. He shall undertake by a binding oath to retum with all his heart and soul to every commandment of the Law of Moses in accordance with all that has been revealed of it to the sons of Zadok, the Priests, Keepers of the Covenant and Seekers of His will, and to the multitude of the men of their Covenant who together have freely pledged themselves to His truth and to walking in the way of His delight. And he shall undertake by the Covenant to separate from all the men of injustice who walk in the way of wickedness. For they are not reckoned in His Covenant. They have neither inquired nor sought after Him concerning His laws that they might know the hidden things in which they have sinfully erred; and matters revealed they have treated with insolence. Therefore Wrath shall rise up to condemn, and Vengeance shall be executed by the curses of the Covenant, and great chastisements of eternal destruction shall be visited on them, leaving no remnant. They shall not enter the water to partake of the pure Meal of the men of holiness, for they shall not be cleansed unless they turn from their wickedness: for all who transgress His word are unclean. Likewise, no man shall consort with him in regard to his work or property lest he be burdened with the guiit of his sin. He shall indeed keep away from him in all things: as it is written. Keep amy from all that is false (Exod. xxiii, 7). No member of the Community shall follow them in matters of doctrine and justice, or eat or drink anything of theirs, or take anything from them except for a price; as it is written. Keep amy from the man in viJiose nostrils is breath, for v\herein is he counted? (tea. ii, 22). For all those not reckoned in His Covenant are to be set apart, together with all that Is theirs. None of the men of holiness shall lean upon works of vanity: for they are all vanity who know not His Covenant, and He will blot from the world all them that despise His word. All their deeds are defilement before Him, and all their property unclean. But when a man enters the Covenant to walk according to all these precepts that he may be joined to the holy Congregation, they shall examine his spirit in community with respect to his understanding and practice of the Law, under the authority of the sons of Aaron wtxj have freely pledged themselves in the Community to restore His Covenant and to heed all the precepts commanded by Him, and of the multitude of Israel who have freely pledged themselves in the Community to return to His Covenant. They shall inscribe them in order, one after another, according to their understanding and their deeds, that every one may obey his companion, the man of lesser rank obeying his superior And they shall examine their spirit and deeds yearly, so that each man may be advanced in accordance with his understanding and perfection of way, or moved down in accordance with his distortions. They shall rebuke one another in truth, humility and charity. Let no man address his companion with anger, or ill-temper, or obdu[racy, or with envy prompted by (4Q258)] the spirit of wickedness. Let him not hate him [because of his uncircumcised] heart, but let him rebuke him on the very same day lestVI he incur guilt because of him. And furthermore, let no man accuse his companion before the Congregation without having admonished him in the presence of witnesses. These are the ways in which all of them shall walk, each man with his companion, wherever they dwell. The man of lesser rank shall obey the greater in matters of work and money They shall eat in common and bless in common and deliberate in common. Wherever there are ten men of the Council of the Community there shall not lack a Priest among them. And they shall all sit before him according to their rank and shall be asked their counsel in all things in that order. And when the table has been prepared for eating, and the new wine for drinking, tfie Priest shall be the first to stretch out his hand to bless the firstfruits of the bread and new wine. And where the ten are, there shall never lack a man among them who shall study the Law continually, dayarxJ night, concerning the right conduct of a man with his companion. And the Congregation shall watch In community for a third of every night of the year, to read the Book and to study the Law and to bless together. This is the Ruie for an Assembiy of the Congregation Each man shall sit In his place: the Priests shall sit first, and the elders second, and all the rest of the people according to their rank. And thus shall they be quesfioned corxieming the Law, and concerning any counsel or matter coming before the Congregation, each man bringing his knowledge to the Council of the Community. No man shall Interrupt a companion before his speech has ended, nor speak before a man of higher rank; each man shall speak in his turn. And in an Assembly of the Congregation no man shall speak without the consent of the Congregation, nor indeed of the Guardian of the Congregation. Should any man wish to speak to the Congregation, yet not be in a position to question the Council of the Community let him rise to his feet and say: 'I have something to say to the Congregation.' If they command him to speak, he shall speak. Every man, born of Israel, who freely pledges himself to join the Council of the Community shall be examined by the Guardian at the head of the Congregation concerning his understanding and his deeds. If he is fitted to the discipline, he shall admit him into the Covenant that he may be converted to the truth and depart from all injustice; and he shall instruct him in all the rules of the Community. And later, when he comes to stand before the Congregation, they shall all deliberate his case, and according to the decision of the Council of the Congregation he shall either enter or depart. After he has entered the Council of the Community he shall not touch the pure Meal of the Congregation until one {full} (4Q256) year is completed, and until he has been examined concerning his spirit and deeds; nor shall he have any share of the property of the Congregation. Then wtien he has completed one year within the Community, ttie Congregation shall deliberate his case with regard to his understanding and observance of ttie Law. ArxJ if it be his destiny, according to the judgemerrt of the Priests arxl the multitude of ttie men of their Covenant, to enter the company of the Community, his property and eamings shall be handed over to the Bursar of ihe Congregation w\no shall register It to his account and shall not spend it for the Congregation. He shall not touch the Drink of the Congregation until he has completed a second year among the men of the Community. But when the second year has passed, he shall be examined, and if It be his destiny, according to the judgement of the Congregation, to enter the Community, then he shall be inscribed among his brethren in the order of his rank for the Law, and for justice, and for the pure IVIeal; his property shall be merged and he shall offer his counsel and judgement to the Community. These are the Rules by which they shall judge at a Community (Court o1) Inquiry according to the cases If one of them has lied deliberately In matters of property, he shall be excluded from the pure Meal of the Congregation for one year and shall do penance with respect to one quarter of his food. Whoever has answered his companion with obstinacy, or has addressed him impatiently going so far as to take no account of the dignity of his fellow by disobeying tine order of a brother Inscribed before him, he has taken the law Into his own hand; therefore he shall do penance for one year [and shall be excluded]. If any man has uttered the [Most] Venerable Name VII even though frivolously or as a result of shock or for any other reason whatever, while reading the Book or blessing, he shaii be dismissed and shall return to the Council of the Community no more. If he has spoken In anger against one of the Priests inscribed In the Book, he shall do penance for one year and shaii be excluded for his soul's sake from the pure Meal of the Congregation. But if he has spoken unwittingly, he shall do penance for six months. Whoever has deliberately lied shall do penance for six months. Whoever has deliberately insulted his companion unjustly shall do penance for one year and shall be excluded. Whoever has deliberately deceived his companion by word or by deed shall do penance for six months. If he has failed to care for his companion, he shall do penance for three months. But if he has feiled to care for the property of the Community thereby causing its loss, he shall restore it in full. And if he be unable to restore it, he shall do penance for sixty days. Whoever has borne malice against his companion unjustly shall do penance for six months/one year; and likewise, whoever has taken revenge in any matter whatever. Whoever has spoken foolishly: three months. Whoever has interrupted his companion whilst speaking: ten days. Whoever has lain down to sleep during an Assembly of the Congregation : thirty days. And likewise, whoever has left, without reason, an Assembly of the Congregation as many as three times during one Assembly, shall do penance for ten days. But if he has departed whilst they were standing he shall do penance for thirty days. Whoever has gone naked before his companion, without having been obliged to do so, he shall do penance for six months. Whoever has spat in an Assembly of the Congregation stiall do penance for thirty days. Whoever has been so poorly dressed that when drawing his hand from beneath his garment his nakedness has been seen, he shall do penance for thirty days. Whoever has guffawed foolishly shall do penance for thirty days. Whoever has drawn out his left hand to gesticulate with it shall do penance for ten days. Whoever has gone about slandering his companion shail be excluded from the pure Meal of the Congregation for one year and shall do penance. But whoever has siandered the Congregation shall be expelled from among them and shall return no more. Whoever has murmured against the authority of the Community shall be expelled and shall not return. But if he has murmured against his companion unjustly, he shall do penance for six months. Should a man return whose spirit has so trembled before the authority of the Community that he has betrayed the tmth and walked in the stubbomness of his heart, he shaii do penance for two years. During the first year he shaii not touch the pure Meal of the Congregation, and during the second year he shall not touch the Drinl< of the Congregation and shaii sit beiow aii the men of the Community. Then when his two years are completed, the Congregation shaii consider his case, and if he Is admitted he shaii be inscribed In his ranl< and may then question concerning the Law. if, after being In the Council of the Community for ten fuii years, the spirit of any man has failed, so that he has betrayed the Community and departed from the Congregation to waii< In the stubbomness of his heart, he shall return no more to the Council of the Community. Moreover, if any member of the Community fias shared with him his food or property which ... of the Congregation, his sentence shall be the same; he shaii be ex[peiied]. VIII in the Councii of the Community there shaii be twelve men and three Priests, perfectly versed in all that is revealed of the Law, whose wori<s shaii be truth, righteousness, justice, ioving-i<indness and humility They shaii preserve the faith in the Land with steadfastness and meel<ness and shaii atone for sin by the practice of justice and by suffering the sorrows of affiiction. They shaii waii< with aii men according to the standard of truth and the rule of the time. When these are in Israel, the Councii of the Community shaii be established In truth, it shall be an Everlasting Plantation, a House of Holiness for Israel, an Assembly of Supreme Holiness for Aaron. They shaii be witnesses to the truth at the Judgement, and shaii be the elect of Goodwill who shaii atone for the Land and pay to the wicl<ed their reward, it shaii be that tried wall, that prec/otvs comer-stone, whose foundations shaii neither rocl< nor sway in their place (isa. xxviii, 16). it shaii be a Most Holy Dwelling for Aaron, with everlasting l<nowiedge of the Covenant of justice, and shaii offer up sweet fragrance. It shall be a House of Perfection and Truth In Israel that they may establish a Covenant according to the everlasting precepts. And they shall be an agreeable offering, atoning for the Land and determining the judgement of wickedness, and there shall be no more iniquity. When they have been confirmed for two years in perfection of way in the Foundation of ttie Community, they shall be set apart as holy within the Council of ttie men of ttie Community. And the Interpreter shall not conceal from them, out of fear of the spirit of apostasy any of those things hidden from Israel which have been discovered by him. And when these become members of the Community in Israel according to all these rules, tliey shall separate from tfie habitation of unjust men and shall go irrto the wilderness to prepare ttiere the way of Him; as it is written. Prepare in the widemess the way of ... , make straight in the desert a path for our God (Isa. xl, 3). This (path) is the study of the Law which He commanded by the hand of IVIoses, that they may do according to all that has been revealed from age to age, and as the Prophets have revealed by His Holy Spirit. And no man among the members of the Covenant of the Community who deliberately on any point whatever, turns aside from all that is commanded, shall touch the pure Meal of the men of holiness or know anything of their counsel until his deeds are purified from all injustice and he walks in perfection of way And then, according to the judgement of the Congregation, he shall be admitted to the Council and shall be inscribed in his rank. This rule shall apply to whoever enters the Community. And these are the rules which the men of perfect holiness shall follow in their commerce with one another Everyman who enters the Council of Holiness, (the Council of those) who walk in the way of perfection as commanded by God, and who deliberately or through negligence transgresses one word of the Law of Moses, on any point whatever, shall be expelled from the Council of the Community and shall return no more; no man of holiness shall be associated In his property or counsel In any matter at all. But if he has acted Inadvertently, he shall be excluded from the pure Meal and the Council and they shall Interpret the rule (as follows). For two years he shall take no part in judgement or ask for counsel; but if, during that time, his way becomes perfect, {tfien he shall return) (4Q258) to the (Court of) Inquiry and the Council, in accordance with the judgement of the Congregation, provided that he commit no further inadvertent sin during two fUll years. IX For one sin of inadvertence (alone) he shall do penance for two years. But as for him who has sinned deliberately, he shall never return; only the man wfK> has sinned inadvertently shall be tried for two years, that his way and counsel may be made perfect according to the judgement of the Congregation. And aflen/vards, he shall be inscribed in his rank in the Community of Holiness. When these become members of the Community in Israel according to all these rules, they shall establish the spirit of holiness according to everlasting truth. They shall atone for guilty rebellion and for sins of unfaithfulness, that they may obtain loving-kirKlness for the Land without the flesh of holocausts and the fat of sacrifice. Arxl prayer rightly offered shall be as an acceptable fragrance of righteousness, and perfection of way as a delectable free-will offering. At that time, the men of the Community shall set apart a House of Holiness in order that it may be united to the most holy things and a House of Community for Israel, for those who walk in perfection. The sons of Aaron alone shall command in matters of justice and property and every rule concerning the men of the Community shall be determined according to their word. As for the property of the men of holiness who walk in perfection, it shall not be merged with that of the men of Injustice who have not purified their life by separating themselves from iniquity and walking in the way of perfection. They shall depart from none of the counsels of the Law to walk in all the stubbornness of their hearts, but shall be ruled by the primitive precepts in which the men of the Community were first instructed until there stiall come the Proptiet and the Messiahs of Aaron and Israel. These are the precepts in which the Master shall walk in His commerce with ail the living, according to the rule proper to every season and according to the worth of every man He shall do the will of God according to all that tias been revealed from age to age. He shall measure out all knowledge discovered throughout the ages, together with the Precept of the age. He shall separate and weigh the sons of righteousness according to their spirit. He shall hold firmly to thie elect of the time according to His will, as He has commanded. He shall judge every man according to his spirit. He shall admit him in accordance with the cleanness of his harKis arKi advance him in accordance with his urxierstanding. And he shall love and hate lil<ewise. He shall not rebul<e the men of the Pit nor dispute with them. He shall conceal the teaching of the Law from men of injustice, but shall impart true knowledge and righteous judgement to those who have chosen the Way. He shall guide them all in knowledge according to the spirit of each and according to the rule of the age, and shall thus instruct them in the mysteries of marvellous truth, so that in the midst of the men of the Community they may walk perfectly together in all that has been revealed to them. This is the time for the preparation of the way into the wilderness, and he shall teach them to do all that is required at that time and to separate from all those who have not turned aside from all injustice. These are the rules of conduct for the Master in those times with respect to His ioving and haling Everlasting hatred in a spirit of secrecy for the men of perdition! He shall leave to them wealth and earnings like a slave to his lord and like a poor man to his master. He shall be a man zealous for the Precept whose time is for the Day of Revenge. He shall perform the will of God In all his deeds, and in ail his dominion as He has commanded. He shall freely delight in all that befalls him and nothing shall please him save God's will. He shall delight in all the words of His mouth and shall desire nothing except His command. He shall watch always [for] the judgement of God, and shall bless his Maker [for all His goodness] and declare [His mercies] in all that befalls. He shall bless Him [with the offering] of the lips X at the times ondained by Him: at the beginning of the dominion of light, and at its end when it retires to its appointed place; at the beginning of the watches of darkness when He unlocks their storehouse and spreads them out, and also at their erxl when they retire before the light; when the heavenly lights shine out from the dwelling-place of Holiness, and also when they retire to the place of Glory; at the errtry of the (monthly) seasons on the days of the new moon, and also at their end when they succeed to one another. Their renewal is a great day for the Holy of Holies, and a sign for the unlocking of everlasting mercies at the beginning of seasons in all times to come. At the beginning of the months of the (yearly) seasons and on the holy days appointed for remembrance, in their seasons I will bless Him with the offering of the lips according to the Precept engraved for ever: at the beginning of the years and at the end of their seasons when their appointed law is fulfilled, on the day decreed by Him that they should pass from one to the other- the season of early harvest to the summer time, the season of sowing to the season of grass, the seasons of years to their weeks (of years )- and at the beginning of theirweeks for the season of Jubilee. All my life the engraved Precept shall be on my tongue as the fruit of praise and the portion of my lips. 1 will sing with knowledge and all my music shall be for the glory of God. (My) lyre (and) my harp shall sound for His holy order and 1 will tune the pipe of my lips to His right measure. With the coming of day and night I wiil enter the Covenant of God, and when evening and morning depart I wiii recite His decrees. I wiii piace in them my bounds without return. i wiii deciare His judgement concerning my sins, and my transgressions shaii be before my eyes as an engraved Precept. i wiii say to God, 'iVIy Righteousness' and 'Author of my Goodness' to the iVIost High, 'Fountain of Knowiedge' and 'Source of Hoiiness', 'Summit of Giory' and 'Aimighty Eternai iVlajesty'. i wiii choose that which He teaches me and wiii deiight in His judgement of me. Before i move my hands and feet i wiii biess His Name, i wiii praise Him before i go out or enter, or sit or rise, and whiist i iie on the couch of my bed. i wiii biess Him with the offering of that which proceeds from my iips from the midst of the ranl<s of men, and before i iift my hands to eat of the pieasant fruits of the earth. i wiii biess Him for His exceeding wonderfui deeds at the beginning of fear and dread and in the abode of distress and desoiation. i wiii meditate on His power and wiii iean on His mercies aii day iong. i l<now that judgement of aii the iiving is in His hand, and that aii His deeds are truth. I wiii praise Him when distress is unieashed and will magnify Him also because of His salvation. I will pay to no man the reward of evil; I will pursue him with goodness. Forjudgementof allthe living Is with God and It Is He who will render to man his reward. I will not envy In a spirit of wickedness, my soul shall not desire the riches of violence. I will not grapple with the men of perdition until the Day of Revenge, but my wrath shall not turn from the men of falsehood and I will not rejoice until judgement Is made. I will bear no rancour against them that turn from transgression, but will have no pity on all who depart from the way. I will offer no comfort to the smitten until their way becomes perfect. I will not keep Belial within my heart, and In my mouth shall be heard no folly or sinful deceit, no cunning or lies shall be found on my Hps. The fruit of holiness shall be on my tongue and no abominations shall be found upon It. I will open my mouth In songs of thanksgiving, and my tongue shall always proclaim the goodness of God and the sin of men until their transgression ends. I will cause vanities to cease from my Hps, uncleanness and crookedness from the knowledge of my heart. I will Impart/conceal knowledge with discretion and will prudently hedge it within a firm bound to preserve faith and strong judgement in accordance with the justice of God. I will distribute the Precept by the measuring-cord of the times, and ... righteousness and loving-kindness towards the oppressed, encouragement to the troubled heart XI and discernment to the erring spirit, teaching understanding to them that murmur that they may answer meekly before the haughty of spirit and humbly before men of injustice who point the finger and speak of iniquity and who are zealous for wealth. As for me, my justification is with God. In His hand are the perfection of my way and the uprightness of my heart. He will wipe out my transgression through His righteousness. For my light has sprung from the source of His knowledge; my eyes have beheld His marvellous deeds, and the light of my heart, the mystery to come. He that is everlasting is the support of my right hand; the way of my steps is over stout rock which nothing shall shake; for the rock of my steps is the truth of God and His might is the support of my right hand. From the source of His righteousness is my justification. and from His marvellous mysteries Is the light In my heart. My eyes have gazed on that which Is eternal, on wisdom concealed from men, on knowledge and wise design (hidden) from the sons of men; on a fountain of righteousness and on a storehouse of power, on a spring of glory (hidden) from the assembly of flesh. God has given them to His chosen ones as an everlasting possession, and has caused them to Inherit the lot of the Holy Ones. He has joined their assembly to the Sons of Heaven to be a Council of the Community, a foundation of the Building of Holiness, and eternal Plantation throughout all ages to As for me, I belong to wicked mankind, to the company of unjust flesh. My Iniquities, rebellions, and sins, together with the perversity of my heart, belong to the company of worms and to those who walk In darkness. For mankind has no way, and man Is unable to establish his steps since justification Is with God and perfection of way Is out of His hand. All things come to pass by His knowledge; He establishes all things by His design and without Him nothing Is done. As for me, if I stumble, the mercies of God sliaii be my eternai saivation. If I stagger because of the sin of flesh, my justification shall be by the righteousness of God which endures for ever. When my distress is unleashed He will deliver my soul from the Pit and will direct my steps to the way. He will draw me near by His grace, and by His mercy will He bring my justification. He will judge me in the righteousness of His truth and in the greatness of His goodness He will pardon all my sins. Through His righteousness he will cleanse me of the uncleanness of man and of the sins of the children of men, that I may confess to God His righteousness, and His majesty to the Most High. Blessed art Thou, my God, who openest the heart of Thy servant to knowledge! Establish all his deeds in righteousness, and as it pleases Thee to do for the elect of mankind, grant that the son of Thy handmaid may stand before Thee for ever. For without Thee no way is perfect, and without Thy will nothing is done. It is Thou who hast taught all knowledge and all things come to pass by Thy will. There is none beside Thee to dispute Thy counsel or to understand all Thy holy design, or to contemplate the depth of Thy mysteries and the power of Thy might. Who can endure Thy glory, and what is the son of man in the midst of Thy wonderfui deeds? What shali one born of woman be accounted before Thee? Kneaded from the dust, his abode is the nourishment of worms. He is but a shape, but moulded clay, and inclines towards dust. What shall hand-moulded clay reply? What counsel shall it understand? Community Rule manuscripts from Cave 4 4QS^=4Q258 This'is the best preserved of the ten 4QS manuscripts. Seven columns of the text have survived, five of them containing full-length lines. Column 1 , with a wide margin on tfie right, is almost certainly the beginning of the Scroll. It corresponds to 1QS v, 1 . The last Identifiable passage represents 1QS XI, 7. The word 'God' ['el) is written twice with palaeo-Hebrew letters (at 1QS IX, 25 and x, 9). Columns I and II of S'' (1 QS V, l-VI, 7) provide a shorter and smoother version of the Rule than 1QS. The more fragmentary 4QS'^ {=4Q256) supports the present version on the essential points. The most significant peculiarities of 4QS'^ (=4Q258) are the almost complete absence of the 'full' spelling characteristic of the Qumran sectarian manuscripts, the different opening line and a repeated failure to mention 'the Priests, the Sons of Zadok'. For both its occurrences In 1QS, 4QS'^ (and 4QS'') read 'the Congregation' (ha-rabbim), an alternative reading likely to possess Important historical Implications. For the editio princeps, see P. S. Alexander and G. Vermes, DJD, XXVI, 83-128. See also G. Vermes, 'The Leadership of the Qumran Community: Sons of Zadok - Priests - Congregation', In the Martin Hengel Festschrift Geschichte-TradiHon-Reilexion, ed. P. Schafer (Tubingen, 1996), 375-84. I (=1QS v, 1-20) Teaching for the Master concerning the men of the Law (or: tfie Master who is tfie superior of ttie men of the Law) who have freely pledged themselves to convert from all evil and hold fast to all that He has commanded. And tfiey shall separate from the congregation of tfie men of injustice and sfiall unite with respect to doctrine and property, and they shall be under tfie authority of the Congregation concerning aii matters of doctrine and property. Ttiey shaii practise liumility and rigtrteousness and justice and lovlng- [kindness] and modesty in all their ways. And no man shall wall< in the stubbornness of his heart so as to stray. He is rather to lay [a foundation] of truth for Israel for the Community for all those who have freely pledged themselves to Holiness in Aaren and to a House of Truth in Israel and for those who jo[in th]em for a Community. Whoever enters the Council [of the Commu]nity shall undertake by binding (oath) to [return t]o the Law of Moses with all (his) heart and soul, to all that has been revealed from the L[aw]. [And whoever enters] the Council of the me[n] of the Communi[ty shaii separate from all the men] of injustice... He shall not touch the purity of the men [of hoiinejss and shall not eat with (them) [in community. And no] one of the men of the Community [shaii follow] their decision in any [doctrine] and judgement. And ... of work. No one from the men of holiness shaii eat ... [And] they shall not lean upon [work]s of vanity for they are aii vanity who [do not know His Covenant and aii who despisje His word He will blot them out from the world. Aii their deeds are defiieme[nt] be[fore Him and aiji [their property unclean.] ... Gentiies(?) and they pronounce oaths and execrations and vows. [But when a man enters the Covenant according to aii these precepts, that he may be joined to the hjoiy [Congregation,] they [shaii examine their spirit in community,] am[ong themselves] con[cerning their understanding] II (1QS v, 21-Vi, 7) and their practice of the Law under the authority of the sons of Aaron who have freely pledged themselves to restore His Covenant and heed to aii the precepts commanded by Him to be practised by the multitude of Israel who have freely pledged themselves to return in common. They shaii be inscribed in the order, one after another, each according to his understanding and his deeds in the Law, that aii may obey one another, the man of lesser rank the greater. And they shaii examine their spirit and their deeds in the Law yearly so that each man may be advanced in accordance with [his] un[derstanding] or moved down in accordance with his aberrations. They shall rebuke one another (in) loving-kindness. Let no man address his companion with anger or ill-temper or wicked envy. Also let no man accuse his companion before tfie Congregation without having rebuked him before \/vitnesses. These are the ways in which all of them shall wall<, each man with his companion, wtierever they dwell. [The man of lesser rank] shall ob[ey] the greater in matters of work and pro[perty. And they shall e]at [in common] and bless In common and dellbera[te] in common. [Arxl wherever there are ten] III (1 QS VI, 7-1 0) men of [the Council of the Community, there shall not lack] a pri[est from ajmong them. [And] they [shall sit, each m]an according to his rank, [before him arxJ sliall be asked their counsel in all things in that order] And when [the table has been prepared for eating or the n]ew wine [for drinking, the] priest shall [be first to stretch out his hand to bless the firstfruit of the bread] and of the wine. [And where the ten are, there shall never lack a man among them who shall study the Law day and night. And the Congregation shall w]atch [for one third of every night of the year, to read the Book] IV ... V (IS VII, 13) ... [and whoever draws] his hand from be[neath his garment] ...VI (1QS VIII, 6-21) ... [and] to pay to the wicked [their reward. It shaii be a tried waii, that precious corner-stone whose foundations shaii not rock nor sway from] their [pl]ace; (it shall be) a most holy dweiiing-piace [for Aaron, with the knowledge of them all of a covenant of justice and of the offering of fragrance; (it shall be) a house of perfection and truth for lsrae]l to establish a covenant according to the everlasting precepts. [They shall be an acceptance to atone for the land and to determine the judgement of wickedness with no injustice (any more). When these have been confirmed in the foujndation of the Community for two years, [in perfection of way they shall be separated as holy within the council of the men] of the Communi[ty And anything hidden from Isjrael but discovered by the man [who interprets, he shall not conceal it from them for fear of the spirit of apostasy.] And when these become (part of) the Community/in Israel, they shall separate fr[om the midst of the habitation] of the men [of injustice to go into the wilderness to prepare there the way of HIM (or: {the truth} (4Q259). This is the study of the La]w which He has commanded by the ha[nd of Moses, to prajctise all [that has been revealed from age to age, and as the prophets have revealed by His holy spirit. And no ma]n from the men of the covenant of the [Community who turns aside from any commandment deliberately stiall touch the purity of tiie men of holiness, nor shall he know any of their counsel until tils deeds are purified from all injustice so tliat lie wall<s in perfection of way. And tiiey siiaii admit iiim to tine council by tine decision of the Congregation and afterwards he shall be inscribed in his rank. And this rule (shaii apply) to everyone who attaches himself] to the Community. [And these are the rules which the men of tioliness shall follow, one regarding another] Everyone who [enters the council of the Community] ...VII (1QS VII, 24-iX, 10, 15) ... they shall exclude him from purity and from council and from judgement for tw[o year]s and he shaii retum to study and to council if he fias not committed again a sin by inadvertence for two fuii years. For one sin of inadvertence he shaii do penance for two years, and for a deliberately committed sin he shaii return no more. But he shaii be tried for two [yjears concerning the perfection of his way and for his counsel according to the decision of the Congregation and he shaii be inscribed in his rank in the Community of holiness. [When] these [become part] of the Community in Israel according to these rules, they shaii [es]tabiish the spirit of hoiiness as eternal truth. They shaii atone for guilty rebeiiion [and the sin of unfaithfui]ness and shaii gain (divine) acceptance for the ian[d without the flesh] of holocausts and the fat of sacrifices and offerings. And the cor[r]ect free-will gift of the lips shaii be like a fragrance [of righteousness and the perfection] of the way like the free-will offerin[g of ajgreeabie [tribute]. And at that time they shaii separate a house of Aaron for hoiiness for ail [ ] of God [and a house of Community for is]raei who walk in perfe[ction. Oniy the sons of Aajron [shaii comm]a[nd in matters of jujstice and property And the property [of the men of hoiiness who wajik in perfection, let [their property] not be mer[ged with] the property [of the men of falsehood] who have not confir[med their way to separate from aii] e[vii things] so as to waik in [the way of perfection. Let them not depart from any counsel of the Law] and they shaii be judged by the [primitive precepts in which the men of the Community began to be instructed. He shaii perform the judgement of every man according to his spirit and he shaii admit him according to the cleanness of his hands] VIII (1QS iX, 15-x, 3) and shaii advance him according to his understanding, and so shaii be his love and his hatred. Furthermore he shaii not rebuke a man and shaii not dispute with the men of the pit. IHe shall conceal his counsel among the men of injustice, but he shaii impart tnje knowledge and righteous judgement to those who have chosen the way, to each according to his spirit and according to the rule of the age, [guiding the]m with l<nowiedge. And thus shall he instruct them in the mysteries of marvei and truth among the men of the Community that they may walk in perfection each man with [his fellow in all that has been] revealed to them. This is the time for the preparation of the way into the wilderness. He shall instruct them in all that is to be done in that time. [And he shall separate] from every man who has not tumed away from all injustice. And these are the njles of conduct for the Master in [those] ti[mes] [with respect to his loving and] hating. Everlasting hatred for the men of the pit in a spirit of secrecy. He shall leave to them property and gain [and the earnings of toil like a slave to] his [lojrd and the poor man to his master. Each shall be zealous for the precept and his time shall become a day [of revenge.] He shall [perform the will (of God) in all his actions and in aljl his dominion a[s He has commanded. And a]ll that befalls him, he shall enjoy as a free gift and without the will [of GOD] [he shall not enjoy (anything). He shall delight in all the words of His mouth and shall desire nothing that He has] n[ot commanded. And] he shall watch al[ways for the judgemenjt of GOD [ ] and he shall bless his Maker and in all that befalls he shall declare [ ] and with the offering of the lips he shall bless Him at [the times which He has decreed. At the beginning of the dominion of light ajnd the c[ompletion of Its circuit when It retjires to [Its] appointed dwelling at the beginning [of the watches of darkness. When He opens its storehouse and spreads It out and at the completion of its circuit when it retires befjore the light. When [the heavenly lights] shine out [from the a]bode [of His holiness together with their withdrawal to the dwelling of glory. At the entry of seasons according to the new moon as well as their completion of their circuit when one succeeds to the other]; IX (1QS x, 4-12) at their renewal there Is a great day for the Holy of Holies and a sign for the opening of the everlasting mercies at the beginning of the seasons for ail ages to come. At the beginning of the months for their seasons and on the holy days according to their rules for remembrance in [their] seasons, i will bless Him [with the offering of the ijips according to the precept [en]graved for ever. At the beginning of the years and at the cxsmpletion of the circ[uit of their seasons, when they ful]fil their determined precept on the day decreed for one to foilow another, the seas[on of early harvest the summer, and the season of so]wing the season of grass, the seasons of the ye[ar]s thei[r] weel<s [and at the beginning of] theirweel<s the seasons of jubilee. And during aii my existence the [en]graved precept shaii be on [my tongue as a fruit] of praise and a po[rtion] of my iips. I wiii sin[g] with l<nowledge and aii my music is for the giory of GOD. [And i wiii] stril<e my iyre to the order [of His lioliness and the pipe of my iips i will] tune to [His r]ight measure. [At the coming] of the day [and the n]ight I wiii errter the covenant [of GOD and at the departure of evening and moming I wiii recite His precepts. And in them wiii i re-establish [my boundaries without return, i will deciare His judgement correct concerning] my [transjgression [and] my [rebeljlion shaii be before my eyes [as an engraved precept. And I say to GOD, 'IVIy righteousness' and to the IVIost High, 'Ajuthor of my goodness', 'Fountain of Knowledge' and 'Source of Holiness', 'Summit of Glory and 'Almighty Eternal Majesty'. I will choose] X (1QS x, 12-18) that which He teaches [me and I will delight in His judgement of me. Before I move my hands] and feet I will bless [His name and before I lift my hand to grow fat from] the pleasant pro[duce of the world. At the beginning of fear and dread and in the abode of distress] a[nd desolation, I will confess (His) marvel and I will meditate on His might and on His mercies] I will lea[n all day long. I know that in His hand is the judgement of all the living and all His deeds are truth.] When [distress] sta[rts I will praise Him and I will exalt Him for His salvation. And I will not pay] an [evil] reward [to a man; I will pursue him with goodness. For the judgement of all the living is with GOD, and He] will repay [man his reward ... ]XI ...XII (1QS XI, 7) ... [and He has caused] them [to inherjit the l[ot of the Holy Ones] ... XIII (1QS XI, 14-15) ... [He will ajtone [for all] my sins. [Through His righteousness He will cleanse me of the uncleanness of man and from the sins of the childjren of m[en that I may confess to God] His righ[teousness] ... 4QS«=4Q259 Three fragmentary columns of a leather scroll contain damaged sections of 1 QS VII-IX. The text translated comes from columns II and III and represents an important doctrinal section of 1QS (VIII, 4-IX, II) in an abridged form. Not only are some of the interlinear additions to 1QS absent, suggesting their later editorial nature, but4QS® (4Q259) jumps from 1QS VIII, 15 to IX, 12, thus omitting among other things the mention of the 'Prophet and the Messiahs of Aaron and Israel' (1QS IX, II). It would seem that the copyist of this manuscript substituted 4Q319 (the calendric document oi Otot) for the text corresponding to 1QS X-XI. For the editio princeps, see P. S. Alexander and G. Vermes, DJD, XXVI, 129-52. II (1QS VII, 20-VIII, 10) ... And when [he has] completed] [two years, the Congregation shall consider his case arKi he shall be Inscribed in] his [ran]k and afterwards he may question [concerning the law. And anyone who has been In the Cojuncll of the Community until he has completed [ten years, and then his spirit turned back so that he has betrayed the Community and has departed from] the Congregation to walk [in the stubbornness of his heart, he shall return no more to the Council of the Community. And any of the m]en of the Community who [has shared with him his purity or his property], his sentence shall be [like his: he shall be expelled. In the Council of the Community there shall be twelve m]en [and] three priests, [perfect in all that has been revealed from the whole Law to practise] truth, righteousness and justice [loving-kindness and modesty towards one another. They shall preserve fjaith in the land with steadfastness and with humility [arxJ a brojken [spirit.] And they shall atone for in[iquity by the practice of justice and the distress of tejsting. They shall walk with all men[ by the standard] of truth, by the mle [of the time. When these are In] Israel, the Council of the Community shall be established [to be an] everlasting plantation, a House of Holiness for Israel and an Assembly] of Supreme Holiness for Aaron. They shall be witnesses of the truth at the Judgement, and shall be the elect of good [will who atone for] the Lan[d and pay] to the wicked their reward. It shall be the tried wall, [that precious] cor[ner-stone. They shall] ne[ither rock, no]r sway from their place (tea. xxviii, 16). It shall be a m[ost] Holy Dwelling for Aar[on f]or a Covenan[t of justice to offer up sweet] fragrance. It shall be a House of Perfection and Truth in [Israel that they may establish a Covenant according to the e\/erlast]ing [precepts.] When they have been confirmed III (IQS VIII, 11-15; IX, 12 ...) [for two years in the perfection of way in the Foundation of the Community they shall be set apart] as holy within the Council of the men [of the Community And] the interpreter shall not con[c]eal [from them, out of fear of the spirit of apostasy any of those things hidden from Israel which have been discover]ed by him. [And when] these shall become the Community they shall separate fro[m the habitation [of unjust men and shall] go into the wil[derness to prepare there thje way of the Truth; a[s] it is written, [In the wldemes]s prfepare the my of... (?), make strai\ght in the desert a path for our God (Isa. xl, 3). This (path) is [the study of the Law which] He commanded by the hand of Moses. (The manuscript omits the section corresponding to IQS VIII, 15b to ix, 11, and continues with ix, 12 on the same line.) These are the pre[cepts in which] the Mas[ter shall walk] in his commerce with all the living, according to the rule proper to every season and according to the wort[h of every man]. Entry into the Covenant (4Q275) Previously called 4QTohorot B^, this tiny fragment represents a document describing the entry into the Covenant, known from the Community Rule (1QS), and alludes to a festival in the third month, i.e. the Feast of Weeks of Pentecost, when according to one of the Cave 4 manuscripts of the Damascus Document (40266) the Qumran Covenant renewal took place. For the editio princeps, see P. S. Alexander and G. Vermes, DJD, XXVI, 200—16. [And the Guardian will come] and the elders with him until... and they shall enter by genealogy... And the Guardian shall [curse (the unrepentant), saying 'Be damned without] mercy. [Let him be cur]sed And he will remove him] from his inheritance for ev[er] ... wlien he visits destruction ... Four Classes of the Community (4Q279) Formerly known as 4QTohorot D^, this fragment is one of three small scraps which have partly preserved the division of the Community into four lots or classes, already known from CD XIV, 5-6, viz. Priests, Levites, Israelites and Proselytes. For the editio princeps, see P. S. Alexander and G. Vermes, DJD, XXVI, 217-23. ... [The first] lot belongs [to the Pries]ts, the sons of Aaron [and the second lot to the Levites ranked in order] each according to his spirit. And the [third] lo[t will belong to the children of Israel in order each according to his spirit. And] the fourth lot will belong to the Prosely[tes] The Damascus Document (CD, 4Q265-73, 5Q12, 6Q15) Extensive fragments of the Dannascus Document have been recovered from three of the Qumran caves (4Q265-73, 5Q12=CD IX, 7-10, 6Q15=CD IV, 19-21, V, 13-14, v, l-VI, 2, VI, 20-VII, I plus a text unparalleled in CD), but two incomplete medieval copies of this document had been found already many years earlier, in 1896-7, amongst a mass of discarded manuscripts in a storeroom (genizah) of an old Cairo synagogue. Published in 1910 by S. Schechter (Fragments of a Zadokite Work, Cambridge), they were reprinted with a new Prolegomenon by J. A. Fitzmyer in 1970, re-edited by Chaim Rabin under the title The Zadokite Documents (Oxford, 1954) and in the light of the 4Q fragments by M. Broshi, The Damascus Document Reconsidered, Jerusalem, 1992. Cf also J. M. Baumgarten et al. in J. H. Charlesworth et al., eds., The DSS ll:Damascus Document.., 1 995, 4-79. For the editio princeps, see J. M. Baumgarten, DJD, XVIII, 1996. Dating from the tenth and twelfth centuries respectively the manuscripts found in Cairo - Manuscript A and Manuscript B - raise a certain number of textual problems in that they present two different versions of the original composition. I have settled the difficulty as satisfactorily as I can by following Manuscript A, to which the 4Q fragments correspond, and by inserting the Manuscript B variants in brackets or footnotes. At a certain point, as the reader will see. Manuscript A comes to an end and we then have to rely entirely on Manuscript B. Furthermore, two of the Cave 4 manuscripts (4Q266 and 268) show that page 1 of the Cairo document was preceded by another section of which both the beginning and the end have survived. Also 4Q266 and 270 indicate that in antiquity the text corresponding to CD IX, 1 was preceded by CD XVI. In the translation i have therefore rearranged the order of the pages and placed pages xv and XVI before page ix. The title 'Damascus Document' derives from the references in the Exhortation to the 'New Covenant' made 'in the larxJ of Damascus'. The significance of this phrase is discussed in Chapter III together with the chronological data included in the manuscript. They suggest that the document was written in about 100 BCE and this hypothesis is indirectly supported by the absence of any mention in the historical passages of the Kittim (Romans) whose invasion of the Orient did not take place until after 70 BCE. The work is divided into an Exhortation and a list of Statutes. In the Exhortation, the preacher - probably a Guardian of the Community - addresses his 'sons' on the themes of the sect's teaching, many of which appear also in the Community Rule. His aim is to encourage the sectaries to remain faithful, and with this end in view he sets out to demonstrate from the history of Israel and the Community that fidelity is always rewarded and apostasy chastised. During the course of his argument, the author of the Damascus Document frequently interprets biblical passages in a most unexpected way I have mentioned one of these commentaries on the marriage laws in Chapter IV (pp. 69-70), but there is another intricate exposition of Amos v, 26-7 on p. 135 which may not be easy to understand. In the Bible these verses convey a divine threat: the Israelites were to take themseives and their idols into exile: 'You shall take up Sakkuth your king and Kaiwan your star-god, your images which you made for yourselves, for I will take you into exile beyond Damascus.' But the Damascus Document transforms this threat into a promise of salvation; by changing certain words in the biblical text and omitting others its version reads: 'I will exile the tabernacle of your king and the bases of your statues from my tent to Damascus.' In this new text, the three key phrases are interpreted symbolically as follows: 'tabernacle' = 'Books of the Law'; 'king' = 'congregation'; 'bases of statues' = 'Books of the Prophets'. Thus: 'The Books of the Law are the tabernacle of the king; as God said, / wll raise up the tabernacle of David viJiich is fallen (Amos ix, 11). The king is the congregation; and the bases of the statues are the Books of the Prophets whose sayings Israel despised.' The omission of any reference to the 'star-god' is made good by introducing a very different 'Star', the messianic 'Interpreter of the Law' with his companion the 'Prince of the congregation'. 'The star is the Interpreter of the Law who shall come to Damascus; as it is written, A star shall come forth out of Jacob and a sceptre shall rise out of Israel (Num. xxiv, 17). The sceptre is the Prince of the whole congregation...' The second part of the Damascus Document, the Statutes, consists of a collection of laws which mostly reflect a sectarian reinterpretation of the biblical commandments relative to vows and oaths, tribunals, purification, the Sabbath and the distinction between ritual purity and impurity They are followed by rules concerned with the institutions and organization of the Community. Some of the particular laws of the Damascus Rule appear also in the Temple Scroll (cf p. 192). Whereas the Exhortation represents a literary genre adopted by both Jewish and Christian religious teachers (e.g. the Letter to the Hebrews), the methodical grouping of the Statutes prefigures that of the Mishnah, the oldest extant Jewish code. The Statutes as they appear in the Qumran fragments include the form of the ritual for the Feast of the Renewal of the Covenant, so it may be assumed that the entire Damascus Document was originally connected with that festival. 4Q266, as will be seen presently specifies that it occurred in the third month, i.e. that it coincided with the Feast of Weeks, celebrated on the fifteenth day of the third month according to the sect's calendar. The translation of those Cave 4 fragments which are additional to CD will follow the presentation of the Cairo manuscripts. The Exhortation I Listen nowll all you who know righteousness, and consider the works of God; for He has a dispute with all flesh and will condemn all those who despise Him. For when they were unfaithful and forsool< Him, He hid His face from Israel and His Sanctuary and delivered them up to the sword. But remembering the Covenant of the forefathers, He left a remnant to Israel and did not deliver it up to be destroyed. And in the age of wrath, three hundred and ninety years after He had given them into the hand of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, He visited them, and He caused a plant root to spring from Israel and Aaron to inherit His Land and to prosper on the good things of His earth. And they perceived their iniquity and recognized that they were guilty men, yet for twenty years they were like blind men groping for the way. And God observed their deeds, that they sought Him with a whole heart, and He raised for them a Teacher of Righteousness to guide them in the way of His heart. And he made known to the latter generations that which God had done to the latter generation, the congregation of traitors, to those who departed from the way This was the time of which it is written. Like a stubborn heifer tlius was Israel stubborn (Hos. iv. 16), when the Scoffer arose who shed over Israel the waters of lies. He caused them to wander in a pathless wilderness, laying low the everlasting heights, abolishing the ways of righteousness and removing the boundary with which the forefathers had marked out their inheritance, that he might call down on them the curses of His Covenant and deliver them up to the avenging sword of the Covenant. For they sought smooth things and preferred illusions (Isa. XXX, 10) and they watched for breaks (Isa. xxx, 13) and chose the fair neck; and they justified the wicked and condemned the just, and they transgressed the Covenant and violated the Precept. They banded together against the life of the righteous (Ps. xciv, 21) and loathed all who walked in perfection; they pursued them with the sword and exulted in the strife of the people. And the anger of God was kindled against II their congregation so that He ravaged all their multitude; and their deeds were defilement before Him. Hear now, all you who enter the Covenant, and I will unstop your ears concerning the ways of the wicked.Z^ God loves knowledge. Wisdom and understanding He has set before Him, and prudence and knowledge serve Him. Patience and much forgiveness are with Him towards those who turn from transgression; but power, might, and great flaming wrath by the hand of all the Angels of Destruction towards those who depart from the way and abhor the Precept. They shall have no remnant or survivor. For from the beginning God chose them not; He knew their deeds before ever they were created and He hated their generations, and He hid His face from the Land until they were consumed. For He knew the years of their coming and the length and exact duration of their times for all ages to come and throughout eternity He knew the happenings of their times throughout all the everlasting years. And in all of them He raised for Himself men called by nameZ^ that a remnant might be left to the Land, and that the face of the earth might be filled with their seed. And He made known His Holy Spirit to them by the hand of His anointed ones, and He proclaimed the truth (to them). But those whom He hated He led astray. Hear now, my sons, and I will uncover your eyes that you may see and understand the works of God, that you may choose that which pleases Him and reject that which He hates, that you may walk perfectly in all His ways and not follow after thoughts of the guilty inclination and after eyes of lust. For through them, great men have gone astray and mighty heroes have stumbled from former times till now. Because they walked in the stubbornness of their heart the Heavenly Watchers fell; they were caught because they did not keep the commandments of God. And their sons also fell who were tall as cedar trees and whose bodies were like mountains. All flesh on dry land perished; they were as though they had never been because they did their own will and did not keep the commandment of their Maker so that His wrath was kindled against them. Ill Through it, the children of Noah went astray together with their kin, and were cut off. Abraham did not walk in it, and he was accounted a friend of God because he kept the commandments of God and did not choose his own will. And he handed them down to Isaac and Jacob, who kept them, and were recorded as friends of God and party to the Covenant for ever The children of Jacob strayed through them and were punished in accordance with their error And their sons in Egypt walked in the stubbornness of their hearts, conspiring against the commandments of God and each of them doing that which seemed right in his own eyes. They ate blood, and l-le cut off their males in the wildemess. And at Kadesh He said to them, Go up and possess the land (Deut. ix, 23). But they chose their own will and did not heed the voice of their Maker, the commands of their Teacher, but murmured in their tents; and the anger of God was l<indled against their congregation. Through it their sons perished, and through it their kings were cut off; through it their mighty heroes perished and through it their land was ravaged. Through it the first members of the Covenant sinned arKi were delivered up to the sword, because they forsook the Covenant of God and chose their own will and walked in the stubbomness of their hearts, each of them doing his own will. But with the remnant which held fast to the commandments of God He made His Covenant with Israel for ever, revealing to them the hidden things in which all Israel had gone astray. He unfolded before them His holy Sabbaths and his glorious feasts, the testimonies of His righteousness and the ways of His truth, and the desires of His will which a man must do in order to live. And they dug a well rich in water; and he who despises it shall not live. Yet they wallowed In the sin of man and in ways of uncleanness, and they said. This is our (way).' But God, in His wonderful mysteries, forgave them their sin and pardoned their wickedness; and He built them a sure house in Israel whose like has never existed from former times till now. Those who hold fast to it are destined to live for ever and all the glory of Adam shall be theirs. As God ordained for them by the hand of the Prophet Ezeklel, saying. The Priests, the Levites, and the sons IV of Zadok v\ho kept the charge of my sanctuary vtien the children of Israel strayed from me, they shall offer me fat and blood (Ezek. xliv, 1 5). The Priests are the converts of Israel who departed from the land of Judah, and (the Levites are) those who joined them. The sons of Zadok are the elect of Israel, the men called by name who shall stand at the end of days. Behold the exact list of their names according to their generations, and the time when they lived, and the number of their trials, and the years of their sojourn, and the exact list of their deeds... (They were the first men) of holiness whom God forgave, and who justified the righteous and condemned the wicked. And until the age is completed, according to the number of those years, all who enter after them shall do according to that Interpretation of the Law In which the first (men) were instructed. According to the Covenant which God made with the forefathers, forgiving their sins, so shall He forgive their sins also. But when the age Is completed, according to the number of those years, there shall be no more joining the house of Judah, but each man shall stand on his watch-tower: The mil is built, the boundary far removed {M\c. vll, II). During all those years Belial shall be unleashed against Israel, as IHe spoke by the hand of Isaiah, son of Amoz, saying, Terror and the pit and the snare are upon you, O inhabitant of the land (tea. xxiv, 17). Interpreted, these are the three nets of Belial with which Levi son of Jacob said that he catches Israel by setting them up as three kinds of righteousness. The first Is fornication, the second Is riches, and the third Is profanation of the Temple. Whoever escapes the first Is caught In the second, and whoever saves himself from the second Is caught In the third (Isa. xxlv, 18). The 'builders of the wall' (Ezek. xili, 10) who have followed after 'Precept' - 'Precept' was a spouter of whom It is written, They shall surely spout (M\c. II, 6) - shall be caught In fornication twice by taking a second wife while the first Is alive, whereas the principle of creation Is, Male and female created He them (Gen. I, 27)' V Also, those who entered the Ark went in two by two. And concerning the prince it Is written, He shall not multiply wves to himself {DeiA. xvll, 17); but David had not read the sealed book of the Law which was In the ark (of the Covenant), for It was not opened In Israel from the death of Eleazar and Joshua, and the elders who worshipped Ashtoreth. It was hidden and (was not) revealed until the coming of Zadok. And the deeds of David rose up, except for the murder of Uriah, and God left them to him. Moreover, they profane the Temple because they do not observe the distinction (between clean and unclean) In accordance with the Law, but He with a woman who sees her bloody discharge. And each man marries the daughter of his brother or sister, whereas Moses said , You shall not approach your mother's sister; she Is your mothers near kin (Lev. xviii, 13). But although the laws against Incest are written for men, they also apply to women. When, therefore, a brother's daughter uncovers the nakedness of her father's brother, she Is (also his) near kin. Furthermore, they defile their holy spirit and open their mouth with a blaspheming tongue against the laws of the Covenant of God saying, 'They are not sure.' They speak abominations concerning them; they are all kindlers of fire and lighters of brands (Isa. 1, 11), their \/\ebs are spiders'mbs and their eggs are vipers' eggs (Isa. lix, 5). No man that approaches them shall be free from guilt; the more he does so, the guiltier shall he be, unless he is pressed. For (already) in ancient times God visited their deeds and His anger was kindled against their works; foritis a people of no discernment {\sa. xxvii, II), it is a nation void of counsel inasmuch as there is no discernment in them (Deut. xxxii, 28). For in ancient times, Moses and Aaron arose by the hand of the Prince of Lights and Belial in his cunning raised up Jannes and his brother when Israel was first delivered.!^ And at the time of the desolation of the land there arose removers of the bound who led Israel astray And the land was ravaged because they preached rebellion against the commandments of God given by the hand of Moses and VI of His holy anointed ones, and because they prophesied lies to turn Israel away from following God. But God remembered the Covenant with the forefathers, and he raised from Aaron men of discernment and from Israel men of wisdom, and He caused them to hear And they dug the Well:Z? the well vJhich the princes dug, vtiich the nobles of the people delved vith the stave (Num. xxi, 18). The Well is the Law, and those who dug it were the converts of Israel who went out of the land of Judah to sojourn in the land of Damascus. God called them all princes because they sought Him, and their renown was disputed by no man. The Stave is the Interpreter of the Law of whom Isaiah said. He makes a tool for His mrk (Isa. liv, 16); and the nobles of the people are those who come to dig the Well with the staves with which the Stave ordained that they should walk in all the age of wickedness - and without them they shall find nothing - until he comes who shall teach righteousness at the end of days. None of those brought into the Covenant shall enter the Temple to light His altar in vain. They shali bar the door, forasmuch as God said, Who among you wll bar its door? And , You shall not light my altar in vain {Ma\. i, 10). They shall take care to act according to ttie exact interpretation of the Law during the age of wickedness. They shall separate from the sons of the Pit, and shall keep away from the unclean riches of wickedness acquired by vow or anathema or from the Temple freasure; they shall not rob the poor of His people, to make of widows their prey and of the fetheriess their victim (Isa. x, 2). They shall distinguish between clean and unclean, and shall proclaim the difference between holy and profane. They shall keep the Sabbath day according to its exact interpretation, and the feasts and the Day of Fasting according to the firxJing of the members of the New Covenant in the land of Damascus. They shall set aside the holy things according to the exact teaching conceming them. They shall love each man his brother as himself; they shall succour the poor, the needy, and the stranger. A man shall seek his brother's well-being VII and shall not sin against his near kin. They shall keep from fornication according to the statute. They shall rebuke each man his brother according to the commandment and shall bear no rancour from one day to the next. They shall keep apart from every uncleanness according to the statutes relating to each one, and no man shall defile his holy spirit since God has set them apart. For all who walk in these (precepts) in perfect holiness, according to all the teaching of God, the Covenant of God shall be an assurance that they shall live for thousands of generations (MS. B: as it is written. Keeping the Covenant and grace wth those m/70 love me and keep my commandments, to a thousand generations, Deut. vii, 9). And if they live in camps according to the rule of the Land (MS. B: as it was from ancient times), marrying (MS. B: according to the custom of the Law) and begetting children, they shall walk according to the Law and according to the statute concerning binding vows, according to the rule of the Law which says, Bet\/\een a man and his wfe and between a father and his son (Num. xxx, 17). And all those who despise (MS. B: the commandments and the statutes) shall be rewarded with the retribution of the wicked when God shall visit the Land, when the saying shall come to pass which is written_ among the words of the Prophet Isaiah son of Amoz: He viill bring upon you, and upon your people, and upon your father's house, days such as have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah (Isa. vii, 17). When the two houses of Israel were divided, Ephraim departed from Judah. And all the apostates were given up to the sword, but those who held fast escaped to the land of the north; as God said, / wii exiie the tabernacle of your king and the bases of your statues from my tent to Damascus (Amos v, 26-7) The Books of the Law are the tabernacle of the king; as God said, / wll raise up the tabemacle of David vJiich is fallen (Amos ix, II). The king is the congregation; and the bases of the statues are the Books of the Prophets whose sayings Israel despised. The star is the Interpreter of the Law who shall come to Damascus; as it is written, A star shall come forth out of Jacob and a sceptre shall hse out of Israel (Num. xxiv, 17). The sceptre is the Prince of the whole congregation, and when he comes he shall smite all the children ofSeth (Num. xxiv, 17). At the time of the former Visitation they were saved, whereas the apostates VIII were given up to the sword; and so shall it be for all the members of His Covenant who do not hold steadfastly to these (MS. B: to the curse of the precepts). They shall be visited for destruction by the hand of Belial. That shall be the day when God will visit. (MS. B: As He said,) The princes of Judah have become (MS. B: like those v\ho remove the bound); wath shall be poured upon them (Hos. v, 10). For they shall hope for healing but He will crush them. They are all of them rebels, for they?^ have not turned from the way of traitors but have wallowed in the ways of whoredom and wicked wealth. They have taken revenge and borne malice, every man against his brother, and every man has hated his fellow, and every man has sinned against his near kin, and has approached for unchastity, and has acted arrogantly for the sake of riches and gain. And every man has done that which seemed right in his eyes and has chosen the stubbornness of his heart. They have not kept apart from the people (MS. B: and their sin) and have wilfully rebelled by walking in the ways of the wicked of whom God said. Their vine is the venom of serpents, the cruel poison (or head) of asps (Deut. xxxii, 33). The serpents are the kings of the peoples and their w/ne is their ways. And the head of asps is the chief of the kings of Greece who came to wreak vengeance upon them. But all these things the builders of the mil and those who daub it wth plaster {Ezek. xiii, 10) have not understood because a follower of the wind, one who raised storms and rained down lies, had preached to them (Mic. ii, 11), against all of whose assembly the anger of God was kindled. And as for that which Moses said. You enter to possess these nations not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your hearts (Deut. ix, 5) but because God loved your fathers and kept the oath (Deut. vii, 8), thus shall it be with the converts of Israel who depart from the way of the people. Because God loved the first (men) who^ testified in His favour, so will He love those who come after them, for the Covenant of the fathers is theirs. But He hated the builders of the v\bII and His anger was kindled (MS. B: against them and against all those who followed them); and so shall it be for all who reject the commandments of God and abandon them for the stubbornness of their hearts. This is the word which Jeremiah spoke to Baruch son of Neriah, and which Elisha spoke to his servant Gehazi. None of the men who enter the New Covenant in the land of Damascus, (B I) and who again betray it and depart from the fountain of living waters, shall be reckoned with the Council of the people or inscribed in its Book from the day of the gathering in (B II) of the Teacher of the Community until the coming of the Messiah out of Aaron and Israel. And thus shall it be for every man who enters the congregation of men of perfect holiness but faints in performing the duties of the upright. He is a man who has melted in the furnace (Ezek. xxii, 22); when his deeds are revealed he shall be expelled from the congregation as though his lot had never fallen among the disciples of God. The men of knowledge shall rebuke him in accordance with his sin against the time when he shall stand again before the Assembly of the men of perfect holiness. But when his deeds are revealed, according to the interpretation of the Law in which the men of perfect holiness walk, let no man defer to him with regard to money or work. for all the Holy Ones of the Most High have cursed him. And thus shall It be for all among the first and the last who reject (the precepts), who set Idols upon their hearts and walk In the stubbornness of their hearts; they shall have no share in the house of the Law. They shall be judged In the same manner as their companions were judged wtx) deserted to the Scoffer. For they have spoi<en wrongly against the precepts of righteousness, and have despised the Covenant and the Pact - the New Covenant - which they made in the land of Damascus. Neither they nor their kin shall have any part in the house of the Law. From the day of the gathering in of the Teacher of the Community until the end of ail the men of war who deserted to the Liar there shall pass about forty years (Deut. 11, 14). And during that age the wrath of God shall be kindled against Israel; as He said. There shall be no king, no prince, no judge, no man to rebuke wth justice (Hos. Ill, 4). But those who turn from the sin of Jacob, who keep the Covenant of God, shall then speak each man to his fellow, to justify each man his brother, that their step may take the way of God. And God will heed their words and will hear, and a Book of Reminder shall be written before Him of them that fear God and worship His Name, against the time when salvation and righteousness shall be revealed to them that fear God. And then shall you distinguish once more between the just and the wcked, between one that serves God and one that serves Him not (Mai. iii, 1 8); and He wll showloving-kindness to thousands, to them that love Him and mtch for Him, for a thousand generations (Exod. XX, 6). And every member of the House of Separation who went out of the Holy City and leaned on God at the time when Israel sinned and defiled the Temple, but returned again to the way of the people in small matters, shall be judged according to his spirit in the Council of Holiness. But when the glory of God is made manifest to Israel, all those members of the Covenant who have breached the bound of the Law shall be cut off from the midst of the camp, and with them all those who condemned Judah in the days of its trials. But all those who hold fast to these precepts, going and coming in accordance with ttie Law, who heed ttie voice of the Teactier and confess before God, (saying), 'Truly we have sinned, we and our fatfiers, by wall<ing counter to the precepts of the Covenant, Thy judgements upon us are justice and truth'; who do not lift their hand against His holy precepts or His righteous statutes or His true testimonies; who have learned from the former judgements by which the members of the Community were judged; who have listened to the voice of the Teacher of Righteousness and have not despised the precepts of righteousness when they heard them; they shall rejoice and their hearts shall be strong, and they shall prevail over all the sons of the earth. God will forgive them and they shall see His salvation because they took refuge in His holy Name.^ The Statutes ... (He shall not) XV swear by (the Name), nor byAleph and Lamed (Elohim), nor byAleph and Daleth (Adonai), but a binding oath by the curses of the Covenant. He shall not mention the Law of Moses for., were he to swear and then break (his oath) he would profane the Name. But if he has sworn an oath by the curses of the Covenant before the judges and has transgressed it, then he is guilty and shall confess and make restitution; but he shall not be burdened with a capital sin. And all those who have entered the Covenant, granted to all Israel for ever, shall make their children who have reached the age of enrolment, swear with the oath of the Covenant. And thus shall it be during all the age of wickedness for every man who repents of his corrupted way On the day that he speaks to the Guardian of the congregation, they shall enrol him with the oath of the Covenant which Moses made with Israel, the Covenant to return to the Law of Moses with a whole heart and soul, to whatever is found should be done at that time. No man shall make known the statutes to him until he has stood before the Guardian, lest when examining him the Guardian be deceived by him. But if he transgresses after swearing to return to the Law of Moses with a whole heart and soul, they (the members) shall be innocent should he transgress. And should he err In any matter that is revealed of the Law to the multitude of the camp, the Guardian shall {instruct} (4Q266, fr. 8 1, 5) him and shall issue directions concerning him: he should stu[dy] for a full year.^ And according to his (the Guardian's) knowledge, {no madman, or lunatic shall enter, no simpleton, or fool, no blind man, or maimed, or lame, or deaf man, and no minor, none of these shall enter into the Community, for the Angels of Holiness are [in their midst]} (4Q266, fr. 8 1, 6-9). (For God made) XVI a Covenant with you and all Israel; therefore a man shall bind himself by oath to return to the Law of Moses, for in it all things are strictly defined. As for the exact determination of their times to which Israel turns a blind eye, behold it is strictly defined in the Book of the Divisions of ttie Times into tlieir Jubilees and Weel<s. And on the day that a man swears to return to the Law of Moses, the Angel of Persecution shall cease to follow him provided that he fulfils his word: for this reason Abraham circumcised himself on the day that he knew. And concerning the saying. You sliall keep your vowby fulfilling it (Deut. xxiii, 24), let no man, even at the price of death, annul any binding oath by which he has sworn to keep a commandment of the Law. But even at the price of death, a man shall fulfil no vow by which he has sworn to depart from the Law. Concerning the oath of a woman Inasmuch as He said. It Is for her husband to cancel her oath (Num. XXX, 9), no husband shall cancel an oath without knowing whether it should be kept or not. Should it be such as to lead to transgression of the Covenant, he shall cancel it and shall not let it be kept. The rule for her father is likewise. Concerning the statute for free-wiii offerings No man shall vow to the altar anything unlawfully acquired. Also, no Priest shall tal<e from Israel anything unlawfully acquired. And no man shall consecrate the food of his house to God, for it is as he said. Each hunts his brother wth a net (or votive-offering: Mic. vii, 2). Let no man consecrate... And if he has consecrated to God some of his own field ... he who has made the vow shall be punished ... {[with] one sixth of his valuation money} (4Q266, fr. 8 ii, 2-3) ... IX!1 Every vow by which a man vows another to destruction (cf. Lev xxvii, 29) by the laws of the Gentiles shall himself be put to death. And concerning the saying. You shall not tal<e vengeance on the children of your people, nor bear any rancour against them (Lev. xix, 18), if any member of the Covenant accuses his companion without first rebuking him before^ witnesses; if he denounces him in the heat of his anger or reports him to his elders to make him look contemptible, he is one that takes vengeance and bears rancour, although it is expressly written. He takes vengeance upon His adversaries and bears rancour against His enemies (Nah. 1,2). If he holds his peace towards him from one day to another55 and thereafter speaks of him in the heat of his anger, he testifies against himself concerning a capital matter because he has not fulfilled the commandment of God which tells him: You shall rebuke your companion and not be burdened wth sin because of him (Lev. xix, 17). Concerning the oath with reference to that which He said. You shall not take the law into your own hands (I Sam. XXV, 26) Whoever causes another to swear in the field instead of before the Judges, or at their decree, takes the law into his own hands. When anything is lost, and it is not known who has stolen it from the property of the camp in which it was stolen, its owner shall pronounce a curse, and any man who, on hearing (it), knows but does not tell, shall himself be guilty. When anything is returned which is without an owner, whoever returns it shall confess to the Priest, and apart from the ram of the sin- offering, it shaii be his. And iil<ewise, everything which is found but has no owner shall go to the Priests, for the finder is ignorant of the rule concerning it. If no owners are discovered they shall l<eep it. Every sin which a man commits against the Law, and which his companion witnesses, he being alone, if it is a capital matter he shaii report it to the Guardian, rebul<ing him in his presence, and the Guardian shall record it against him in case he should commit it again before one man arxJ he should report it to the Guardian once more. Should he repeat it and be caught in the act before one man, his case shall be complete. And if there are two (witnesses), each testifying to a different matter, the man shall be excluded from the pure Meal provided that they are trustworthy and that each informs the Guardian on the day that they witnessed (the offence). In matters of property, they shall accept two trustworthy witnesses and shall exclude (the culprit) from the pure IVIeal on the word of one witness alone. No X Judge shall pass sentence of death on the testimony of a witness who has not yet attained ttie age of enrolment and who is not God-fearing. No man who has wilfully transgressed any commandment shall be declared a trustworthy witness against his companion until he is purified and able to return. And this is tfie Rule forttie Judges of the Congregation Ten shall be elected from the congregation for a definite time, four from the tribe of Levi and Aaron, and six from Israel. (They shall be) learned in the Bool< of Meditation and In the constitutions of the Covenant, and aged between twenty-five and sixty years. No man over the age of sixty shall hold office as Judge of the Congregation, for 'because man sinned his days have been shortened, and In the heat of His anger against the inhabitants of the earth God ordained that their understanding should depart even before their days are completed' (Jubilees, xxiii, II). Concerning purification by water No man shall bathe in dirty water or in an amount too shallow to cover a man. He shall not purify himself with water contained in a£^ vessel. And as for the water of every rock-pool too shallow to cover a man, if an unclean man touches it he renders its water as unclean as water contained in a vessel. Concerning the Sabbath to observe it according to its law No man shall work on the sixth day from the moment when the sun's orb is distant by Its own fulness from the gate (wherein It sinks); for this is what He said, Observe the Sabbath day to keep it holy (Deut. v, 12). No man shall speak any vain or idle word on the Sabbath day He shall make no loan to his companion. He shall make no decision in matters of money and gain. He shall say nothing about work or labour to be done on the morrow. No man shall walk in the field^ to do business on the Sabbath. He shall not walk more than one thousand cubits beyond his town. No man shall eat on the Sabbath day except that which is already prepared. He shall eat nothing lying in the fields. He shall not drink except in the camp. XI If he is on a journey and goes down to bathe, he shall drink where he stands, but he shall not draw water into a vessel. He shall send out no stranger on his business on the Sabbath day. No man shall wear soiled garments, or garments brought to the store, unless they have been washed with water or rubbed with incense. No man shall willingly mingle (with others) on the Sabbath. No man shall walk more than two thousand cubits after a beast to pasture it outside his town. He shall not raise his hand to strike it with his fist. If it is stubborn he shall not take it out of his house. No man shall take anything out of the house or bring anything In. And if he is In a booth, let him neither take anything out nor bring anything in. He shall not open a sealed vessel on the Sabbath. No man shall carry perfumes on himself whilst going and coming on the Sabbath. He shall lift neither stone nor dust in his dwelling. No man minding a child shall carry it whilst going and coming on the Sabbath. No man shall chide^ his manservant or maidservant or labourer on the Sabbath.^ No man shall assist a beast to give birth on the Sabbath day And if it should fall into a cistern or pit, he shall not lift it out on the Sabbath. No man shall spend the Sabbath in a place near to Gentiles on the Sabbath. No man shall profane the Sabbath for the sake of riches or gain on the Sabbath day But should any man fall into water or (fire), let him not be pulled out with the aid of a ladder or rope or (some such) utensil. No man on the Sabbath shall offer anything on the altar except the Sabbath burnt-offering; for it is written thus: Except your Sabbath offerings (Lev. xxiii, 38). No man shall send to the altar any burnt-offering, or cereal offering, or incense, or wood, by the hand of one smitten with any uncleanness, permitting him thus to defile the altar For it is written. The sacrifice of the i/i/c/ced is an abomination, but the prayer of the just is as an agreeable offering (Prov. xv, 8). No man entering the house of worship shall come unclean and in need of washing. And at the sounding of the trumpets for assembly he shall go there before or after (the meeting), and shall not cause the whole service to stop, XII for it is a holy service. No man shall lie with a woman in the city of the Sanctuary, to defile the city of the Sanctuary with their uncleanness. Every man who preaches apostasy under the dominion of the spirits of Belial shall be judged according to the law relating to those possessed by a ghost or familiar spirit (Lev. xx, 27). But no man who strays so as to profane the Sabbath and the feasts shall be put to death; it shall fall to men to keep him in custody. And if he is healed of his error, they shall keep him in custody for seven years and he shall afterwards approach the Assembly. No man shall stretch out his hand to shed the blood of a Gentile for the sake of riches and gain. Nor shall he carry off anything of theirs. lest they blaspheme, unless so advised by the company of Israel. No man shall sell clean beasts or birds to the Gentiles lest they offer them in sacrifice. He shall refuse, with all his power, to sell them anything from his granary or wine-press, and he shall not sell them his manservant or maidservant inasmuch as they have been brought by him into the Covenant of Abraham. No man shall defile himself by eating any live creature or creeping thing, from the larvae of bees to all creatures which creep in water. They shall eat no fish unless split alive and their blood poured out. And as for locusts, according to their various kinds they shall plunge them alive into fire or water, for this is what their nature requires. All wood and stones arKi dust defiled by the impurity of a man shall be reckoned like men having defilement of oil on them; whoever touches them shall be defiled bytheir defilement. And every nail or peg in the wall of a house in which a dead man lies shall become unclean as any working tool becomes unclean (Lev. xi, 32). The Rule for the assembly of the towns of Israel shall be according to these precepts that they may distinguish between unclean and clean, and discriminate between the holy and the profane. And these are the precepts in which the IVIaster shall walk in his commerce with all the living in accordance with the statute proper to every age. And in accordance with this statute shall the seed of Israel walk and they shall not be cursed. This is tiie Ruie Ibrthe assembiy oftiie camps Those who follow these statutes in the age of wickedness until the coming of the IVIessiah of Aaron XIII and Israel shall form groups of at least ten men, by Thousands, Hundreds, Fifties, and Tens (Exod. xviii, 25)-And where the ten are, there shall never be lacking a Priest learned in the Book of IVIeditation; they shall all be ruled by him. But should he not be experienced in these matters, whereas one of the Levites is experienced in them, then it shall be determined that all the members of the camp stiall go and come according to ttie latter's word. But should there be a case of applying the law of leprosy to a man, then the Priest shall come arxJ shall stand in the camp and the Guardian shall instruct him in the exact interpretation of the Law. Even if the Priest is a simpleton, it is he who shall lock up (the leper); for theirs is the judgement. This is the Ruie for f/ie Guardian of the camp He shall instruct the Congregation in the works of God. He shall cause them to consider His mighty deeds and shall recount all the happenings of etemity to them [according to] their [exjplanation (4Q267, fr. 9 iv, 2). He shall love ttiem as a father loves his children, and shall carry them in all their distress like a shepherd his sheep. He shall loosen all the fetters which bind them that in his Congregation there may be none that are oppressed or broken. He shall examine every man entering his Congregation with regard to his deeds, understanding, strength, ability and possessions, and shaii inscribe him in his place according to his rank in the lot of L[ight]. No member of the camp shaii have authority to admit a man to the Congregation against the decision of the Guardian of the camp. No member of the Covenant of God shall give or receive anything from the sons of Dawn (shahar) [or. of the Pit (shahat)] except for payment. No man shall form any association for buying and seiiing without informing the Guardian of the camp and shall act on (his) advice and they shall not go {astray. Likewise he who marri[es]} (4Q266, fr 9 ii, 4) a woma[n] ... advice. Likewise he who divorces (his wife). And he (the Guardian) shall instruct {their sons [and their daughters in a spirijt) (4Q266, fr 9 ii, 6-7) of humility and in loving-kindness and shall not keep {anger} (4Q266, fr. 9 ii, 8) towards them ... This is the Ruie for the assembly of the camps during all [the age of wickedness, and whoever does not hold fast to] these (statutes) shall not be fit to dweii in the Land [when the Messiah of Aaron and Israel shall come at the end of days]. [And] ttiese are the [precepts] in which ttie Master [shall walk in his commerce with all the living until God shall visit the earth. As He said, There shall come upon you, and upon your people, and upon your father's house, days] XIV such as have not come since Ephraim departed from Judah (Isa. vii, 17); but for whoever shall walk in these (precepts), the Covenant of God shall stand firm to save him from all the snares of the Pit, whereas the foolish shall be punished.^ The Rule for the assembly of all the camps They shall all be enrolled by name: first the Priests, second the Levites, third the Israelites, and fourth the proselytes. And they shall be inscribed by name, one after the other: the Priests first, the Levites second, the Israelites third, and the proselytes fourth. And thus shall they sit and thus be questioned on all matters. And the Priest who is appointed {to head} (4Q267, fr 9 v, II) the Congregation shall be from thirty to sixty years old, learned in the Book of Meditation and in all the judgements of the Law so as to pronounce them correctly. The Guardian of all the camps shall be from thirty to fifty years old, one who has mastered all the secrets of men and the languages of all their clans. Whoever enters the Congregation shall do so according to his word, each in his rank. And whoever has anything to say^ with regard to any suit or judgement, let him say it to the Guardian. This is the Rule for the Congregation by which it shall provide for all its needs They shall place the earnings of at least two days out of every month into the hands of the Guardian and the Judges, and from it they shall give to the fatherless, and from it they shall succour the poor and the needy the aged sick and the man who is stricken (with disease), the captive taken by a foreign people, the virgin with no near kin, and the ma[id for] whom no man cares ... And this is the exact statement of the assembly ... This is the exact statement of the statutes in which [they shall walk until the coming of the Messia]hof Aaron and Israel who will pardon their iniquity [Whoever] deliberately lies in a matter of property... and shall do penance for six days ... [Whoever slanders his companion or bears rancour] unjustly [shall do penance for one] year... Damascus Document manuscripts from Cave 4 Three Qumran caves have provided supplementary documentation to the text preserved in the Cairo Genizah. Of these the evidence furnished by Caves 5 (CD IX, 7-10) and 6 (CD IV, 19-21, v, 13-14, v, 18-VI, 2, VI, 20-VII, 1) is negligible, but the fragments discovered in Cave 4 (4Q266-273) are of the highest importance. Furthermore 4Q265 provides a kind of hybrid connecting the Damascus Document and the Community Rule. Palaeographically 4Q266-73 are dated from the mid-first century BCE to the beginning of the first century CE. The 4Q material represents (1) a prologue missing from CD (4Q266, fr. I— b; fr 2 i, 1-6, combined with 4Q267, fr 1 and 268, fr. 1) and substantial legal sections which follow the broken ending of the Statutes of CD. These laws relate to (2) the admission or dismissal of candidates (4Q266, fr. 5); to (3) criteria for disqualifying priests (4Q266, fr. 5; 267, fr. 5 ii; 273, frs. 2, 4 i); to (4) detailed rulings concerning tlie diagnosis and quarantining of persons suffering from skin disease (4Q266, fr. 6; 272, fr. 1); to (5) laws pertaining to gleanings (4Q266, fr. 6 iii-iv) and to the agricultural priestly dues (4Q270, fr. 3 ii-iii; 271, fr. 2; 269, fr. 8 i-ii). (6) A penal code partly overlapping with 1QS VII follows (4Q266, fr. 10; 270, fr. 7 i; 269, fr. II 1- ii). The two main manuscripts (4Q266, fr. II and 270, fr. 7i-ii) end with the ritual for the dismissal of unworthy members used in tfie ceremony marking entry into and expulsion from tfie Covenant. This festival was celebrated in the third month and coincided with the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost. Finally (7) the hybrid S-D (4Q265), in which the Community Rule and tlie Damascus Document merge, allows a glimpse into the interrelationship between tlie two main constitutional documents of the Community. For the editio princeps, see J. M. Baumgarten, DJD, XVIII. For 4Q269, see H. Stegemann, DJD, XXXVI, 201 -1 1 . (1) THE OPENING OF THE DAMASCUS DOCUMENT ACCORDING TO 4QD (4Q266-8) Three Cave 4 manuscripts of the Damascus Document (4Q266, fr. 1a- b; fr. 2 i, 1-6, combined 4Q267 fr. 1 and 268 fr. 1) have preserved parts of a prologue unattested in the Cairo version. The prologue contains a title vaguely reminiscent of the opening of 4QS''. The context is eschatological and alludes to a revelation by God to those 'who search His commandments and walk in the perfection of way. CD 11,1 follows on directly from the end of the prologue. 4Q266, fr. la-b [For the Master to instruct the s]ons of Light to keep away from the way[s of wickedness] ... until the completion of the appointed time for the visitation of [the spirit of injustice] ... God [will destro]y all her deeds, bringing destruction on ... the removers of boundaries and He will inflict destruction [on the assembly] of wickedness. [And now listen] to me and I will let you know the awesome des[lgns of God] arKi His marvellous [mighty deeds]. I will recount to you [all that is concealed] from man [all the d]ays of his life... Fr.2(4Q267,fr.1;268,fr.1) I flesh and creature... until it comes to them for they shall not be either early or late from their appointed times... He decreed an age of wrath for the people who did not know Him, and He established appointed times of goodwill for those who search His commandments and walk in the perfection of way. ArxJ He revealed hidden things to their eyes, and opened their ears so that they might hear deep (secrets) and understand all future things before they befall them. Listen rK>w, all you who know righteousness... (=CD 1,1). (2) INITIATION RULES (4Q266, fr. 5) This fragment contains echoes of the Community Rule's regulations regarding admission and dismissal of candidates and CD's identification of the sons of Zadok as the 'converts of Israel'. I [that they may bring near] each according to [his] spirit [and deeds] ... they shall depart by the decision of the Guandian (cf. 1QS VI, 1 6-1 7) ... [And these are the precepts] in which all ttie converts of Israel [shall wa]lk ... the sons of Zadok, the Priests (cf. CD IV, 2-3), behold the[y are tine converts of Israel... [the interpretation of the] last Law. And these are the precepts for the Mas[ter] in which [he shall walk (1 QS IX, 12)] In regard to all Israel, for [God] shall not save any of those who are not established] in His ways to walk perfec[tly] ... (3) RULES RELATING TO THE DISQUALIFICATION OF PRIESTS 4Q 266, fr. 5 ii (4Q267, fr. 5 ii; 273, frs. 2, 4 i) In this section of priestly legislation, the Community specifies (I) that only priests able to speak clearly and distinctly were allowed to read the Bible In public; (2) that priests who had been war prisoners were disqualified from Temple service; and (3) that priests wtio migrated to Gentile countries were deprived of their leading position and forbidden to partake in holy things. II Whoever speal<s too fast (or: too quietiy, lit. swift or light with his tongue) or with a staccato voice and does not split his words to make [his voice] heard, no one from among these shall read the Book of [the] La[w] that he may not misguide someone in a capital matter... [Any man] from among the sons of Aaron who has been taken prisoner by the nations... to defile him with their uncleanness. He shall not come close to the [holy] worship... Let him not eat the most holy [things] ... Any son of Aaron who retreats to ser[ve the nations] ... to teach his people the constitution of the people and also to betray.. [Any son] of Aaron whose name has been rejected from the Truth... [who has walked] in the stubbornness of his heart, eating from the holy ... from Israel, the Council of the sons of Aaron... who eats, he shall become guilty of the blood... in genealogy. And this is the rule for the dwelling [of the towns of Israel ... for the men] of holin[ess in] their [camps and] in their towns ina[ll] ... (4) DIAGNOSIS OF SKIN DISEASE (40 266,269,272,273) The rules relating to the diagnosis of a skin disease affecting the scalp and the face (Lev xiil, 29-37) are missing from the Cairo manuscripts, but can be partially reconstructed from 4Q272 and 266 and also from 4Q269 and 273. The Introductory formula prefixed to Lev. xlll, 33, viz., 'And as for that which is said', usually Indicative of a repeat citation, suggests that a longer Leviticus quotation preceded it The skin disease section is followed by laws relating to various sexual discharges causing uncleanness and impurity linked with childbirth. For the editio princeps, see J. M. Baumgarten, DJD, XVIII, 50-51, 186-7. 4Q 266, fr. 6 i (4Q272 1 273 ii, 269 7) I ... a discoloration or a scab or a briglit spot ... And tine scab resulting from a blow by wood [or stjone or whatever blow, when the spi[rit] enters [and sei]zes the artery, and the blood recedes up and down, and the artery... after the blood ... [And the priest shall observe the skin, the living and] the dead. If the dead (sl<in) [exceeds] the living (skin), he shall lock him up [until the blood re]turns to the artery until the flesh grows. And the priest shall observe him and shall make a comparison [on] the seventh [d]ay, [and if the spirlit of life is moving up and down, and the flesh grows, [the plague is healed, clean is] the scab. The priest shall not observe the skin on the flesh. 4Q266, fr. 6 I But if the discoloration or the scab is lower [than the skin... and the Pr]iest sees it as the appearance of living flesh, it is [a 'leprosy" (skin disease)] which has seized the living skin. And a similar rule concerning ... the Priest shall see on the seventh day. If some living flesh has become dead, the leprosy is malignant. And the law for the scab of the head or the bea[rd, when the Priest shall see] that the spirit has entered the head and the beard seizing the artery, and [the plague] spreads from under the hair and turns Its appearance to fine yellow; for it is like a plant which has a worm under it and bites its root and makes its flower wittier And as for that which is said, And the Priest shall order thatUiey shave his head, but shall not shave the scab (Lev. xi 1 1 , 33). This is in order that ttie Priest may count the dead and live hair. And he will see whether anything has been added from tlie live to the dead (hair) during the seven days. If there has, he is unclean. But if nothing has been added from the live (hair) to tlie dead, and the artery is filled with bl[ood] and tlie sp[i]rit of life goes up and down in it, this plague [is cured]. And this is tlie mie of the law of 'leprosy" for the sons of Aaron to set apart... And the law concerning a man with a flux. Any man with a [fl]ux issuing from [his] flesh, [o]r one that causes a Pew]d thought to arise or ... II the woma[n] ... [the man who ap]proaches [her] will have [the s]in of menstrual uncleanness on him. And if she sees (blood) a[gain] and this is not [during the uncleanness] of seven days, she shall not eat sacred (food) and shall not en[ter] the Sanctuary until the sun has set on the eighth day. vacat And a woman vho [conceiv\es and bears a male child [shall be unclean] for seven [days like] in her menstrual d^ays. On the eighth day the flesh of his] foreskin [shall be circumcised. She shall continue for thirty-three days in the blood of her purifying. But if she bears a female child, she shall be unclean for a fortnight as in] her [menstr[uation. For [sixty-six days she shall continue in her blood of purifying (Lev. xii, 2-5). And she] shall not eat [sacred (food) and shall not enter the Sanctuary, for] it is a capital crime... [Let her give the chi]ld to a wet-nurse who is in [(the state of) pur]\ty.... [And] if she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take a turtledove or a young pigeon (Lev. xii, 8) and she shall substitute it for the [lamb].... (5) RULES CONCERNING GLEANINGS AND AGRICUL TURAL PRIESTL Y DUES (4Q 266,269,270,271) III ... [Concer]ning [gleanings (of grain) and the gleanings (of grapes) from the vine]yard. (A cluster is up to ten berries.) And all the gleanings (of grain) up to a seah (measure of capacity=c. 12 litres) per toef sea/? (area requiring one seah of seed for sowing) ... [And a field] which produces no seed, is not subject to (a levy of) terumah-offering or of fallen grapes or of clusters up to ten berries. And for the harvest of olives and the fruit of its produce, if it is complete, isolated olives are one in thirty. But if the field was ravaged or consumed by burning, 4Q270,fr.3 should the amount (remaining) be a sea/7 per bet seah, it is to be tithed. If one person gleans one seah from it one day, the terumah will be one isaron (=30 per cent of a seah). [Concerning the two] loaves of the terumah. All the families (lit. houses) of Israel, those who eat the bread of the land, are to offer the terumah once a year (cf. Num. xv, 19-20; Lev. xxiii, 17). One (loaf) shall be one isaron. 4Q266,fr.6 IV ... All sacred offerings from the planting of vineyards and all fruit trees (producing) food shall belong to them (the priests), as is decreed for them, in the holy [lan]d and in the land of (their) sojourn. And afterwards they may sell of them to bu[y] ... a man may plant, in the fourth year he may n[ot ea]t (of it) for they sanctified it in [that] y[ear] ... 4Q 271 , fr. 2 (4Q269, fr. 8 Hi; 270, fr. 3 iii) ... he shall take off from (the grain of) the threshing-floor one tenth of a ho[mer (measure of volume, c. 220 litres), that is one eph]ah [or bath (22 litres), as is established]. The ephah and the bath are both the same measure. And from [the wheat o]ne sixth of [an ephah out of a homer and one tenth of a bath] for the fruit of trees. Let no one separate himself (from the norm of I out of 200, cf. Ezek. xlv, 15) by offering one lamb out of a hundred. Let [no] man eat [from the threshing-floor] and from the garden before [the prie]sts have stretched out their hand [to blejss first.... a house belonging to a man, he may sell and with... and he shall be innocent.... Let no man bring... to his pure food. Neither shall he bring close to his pure food any gold or silver or [copper], or tin or le[ad] from which the nations have made idols, except new (metal) coming straight from the furnace. Let no man bring any leather or garment or any vessel [which is used for] work and which has been defiled by the corpse of a man unless they were sprinkled according to the law [of purity with the water] for uncleanness In the age of wickedness (by) a man pure of all urKileanness who has allowed the sun to set (i.e. one who after bathing himself did not proceed until after sunset). No young man who has not yet reached the age to pass the mu[ster shall sprinkle] ... (6) THE PENAL CODE AND THE RENEWAL OF THE COVENANT RITUAL (4Q 266,270) CD XIV ends with scrappy relics of a penal code. The Cave 4 manuscripu and include a list of breaches of the rule punished by exclusion and penance of varying lengths. They closely resemble the code contained in the Community Rule (1QS VII). The principal difference consists in the explicit mention of women (fornication with one's wife and murmuring against the IVIothers) which once again renders the silence of Serefch concerning any matter pertaining to the female sex particularly eloquent. The penal code is followed by a Covenant ritual, which ends the Cave 4 version of the Damascus Document and contains the words spoken by the priestly head of the sect, following the expulsion of the unfaithful members of the congregation. The passage includes the reference to the 'third month' as the date of this festive assembly and presents the message of this writing as 'the last interpretation of the Law'. For the editio princeps, see J. M. Baumgarten, DVD, XVIII, 72-8, 162-70. 4Q266, fr. 10 (4Q270, fr. 7 i; 269, fr. 11 i-ii) ... II [He shall be excluded for] two [hundred] days and do penance for one hundred days. But if it was a capital matter and he bears (a grudge), [he] shall not return [again. And whoev]er has in[sulted] his companion without a reason [shall be exc]luded for one year and do pe[nan]ce for s[ix months] (cf. 1QS VII, 4). Whoever has spoken a foolish word, shall do penance for t[wen]ty [days and will be excluded] for three month[s (cf. 1QS VII, 9). And whoever in]terrupts the w[ords of his companion and lets himself go, will do penance for ten] days (1QS VII, 9-10). [And whoever lies do]wn [and] falls asleep at [the mee]t[ing of the Congregation ... shall be excluded] for thirty days [and] do penance for ten days. [And likewise, whoever has] left [without the consent of the Congregation and gratu]itously as many as three ti[mes in] one [session], he [shall do penance for ten] days. But if he has left the session [when they were standing, he shall do penance for thir]ty day[s]. And whoever has walked [naked] before [his] companion, whether he has walked in the house or in the field, he has walked n[aked before the peo]ple; he shall be excluded for six [months] ... (1QS VII, 10-12). And whoever has [d]rawn his hand from under [his] gar[ment and he was so poorly dressed that his nakedness was seen, he shall be separated for thir]ty [day]s and shall do penance for ten (1QS VII, 13-14). And whoever has gu[ffawed foolishly making his voi]c[e heard, shall be excluded for th]irty (days) and shall do penance for fif[teen days. And whoever has drawn out] his le[ft hjand [to gesticu]late with it, shall do penance [for ten days (1QS VII, 14-15). And who]ever has gone [slandering his com]panion, they shall exclude him from the purity for one year. 4Q270,fr.7 I [and shall do penance for six months. But whoever has slandered the Congregation shall be expelled] and shall not return ag[ain] (1QS VII, 15-16). [If he has murmured against his companion unjustly, he shall do penance for six months (1QS VII, 17-18). And] the m[a]n whose spirit has so trembled [before the authority of the Community that he has betrayed the truth and walked in the stubbornness of his heart, he shall be excluded for two years] and do penance for sixty [days] (1QS VII, 18-19). [When his two years are completed, the Congregation shall consider [his ca]se, [and if he is admitted,] he shall be ins[cribed in his rank and may then question about the law (1QS VII, 20 — 21). And whoever] has despised the law of the Congregation shall leave and [shall not return again. And whoever has taken] his food (from another person) outside the rules, he shall retum it to the man fr[om whom] he has taken it. vacat And wtx>ever has approached his wife, not according to the rules, (thus) fornicating, he shall leave and will not return again. [If he has murmured] against the Fathers, he shall leave and shall not retum [again (cf. 1QS Vil, 17). But if he has murmured] against the iVIothers, he shall do penance for ten days. For the Mothers have no fW)'m/7(distinction ?) within [the Congregation, vacat And these are the r]uies in [which they shall walk, all those who have been corrected. Whoev]er comes [to report some]one to the Priest [over]seeing 4Q266,fr.ll4Q270,fr.7i-ii) II the Congregation, he shall willingly accept His judgement, as He has ordered by the hand of iVIoses regarding the soul that sins by inadvertence that he shall bring his sIn-offerIng and his guilt-offering. And concerning Israel It is written, / wll go to the ends [of] heaven and will not smell the smell of your sweef odour (Lev. xxvi, 31). And in another passage it Is written, To retum to God wth crying and fasting (Joel II, 13). And In another passage It is written. Rend your heart and not your garment (ibid.) and It is written to return to God wth fasting and v\eeping (Joel ii, 12). And whoever rejects these rules which follow ail the precepts found in the Law of iVIoses, shall not be counted with ail the sons of His truth, for his soul has detested the righteous corrections (cf 1QS ill, i). As a rebel, he shall be dismissed from the Congregation. The Priest [overjseeing the Congregation shall speak about him. Answering, [he shall] say: 'Blessed art Thou, "Lord" of the universe. Everything is In Thine hands and Thou art the maker of everything. Thou hast founded the [pejoples according to their families and the languages of their nations. Thou hast made them err in confusion without a way. And Thou hast chosen our Fathers and hast given to their seed the precepts of Thy truth and Thine holy judgements by which a man, if he practises them, shaii live. And Thou hast established boundaries for us and cursed those who transgress them. And we are the people of Thy redemption and the flock of Thy pasture. Thou hast cursed those who transgress It (the boundary?) but we maintain (It).' And the dismissed man stiall leave, and whoever eats from what Is his, and greets (literally. Inquires about the welfare - Shalom- of) the man who tias been dismissed, and agrees with him, his case shall be reconded by the Guardian according to the decree, and his judgement shall be complete. And all [the Inhabitants] of the camps shall assemble In the third month and shall curse him who turns aside, to the right [or to the left from the] Law. And this (the foregoing) is the Interpretation of the laws which they shall observe in all the age [of visitation which will be visited on ttiem during aiji the age of wrath and in their marches for ail those who dwell in their camps and ail their towns. Behold ail this is according to the last interpretation of the Law. (7) A HYBRID COMMUNITY RULE - DAMASCUS DOCUMENT TEXT (4Q265) Twelve fragments of a manuscript, dating probably to the end of the first century BCE, have preserved remains of a writing dependent both on the Community Rule and on the Damascus Document but also including material which Is In neither of these sources. Fr. I deals with the Initiation into the Community and the penal code In terms recalling 1QS VI-VII, and fr. 7, lines 7-10 contains a description of the Council of the Community which Is an abridged version of 1QS VIII, 1 — 9. It is worth noting that the 'twelve men and three priests' of 1QS Viii, I is replaced here by'fift[een men]'. Elements of the Sabbath laws from CD Xi figure on columns i-ii of fr 7, while on one point the borrowing is probably from the Temple Scroll Lll, 17-18. As for material alien to 1 QS and CD, fr. 2 cites Isaiah llv, 1 -2 In full and tfie last four lines of fr. 7 ii reproduce Lev. xli, 2, 4a, 5, 4b, but omitting xii, 3. This quotation is part of an account of the ages of the world arranged according to weel<s, beginning with the garden of Eden. For the editio phnceps, see J. M. Baumgarten, DJD, XXXV, 57-58. Fr.1 ... as it is written [in the Book of| ... [as] It Is written In the B[ook] of Isaiah the prophet: [Sing, o barren one, who did not bear; breal( forth in singing and] cry aloud you vho have not been in travail! For the sons [of the desolate one] vill be more [tiian the children of her vho is manied, says the Lord] Enlar\ge] the place of [your] ten[t] ... (tea. iiv, 1-2) its interpretation concerns... Fr.3 ... Why does a ma[n] betray his brother ... [Let no] young man or woman eat [the sacrifice] of Passover... Fr.4 I ... [and he shaii be punished for t]en d[a]ys ... [and he shaii be punished] thirty days ... [and he shaii be punished during that time with the half of his food for fifte[en days] ... and he shall be punished for three months wi[th half of his food. The man who speal<s before] his fellow inscribed before him, shall be excluded from purity for six months [and he shall be punished with half of his food.] i/acaf And the man who lnsu[lts his fellow... shall be punished] for thirty days, vacat And the man who know[ingly] deceives [shall be separated for six] months (IQS VII, 3-4) and shall be punished during that time with half of his food. [And the man who lies] knowingly in any matter shall be punished for thirty days vacat [And the man who lies concerning property] l<now[ingiy], they shall exclude him for six months. [And the man who lies down] II ... [and falls asle]ep during a session of the Congregation shall be punished for thirt[y days. And if... to read from] the book, he falls asleep up to three times and if [he goes out, he shall be punished for ten days.] And the man who comes to j[oi]n the Council of the [Commu]nity [the Guardian of] the Congregation [shall examine him]. If it falls to him he shall instruct him for [one] year. [And after he shall stand] before the Congregation and they shall deliberate [over h]im (cf. 1QS VI, 15). If he is not found [fit for the discipline (cf. 1QS VI, 14), he shall depart (1QS VI, 16). If he is to enter,] the Guardian shall [teach him the interpretation] of the Law. He shall not [touch the pure Meal of the Congregation until] another full year (1QS VI, 16-17). [And on completing] his year (1QS VI, 18) [they shall hand over his property to] the Guardian of the Congregation ... [Wh]en he comes ... Fr.6 ... on Sabbath day let no [man wear] soiled [garment]s (CD XI, 3). No man shall be dr[ess]ed in garments on which there is dust or ... on the Sabbath day. No [ma]n shall ta[ke] out of his tent a vessel and foo[d] on the Sabbath day. No man shall lift an animal which has fallen into water on the Sabbath day (CD xi, 13-14). But if a man falls into water on the Sabbath [day], he shall pass to him his garment to lift him out, but he shall not carry an instrument [to lift him out on] the Sabbath [day] (cf. CD XI, 16-1 7). And if the army.. II ... [on] the Sabbath [day]. And let no ... Let [n]o man of the seed of Aaron sprinkle [purifying] w[aters (cf. 1QS III, 9; IV, 21) on the Sabbath day] ... And with a beast he shall walk two thousand cubits [on the Sabbath day (CD xi, 5-6). Every beast with a defect in it shall be kept at a distance of(?)] thirty stadia [from the city of the Sancjtuary (cf. IIQTemple Lll, 1 7-1 8) ... When there shall be in the Council of the Community fift[een men, perfectly versed in all that is revealed of the Law (1QS VIII, I) and the Pr]ophets, the Council of the Community shall be established [in truth (1QS VIII, 5). They shall be witnesses to the truth at tfie judgement and elect] of Goodwill. They shall be an agreeable offering atoning on behalf of the Land (cf. 1 QS VIII, 6, 9) for a[ll iniquity ... He shall teminate the ages of Injustice (cf. 1QS IV, 18) ... Fr.7 ... on the day of s[abbath ... on the da]y of sabbath... [N]o man from the seed of Aaron shall sprinkle wa[ter of purification ... They shall not bathe or wa]sh (their garments) [on] the great day and fast, on the day of [Atonement. He who goes outside his town to graze the] animals may go (to a distance of) two thousand cubits. [No man shall eat a blemished animaO within thirty stadia [from the sanctu]ary (cf. 1 1QT v, 1 6-1 8).... When there shall be in the Council of the Community fift[een men as God had said through His servants, the pr]ophets, the Council of the Community shall be established [In truth as an everlasting plantation, witnesses of truth and elect] of Goodwill, sweet fragrance to atone for the land... the ages of injustice will end by the judgement and the ... (cf 1QS VIII, 1-10). vacat In the first weel< [Adam was created... until] he was not brought to the garden of Eden and a bone [from his bones was taken to become the woman] .... but she (Eve) had [no name (?)] until she was not brought to him (Adam) ... For holy is a garden of Eden, and every fresh shoot that is in it is holy [as it is written, If a woman conceives and bears a male child,] then she shall be unclean for seven days; as at the time of her menstruation, she shall be unclean (Lev xii, 2). Then [she shall continue for] thi[rty-three days in the blood\ of her purifying {Lev. xii, 4). But if she bears a female child, [then she shall be unclean tm vieeks as in her menstruation. And she shall contin]ue in the blood of her purifying [for sixty-six days (Lev. xii, 5). She shall not touch ] any hallowed things, nor come into the Sanctuary until the days of her purification are completed\{Leu. xi 1 , 4). The Messianic Rule (1QSa=1Q28a) The Messianic Rule was published in 1955 by D. Barth^lemy In DJD,\ (Oxford, 1955, pp. 107-18). Originally included in the same Scroll as the Community Rule, this short but complete work presents the translator with great difficulties owing to its bad state of preservation and to the carelessness of the scribe. Barth6lemy named the work 'The Rule of the Congregation', but I have given It a new title for the following reasons: (1) it was Intended for 'all the congregation In the last days'; (2) it is a Rule for a Community adapted to tlie requirements of the messianic war against the nations; (3) It refers to the presence of the Priest and the Messiah of Israel at the Council, and at the Meal described In column 11. As in ttie Cave I version of the Community Rule and In the Damascus Document, but contrary to the version preserved In 4QS'' (=4Q258) and 4QS'' (=4Q256), 'the sons of Zadok, the Priests' form the chief authority in the sect. In the main, the precepts and the doctrinal concepts of the Messianic Rule foreshadow those of the War Rule. A mid-first-century BCE date may safely be proposed. Hundreds of tiny papyrus fragments of this text written in a cryptic script have been found in Cave 4. However, the pieces are so small that they cannot independently contribute to the textual criticism of IQS^. See S. J. Pfann, 4Q249a-h, DJD, XXXVI, 51 5-74. I This is the Rule for all the congregation of Israel in the last days, vhen they shall join [the Community to milk accordinq to the lawof the sons ofZadok the Priests and of the men of their Covenant v\ho have turned aside [from the] my of the people, the men of His Councii v\ho l<eep His Covenant in the midst of iniquity, offering expiation [for the Land] When they come, they shall summon them all, the little children and the women also, and they shall read Into their [ears a]ll the precepts of the Covenant and shall expound to them all their statutes that they may no longer stray In their [errors]. And this is the Rule for all the hosts of the congregation, for every man born in Israel From [his] youth they shall instruct him in the Book of Meditation and shall teach him, according to his age, the precepts of the Covenant. He [shall be edu]cated in their statutes for ten years... At the age of twenty years [he shall be] enrolled, that he may enter upon his allotted duties in the midst of his family (and) be joined to the holy congregation. He shall not [approach] a woman to know her by lying with her before he Is fully twenty years old, when he shall know [good] and evil. And thereafter, he shall be accepted when he calls to witness the judgements of the Law, and shall be (allowed) to assist at the hearing of judgements. At the age of twenty-five years he may take his place among the foundations (I.e. the officials) of the holy congregation to work in the service of the congregation. At the age of thirty years he may approach to participate In lawsuits and judgements, and may take his place among the chiefs of the Thousands of Israel, the chiefs of the Hundreds, Fifties, and Tens, the Judges and the officers of their tribes, in all their families, [under the authority] of the sons of [Aar]on the Priests. And every head of family in the congregation who is chosen to hold office, [to go] and come before the congregation, shall strengthen his loins that he may perform his tasks among his brethren In accordance with his understanding and the perfection of his way According to whether this Is great or little, so shall one man be honoured more than another. When a man Is advanced in years, he shall be given a duty in the [serjvice of the congregation in proportion to his strength. No simpleton shall be chosen to hold office in the congregation of Israel with regard to lawsuits or judgement, nor carry any responsibility In the congregation. Nor shall he hold any office in the war destined to vanquish the nations; his family shall merely inscribe him In the army register and he stiall do his service in task-work in proportion to his capacity. The sons of Levi shall hold office, each in his place, under the authority of the sons of Aaron. They shall cause all the congregation to go and come, each man in his rank, under the direction of the lieads of family of the congregation - the leaders. Judges, and officers, accondlng to the number of all their hosts - under the authority of the sons of Zadok the Priests, [and] (under the direction) [of all the] heads of family of the congregation. And when the whole assembly Is summoned for judgement, or for a Council of the Community, or for war, they shall sanctify them for three days that every one of Its members may be prepared. These are the men v\Jio shall be called to the Council of the Community ... All the wi[se men] of the congregation, the learned and the Intelligent, men whose way Is perfect and men of ability, together with the tribal chiefs and all the Judges and officers, and the chiefs of the Thousands, [Hundreds,] 11 Fifties, and Tens, and the Levltes, each man In the [cla]ss of his duty; these are the men of renown, the members of the assembly summoned to the Council of the Community In Israel before the sons of Zadok the Priests. And no man smitten with any human uncleanness shall enter the assembly of God; no man smitten with any of them shall be confirmed In his office In the congregation. No man smitten In his flesh, or paralysed In his feet or hands, or lame, or blind, or deaf, or dumb, or smitten In his flesh with a visible blemish; no old and tottery man unable to stay still In the midst of the congregation; none of these shall come to hold office among the congregation of the men of renown, for the Angels of Holiness are [with] their [congregation]. Should [one] of them have something to say to the Council of Holiness, let [him] be questioned privately; but let him not enter among [the congregation] for he Is smitten. [This shall be the ass]embly of the men of renown [called] to the meeting of the Council of the Community When God engenders^^ (the Priest-) Messiah, he shall come with them [at] the head of the whole congregation of Israel with all [his brethren, the sons] of Aaron the Priests, [those called] to the assembly, the men of renown; and they shall sit [before him, each man] in the order of his dignity. And then [the Mess]iah of Israel shall [come], and the chiefs of the [clans of Israel] shall sit before him, [each] in the order of his dignity, according to [his place] in their camps and marches. And before them shall sit all the heads of [family of the congreg]ation, and the wise men of [the holy congregation,] each in the order of his dignity. And [when] they shall gather for the common [tab]le, to eat and [to drink] new wine, when the common table shall be set for eating and the new wine [poured] for drinking, let no man extend his hand over the firstfruits of bread and wine before the Priest; for [it is he] who shall bless the firstfruits of bread and wine, and shall be the first [to extend] his hand over the bread. Thereafter, the Messiah of Israel shall extend his hand over the bread, [and] all the congregation of the Community [shall utter a] blessing, [each man in the order] of his dignity. It is according to this statute that they shall proceed at every me[al at which] at least ten men are gathered together. The War Scroll (IQM, 1Q33, 4Q491-7, 4Q471) The nineteen badly mutilated columns of ttiis manuscript from Cave 1 first appeared in 1954 in a posthumous work by E. L. Sukenik, and were re-edited in 1 955, with an English introduction, under the title The Dead Sea Scrolls of the Hebrew University (Jerusalem). A few detached scraps are represented by 1Q33 and copious fragments of six further manuscripts were discovered in Cave 4, and published in 1982 by IVl. Baillet in DJD, VII (4Q491-6 or4QIVla-f). 4Q497 represents tiny fragments of a related text, and 4Q471 or 4QM9 a shorter version of 1QIVI (cf E. and H. Eshel, DJD, XXXVI, 439-45). For a new edition of all the War Scroll material except 4Q471 see J. Duhaime in J. H. Charlesworth ef a/., eds.. The DSS II, Damascus Document, War Scroll and Related Documents, 1 995, 80-203. Some of the 4Q fragments basically reflect the Cave 1 text and help to complete its gaps: M^, M'^, M"^ and IVI^ have been used for this purpose, especially in columns I, XIV and XIX. On the other hand, and M'^ attest different recensions of the War Rule. Representative sections from these manuscripts will be translated separately. The contents of the War Rule are as follows: Proclamation of war against the Kittim (I) Reorganization of Temple worship (II) Programme of the forty years' war (II) The trumpets (III) The standards (lll-IV) Disposition and weapons of the front formations (v) Movements of the attacking infantry (VI) Disposition and movements of the cavalry (VI) Age of the soldiers (VI-VII) The camp (VII) Duties of the Priests and Levites (exhortation, trumpet signals) (VII-IV) Addresses and prayers of the battle liturgy (X-XII) Prayer recited at the moment of victory (XIII) Thanksgiving ceremony (XIV) Battle against the Kittim (XV-XIX) Since the five last columns are more or less repetitious, there has been some doubt concerning the unity of the composition as a whole. Those who consider all nineteen columns to be the work of one writer find in column 1 an introduction, in columns ll-XIV general rules, and in columns XV-XIX a 'prophetic' description of the final battle fought according to those rules. Other experts explain that columns XV-XIX are a Rule annexe dependent on the principal Rule (ll-XIV). I am myself inclined to follow the theory first advanced by J. van der Ploeg (Le Rouleau de la guerre, Leiden, 1959, 11-22). The primitive work, represented in the present composition by columns 1 and XV- XIX, draws its inspiration from Daniel xi, 40-XII, 3, and describes the final battle against the Kittim. This account was later combined with the concept of a holy forty years' war against the entire Gentile world, and was extended by the addition of a long series of Rules concerned with the military and religious preparation and with the conduct of the fighting (columns ll-XIV). This appears to me to offer a more satisfactory explanation of ttie literary complexities of ttie manuscript than do the previous hypotheses. The text of the manuscripts from Cave 4, especially (4Q491 ) and (4Q493)> indicate that diverse redactions of the War Rule coexisted in the Qumran library. The only certain pointer to the date of the compilation of the War Rule is that, since the author made use of the Bool< of Daniel written shortly after 164 BCE, his own wori< must have been started after that time. But a more accurate dating may be attempted by studying the military strategy and tactics described in ttie Scroll. Scholars are divided in their opinion as to whether tlie sons of light modelled them on Greek or Roman custom, or wtiettier they merely drew ttieir ideas from tlie Bible. Scripture doubtless exercised a definite influence on the author of this Rule, but there is nevertheless a great deal of material completely foreign to it, and he must have possessed, in addition, at least some acquaintance with contemporary warfare. With Y Yadin and other archaeologists and historians, I believe that both the weapons and the tactics of the War Rule correspond to the art of war practised by the Roman legion rather than by the Greek phalanx. In particular, the square shield (scutum) of the foot-soldier, and the buckler of the horseman (paima or clipeus), the battle array of three lines (acies triplex), the 'gates of war' or openings between the units (intervalla), seem to be characteristically Roman. In addition, only the cavalry were to wear greaves - a custom introduced into the Roman army during the time of Julius Caesar in the middle of the first century BCE. This and similar details, as well as the general representation of the Kittim as masters of the world, lead one to conclude that the War Rule was written some time after the middle of the first century BCE, and since the reference to the 'king' of the Kittim points to the Imperial epoch (after 27 BCE), the date of its composition should probably be placed in the last decades of the first century BCE or at the beginning of the first century CE. This work should not be mistaken for a manual of military warfare pure and simple. It is a theological writing, and the war of which it treats symbolizes the eternal struggle between the spirits of Light and Darkness. The phases of its battle are fxed In advance, its plan established and its duration predetermined. The opposing forces are equally matched and only by the intervention of 'the mighty hand of God' is the balance between them to be disturbed when he deals an 'everlasting blow' to 'Belial and all the host of his kingdom'. I For the M[aster. The Rule of] War on the unleashing of the attack of the sons of light against the company of the sons of darkness, the army of Belial: against the band of Edom, Moab,and the sons ofAmmon, and [against the army of the sons of the East and] the Philistines, and against the bands of the Kittim ofAssyriaand their allies the ungodly of the Covenant The sons of Levi, Judah, and Benjamin, the exiles in the desert, shall battle against them in ... all their bands when the exiled sons of light return from the Desert of the Peoples to camp in the Desert of Jerusalem; and after the battle they shall go up from there (to Jerusalem?). [The king] of the Kittim [shall enter] into Egypt, and in his time he shall set out in great wrath to wage war against the kings of the north, that his fury may destroy and cut the horn of [Israel]. This shall be a time of salvation for the people of God, an age of dominion for all the members of His company and of everlasting destruction for all the company of Belial. The confusion of the sons of Japheth shall be [great] and Assyria shall fall unsuccoured. The dominion of the Kittim shall come to an end and iniquity shall be vanquished, leaving no remnant; [for the sons] of darkness there shall be no escape. [The sons of righteous]ness shall shine over all the ends of the earth; they shall go on shining until all the seasons of darkness are consumed and, at the season appointed by God, His exalted greatness shall shine eternally to the peace, blessing, glory, joy, and long life of all the sons of light. On the day when the Kittim fall, there shall be battle and terrible carnage before the God of Israel, for that shall be the day appointed from ancient times for the battle of destruction of the sons of darkness. At that time, the assembly of gods and the hosts of men shall battle, causing great carnage; on the day of calamity the sons of light shall battle with the company of darkness amid the shouts of a mighty multitude and the clamour of gods and men to (make manifest) the might of God. And it shall be a time of [great] tribulation for the people which God shall redeem; of all its afflictions none shall be as this, from its sudden beginning until its end in eternal redemption. On the day of their battle against the Kittim [they shall set out for] carnage. In three lots shall the sons of light brace themselves in battle to strike down iniquity and in three lots shall Belial's host gird itself to thrust back the company [of God. And when the hearts of the detach]ments of foot-soldiers faint, then shall the might of God fortify [the hearts of the sons of light]. And with the seventh lot, the mighty hand of God shall bring down [the army of Belial, and all] the angels of his kingdom, and all the members [of his company in everlasting destruction] ... {... The priests, the Levites and the heads of [the tribes] ... the priests as well as the Levites and the divisions of} (4Q464) II the fifty-two heads of family of the congregation. They shall rank the chief Priests below the High Priest and his vicar. And the twelve chief Priests shall minister at the dally sacrifice before God, whereas the twenty-six leaders of the priestly divisions shall minister In their divisions. Below them, in perpetual ministry, sliall be the chiefs of the Levites to the number of twelve, one for each tribe. The leaders of their divisions shall minister each In his place. Below them shall be the chiefs of the tribes together with the heads of family of the congregation. They shall attend dally at the gates of the Sanctuary, whereas the leaders of their divisions, with their numbered men, shall attend at their appointed times, on new moons and on Sabbaths and on all the days of the year, their age being fifty years and over. These are the men who shall attend at holocausts and sacrif ces to prepare sweet-smelling incense for the good pleasure of God, to atone for all His congregation, and to satisfy themselves perpetually before Him at the table of glory. They shall an-ange all these things during the season of the year of Release. During the remaining thirty-three years of the war, the men of renown, those summoned to the Assembly, together with all the heads of family of the congregation, shall choose for themselves fighting-men for aii the iands of the nations. They shall arm for themseives warriors from all the tribes of Israel to enter the army year by year when they are summoned to war. But they shall arm no man for entry into the army during the years of Release, for they are Sabbaths of rest for Israel. In the thirty-five years of service, the war shall be fought during six; the whole congregation shall fight It together. And during the remaining twenty-nine years the war shall be divided. During the first year they shall fight against Aram-Naharalm; during the second, against the sons of Lud; during the third, against the remnant of the sons of Aram, against Uz and Hui and Togar and IVIesha beyond the Euphrates; during the fourth and fifth, they shall fight against the sons of Arpachshad; during the sixth and seventh, against all the sons of Assyria and Persia and the East as far as the Great Desert; during the eighth year they shall light against the sons of Elam; during the ninth, against the sons of Ishmael and Keturah. In the ten years which foiiow, the war shall be divided against all the sons of Ham according to [their cians and in their ha]bitations; and during the ten years which remain, the war shall be divided against all [the sons of Japheth in] their habitations. [The Rule for the trumpets of Summons and the trumpe]ts of Alarm according to all their duties ... [the trumpets of Summons shaii sound for disposal in] iii battle formations and to summon the foot-soldiers to advance when the gates of war shaii open; and the trumpets of Alarm shaii sound for massacre, and for ambush, and for pursuit when the enemy shall be smitten, and for retreat from battle. On the trumpets calling the congregation they shaii write. The Called of God. On ttie trumpets calling the chiefs they stiall write. The Princes of God On the trumpets of the levies they shaii write. The Army of God. On the trumpets of the men of renown and of the heads of family of the congregation gathered in the house of Assembly they shaii write. Summoned by God to the Council of Holiness. On the trumpets of the camps they shall write. The Peace of God in the Camps of His Saints. And on the trumpets for breaking camp they shaii write. The mighty Deeds of God shall Crush the Enemy, Putting to Flight all those v\ho Hate Righteousness and bringing Shame on those vtio Hate Him. On the trumpets for battle formations they shaii write, Formations of the Divisions of God for the Vengeance of His Wrath on the Sons of Darkness. On the trumpets summoning the foot-soldiers to advance towards the enemy formations when the gates of war are opened they shaii write. Reminder of Vengeance in God's Appointed Time. On ttie trumpets of massacre they shaii write. The Mighty Hand of God in War shall Cause all the Ungodly Slain to Fall. On the trumpets of ambush they shaii write. The Mysteries of God shall Undo Wickedness. On the trumpets of pursuit they shall write, God has Smitten All the Sons of Darkness; His Fury shall not End until They are Utterly Consumed. On the trumpets of retreat, when they retreat from battle to the formation, they shall write, God has Reassembled. On the trumpets of retum from battle against the enemy when they journey to the congregation in Jerusalem they shall write. Rejoicings of God in the Peaceful Retum. The Rule for the standards of Uie vJhole congregation according to their levies On the great standard at the head of the people they shall write, The People of God, together with the names of Israel and Aaron, and the names of the twelve [tribes of Israel], according to the order of their precedence. On the standards of the camp columns formed by three tribes they shall write, ... of God, together with the name of the leader of the camp On the standard of the tribe they shall write. Banner of God, together with the name of the leader of [the tribe and the names of the chiefs of its clans]. [On the standard of the Myriad they shall write, ... of God, together with] the name of the chief of the IVIyriad and the names of the [leaders of its Thousands]. [On the standard of the Thousand they shall write, ... of God, together with the name of the chief of the Thousand and the names of the leaders of its Hundreds]. [On the standard of Hundred] ... IV On the standard of Merari they shall write. The Votive-Offering of God, together with the name of the chief of Merari and the names of the leaders of its Thousands. On the standard of the Thousand they shall write. The Wrath of God is Kindled against Belial and against the Men of his Company, Leaving no Remnant, together with the name of the chief of the Thousand and the names of the leaders of its Hundreds. On the standard of the Hundred they shall write, From God comes the Might of War against All Sinful Fiesh, together with the name of the chief of the Hundred and the names of the leaders of its Fifties. On the standard of the Fifty they shall write, The Stand of the Ungodly is Ended by the Power of God, together with the name of the chief of the Fifty and the names of the leaders of its Tens. On the standard of the Ten they shall write. Praised be God on the Ten-stringed Harp, together with the name of the chief of the Ten and the names of the nine men under his command. When they march out to battle they shall write on their standards, Truth of God, Justiceof God, Glory of God, Judgement of God, followed by the whole ordered list of their names. When they approach for battle they shall write on ttieir standards, Right Hand of God, Appointed Time of God, Tumult of God, Slain of God, followed by the whole list of their names. When they return from battle they shall write on their standards. Honour of God, Majesty of God, Splendour of God, Glory of God, together with the whole list of their names. The Rule for the standards of the congregation When they set out for battle they shall write on ttie first standard Congrega^on of God, on the second standard Camps of God, on the third standard Tribes of God, on the fourth standard Clans of God, on the fifth standard Divisions of God, on the sixth standard Assembly of God, on the seventh standard The Called of God, on the eighth standard Hosts of God; and they stiall write the list of their names with all their order. When they approach for battle they shall write on ttieir standards. War of God, Vengeance of God, Trial of God, Reward of God, Power of God, Retributions of God, Might of God, Extenvination of God for all the Nations of Vanity; and they shall write on ttiem the wtiole list of their names. When they return from battle they shall write on their standards. Salvation of God, Victory of God, Help of God, Support of God, Joy of God, Thanksgivings of God, Praise of God, Peace of God. [The measurements of the standards.] The standard of the whole congregation shall be fourteen cubits long; the standard [of the three tribes,] thirteen cubits long; [the standard of the tribe,] twelve cubits; [the standard of the Myriad], eleven cubits; [the standard of the Thousand, ten cubits; the standard of the Hundred,] nine cubits; [the standard of the Fifty, eight] cubits; the standard of the Ten, s[even cubits] ... V And on the sh[ield of] the Prince of all the congregation they shall write his name, together with the names of Israel, Levi and Aaron, and the names of the twelve tribes of Israel according to the order of their precedence, with the names of their twelve chiefs. Ttie Rule for ttte ordering of the batUe divisions to complete a front formation vhen their host has reached its full number The formation shall consist of one thousand men ranked seven lines deep, each man standing behind the other. They shall all hold shields of bronze bumlshed like mirrors. The shield shall be edged with an Interlaced border and with inlaid ornament, a work of art In pure gold and silver and bronze and precious stones, a many-coloured design worked by a craftsman. The length of the shield shall be two and a half cubits and Its width one and a half cubits. In their hands they shall hold a spear arKi a sword. The length of the spear shall be seven cubits, of which the socket and spike shall measure half a cubit. The socket shall be edged with three embossed interlaced rings of pure gold and silver and bronze, a work of art. The inlaid omaments on both edges of the ring shall be bordered with precious stones - patterned bands worked by a craftsman - and (embossed) with ears of com. Between the rings, the socket shall be embossed with artistry like a pillar. The spike shall be made of brilliant white Iron, the work of a craftsman; In Its centre, pointing towards the tip, shall be ears of corn in pure gold. The swords shall be made of pure iron refined by the smelter and blanched to resemble a mirror, the work of a craftsman; on both sides (of their blades) pointing towards the tip, figured ears of com shall be embossed in pure gold, and they shall have two straight borders on each side. The length of the sword shall be one and a half cubits and Its width four fingers. The width of the scabbard shall be four thumbs. There shall be four palms to the scabbard (from the girdle), and It shall be attached (to the girdle) on both sides for a length of five palms (?). The hilt of the sword shall be of pure hom worked by a craftsman, with patterned bands In gold and silver and precious stones... vacat When... shall stand, the ... they shall order the seven battle divisions, division after division... thirty cubits where the me[n of the division] shall stand... VI seven times and shall return to their positions. And after them, three divisions of foot-soldlers shall advance and shall station themselves between the formations, and the first division shall hurl seven javelins of war towards the enemy formation. On the point of the javelins they shall write, ShiningJavelinof the Power of God; and on the darts of the second division they shall write, Bloody Spikes to Bring Down tlie Slain by the Wrath of God; and on the javelins of the third division they shall write. Flaming Blade to Devour the Wicked Struck Down by the Judgement of God. All these shall hurl their javelins seven times and shall aften/vards return to their positions. Then two divisions of foot-soldiers shall advance and shall station themselves between the two formations. The first division shall be armed with a spear and a shield, and the second with a shield and a sword, to bring down the slain by the judgement of God, and to bend the enemy formation by the power of God, to pay the reward of their wickedness to all the nations of vanity. And sovereignty shall be to the God of Israel, and He shall accomplish mighty deeds by the saints of his people. Seven troops of horsemen shall also station themselves to the right and to the left of the formation; their troops shall stand on this (side) and on that, seven hundred horsemen on one fiank and seven hundred horsemen on the other. Two hundred horsemen shall advance with the thousand men of the formation of foot-soldiers; arxi they shall likewise station themselves on both [flanks] of the camp. Altogether there shall be four thousand six hundred (men), and one thousand cavalrymen with the men of ttie army formations, fifty to each formation. The horsemen, together with the cavalry of the army shall number six thousand: five hundred to each tribe. The horses advancing into battle with the foot-soldiers shall all be stallions; they shall be swift, sensitive of mouth, and sound of wind, and of the required age, trained for war, and accustomed to noise and to every (kind of) sight. Their riders shall be gallant fighting men and skilled horsemen, and their age shall be from thirty to forty-five years. The horsemen of the army shall be from forty to fifty years old. They [and ttieir mounts shall wear breast-plates,] helmets, and greaves; they shall carry in their hands bucklers, and a spear [eight cubits] long. [The horseman advancing with the foot-soldiers shall carry] bows and arrows and javelins of war. They shall all hold themselves prepared ... of God and to spill the blood of the wicked ... VII The men of the army shall be from forty to fifty years old. The inspectors of the camps shall be from fifty to sixty years old. The officers shall be from forty to fifty years old. The despoilers of the slain, the plunderers of booty, the cleansers of ttie land, the keepers of the baggage, and those who furnish the provisions shall be from twenty- five to thirty years old. No boy or woman shall enter their camps, from the time they leave Jerusalem and march out to war until they return. No man who is lame, or blind, or crippled, or afflicted with a lasting bodily blemish, or smitten with a bodily impurity, none of these shall march out to war with them. They shall all be freely enlisted for war, perfect in spirit and body and prepared for the Day of Vengeance. And no man shall go down with them on ttie day of battle wtw is impure because of his 'fount', for the holy angels shall be with tfieir hosts. And there shall be a space of about two thousand cubits between all their camps for the place serving as a latrine, so that no indecent nakedness may be seen in tlie surroundings of tlieir camps. When the battle formations are marshaiied facing the enemy formation facing formation, seven Priests of the sons of Aaron shaii advance from the middie gates to the place between the formations. They shall be clothed in vestments of white cloth of flax, in a fine linen tunic and fine linen breeches; and they shall be girdled with fine cloth of flax embroidered with blue, purple, and scarlet thread, a many- coloured design worked by a craftsman. And on their heads they shall wear mitred turbans. These shall be battle raiment; they shall not take them into the Sanctuary. The f rst Priest shall advance before the men of the formation to strengthen their hand for battle, and the six other Priests shall hold in their hands the trumpets of Summons, and the trumpets of the Reminder, and the trumpets of Alarm (for massacre), and the trumpets of Pursuit, and the trumpets of Retreat. And when the Priests advance to the place between the formations, seven Levites shall accompany them bearing in their hands seven rams' horns; and three officers of the Levites shall walk before the Priests and Levites. The Priests shall sound the two trumpets of Sum[mons for the gates of] war to open fifty shields (wide) and the foot-soldiers shall advance, fifty from one gate [and fifty from the other. With them shall advance] the officers of the Levites, and they shall advance with every formation according to all this R[ule]. [The Priests shall sound the trumpets, and two divisions of foot-] soldiers [shall advance] from the gate [and shall] station [themselves] between the two [formations] ... VIII the trumpets shall sound to direct the slingers until they have cast seven times. Afterwards, the Priests shall sound for them the trumpets of Retreat and they shall return to the flank of the first formation to take up their position. Then the Priests shall sound the trumpets of Summons and three divisions of foot-soldiers shall advance from the gates and shall station themselves between the formations; the horsemen shall be on their flanks, to the right and to the left. The Priests shall sound a sustained blast on the tmmpets for battle array, and the columns shall move to their (battle) array, each man to his piace. And when they have tal<en up their stand in three an^ys, the Priests shall sound a second signal, soft and sustained, for them to advance until they are close to the enemy formation. They shall seize their weapons, and the Priests shall then blow a shrill staccato blast on the six trumpets of Massacre to direct the battle, and the Levites and all the blowers of rams' horns shall sound a mighty alarm to terrify the heart of the enemy, and therewith the javelins shall fly out to bring down the slain. Then the sound of the horns shall cease, but the Priests stiall continue to blow a shrill staccato blast on the trumpets to direct the battle until they have thrown seven times against the enemy formation. And then they shall sound a soft, a sustained, and a shrill sound on the trumpets of Retreat. It is according to this Rule that the Priests shall sound the trumpets for the three divisions. With the first throw, the [Priests] shall sound [on the trumpets] a mighty alarm to direct the ba[ttle until they have thrown seven times. Then] the Priests [shall sound] for them on the trumpets [of Retreat a soft, a sustained, and a shrill sound, and they shall return] to their positions in the formation. [Then the Priests shall blow the trumpets of Summons and the two divisions of foot-soldiers shall advance from the gates] and shall stand [between the formations. And the Priests shall then blow the trumpets of] IVIassacre, [and the Levites and all the blowers of rams' horns shall sound an alarm, a mighty blast, and therewith] IX they shall set about to bring down the slain with their hands. All the people shall cease their clamour but the Priests shall continue to blow the trumpets of Massacre to direct the battle until the enemy is smitten and put to flight; and the Priests shall blow to direct the battle. And when they are smitten before them, the Priests shall sound the trumpets of Summons and all the foot-soldiers shall rally to them from the midst of the front formations, and the six divisions, together with the fighting division, shall take up their stations. Altogether, they shall be seven formations: twenty-eight thousarxJ flghting men and six thousand horsemen. All these shall pursue the enemy to destroy him in an everlasting destruction in the battle of God. The Priests shall sound for them the trumpets of Pursuit, and they shall deploy against all the enemy In a pursuit to destruction; arxi the horsemen shall thrust them back on the flanks of the battle until they are utterly destroyed. And as the slain men fell, the Priests shall trumpet from afer; they shall not approach the slain lest they be defiled with unclean blood. For they are holy, and they shall rxjt profene the anointing of their priesthood with the blood of nations of vanity. The Rule for changes in battle order to form the position of a squa[re with tovers], a concave line wth tovers, a convex line wth tov\ers, a shallow/ convex line obtained by the advance of the centre, or (by the advance of) both flanlis to terrify the enemy The shields of the towers shall be three cubits long and their spears eight cubits. The tower shall advance from the formation and shall have one hundred shields to each side; in this [manner,] the tower shall be surrounded on three sides by three hundred shields. And it shall also have two gates, [one to the right] and one to the left. They shall write on all the shields of the towers: on the first, Michael, [on the second, Gabriel, on the third,] Sariel, and on the fourth, Raphael. Michael and Gabriel [shall stand on the right, and Sariel and Raphael on the left] ... they shall set an ambush to... ... X our camps and to keep us from all that is indecent and evil. Furthermore, (Moses) taught us, 'Thou art in the midst of us, a mighty God and terrible, causing all our enemies to flee before [us].' He taught our generations in former times saying. When you draw near to battle, the Priest shall rise and speak to the people saying. Hear, O Israel! You draw near to battle this day against your enemies. Do not fear! Do not let your hearts be afraid! Do not be Perrifled], and have no fear! For your God goes wth you to fight for you against your enemies that He may deliver you' {Deul. XX, 2-4). Our officers shall speak to all those prepared for battle. They shall strengthen by the power of God the freely devoted of heart, and shall make all the fearful of heart withdraw; they shall fortify all the mighty men of war. They shall recount that which Thou [saidst] through IVIoses: When you go to war in your land against the oppressor Who oppresses you, jyou] shall blow the trumpets, and you shall tie remembered before your God and shall be saved from your enemies (Num. X, 9). O God of Israel, who is like Thee in heaven or on earth? Who accomplishes deeds and mighty works like Thine? Who is like Thy people Israel which Thou hast chosen for Thyself from all the peoples of the lands; the people of the saints of the Covenant, instructed in the laws and learned in wisdom ... who have heard the voice of IVIajesty and have seen the Angels of Holiness, whose ear has been unstopped, and who have heard profound things? [Thou, O God, hast created] the expanse of the heavens and the host of heavenly lights, the tasks of the spirits and the dominion of the Holy Ones, the treasury of glory [and the canopy of the] clouds. (Thou art Creator of) the earth and of the laws dividing it into desert and grassland; of all that it brings forth and of all its fruits [according to their kinds;] of the circle of the seas and of the gathering-place of the rivers and of the divisions of the deeps; of the beasts and birds and of the shape of Adam and of the gene[rations of] his [seed]; of the confusion of tongues and of the scattering of the peoples. of the dwelling In clans and of the Inheritance of lands; ...of the sacred seasons and of the cycles of the years and of time everlasting. XI Truly the battle Is Thine! Their bodies are crushed by the might of Thy hand and there is no man to bury them. Thou didst deliver Goliath of Gath, the mighty vl^arrior, into the hands of David Thy servant, because in place of the sword and in place of the spear he put his trust in Thy great Name; for Thine is the battle. Many times, by Thy great Name, did he triumph over the Philistines. Many times hast Thou also delivered us by the hand of our kings through Thy loving-kindness, and not in accordance with our works by which we have done evil, nor according to our rebellious deeds. Truly the battle is Thine and the power from Thee! It is not ours. Our strength and the power of our hands accomplish no mighty deeds except by Thy power and by the might of Thy great valour This Thou hast taught us from ancient times, saying, A star shall come out of Jacob, and a sceptre shall rise out of Israel. He shall smite the temples ofMoab and destroy all the children ofSheth. He shall rule out of Jacob and shall cause the sur\/ivors of the city to perish. The enemy shall be his possession and Israel shall accomplish mighty deeds (Num. xxiv, 1 7-1 9). By the hand of Thine anointed, who discerned Thy testimonies, Thou hast revealed to us the [times] of the battles of Thy hands that Thou mayest glorify Thyself in our enemies by levelling the hordes of Belial, the seven nations of vanity, by the harxJ of Thy poor wfxjm Thou hast redeemed [by Thy might] and by the fullness of Thy marvellous power. (Thou hast opened) the door of hope to the melting heart: Thou wilt do to them as Thou didst to Pharaoh, and to the captains of his chariots In the Red Sea. Thou wilt kindle the downcast of spirit and they shall be a flaming torch in the straw to consume ungodliness and never to cease till iniquity Is destroyed. From ancient times Thou hast fore[told the hour] when the might of Thy hand (would be raised) against the KIttIm, saying, Assyria shall fall by the smrd of no man, the sword of no mere man shall devour him (Isa. xxxi, 8). For Thou wilt deliver into the hands of the poor the enemies from all the lands, to humble the mighty of the peoples by the hand of those bent to the dust, to bring upon the [head of Thine enemies] the reward of the wicked, and to justify Thy true judgement in the midst of all the sons of men, and to make for Thyself an everlasting Name among the people [whom Thou hast redeemed] ... of battles to be magnified and sanctified In the eyes of the remnant of the peoples, that ttiey may krxjw... when Thou chastisest Gog and all his assembly gathered about him ... For Thou wilt fight with them from heaven... XII For the multitude of the Holy Ones [is with Thee] in heaven, and the host of the Angels is in Thy holy abode, praising Thy Name. And Thou hast established in [a community] for Thyself the elect of Thy holy people. [The list] of the names of aii their host is with Thee in the abode of Thy holiness; [the reckoning of the saints] is in Thy giorious dwelling-place. Thou hast recorded for them, with the graving-tool of life, the favours of [Thy] blessings and the Covenant of Thy peace, that Thou mayest reign [over them] for ever and ever and throughout all the eternai ages. Thou wilt muster the [hosts of] Thine [eiject, in their Thousands and IVIyriads, with Thy Holy Ones [and with aii] Thine Angels, that they may be mighty in battle, [and may smite] the rebels of the earth by Thy great judgements, arxJ that [they may triumph] togetfier with the elect of heaven. For Thou art [terribie], O God, in the glory of Thy kingdom, and the congregation of Thy Holy Ones is among us for everlasting succour We will despise kings, we wiii mock and scorn the mighty; for our Lord is holy and the King of Glory is with us together with the Holy Ones. Valiant [warriors] of the angelic host are among our numbered men, and the Hero of war is with our congregation; the host of His spirits is with our foot-soidiers and horsemen. [They are as] clouds, as ciouds of dew (covering) the earth, as a shower of rain shedding judgement on all that grows on the earth. Rise up, O Hero! Lead off Thy captives, O Glorious One! Gather up Thy spoils, O Author of mighty deeds! Lay Thy hand on the neoi< of Thine enemies and Thy feet on the pile of the slain! Smite the nations, Thine adversaries, and devour the flesh of the sinner with Thy sword! Fill Thy land with glory and Thine inheritance with blessing! Let there be a multitude of cattle InThy fields, and in Thy palaces silver and gold and precious stones! O Zion, rejoice greatly! O Jerusalem, show thyself amidst jubilation! Rejoice, all you cities of Judah; keep your gates ever open that the hosts of the nations may be brought in! Their kings shall serve you and all your oppressors shall bow down before you; [they shall lick] the dust [of your feet]. Shout for joy, [O daughters of] my people! Deck yourselves with glorious jewels and rule over [the kingdoms of the nations! Sovereignty shall be to the Lord] and everlasting dominion to Israel. ...XIII (The High Priest) shall come, and his brethren the Priests and the Levites, and all the elders of the army shall be with him; and standing, they shall bless Vne God of Israel and all His works of truth, and shall execrate Belial there and all Uie spirits of his company. Speaking, they shall say: Blessed be the God of Israel for all His holy purpose and for His works of truth! Blessed be all those wtio [serve] Him in righteousness and who know Him by faith! Cursed be Belial for his sinful purpose and may he be execrated for his wicked rule! Cursed be all the spirits of his company for their ungodly purpose atxl may they be execrated for all their service of uncleanness! Truly they are the company of Darkness, but the company of God is one of [eternal] Light. [Thou art] the God of our fathers; we bless Thy Name for ever. We are the people of Thine [inheritance]; Thou didst make a Covenant with our fathers, and wilt establish it with their children throughout eternal ages. And in all Thy glorious testimonies there has been a reminder of Thy mercies among us to succour the remnant, the survivors of Thy Covenant, that they might [recount] Thy works of truth and the judgements of Thy marvellous mighty deeds. Thou hast created us for Thyself, [O God], that we may be an everlasting people. Thou hast decreed for us a destiny of Light according to Thy truth. And the Prince of Light Thou hast appointed from ancient times to come to our support; [all the sons of righteousness are in his hand], and all the spirits of truth are under his dominion. But Belial, the Angel of IVIalevolence, Thou hast created for the Pit; his [rule] is in Darkness and his purpose is to bring about wickedness and iniquity All the spirits of his company, the Angels of Destruction, walk according to the precepts of Darkness; towards them is their [inclination]. But let us, the company of Thy truth, rejoice in Thy mighty hand and be glad for Thy salvation, and exult because of Thy suc[cour and] peace. O God of Israel, who can compare with Thee in might? Thy mighty hand is with the poor. Which angel or prince can compare with Thy [redeeming] succour? [For Thou hast appointed] the day of battle from ancient times ... [to come to the aid] of truth and to destroy iniquity to bring Darkness low and to magnify Light ... to stand for ever, and to destroy all the sons of Darkness ... ... XIV like the fire of His wrath against the idols of Egypt. And wtien they have risen from ttie slain to retum to the camp, they shall all sing the Psalm of Retum. And in the morning, they shall wash their garments, and shall cleanse themselves of the blood of the bodies of the ungodly. And they shall return to the positions in which they stood In battle fbrmation before the fall of the enemy slain, and there they shall all bless the God of Israel. Rejoicing together, they shall praise His Name, and speaking they shall say: Blessed be the God of Israel who keeps mercy towards His Covenant, and the appointed times of salvation with the people He has delivered! He has called them that staggered to [marvellous mighty deeds], and has gathered in the assembly of the nations to destruction without any remnant. He has lifted up in judgement the fearful of heart and has opened the mouth of the dumb that they might praise {the mighty} (4Q491 ) works [of God]. He has taught war [to the hand] of the feeble and steadied the trembling knee; he has braced the back of the smitten. Among the poor in spirit [there is power] over the hard of heart, and by the perfect of way all the nations of wickedness have come to an end: not one of their mighty men stands, but we are the remnant [of Thy people.] {Blessed be} (4Q491 ) Thy Name, O God of mercies, who hast kept the Covenant with our fathers. In all our generations Thou hast bestowed Thy wonderful favours on the remnant [of Thy people] under the dominion of Belial. During all the mysteries of his Malevolence he has not made [us] stray from Thy Covenant; Thou hast driven his spirite [of destruction] far from [us]. Thou hast preserved the soul of Thy redeemed [when the men] of his dominion {acted wickedly) (4Q491 ). Thou hast raised the fallen by Thy strength, but hast cut down the great In height [and hast brought down the lofty]. There Is no rescue for all their mighty men and no refuge for their swift men; Thou givest to their honoured men a reward of shame, all their empty existence [hast Thou turned to nothing]. But we. Thy holy people, will praise Thy Name because of the works of Thy truth. We will exalt Thy splendour because of Thy mighty deeds [In all the] seasons and appointed times for ever, at the coming of day and at nightfall and at the departure of evening and morning. For great {Is the design of Thy glory} (4Q49I) and of Thy wonderful mysteries on high that [Thou shouldst raise up] dust before Thee and lay low the 'gods'. Rise up, rise up, O God of gods, raise Thyself In mlg{ht, King of Kings} (4.Q491 )! May all the sons of Darkness [scatter before Thee]! The light of Thy greatness [shall shine forth] [on 'go] ds' and men. [It shall be like a fire bur]nlng In the dark places of perdition; It shall burn the sinners In the perdition of hell. In an eternal blaze ... In all the eternal seasons. They shall recite there [all the] war [hy]mns. Afterwards ttiey shall return to [their] cam[ps] ...XV For this shall be a time of distress for Israel, [and of the summons] to war against all the nations. There shall be eternal deliverance for the company of God, but destruction for all the nations of wickedness. All ttK>se [who are ready] for battle stiall march out and stiall pitch their camp before the king of the Kittim and before all the host of Belial gathered about him for the Day [of Revenge] by the Sword of God. Then the High Priest shall rise, with the [Priests], his brethren, and the Levites, and all the men of the army, and he shall recite aloud the Prayer In Time of War [written in the Book] of the Rule concerning this time, and also all their Hymns. He shall marshal ail the formations there, as Is [written in the Book of War], and the priest appointed for the Day of Revenge by the voice of all his brethren shall go forward to strengthen the [hearts of the fighting men]. Speaking, he shall say: Be strong and valiant; be warriors! Fear noti Do not be [confused and do not let your hearts be afraid!) Do not be fearful; fear them not! Do not fall back ... for they are a congregation of wickedness and ail their works are in Darkness; they tend towards Darkness. [They make for themselves] a refuge [in falsehood] and their power shall vanish like smoke. Ail the multitudes of their community., shall not be found. Damned as they are, ail the substance of their wickedness shall quickly fade, like a flower in [the summer-time]. [Be brave and] strong for the battle of God! For this day is [the time of the battle of] God against all the host of Belial, [and of the judgement of] all flesh. The God of Israel lifts His hand in His marvellous [might] against ail the spirits of wickedness. [The hosts of] the warrior 'gods' gird themselves for battle, [and the] formations of the Holy Ones [prepare themselves], for the Day [of Revenge] ... XVI... For the God of Israel has called out the sword against ail the nations, and He will do mighty deeds by the saints of His people. And they shall obey all this Rule [on] the [day] when they stand before the camps of the Kittim The Priests shall afterwards sound for them the trumpets of the Reminder, and the gates of war shall open; the foot-soldiers shall advance and the columns shall station themselves between the formations. Tfie Priests shall sound for tfiem the signal, 'Battle Array, and at the sound of the tnjmpets the columns [shall deploy] until every man Is in his place. The Priests shall then sound a secorid signal [for them to advance], and when they are within throwing distance of the formation of tfie Kittim, each man shall seize his weapon of war. Then the six [Priests shall blow on] the trumpets of Massacre a shriii staccato blast to direct the battle, and the Levites and all the blowers of rams' homs shall sound [a battle alarm], a mighty clamour; and with this clamour they shall begin to bring down the slain from among the Kittim. All the people shall cease their clamour, [but the Priests shall continue to] sound the tmmpets of Massacre, and battle shall be fought against the Kittim (vacat). And wtien [Belial] girds himself to come to the aid of the sons of darkness, and when the slain among the foot- soldiers begin to fall by the mysteries of God, and when all the men appointed for battle are put to ordeal by them, the Priests shall sound the trumpets of Summons for another formation of the reserve to advance into battle; and they shall take up their stand between the formations. And for those engaged [in battle] they shall sourxl the 'Retreat'. Then the High Priest shall draw near, and standing before the formation, he shall strengthen by the power of God their hearts [and hands] in His battle. Speaking he shall say: ... the slain, for you have heard from ancient times through the mysteries of God ... ...XVII He will pay their reward with burning [fire by the hand of] those tested in the crucible. He will sharpen His weapons and will not tire until all the wicked nations are destroyed. Remember the judgement [of Nadab and Ab]ihu, sons of Aaron, by whose judgement God showed Himself holy in the eyes [of Israel. But Eleazar] and Ithamar He confirmed in an everlasting [priestly] Covenant. Be strong and fear not; [for they tend] towards chaos and confusion, and they lean on that which is not and [shall not be. To the God] of Israel belongs all that is and shall be; [He knows] all the happenings of eternity This is the day appointed by Him for the defeat and overthrow of the Prince of the kingdom of wickedness, and He will send eternal succour to the company of His redeemed by the might of the princely Angel of the kingdom of Michael. With everlasting light He will enlighten with joy [the children] of Israel; peace and blessing shall be with the company of God. He will raise up the kingdom of IVIichael in the midst of the gods, and the realm of Israel in the midst of all flesh. Righteousness shall rejoice on high, and all the children of His truth shall jubilate in eternal knowledge. And you, the sons of His Covenant, be strong in the ordeal of God! His mysteries shall uphold you until He moves His hand for His trials to come to an end. After these words, the Priests shall sound to marshal them into the divisions of the formation; arxl at the sound of the trumpets the columns shall deploy until [every man is] in his place. Then the Priests shall sound a second signal on the trumpets for them to advance, and when the [foot-]soldiers approach throwing distance of the formation of the Kittim, every man shall seize his weapon of war. The Priests shall blow the trumpets of Massacre, [and the Levites and all] the blowers of rams' horns shall sound a battle alarm, and the foot-soldiers shall stretch out their hands against the host of the Kittim; [and at the sound of the alarm] they shall begin to bring down the slain. All the people shall cease their clamour, but the Priests shall continue to blow [the trumpets of IVIassacre and battle shall be fought against the Kittim.] ... and in the third lot ... that the slain may fall [by the mysteries] of God ... XVIII [In the seventh lot] when the great hand of God is raised in an everlasting blow against Belial and all the hosts of his kingdom, and when Assyria is pursued [amidst the shouts of Angels] and the clamour of the Holy Ones, the sons of Japheth shall fall to rise no more. The Kittim shall be crushed without [remnant, and no man shall be saved from among them]. [At that time, on the day] when the hand of the God of Israel is raised against all the multitude of Belial, the Priests shall blow [the six trumpets] of the Reminder and all the battle formations shall rally to them and shall divide against all the [camps of the] Kittim to destroy them utterly [And as] the sun speeds to its setting on that day the High Priest shall stand, together [with the Levites] who are with him and the [tribal] chiefs [and the elders] of the army and they shall bless the God of Israel there. Speaking they shall say: Blessed be Thy Name, O God [of gods], for Thou hast worked great marvels [with Thy people]! Thou hast kept Thy Covenant with us from of old, and hast opened to us the gates of salvation many times. For the [sake of Thy Covenant Thou hast removed our misery, in accordance with] Thy [goodness] towards us. Thou hast acted for the sake of Thy Name, O God of righteousness ... [Thou hast worked a marvellous] miracle [for us], and from ancient times there never was anything like it. For Thou didst know the time appointed for us and it has appeared [before us] this day ... [Thou hast shown] us [Thy merciful tiand] in everiasting redemption by causing [the dominion of] the enemy to faii bacl< for ever. (Thou hast shown us) Thy mighty hand in [a strol<e of destruction in the war against aii] our enemies. And now the day speeds us to the pursuit of ttieir multitude ... Thou hast delivered up the hearts of the brave so that they stand no more. For Thine is the power, and the battle is in Thy handsl ... XIX For our Sovereign is holy and the King of Glory is with us; the [host of his spirits is with our foot-soldiers and horsemen. They are as clouds, as clouds of dew] covering the earth, and as a shower of rain shedding righteousness on [all that grows there]. [Rise up, O Hero! Lead off Thy captives, O Glorious Onel Gather up] Thy spoils, O Author of mighty deeds! Lay Thy hand on the neck of Thine enemies and Thy feet [on the pile of the slain! Smite the nations. Thine adversaries], and devour flesh with Thy sword! Fill Thy land with glory and Thine inheritance with blessing! [Let there be a multitude of cattle InThy fields, and in] Thy palaces [silver and gold and precious stones]! O Zion, rejoice greatly! Rejoice all you cities of Judah! [Keep your gates ever open that the] hosts of the nations [maybe brought in]! Their kings shall serve you and all your oppressors shall bow down before you; [they shall lick the dust of your feet. Shout for joy, O daughters of] my people! Deck yourselves with glorious jewels [and rule over the kingdom of the nations! Sovereignty shall be to the Lord] and everlasting dominion to Israel. (1 QM combined with 4QIV|MQ492) {Then they shall gather in} the camp that night to rest until the morning. And in the morning {they shall go to the place where the formation stood before the} warriors of the Kittim fell, as well as the multitudes of Assyria, and the hosts of all the [assembled] nations {to discover whether} the multitude of the stricken are dead {with none to bury them}, those who fell there under the Sword of God. And the High Priest shall draw near, [with his vicar, and the chief Priests] {and the Levites} with the Prince of the battle, and all the chiefs of the formations and their numbered men; [they shall return to the positions which they held before the] slain [began to fall] from among the Kittim, and there they shall praise the God {the Most High} ... The War Scroll from Cave 4 (40491,493) Of the two groups of fragments belonging to (40491), the first echoes sections from columns II, VII, XVI and XVII of 1 0M, but it also contains passages without parallels there. The second unit, a poem, entitled by the editor 'The Song of Michael arxJ of the Just', is additional to 10M. As for the manuscript designated (4Q493), its surviving lines recall 10M VII, xvi, etc., but do not represent the same recension. = 40491, fre. 1-3 ... There shall be one thousand cubits between the [camp and the latrine and] rK> nakedness [whatever] shall be seen in their surroundings. And when they set out to prepare the battle [to cur]b [the enemy, there shall be] among them some exempted in the lot of each tribe according to their numbered men for [each] day's duty. On that day, some men from all their tribes shall set out from their camps towards the House of Meeting ... the [Priestjs, the Levites, and all the chiefs of the camps shall go out towards them. They will pass there before ... according to the Thousands, Hundreds, Fifties and Tens. Whoever shall not [be clean because of his 'fount' on] that [nig]ht shall not go with them to the battle, for the holy angels shall be with their formations together ... When the formation called up for that day's battle to pass to all ... of the war, three formations shall stand, formations behind formations. They shall set a space between [all] the formations [and they shall go out] to battle in succession. These are the [foot-soldie]rs and beside them the [horse]men. (They shall stand between the forma]tions. And if they set up an ambush for a formation, the three ambushing formations shall be at a distance and shall not ri[se] ... of the war and they [shaii he]ar the trumpets of Alarm and the [foot-]soidiers [wiii begin to bring dow]n the guiity dead. Afterwards the ambush shaii rise from its hiding-piace arranged in formations. The reassembly: from the right and from the left, from be[hind and from the front, f|our direction[s] ... in the battles of annihilation. And all the formations engaged in combat with the ene[my will be in] one [place. The f]irst formation [will go out to the battle] and the second stand ... on their post. With the completion of their time, the first shall retum and rise ... The sec[ond] ... When the battle is joined. And the second formation shaii have completed its time and they shall retum and st[and on their post]. And the th[ird] ... And the chief Priest and his brethren, [the Priests, and] the Levites and the m[en of the orde]r [shaii stand]. And the Priests shall blow the trumpets continuously ... and a girdle of fine cloth of flax embroidered with blue, purple and scarlet threads, a many-coloured design produced by a craftsman, and a fine linen tunic and fine linen breeches and a mitred turban [on their heads]. They shall not take them to the sanctuary f[or] they are ba[ttle] raiments. According to all this rule ... The Book of War (4Q285, 11Q14) A collection of ten small fragments, designated by J. T. Milik as Serekh ha-Milhamah or Rule of War, are akin to the War Scroll, probably representing Its missing end section. Allusions are found to Levites blowing trumpets (fr. 8), to the archangel Michael (fr. 10), to the Prince of the Congregation, Identified as the Branch of David (fts. 4 and 7), as well as to the Klttlm and their slain (frs. 2, 4, 7), all familiar from 1QM. The poorly preserved benediction (ft-. 8) can be reconstructed with the help of 11Q14 which contains, however, some notable variants. Fragment 4 seems to Identify the defeated opponent as the biblical Gog (Ezek. xxxlx), the chief foe of the final age, here no doubt equated with the king of the Klttlm. Fragment 7, erroneously labelled by some as the 'Pierced Messiah ftagment'. Is based on an Interpretation of tea. x, 34-xl, 1, and should be read In connection with 4Q161, frs. 8-10, an Isaiah Commentary from Cave 4, and the Blessing of the Prince of the Congregation (IQS'', v, 20-29), both referring to the triumphant Davldic Messiah, expected to put an opponent, no doubt the king of the Klttlm, to death. Only fts. 1 , 4, 7 and 8 are suitable for translation. For the editioprinceps, see P. S. Alexander and G. Vermes, DJD, XXXVI, 228-46. For 11Q14, see R Garcia Martinez et a/., DJD, XXIII, 243-51. For a preliminary study see G. Vermes, 'The Oxford Forum for Qumran Research: Seminar on the Rule of War (4Q285)', JJS 43 (1992), 85-90. 4Q285, fr. 1 ... because of Thy name and ... Michael, G[abrie]l, [Sariel and Raphael] ... with the elect of ... 4Q285, fr. 4 ... wicl<edness will be smitten ... [the Prinjce of the Congregation and all ls[rael] ... [which wa]s written [in the bool< of Ezekiel the Prophet, / wll strike your bowfrom your left hand and wll make your arrom drop from your right hand.] On the mountains of [Israel you shall fall] ... [the l<ing of] the Kittim ... [the Prjince of the congregation [will pursue them] as far as the [Great] Sea ... [and they shall fleje from before Israel. In that time ... he shall stand against them and they shall be stirred against them ... and they shall return to the dry land. In that time ... and they shall bring him (the king of the Kittim?) before the Prince [of the Congregation] 4Q285.fr. 7 The Messiah, Branch of David [As it is written in the book of] Isaiah the Prophet, [The thickets of the forest] will be cut [dom vvth an axe and Lebanon by a majestic one vill f\ all. And there shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse [...] the Branch of David and they will enter into judgement with [...] and the Prince of the Congregation, the Br[anch of David] will kill him [ ... by strok]es and by wounds. And a Priest [of renown(?)] will command [ ... thes]lai[n]oftheKitti[m...] 4Q285, fr.8 [Answering, he shall say] to the sons of [l]srael: May you be blessed in the name of the Most High [God] ... and may His holy name be blessed for ever and ever. [May all His holy angels be blessed. May] the M[ost High] God [bless] you. [May He shine His face towards you and open for you His] good [treasure] which is in heaven [to bring down on your land] showers of blessing, dew, rain, [early rain] and late rain in His/its time, and to give [you the fruit of the produce of corn, wine and o]il plentiful. And may the land [prod]uce for [you fruits of delight. And you shall eat and grow fa]t. And there shall be no miscarriage [in yo]ur [la]n[d] and no [sickness, blight or mildew] shall be seen in [its] produ[ce. And there shall be no loss of children n]or stumbling in [your] congrega[tion, and wild beasts shall withdraw] from your land and there shall be no pestil[ence in your land.] For God is wi[th you and His holy angels stand in your congregation, and His] holy [name] shall be invoked upon you ... in your midst... 11Q14 And he shall bless them in the name [of the God] of Israel. Answering he shall say, ... to the sons of Israel: May [yo]u be blessed for ever and ever and may His ... be blessed ... and may His lioly angels be blessed. May the Most High God bless you. May He shine His face towards you and open to you His good treasure which is in heaven to bring down on your land slxjwers of blessing, dew, rain, early rain and late rain in His/its time to give you the fruit of the produce of corn, wine and oil plentiful. May tlie land produce for you fruits of delight. And you shall eat and grow ^t. And tliere shall be rK> miscarriage in your land and no sickness, blight or mildew shall be seen in its produce. There shall be no loss of children, nor stumbling in your congregation and the wild beasts shall withdraw from [your land.] The sword shall not pass through your land. For God is with you and His holy angels shall be present In your congregation, and His holy name shall be invoked upon you. The Temple Scroll (1 1 QT=1 1 Q1 9-21 , 4Q365a, 4Q524) Discovered in 1956 in Cave II, the Temple Scroll did not emerge from semi-clandestinity until the Six Day War in June 1967. It is the longest Qumran manuscript, measuring over twenty-eight feet. There are also other fragments pertaining to tfie same document from Cave 11 (11Q20) and from Cave 4 (4Q365a). Originaiiy it consisted of sixty- seven columns. The major part of the scroll deals with the Temple (building and furniture) and cultic worship, especially sacrifices on Sabbaths and the many feasts of the year. Most of the legislation depends, directly or indirectly, on Exodus, Leviticus, and more particularly on Deuteronomy, but there are also occasional non-bibiicai regulations. The beginning of the manuscript is badly mutilated. Column I is missing. Columns lll-XII are so fragmented that only a very hypothetical reconstruction, exclusively from biblical texts, is possible (cf. most extensively E. Qimron, The Temple Scroll, 1996). I have decided not to translate them but indicate their probable contents in the summary that follows: 1 . Covenant between God and Israel (II). 2. Building of the Temple, measurements of the Sanctuary, the Holy of Holies, the chambers and colonnades (iii-Vii). 3. Description of the mercy seat, the ctierubim, the veil, the table, the golden lamp-stand, etc. (Vii-Xi). 4. Outline of the sacrificesand the altar (XI-XII). 5. Daily, weekly and monthly sacrifices and those offered on festivals (Xiii-XXiX). 6. Buildings in the Temple courtyards: the stairhouse, the house of the laver, the house for sacred vessels, the slaughterhouse, etc. (xxx-xxxv). 7. The three courtyards of the Temple, one for the priests, one for Jewish men over twenty years of age, and one for women and children (XXXVI-XLV). 8. Purity regulations concerning the Temple and the city of the Sanctuary (XLVI-XLVIII). 9. Purity regulations concerning the cities of Israel (XLVIII-LI). 10. Judges and officers (LI). 1 1 . Laws relating to idolatry and to sacrificial animals (LI-LIII). 12. Vows and oaths (LIII-LIV). 13. Laws against apostasy (LIV-LV). 14. Laws relating to priests and Levites and detailed statutes of the Jewish king (LVI-LIX). 15. IVIiscellaneous laws regarding priestly dues, idols, witnesses, the conduct of war, the rebellious son, crimes punishable by 'hanging', and incestuous relations (LX-LXVI). The sequence of subjects generally follows the Bible, but an obvious effort has been made to systematize, harmonize and reinterpret the laws. Sections complementary to Scripture include the Temple legislation (lll-XII, XXX-XLV), festivals (XVII-XXIX), purity material as rules relating to the Temple and the city (XLVI-XLVII), and the statutes of the king (LVI — LIX). The aim of the redactor is to present the message of the scroll not as an Interpretation of the Bible, but as an immediate divine revelation. For this purpose, not only does he formulate the supplementary legislation as directly spoken by God, but also frequently substitutes 'I' for 'the Lord = YHWH' of Scripture. Although the view has been advanced that the Temple Scroll is not a Qumran composition, the contrary thesis has a solid foundation. The relationship between this writing and the Damascus Document is particularly striking in the case of the prohibition of royal polygamy of marriage between uncle and niece, and of marital relations within the cityofthe Sanctuary (compare CD IV, 20-V, II; XII, 1-2 with TS LVII, 16- 18; LXVI, 15-17; XLV, 11-12), to name the most significant instances. Note also that the death penalty of 'hanging' (probably crucifixion) reserved for traitors appears both in TS LXIV, 6-13 and in the Nahum Commentary (cf. p. 504). Since the Damascus Document and the Nahum Commentary are more likely to depend on the Temple Scroll than vice versa, the latter may safely be dated to the second century BCE. But It may also have an antecedent history reaching back to the pre-Qumran age. As noted, Cave 4 has also yielded five ^Irly mutilated fragments (4Q365a), palaeographically dated to the mid-first century BCE, some of which have been used by Yadln. Fragment 1 deals with the festival of Unleavened Bread (11QTS XVII, II); fragment 2 corresponds to 1 1 QTS XXXVIII, 4-1 5 while the other three fragments cannot be placed within the known version of the text. The composition Is available in a magisterial edition by Mgael Yadln, who first published it in Hebrew in 1977 and subsequently, shortly before his death, in English under the titie The Temple Scroll I- III (Jerusalem, 1983). IVIy translation is often indebted to Yadin's editorial work. Further improvements are due to E. Qimron, The Temple Scroll: A Critical Edition with Extensive Reconstructions (Beer-Sheva/Jerusalem, 1996). For 11Q20-21, see F Garcia Martinez etal., DJD, XXIII, 357-414. For4Q365a, see S. White, DJD, XIII, 319- 33. For4Q524, see E. Puech, DJD, XXV, 79-1 14. II [Behold, I will make a covenant.] [For it is something dreadful that I] will do [to you.] [I myself will expel from before you] the A[morites, the Ganaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashifles, the Pe[rizzites, the Hivites and] the Jebusites. Ta[ke care not to make a cove]nant with the inhabitants of the country [which you are to] enter so that they may not prove a sn[are for you.] You must destroy their [altajrs, [smash Uieir] pillars [and] cut down their [sacred trees and burn] [their] idols [with fire]. You must not desire silver and gold so [that you may not be ensnared by them; for that would be abominable to me]. You must [not] br[ing any abominable idol] into your house [and come] under ttie ban togeUier with it. You shall de[test and abominate it], for it is urKler the ban. You shall not worship [another] go[d, for YHWH, whose name is] [Jealous], is a jealous God. Take care not to make a [covenant with the inhabitants of the country] [so that, when they whore] after [their gojds [and] sacrifice to [them and invite you,] [you may not eat of their sacrifices and] t[al<e their daughters for your sons, and their daughters may not whore after] their [gods] and cau[se your sons to whore after them.] ... 51 XIII [This is what you shall offer on the altar:] t[wo y]ear[ling lambs] without blemish [every day as a perpetual holocaust. You shall offer the first in the morning; and you shall offer the other lamb in the evening; the corresponding grain-offering will be a te]nth of fine flour mixed with [a quarter of a hin of beaten oil; it shall be a perpetual holocaust of soothing odour, an offering by fire] to YHWH; and the corresponding drink-offering shall be a quart[er of a hin of] wine. [The priest who offers the holocaust shall receive the skin of] the burnt-[offering which he has offered. You shall offer the other lamb in the evenjing with the same grain-[offering as in the] morning and with the corresponding drink-offering as an offering by fire, a soothing odour to YHWH ... On the S[abbath] days you shall offer two [yearling rams without blemish and two] XIV [tenths of an ephah of fine flour, mixed with oil, for a grain-offering and the corresponding drink-offering. This is the holocaust of every Sabbath in addition to the perpetual holocaust and the corresponding drink-offering. On the first day of each month you shall offer a holocaust to YHWH: two young bulls, one ram, seven yearling rams without blemish and a grain-offe]ring of fine flour, [three tenths of an ephah] mix[ed with half a hin of oil, and a drink-offering, ha]lf a hin for [each young bull and a grain-offering of fine flour mixed with oil, two tenths of an ephah] with a third [of a hin, and wine for a drink-offering, one third of a /?/nfor each ram;] ... one tenth [of fine flour for] a grain-[offering, mixed with a quarter of a hin, and wine, a quarter of a hi]n for each lamb ... a soothing [odour] to YHWH on the first day of each month. This is the burnt-offering for each month for the months of the year ... On the first day of the [first] month [the months (of the year) shall start; it shall be the first month] of the year [for you. You shall do no] work. [You shall offer a he-goat for a sin-offering.] It shall be offered by itself to expiate [for you. You shall offer a holocaust: a bullock], a ram, [seven yearli]ng ram lambs [without blemish] ... [ad]di[tional to the bu]r[nt-offering for the new moon, and a grain- offering of three tenths of fine flour mixed with oil], half a hin [for each bullock, and wi]ne for a drink-offering, [half a hin, a soothing odour to YHWH, and two] tenths of fine flour mixed [with oil, one third of a hin. You stiall offer wine for a drinl<-offering,] one th[ird] of a hin for the ram, [an offering by fire, of soothing odour to YHWH; arxl one tenth of fine flour], a grain-offerin[g mixed with a quarter of a hinol oil. You shall offer wine for a drink-offering, a quarter of a hin] for each [ram] ... lambs and for the he-g[oat] ... XV [eajch day ... seven [year]ling [lambs] and a he-[goat] ... according to this statute. For the ordination (of the priests), one ram for each [day and] baskets of bread for all the ra[ms of the ordination, one basket for] each [ram]. They shall divide all the rams and the baskets for the seve[n days of the ordination for each] day; according to [their] dlvlslon[s, they shall offer to YHWH the right thigh] of the ram as a holocaust and [the fat covering the entrails and the] two kidneys and the fat on them [and on] the loins and the whole fat tail close to the backbone and the appendage of the liver and the corresponding grain-offering and drink-offering according to the sta[tute. They shall take one unleavened cake from the] basket and one cake of bread with oil and [one] wafer, [and they shall put It all on the fat] together with the offering of the right thigh. Those who sacrifice shall wave the rams and the baskets of bread as a wa[ve-offering be]fore YHWH. This is a holocaust, an offering by fire, of soothing odour before YHWH. [They shall burn everything on the altar over] the holocaust, to complete their ordination during the seven days of [ordination]. If the High Priest is to [minister to YHWH, whoever] has been ordained to put on the vestments in place of his father, shall offer [a bull fo]r all the people and another for the priests. He shall offer the one for the priests first. The elders of the priest[s] shall lay [their hands] XVI [on] its [hea]d and after them the High Priest and all the [priests. They shall slaughter] the bull [before YHWH]. The elders of the priests shall take from the blood of the bull and [place] it [with their finger on the horns of the altar] and they shall pour [the blood] around the four corners of the [altar] ledge ... [and they shall take from Its blood and pl]ace it [on his right ear lobe and on the thumb of his right hand and the big toe of his] right [foot. They shall sprinkle on him and his vestments some of the blood which was on the altar]... [he] shall be [holy] all his days. [He shall not go near any dead body]. He shall [not] render himself unclean [even for his father or mother,] for [he is] hol[y to YHWH, his God] ... [He shall offer on the al]tar and bum [the fat of the first bulO ... [all] the fat on the entrails and [the appendage of the liver and the two kidne]ys and the fat on the[m] and [the fat on] the loins, and the corresponding grain-offering and drinl<-[offering according to their statute,] he shall bur[n them on the aitar.] It shall be [a burnt-joffering, an offering by fire, of soothing odour be[fore YHWH. The flesh of tfie buii], its skin and offal, they shaii burn outeide the [sanctuary city on a wood fire] in a place reserved for sin-offerings. Tfiere they shall bur[n it with its head and legs] together with aii its errtrails. They shall bum all of it there except the fat. it is a sin-[offering]. He shaii take the second buii, which is for the people, and by it he shaii expiate [for all the people of] the assembly, by its blood and fat. As he did with the fir[st] bull, [so he shaii do] with the buii of the assembly. He shall place with his finger some of its biood on the horns of the [altar, and the remainder of| its blood, he shaii sprinkle o[n the f]our corners of the aitar ledge, and [its fat and] the corresponding [grain-] offering and drink-offering, he shaii burn on the aitar. it is a sin-offering for the assembly XVII ... They shaii rejoice because expiation has been made for them ... This day [shaii] be a holy gathering for them, [an eternal rule for aii their generations] wherever they dwell. They shaii rejoice and ... [Let] them [prepare on the fourteejnth day of the first month [between dusk and dark the Passover of YHWH]. They shaii sacrifice (it) before the evening offering and shaii sacrifice ... men from twenty years of age and over shall prepare It. They shaii eat it at night in tfie tioly courts. They shaii rise early and each shaii go to his tent ... On the fifteenth day of this month (there shaii be) a ho[ly] gathering. You shaii do no work of labour on it. (it shaii be) a seven-day feast of unleavened bread for YHWH. You shall offer on each of the[se] seven days a holocaust to YHWH: two young bulls, a ram, and seven ram iambs without blemish and a he-goat for a sin-offering and the corresponding grain-offering and drink-offering [according to the stajtute for the young bulls, rams, i[am]bs and the he-goat. On the seventh day [(there shaii be) an assembly] for [YHWH]. You shaii do no work on it. XVIII ... [he-] goat for a sin-offering ... [the corresponding grain-offering and drink-] offering according to the statute; one tenth of fine flour [mixed with a quarter of a hin of oil and] a quarter of a hin of wine for a drini<-offering ... [he shaii expiate] for aii the guiit of the peopie of the assembly ... This shall be an eternal [m]le for you [for your generations wherever you dwell.) Then they shall offer ttie one ram, on[ce], on the day of the waving of the sheaf. You shall count seven complete Sabbaths from the day of your bringing the sheaf of [the wave-offering. You shall c]ount until the morrow of the seventh Sabbath. You shall count [fifty] days. You shall bring a new grain-offering to YHWH from your homes, [a loaf of fine fi]ou[r], freshly baked with leaven. They are firstfruits to YHWH, wheat bread, twe[lve cakes, two] tenths of fine fiour in each cake ... the tribes of Israel. They shall offer XIX ... their [grain-offerin]g and dr[ink-offering] according to the statute. The [priests] shall wave ... [wave-offering with the bread of] the firstfruits. They shall b[elong to] the priests and they shall eat them In the [Inner] court[yard], [as a ne]w [grain-offering], the bread of the firstfruits. Then ... new bread from freshly ripened ears. [On this] da[y] there shall be [a holy gathering, an eter]nal [rule] for their generations. [They] shall [do] no work. It is the feast of Weeks and the feast of Firstfruits, an eterna[l] memorial. You [shall count] seven weeks from the day when you bring the new grain-offering to YHW [H], the bread of firstfruits. Seven full Sabbaths [shall elapse un]til you have counted fifty days to the morrow of the seventh Sabbath. [You] shall [bring] new wine for a drink-offering, four bins from all the tribes of Israel, one third of a hin for each tribe. They shall offer on this day with the wine twelve rams to YHWH; all the chiefs of the clans of Israel XX ... [r]ams and the corresponding grain-offering according to the statute; two [tenths of fine flour mixed with oil, one third of a h]\n of oil for a ram; with this drink-offering ... seven yearling ram lambs and a he-[goat] ... assembly ... their [grain- offering and drink-offering] (shall be) according to the statute concerning young bulls and the ram ... to YHWH. At the quarter of the day, they shall offer ... [the r]ams and the drink-offering. They shall offer ... fourteen yearling ram lambs ... the burnt-offering. They shall prepare them ... and they shall burn their fat on the altar, [the fat covering the entrails] and the fat that is on them, and [the appendage of the liver with] ttie kidneys he shall remove and the ^t on [them], and that which is on the loins and the fat tail close to the backbone. They shall b[um ail on the altar] together with the corresponding grain-offering and drink- offering, an offering by fire, of soothing odou[r before YHWH]. They shall offer every grairvoffering joined to a drink-offering according to [the statute]. They shall take a handful from [eve]ry grain-offering offered either with frankincense or dry, (this being) its [memorial portion], and burn it on the altar. They shall eat the remainder in the [in]n[er] courtyard. The priests shall e[a]t it unleavened. It shall not be eaten with leaven. It shall be ea[ten] on that day [before] sun[se]t. They shall salt all their offerings. You shall never allow the covenarrt of salt to fail. They shall offer to YHWH an offering from the rams and the lambs, the right thigh, the breast, [the cheeks, the stomac]h and the foreleg as far as the shoulder bone, and they shall wave them as a wave-offering. XXI [The priests'] portions [shall] be the thigh of the offering and the breast ... [the foreieg]s, the cheeks and the stomachs ... [as an eternal rule, from the children of isra]ei and the shoulder remaining of the foreleg [shall be for the Levites] ... an eternal rule for them and for their seed .. the princes of the Thousands ... [from] the rams and from [the iambs, one ram and one ram lamb (shall belong) to the priests; to the Levites], one [ra]m, one iamb; and to every [tribe, on]e [ram], one iamb for ail the tri[bes], the [twe]ive tribes of Israel. They shall eat them [on that day, in the out]er [courtyard] before YHWH. ... [the priest]s shall drink there first and the Levites [second] ... the princes of the standards first ... [men of] renown. After them the whole people, from the great to the small, shall begin to drink the new wine. They [shall not e]a[t] any un[ri]pe grapes from the vines, for [on] this [da]y they shall expiate for the tirosh. The children of Israel shall rejoice before YHWH, an eternal [rule] for their generations wherever they dwell. They shall rejoice on [this] d[ay for they have begun] to pour out an intoxicating drink-offering, tfie new wine, on the altar of YHWH, year by year. [You shajli count from that day seven weeks, seven times (seven days), forty-nine days; there shall be seven full Sabbaths; until the morrow of the seventh Sabbath you shall count fifty days. You shall then offer new oil from the homes of [the trjibes of the children of Isjrael, half a hin from a tribe, new beaten oil ... oil on the altar of the holocaust, firstfruits before YHWH. XXII ... [shall expi]ate with it for all the congregation before [YHWH] ... with this oil, half a hin ... [according to the st]atute, a holocaust, an offering by fire, of soothing [odour to YHWH] ... [With] this oil they shall light the lamps ... the princes of the Thousands with ... fourteen [yearling] m[ale lamb]s and the corresponding grain-offering and drink-offering ... [for the lambs and] the rams. The Levites shall slaughter ... [and] the priests, the sons of Aaron, [shall spri]nkle their blood [on the altar all around] ... [and] they shall burn their fat on the altar of the [holocaust] ... [and the corresponding grain-offering] and drink-offering, they shall burn over the fats ... [an offering by fire, of soothing odour to] YHWH. They shall take away fr[om] ... the right thigh and the breast ... the cheeks and the stomach shall be the priests' portion according to the statute concerning them. (They shall give) to the Levites the shoulder Afterwards they shall bring them (the offerings) out to the children of Israel, and the children of Israel shall give the prie[st]s one ram, one lamb, and to the Levites, one ram, one lamb, and to each tribe, one ram, one lamb. They shall eat them on that day in the outer courtyard before YHWH, an eternal rule for their generations, year by year Afterwards they shall eat from the olives and anoint themselves with the new oil, for on this day they shall expiate for [al]l [the o]ll of the land before YHWH once yearly. They shall rejoice XXIII ... The High Priest shall offer the [holocaust of the Levites] first, and afterwards he shall send up in smoke the holocaust of the tribe of Judah, and w[hen he] is sending it up in smoke, they shall slaughter before him the he-goat first and he shall lift up its blood in a bowl to the altar and with his finger he shall pu[t some] of the blood to the four horns of the alta[r] of the holocaust and to the four corners of the altar ledge, and shall toss the blood towards the bas[e] of the altar ledge all around. He shall burn Its fat on the altar, the fat covering the entrails and that over the entrails. The appendage of the liver with the kidneys he shall remove as well as the fat over them and on the loins. He shall send up In smoke all of them on the altar together with the corresponding grain-offering and drink-offering, an offering by fire of soothing odour to YHWH. And XXIV ... ttie flesh, of [soothing] odour; it shall be [an offering by fire to YHWH. Thus they must do to every] young bull, and to every ram and to [every lamb] and Its limbs (?) shall remain apart. The corresponding [grain-offering] and drink-offering shall be on It, an [eternal] rule for your generations before YHWH. After this holocaust he shall offer the holocaust of the tribe of Judah separately As he tias done with the txjlocaust of ttie Levltes, so shall he do with the holocaust of the children of Judah after the Levites. On the second day he shall first offer the holocaust of Benjamin and after It he shall offer ttie holocaust of the children of Joseph, Ephraim and IVIanasseh together. On ttie third day he shall offer the holocaust of Reuben separately and the holocaust of Simeon separately On the fourth day he shall offer the holocaust of Issachar separately and the holocaust of Zebulun separately. On the fifth day he stiall offer the holocaust of Gad separately and the holocaust of Asfier separately On the sixth day XXV [he shall offer the holocaust of Dan separately and the holocaust of Naphtall separately] ... In the [seventh] m[onth, on the first day of the month, you shall have] a sacred rest, a remembrance announced by a trumpet blast, a [holy] ga[therlng. You shall offer a holocaust, an offering by fire, of soothing odour be]fore YHWH. You shall o[ffer on]e [young bull,] one ram, seve[n] ye[ar]llng [lamb]s [without blemish and one he-goat for a sln- offerlng, and] the corresponding grain-offering and drink-offering according to the statute concerning the[m, of soothing odour to YHWH, In addition to] the perpetual [holocaus]t [and the holo]caust of the new moon. Afterwards [you shall offer] this [holocaust] at the third part of the day an eternal rule for your generatlon[s wherever you dwell.] You shall rejoice on this day. On it you shall do no work. A sacred rest shall this day be for you. The tenth of this month is the Day of Atonement. You shall mortify yourselves. For any person who does not mortify himself on this selfsame day shall be cut off from his people. You shall offer on It a holocaust to YHWH: one young bull, one ram, seven ram lambs, one he-goat for a sin-offering. In addition to the sin-offering of the atonement and the corresponding grain-offering and drink-offering according to the statute concerning the young bull, the ram, the lambs and the he-goat. For the sIn-offerIng of the atonement you shall offer two rams for holocaust. The High Priest shall offer one for himself and his father's house XXVI ... [The High Prie]st [shall cast lots on the two goats,] o[ne] lot for YHWH and one for Azazel. He shall slaughter the goat [on] which [YHWH's lot has fellen and shall lift up] its blood in a golden bowl which is in [his ha]nd, [and do] with its blo[od as he has done with the blood of] his young bull and shall expiate with it for all the people of the assembly. He shall send up in smoke its fat and the corresponding grain-and drinl<-offering on the altar of the holocaust. Its flesh, skin and dung they shall burn beside his young bull. It is a sin- offering for the wtK>le assembly. He shall expiate with it for all the people of the assembly and it shall be forgiven to them. He shall wash his hands and feet of the blood of the sin-offering and shall come to the living goat and shall confess over its head the iniquities of the children of Israel together with all their guilt, all their sins. He shall put them on the head of the goat and despatch it to Azazel in the desert by the hand of the man who is waiting ready. The goat shall bear all the iniquities of (the children of Israel). XXVII ... [and he shall expiate] for ail the children of Israel and It shall be forgiven to them ... Afterwards he shall offer the young bull, the r[a]m, and [the lambs, according to] the [sta]tute relating to them, on the altar of the holocaust, and the [ho]locaust will be accepted for the children of Israel, an eternal rule for their generations. Once a year this day shall be for them a memorial. They shall do no work on it, for it shall be [to] them a Sabbath of sacred rest. Whoever shall do work on It or shall not mortify himself on it, shall be cut off from the midst of his people. A Sabbath of sacred rest, a holy gathering shall this day be for you. You shall sanctify it as a memorial wherever you dwell and you shall do no work. On the fifteenth day of this month XXVIII ... [the corresponding] grain- offering [and drink-offering, all on] the altar, an offering by fire, of s[oothing odour to YHWH. On] the second [day:] twelve young bulls, [two rams, four]teen [lambs] and one he-goat [for a sin-offerin]g [and the corresponding gr]ai[n-offering and drink-offering] according to the statute concerning the young bulls, the ram[s], the lambs [and] the he- goat; it is an offering by fire, of soothing odour to YHWH. On the third day eleven young bulls, two rams, fourteen lambs and one he-goat for a sin-offering and the corresponding grain-offering and drink-offering according to the statute corx^eming the young bulls, the rams, the lambs and the he-goat. On the fo[ur]th day ten young bulls, two rams, fourteen yearling ram lambs and one he-goat for a sin-offering and the corresponding grain- offering and drinl<-offering for the young bulls, XXIX [the rams, the lambs and the he-goat ... On the fifth day ... and the corresponding grain-offering] arxJ drink-offer[ing] ... in the house on which I [shall cause] my name to rest ... holocausts, [each on its] day according to the law of this statute, always from the children of Israel in addition to their freewillofferings in regard to all that they offer, their drink-offerings and all their gifts that they shall bring to me in order to be acceptable. I shall accept them and they shall be my people and I shall be for them for ever. I will dwell with them for ever and ever and will sanctify my [sa]nctuary by my glory. I will cause my glory to rest on it until the day of creation on which I shall create my sanctuary, establishing it for myself for all time according to the covenant which I have made with Jacob in Bethel. XXX ... You shall make ... for stairs, a stair[case] ... in the house which you shall build ... You [shall make] a staircase north of the Temple, a square house, twenty cubits from one corner to the other alongside its four corners. Its distance from the wall of the Temple shall be seven cubits on the north-west. You shall make the width of its wall four cubits ... like the Temple and its inside from corner to corner twelv[e cubits.] (There shall be) a square column in its middle, in the centre; its width four cubits on each side around which the stairs wind ... XXXI In the upper chamber of [this] ho[use you shall make a ga]te opening to the roof of the Temple and a way (shall be) made through this gate towards the entrance ... of the Temple by which one can reach the upper chamber of the Temple. Overlay with gold [a]ll this stairhouse, its walls, its gates and its roof, from inside [and from] outside, its column and its stairs. [You] shall do everything as I tell you. You shall make a square house for the laver in the south-east, on all its sides, (each) twenty-one cubits; fifty cubits distant from the altar. The width of the wall shall be four cubits, and the height [t]wenty cubits ... Make gates for it on the east, on the north and on the west. The width of the gates shall be four cubits and the height seven XXXII ... You shall make in the wall of this house, on the inside, recesses, and in them ... one cubit (In) width and their height four cubits above the ground. They shall be overlaid with gold on which they shall place their clothes which they have worn on arrival. Above the house of the ... when they come to minister In the sanctuary. You shall make a trench around the laver beside its house and the trench shall go [from the house of] the laver to a cavity. It shall descend [rapld]ly to the ground where the water shall flow and disappear. It shall not be touched by any man for it Is mingled with the blood of the holocaust. XXXIII They shall sanctify my people In the sacred vestments which ... You shall make a house east of the house of the [l]av[er] according to the measurement of [the house of the bas]ln. Its wall shall be at a distance of seven cubits from the wall of the house of the laver. Its whole building and rafters shall be like (those of) the house of the laver. It shall have two gates on the north and the south, one opposite the other, according to the measurement of the gates of the house of the laver. Inside all the waiis of this house shall have apertures, their width (and depth) two cubits each and their height four (?) with which the entrails and the feet are raised to the aitar. When they have completed the sending up In smoke XXXIV ... They close the wheels and ... and tie the horns of the young buiis to the rings and ... by the rings. Afterwards they shaii slaughter them and collect [the blood] In bowls and toss It around the altar base. They shall open the wheels and strip the skin of the young buiis from their flesh and cut them up Into pieces, salt the pieces, wash the entrails and the legs, salt them and send them up In smoke on the fire which Is on the altar, each young bull with Its pieces beside It and the corresponding grain-offering of fine flour on It, the wine of the drink-offering beside It and some of it on It. The priests, the sons of Aaron, shall send everything up In smoke on the altar, an offering by fire, of soothing odour before YHWH. You shall make chains hanging from the rafters of the twelve columns XXXV ... whoever Is not a priest shall die, and whoever ... [a prle]st who shall come ... and he is not clothed In the [holy] vest[ments in which] he was ordained, they too shall be put to death and shall not pro[fane the san]ctuary of their God, thus Incurring the Iniquity of mortal guilt. You shall sanctify tfie environs of the altar, the Temple, the laver and the colonnade and they shall be most holy for ever and ever. You shall make a place west of the Temple, a colonnade of pillars standing around for the sin-offerlngs and the guilt-offierings, divided from one another, the sin-offerings of the priests, the he-goats, and the sin-offerlngs of the people and their gullt-offerlngs. None of these shall be mingled one with another, for their places shall be divided from one another In order that the priests may not err concerning all the sin- offerlngs of the people, and all the rams (?) of the gullt-offerlngs, (thus) Incurring the sin of guilt. The birds for ttie altar: tie shall prepare turtledoves XXXVI ... from the corner of ... [to the corne]r of the gat[e, one hundred and twenty cubits.] The gate (shall be) forty [cubits] wide. Each side shall be [according to this measurement. The wid]th of [its wa]ll shall be seven cubits, [and] its [height forty]-five [cubits to the raft]ers of [its] roof. The width of its ch[ambers] (shall be) twenty-six cubits from corner to corner. The gates of entrance and exit: the gate shall be fourteen cubits wide and [tw]enty-eight cubits high from the threshold to the lintel. The height of the rafters above the lintel shall be fourteen cubits. (The gate shall be) roofed with a panelling of cedar wood overlaid with pure gold. Its doors shall be overlaid with fine gold. From the corner of the gate to the second angle of the courtyard, (there shall be) one hundred and twenty cubits. Thus shall be the measurement of all these gates of the inner courtyard. The gates shall lead inside into the courtyard. XXXVII You shall make [in]side the court[yard] seats for the priests, and tables in front of the seats, in the inner colonnade by the outer wall of the courtyard, places made for the priests and their sacrifices, for the firstfruits and the tithes, for their peace-offering sacrifices which they shall sacrifice. The sacrifices of the peace-offerings of the children of Israel stiall not be mingled with the sacrifices of the priests. In the four corners of the courtyard you shall make for them a place for cooking-stoves where they shall seethe their sacrifices [and] sin- offerings. XXXVIII ... There tfiey shall eat ... the bird, tfie turtle-dove and the young pigeons ... You shall make a second [co]urtyard aro[u]nd [the in]ner [courtyard], one hundred cubits wide, and four hundred and eighty cubits long on the east side, atxJ thus shall be the width and length of all its sides: to the south, to the west and to the north. Its wall shall be [fo]ur cubits wide and twenty-eight cubits high. Chambers shall be made in the wall outside and between each chamber there shall be three-[and-a-half cubits] XXXIX ... that all the congregation of the children of Israel may bow down before me ... No woman shall come there, nor a child until the day that he has fulfilled the mle ... [and has paid for] himself [a ransom] to YHWH, half a shekel, an eternal mle, a memorial wherever they dwell. The shekel (consists of) twenty gerahs. When they shall collect from him the half-shekel... to me. Afterwards they shall enter from the age of twenty ... The na[mes of the g]ates of this [co]urtyard sha[ll b]e according to the nam[es of| the children of ls[ra]el: Simeon, Levi and Judah in the east; Reuben, Joseph and Benjamin in the south; Issachar, Zebulun and Gad in the west; Dan, Naphtali and Asher in the north. Between each gate the measurement (shall be); from the north-eastern corner to the gate of Simeon, ninety- nine cubits, and the gate twenty-eight cubits. From this gate of Simeon to the gate of Levi, ninety-nine cubits, and the gate, twenty-eight cubits. From the gate of Levi to the gate of Judah XL ... You shall make a third courtyard ... to their daughters and to the strangers who [were] born ... [wi]de around the middle courtyard ... in length about one thousand six [hundred] cubits from one corner to the next. Each side shall be according to this measurement: on the east, the south, the west and the no[rt]h. The wall shall be seven cubits wide and forty-nine cubits high. Chambers shall be made between its gates along the foundation as far up as its 'crowns' (= crenellations; Yadin). There shall be three gates in the east, three in the south, three in the west and three in the north. The gates shall be fifty cubits wide and their height seventy cubits. Between one gate and another there shaii be three hundred and sixty cubits. From the corner to the gate of Simeon, three hundred and sixty cubits. From the gate of Simeon to the gate of Levi, likewise. From the gate of Levi to the gate of Judah, iikewise three [hundred and] sixty (cubits). XLI ... From the gate of Issachar [to the gate of Zebulun, three] hundred [and sixty] cubits. From the gate of Zebulun to the gate of Gad, three hundred and sixty cubits. From the ga[te of] Gad to the northern comer, three hundred and sixty cubits. From this corner to the gate of Dan: three hundred and sixty cubits. Thus from the gate of Dan to the gate of Naphtali, three hundred and sixty cubits. From the gate of Naphtali to the gate of Asher, three hundred and sixty cubits. From the gate of Asher to the eastern comer, three hundred and sixty cubits. The gates shall jut outwards from the wall of the courtyard seven cubits, and extend inwards from the wall to the courtyard thirty-six cubits. The entrance of the gate shall be fourteen cubits wide and twenty-eight cubits high up to the iintei. The rafters at the doorways (?) shaii be of cedar wood and overlaid with gold. The doors shall be overlaid with pure gold. Between each gate inwards you shaii mal<e storehouses, XLII [rooms and colonnades.] The room shall be ten cubits wide, twenty cubits long, and fourteen] cubits high ... with cedar wood. The waii shaii be two cubits wide. On the outside there shaii be storehouses. [The storehouse shaii be ten cubits wide and] twenty cubits [long]. The wall shaii be two cubits wide [and fourteen cubits high] up to the iintei. its entrance shaii be three cubits wide. [You shaii mal<e in this way] aii the storehouses and the [corresponding] rooms. The colon[nade] ... shaii be ten cubits [wi]de. Between each gate [you shaii mal<e eightjeen storehouses arxl the corresponding eight[een] rooms ... You shaii mal<e a staircase next to the walls of the gates towards the colonnade. Winding stairs shaii go up to the second and third colonnades and to the roof You shall build storehouses and corresponding rooms and colonnades as on the ground floor The second and the third (levels) shaii follow the measurement of the lower one. On the roof of the third you shall make pillars roofed with rafters from one pillar to the next (providing) a place for tabernacles. The (pillars) shall be eight cubits high and the tabernacles shall be made on their (roof) each year at the feast of the Tabernacles for the eiders of the congregation, for the princes, the heads of the fathers' houses of the children of Israel, the captains of the thousands, the captains of the hundreds, who will ascend and dwell there until the sacrificing of the holocaust on the festival which Is the feast of the Tabernacles, each year Between each gate there shaii be XLIII ... on the days of the firstfruits of the corn, of the w[ine (tirosh) and the oil, and at the festival of the offering of] wood. On these days (tfie tithe) shall be eaten. They shall not put aside anything from it from one year to another. For they shall eat it in this manner. From ttie feast of ttie Firstfruits of the com of wheat they stiall eat the com until the next year, until the feast of the Firstfruits, and (they shall drinl<) the wine from the day of ttie festival of Wine until the next year, until the day of the festival of the Wine, and (they shall eat) the oil from its festival, until the next year, until the festival, the day of offering the new oil on tfie altar. Whatever is left (to last beyond) their festivals shall be sanctified by being burnt with fire. It shall rK> longer be eaten for it is holy. Those wtK> live within a distance of three days' walk from the sanctuary shall bring wtiatever they can bring. If they cannot carry It, they shall sell it for money and buy with It corn, wine, oil, cattle and sheep, and sliall eat them on the days of the festivals. On working days they shall not eat from this In their weariness for It Is holy. On the holy days it stiall be eaten, but it shall not be eaten on working days. XLIV ... You shall allot [the rooms and the corresponding chambers. From the gate of Slmeo]n to the gate of Judah shall be for the priests ... All that is to the right and to the left of the gate of Levi, you shall allo[t] to Aaron, your brother, one hundred and eight rooms and corresponding chambers and two tabernacles which are on the roof. (You shall allot) to the sons of Judah (the area) from the gate of Judah to the corner: fifty-four rooms and corresponding chambers and the tabernacle that is over them. (You shall allot) to the sons of Simeon (the area) from the gate of Simeon to the second corner: their rooms, the corresponding chambers and tabernacles. (You shall allot) to the sons of Reuben (the area) from the corner which is beside the sons of Judah to the gate of Reuben: fifty-two rooms and the corresponding chambers and tabernacles. (The area) from the gate of Reuben to the gate of Joseph (you shall allot) to the sons of Joseph, to Ephraim and Manasseh. (The area) from the gate of Joseph to the gate of Benjamin (you shall allot) to the sons of Kohath from the Levites. (The area) from the gate of Benjamin to the western corner (you shall allot) to the sons of Benjamin. (The area) from this corner to the gate of Issachar (you shall allot) to the sons of Issachar. (The area) from the gate (of Issachar) XLV... the second (= incoming) [priestly course] shall enter on the left ... and the first (= outgoing) shall leave on the right. They shall not mingle with one anotlier nor tlieir vesseis. [Eacli] priestiy course sliaii come to its place and they shall stay there. One shall arrive and the other leave on the eighth day They shall clean the rooms, one after the other, when the first (priestly course) leaves. There shall be no mingling there. No man who has had a nocturnal emission shall enter the sanctuary at all until three days have elapsed. He shall wash his garments and bathe on the first day and on the third day he shall wash his garments and bathe, and after sunset he shall enter the sanctuary. They shall not enter my sanctuary in their impure uncleanness and render it unclean. No man who has had sexual intercourse with his wife shall enter anywhere into the city of the sanctuary where I cause my name to abide, for three days. No blind man shall enter it in ail his days and shall not profane the city where i abide, for i, YHWH, abide amongst the children of Israel for ever and ever. Whoever is to purify himself of his flux shall count seven days for his purification. He shall wash his garments on the seventh day and bathe his whole body in running water. Afterwards he shall enter the city of the sanctuary. No one unclean through contact with a corpse shall enter there until he has purified himself. No leper nor any man smitten (in his body) shall enter there until he has purified himself and has offered ... XLVI ... [No] unclean bird shall fly over [my] sanctua[ry] ... the roofs of the gates ... the outer courtyard ... be in my sanctuary for ever and ever ail the time that i [abide] among them. You shall make a terrace round about, outside the outer courtyard, fourteen cubits wide like the entrances of all the gates. You shall make twelve steps (leading) to it by which the children of Israel shall ascend there to enter my sanctuary. You shall make a one-hundred-cubits-wide ditch around the sanctuary which shall divide the holy sanctuary from the city so that no one can rush into my sanctuary and defile it. They shall sanctify my sanctuary and hold it in awe because i abide among them. You shall make for them latrines outside the city where they shall go out, north-west of the city. These shall be roofed houses with holes in them into which the filth shall go down, it shall be far emugh rxst to be visible from the city, (at) three thousand cubits. You shall make three areas to the east of the city, divided from one another, where the lepers, those suffering from a flux and men who have had a (nocturnal) emission XLVII ... Their cities [shall be] pure ... for ever. The city which I will sanctify, causing my name and [my] sanctuar|y] to abide [In it], stiall be holy and pure of all Impurity with which they can become Impure. Whatever Is In It shall be pure. Whatever enters it stiall be pure: wine, oil, aii food and all moistened (food) shali be clean. No skin of clean animals slaughtered in their cities shall be brought there (to the city of the sanctuary). But in their cities they may use them for any work they need. But they shall not bring them to the city of my sanctuary, for the purity of the skin corresponds to that of the flesh. You shall not profane the city where I cause my name and my sanctuary to abide. For It Is In the skins (of animals) slaughtered In the sanctuary that they shall bring their wine and oil and all their food to the city of my sanctuary. They shall not pollute my sanctuary with the skins of animals slaughtered In their country which are tainted (= unfit for the Temple). You cannot render any city among your cities as pure as my city, for the purity of the skin of the animal corresponds to the purity of Its flesh. If you slaughter It In my sanctuary, It shall be pure for my sanctuary, but If you slaughter It In your cities, It shall be pure (only) for your cities. Whatever Is pure for the sanctuary, shall be brought In skins (fit) for the sanctuary, and you shall not profane my sanctuary and my city where I abide with tainted skins. XLVIII ... [the cormorant, the stork, every kl]nd of [heron,] the hoop[oe and the bat] ... You may eat [the following] flying [insects]: every kind of great locust, every kind of long-headed locust, every kind of green locust, and every kind of desert locust. These are among the flying Insects which you may eat: those which walk on four legs and have legs jointed above their feet to leap with them on the ground and wings to fly with. You shall not eat the carcass of any bird or beast but may sell It to a foreigner You shall not eat any abominable thing, for you are a holy people to YHWH, your God. You are the sons of YHWH, your God. You shall not gash yourselves or shave your forelocks in mouming for the dead, nor shall you tattoo yourselves, for you are a holy people to YHWH, your God. You shall not profane your land. You shall not do as the nations do; they bury their dead everywhere, they bury them even in their houses. Rather you shall set apart areas in the midst of your land where you shall bury your dead. Between four cities you shall designate an area for burial. In every city you shall set aside areas for those stricken with leprosy, with plague arKi with scab, who shall not enter your cities and profane them, and also for those who suffer from a flux; and for menstruating women, and women after childbirth, so ttiat they may not cause defilement in their midst by their impure uncleanness. TTie leper suffering from chronic leprosy or scab, who has been pronounced unclean by the priest XLIX ... with cedar wood, hyssop and ... your cities with the plague of leprosy and they shall be unclean. If a man dies in your cities, the house in which the dead man has died shall be unclean for seven days. Whatever is in the house and whoever enters the house shall be unclean for seven days. Any food on which water has been poured shall be unclean, anything moistened shall be unclean. Earthenware vessels shall be unclean and whatever they contain shall be unclean for every clean man. The open (vessels) shall be unclean for every Israelite (with) whatever is moistened in them. On the day when the body is removed from there, they shall cleanse the house of all pollution of oil, wine and water moisture. They shall rub its (the house's) floor, walls and doors and shall wash with water the bolts, doorposts, thresholds and lintels. On the day when the body is removed from there, they shall purify the house and all its utensils, hand-mills and mortars, all utensils of wood, iron and bronze and all utensils capable of purification. Clothes, sacks and skins shall be washed. As for the people, whoever has been in the house or has entered the house shall bathe in water and shall wash his clothes on the first day. On the third day they shall sprinkle purifying water on them and shall bathe. They stiall wash their garments and all tfie utensils in the house. On the seventh day they shall sprinkle (them) a second time. They shall bathe, wash their clothes and utensils and shall be clean by the evening of (the impurity contracted) from the dead so as to (be fit to) touch their pure things. As for a man who has not been rendered unciean on account of L ... they have been unclean. No longer ... until they have sprinl<led (them) the second [time] on tfie seventh day and shall be clean by the evening at sunset. Whoever touches tfie bone of a dead person in the fields, or one slai n by the sword , or a dead body or the blood of a dead person, or a tomb, he shall purify himself according to the rule of this statute. But if he does not purify himself according to the statute of this law, he is unclean, his uncleanness being still in him. Whoever touches him must wash his clothes, bathe and he shall be clean by the evening. If a woman is with child and it dies in her womb, as long as it is dead in her, she shall be unclean like a tomb. Any house that she enters shall be unclean with all its utensils for seven days. Whoever touches it shall be unclean till the evening. If anyone enters the house with her, he shall be unclean for seven days. He shall wash his clothes and bathe in water on the first (day). On the third day he shall sprinkle and wash his clothes and bathe. On the seventh day he shall sprinkle a second time and wash his clothes and bathe. At sunset he shall be clean. As for all the utensils, clothes, skins and all the materials made of goat's hair, you shall deal with them according to the statute of this law. All earthenware vessels shall be broken for they are unclean and can no more be purified ever. All creatures that teem on the ground you shall proclaim unclean: the weasel, the mouse, every kind of lizard, the wall gecko, the sand gecko, the great lizard and the chameleon. Whoever touches them dead LI ... [and whatever comjes out of the[m] ... [shall be] unclean [to you.] You shall [not] render yourselves unclean by th[em. Whoever touches them] dead shall be unclean un[til the] evening. He shall wash his clothes and bathe [In water and at] sun[set] he shall be clean. Whoever carries any of their bones, their carcass, skin, flesh or claw shall wash his clothes and bathe in water. After sunset he shall be clean. You shall forewarn the children of Israel about all the impurities. They shall not render themselves unclean by those of which I tell you on this mountain and they shall not be unclean. For I, YHWH, abide among the children of Israel. You sfiall sanctify them and they shall be holy. They shall not render themselves abominable by anything that I have separated for them as unclean and they shall be holy. You shall establish judges and officers In all your towns and they shall judge the people with just judgement. Tfiey shall not be partial in (their) judgement. They shall not accept bribes, nor shall they twist judgement, for the bribe twists judgement, overturns the works of justice, blinds the eyes of the wise, produces great guilt, and profanes the house by the iniquity of sin. Justice and justice alone shall you pursue that you may live and come to inherit the land that I give you to inherit for all days. The man who accepts bribes and twists just judgement shall be put to death. You shall not be afraid to execute him. You shall not do in your land as the nations do. Everywhere they sacrifice, plant sacred trees, erect sacred pillars and set up carved stones to bow down before them and build for them Lll ... You shall not plant [any tree as a sacred tree beside my altar to be made by you.] You shall not erect a sacred pillar [that is hateful to me.] You shall not make anywhere in your land a carved stone to bow down before it. You shall not sacrifice to me any cattle or sheep with a grave blemish, for they are abominable to me. You shall not sacrifice to me any cattle or sheep or goat that is pregnant, for this would be an abomination to me. You shall not slaughter a cow or a ewe and its young on the same day neither shall you kill a mother with her young. Of all the firstlings born to your cattle or sheep, you shall sanctify for me the male animals. You shall not use the firstling of your cattle for work, nor shall you shear the firstling of your small cattle. You shall eat it before me every year in the place that I shall choose. Should it be blemished, being lame or blind or (afTicted with) any grave blemish, you shall not sacrifice it to me. It is within your towns that you shall eat it. The unclean and the clean among you together (may eat it) like a gazelle or a deer. It is the blood alone that you shall not eat. You shall spill it on the ground like water and cover it with dust. You shall not muzzle an ox while it is threshing. You shall not plough with an ox and an ass (harnessed) together. You shall not slaughter clean cattle or sheep or goat in any of your towns, within a distance of three days' journey from my sanctuary. It is rather in my sanctuary that you shall slaughter it, making of it a tiolocaust or peace-offering. You shall eat and rejoice before me in the place on which I clxjose to set my name. Every clean animal with a blemish, you shall eat It within your towns, away from my sanctuary at a distance of thirty stadia. You stiall not slaughter It close to my sanctuaryfor Its flesh Is tainted. You stiall not eat in my city, which I sanctify by placing my name in it, ttie flesh of cattle, slieep or goat which has not entered my sanctuary. They shall sacrifice It there, toss its blood to the base of the altar of holocaust and shall bum its fat. Llll [Wtien I extend your frontiers as I have told you, and If ttie place where I have chosen to set my name is too dlstan]t, and you say 'I will eat meat', because you [l]ong for it, [whatever you desire,] you may eat, [and you may slau]gh[ter] any of your small cattle or cattle which I give you according to my blessing. You may eat It within your towns, the clean and the unclean together, iil<e gazelle or deer (meat). But you shaii firmly abstain from eating the blood. You shall spill it on the ground iil<e water and cover it with dust. For the blood Is the life and you shaii not eat the life with the flesh so that it may be well with you and with your sons after you for ever. You shall do that which is correct and good before me, for I am YHWH, your God. But all your devoted gifts and votive donaflons you shall bring when you come to the place where i cause my name to abide, and you shall sacrifice (them) there before me as you have devoted and vowed them with your mouth. When you make a vow, you shall not tarry in fulfilling It, for surely I will require It of you and you shall become guilty of a sin. You shall keep the word uttered by your lips, for your mouth has vowed freely to perform your vow. When a man makes a vow to me or swears an oath to take upon himself a binding obllgafion, he must not break his word. Whatever has been uttered by his mouth, he shall do It. When a woman makes a vow to me, or takes upon herself a binding obligation by means of an oath in her father's house, in her youth, if her father hears of her vow or the binding obllgafion which she has taken upon herself and remains silent, all her vows shall stand, and her binding obllgafion which she has taken upon herself shall stand. If, however, her father definitely forbids her on the day that he hears of It, none of tier vows or binding obligations which she has taken upon herself shall statxl, and I will absolve her because (her father) has forbidden her LIV [when he] h[eard of them. But if he annuls them after] the da[ythathe has] hea[rd of them, he shall bear] herguiit: [her] fa[ther has annulled them. Any vow] or binding oath (made by a woman) [to mortify herself,] her husbarxl may cx5nfi[nn it] or annul it on the day that he hears of it, and I will absolve her. But any vow of a widow or a divorced woman, whatever she has tal<en upon herself shall stand in conformity with all that her mouth has uttered. Everything that I command you today, see to it that it is kept. You shall not add to it, nor detract from it. If a prophet or a dreamer appears among you and presents you with a sign or a portent, even if the signer the portent comes true, when he says, 'Let us go and worship other gods whom you have not known!', do not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer, for I am testing you to discover whether you love YHWH, the God of your fathers, with all your heart and soul. It is YHWH, your God, that you must follow and serve, and it is him that you must fear and his voice that you must obey and you must hold fast to him. That prophet or dreamer shall be put to death for he has preached rebellion against YHWH, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of bondage, to lead you astray from the path that I have commanded you to follow. You shall rid yourself of this evil. If your brother, the son of your father or the son of your mother, or your son, or your daughter, or the wife of your bosom, or your friend who is like your own self, (seeks to) entice you secretly, saying, 'Let us go and worship other gods whom you have not known', neither you, LV [nor] your [fa]thers, some of the gods [of the peoples that are round about you, whether near you or far off from you], from the one end of the earth to [the other, you shall not yield to him or listen to him, nor shall your eye pity] him, nor shall you spare [him, nor shall you conceal him; but you shall kill him; your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people. You shall stone him to death with stones because he sought to] draw you away [from me who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. And all Israel shall hear, and fear, and never again do such an evil thing] among you. If in on[e of your cities in wfiich I] give you to dw[ell] you fiearthis said: 'Men, [s]ons of [Beii]ai liave arisen in your midst and have led astray aii the inhabitants of their city saying, "Let us go and worship gods whom you have not knownl",' you shaii irKiuire, search and investigate carefully. If tfie matter is proven true that such an abomination has been done in Israel, you shall surely put all the inhabitants of that city to the sword. You shall place it and all who are in it under the ban, and you shall put the beasts to the sword. You shall assemble all the booty In (the city) square and shall bum it with fire, the city and all the booty, as a whole-offering to YHWH, your God. It shall be a mln for ever and shall never be rebuilt. Nothing from that which has been placed under the ban shall cleave to your hand so that I may turn from my hot anger and show you compassion. I will be compassionate to you and multiply you as I told your fathers, provided that you obey my voice, keeping all my commandments that I command you today, to do that which is correct and good before YHWH, your God. If among you, in one of your towns that I give you, there is found a man or a woman who does that which is wrong in my eyes by transgressing my covenant, and goes and worships other gods, and bows down before them, or before the sun or the moon, or all the host of heaven, if you are told about it, and you hear about this matter, you shall search and investigate it carefully. If the matter is proven true that such an abomination has been done in Israel, you shall lead out that man or that woman and stone him (to death) with stones. LVI... [You shall go to the Levitical priests o]r to the 0]u[dges then in office]; you shall seek their guidance and [they] shall pro[nounce on] the matter for which [you have sought their guidance, and they shall procl]aim the(lr) judgement to you. You shall act in conformity with the law that they proclaim to you and the saying that they declare to you from the book of the Law. They shall issue to you a proclamation in truth from the place where I choose to cause my name to abide. Be careful to do all that they teach you and act in conformity with the decision that they communicate to you. Do not stray from the law which they proclaim to you to the right or to the left. The man who does not listen but acts arrogantly wittxjut obeying the priest who is posted there to minister before me, or the judge, that man stiall die. You shall rid israei of evii. All the people shall hear of it and shall be awe-stricl<en, and none shall ever again be arrogant in israei. When you enter the land which I give you, tai<e possession of it, dwell in it and say, 'I will appoint a king over me as do all the nations around me!', you may surely appoint over you the l<ing wtxjm I will choose. It is from among your brothers that you shall appoint a l<ing over you. You shall not appoint over you a foreigner who is not your brother. He (the king) shall definitely not acquire many horses, neither shall he lead the people back to Egypt for war to acquire many horses and much silver arxl gold, for I told you, 'You shall never again go back that way. He shall not acquire many wives that they may not turn his heart away from me. He shall not acquire very much silver and gold. When he sits on the throne of his kingdom, they shall write for him this law from the book which is before the priests. LVII This is the law [that they shall write for him] ... [They shall count,] on the day that they appoint hi[m] king, the sons of Israel from the age of twenty to sixty years according to their standard (units). He shall install at their head captains of thousands, captains of hundreds, captains of fifties and captains of tens in all their cities. He shall select from among them one thousand by tribe to be with him: twelve thousand warriors who shall not leave him alone to be captured by the nations. All the selected men whom he has selected shall be men of truth, God-fearers, haters of unjust gain and mighty warriors. They shall be with him always, day and night. They shall guard him from anything sinful, and from any foreign nation in order not to be captured by them. The twelve princes of his people shall be with him, and twelve from among the priests, and from among the Levites twelve. They shall sit together with him to (proclaim) judgement and the law so that his heart shall not be lifted above them, and he shall do nothing without them concerning any affair. He shall not marry as wife any daughter of the nations, but shall take a wife for himself from his father's house, from his father's family He shall not take another wife in addition to her, for she alone shall be with him all the time of her life. But if she dies, he may marry another from his father's house, from his family He shall not twist judgement; he shall take no bribe to twist a just judgement and shall not covet a field or a vineyard, any riches or house, or anything desirable in Israel. IHe shall (not) rob LVIII ... When the l<ing liears of any nation or people intent on plundering whatever belongs to Israel, he shall serKi for the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds posted In the cities of Israel. They shall send with him (the captain) one tenth of thie people to go with him (the l<ing) to war against their enemies, and they stiall go with him. But if a large force enters tfie land of Israel, they stiall send with him one fiflh of the warriors. If a king with chariots arxJ horses arxJ a large force (comes), they shall send with him one third of the warriors, and the two (remaining) divisions shall guard their city and their boundaries so that no marauders invade their land. If the war presses him (the king) hard, they shall send to him half of the people, the men of the army, but the (other) half of the people shall not be severed from their cities. If they triumph over their enemies, smash them, put them to the sword and carry away their booty, they shall give the king his tithe of this, the priests one thousandth and the Levites one hundredth from everything. They shall halve the rest between the combatants and their brothers whom they have left in their cities. If he (the king) goes to war against his enemies, one fifth of the people shall go with him, the warriors, all the mighty men of valour. They shall avoid everything unclean, everything shameful, every iniquity and guilt. He shall not go until he has presented himself before the High Priest who shall Inquire on his behalf for a decision by the Urim and Tummim. It is at his word that he shall go and at his word that he shall come, he and all the children of Israel who are with him. He shall not go following his heart's counsel until he (the High Priest) has inquired for a decision by the Urim and Tummim. He shall (then) succeed In all his ways on which he has set out according to the decision which LIX ... and they shall disperse them In many lands and they shall become a h[orror], a byword, a mockery. With a heavy yoke and In extreme want, they shall there serve gods made by human hands, of wood and stone, silver and gold. During this time their cities shall become a devastation, a laughing-stock and a wasteland, and their enemies shall devastate them. They shall sigh In the lands of their enemies and scream because of tfie heavy yoke. They shall cry out but I will not listen; they shall scream but I will not answer them because of their evil doings. I will hide my face from them and they shall become food, plunder and prey None shall save them because of their wickedness, because they have broken my covenant and their soul has loathed my law until they have incurred every guilt. Afterwards they will return to me with all their heart and all their soul, in conformity with all the words of this law, and I will save them from the hand of their enemies and redeem them from the hand of those wfio hate them, and I will bring them to the land of their fathers. I will redeem them, and Increase them and exult over them. I will be their God and they shall be my people. The king wtxjse heart and eyes have gone astray from my commandments shall never have one to sit on the throne of his fathers, for I will cut off his posterity for ever so that it shall no more rule over Israel. But if he walk after my rules and keep my commandments and do that which is correct and good before me, no heir to the throne of the kingdom of Israel shall be cut off from among his sons for ever. I will be with him and will save him from the hand of those who hate him and from the hand of those who seek his life. I will place all his enemies before him and he shaii rule over them according to his pleasure and they shall not rule over him. I will set him on an upward, not on a downward, course, to be the head and not the tail, that the days of his kingdom may be lengthened greatly for him and his sons after him. LX ... and aii their wave-offerings. All their firstling male [bea]sts and all ... of their beasts and aii their holy gifts which they shaii sanctify to me together with all their holy gifts of praise and a proportion of their offering of birds, wild animals and ftsh, one thousandth of their catch, and all that they shall devote, and the proportion of the booty and the plunder. To the Levites shall belong the tithe of the corn, the wine and the oil that they have sanctified to me first; the shoulder from those who slaughter a sacrifice and a proportion of the booty, the plunder and the catch of birds, wild animals and fish, one hundredth; the tithe from the young pigeons and from the honey one fiftieth. To the priests shall belong one hundredth of the young pigeons, for I have chosen them from all your tribes to attend on me and minister (before me) and bless my name, he and his sons always. If a Levite come from any town anywhere in Israel where he sojoums to the place where I will choose to cause my name to abide, (if he come) with an eager soul, he may minister like his brethren ttie Levites who atterxl on me ttiere. He shall have the same share of food with them, besides the inheritance from his father's family. When you enter the land which I give you, do not learn to practise the abominations of those nations. There shall be found among you none who makes his son or daughter pass through fire, nor an augur or a soothsayer, a diviner or a sorcerer, one wtxs casts spells or a medium, or wizards or necromancers. For they are an abomination before me, all wtK> practise such things, and it is because of these abominations that I drive them out before you. You shall be perfect towards YHWH, your God. For these nations that LXI ... to ut[ter a word] in [my] n[ame which I have n]ot comman[ded him to] utter, or wh[o speaks in the name of othjer go[ds], that prophet shall be put to death. If you say in your heart, 'How shall we know the word which YHWH has not uttered?', when the word uttered by the prophet in the name of YHWH is not fulfilled and does not come true, that is not a word that I have uttered. The prophet has spoken arrogantly; do not fear him. A single witness may not come forward against a man in the matter of any iniquity or sin which he has committed. It is on the evidence of two witnesses or three witnesses that a case can be established. If a malicious witness comes forward against a man to testify against him in a case of a crime, both disputants shall stand before me and before the priests and the Levites and before the judges then in office, and the judges shall inquire, and If the witness is a false witness who has testified falsely against his brother, you shall do to him as he proposed to do to his brother. You shall rid yourselves of evil. The rest shall hear of It and shall be awe-stricken and never again shall such a thing be done in your midst. You shall have no mercy on him: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot. When you go to war against your enemies, and you see horses and chariots and an army greater than yours, be not afraid of them, for I am with you who brought you out of the land of Egypt. When you approach the battle, the priest stiall come fonward to speak to ttie amny and say to them, 'Hear, Israel, you approach ... ' ... LXII [and another man shall use Its fruit. IT any man has betrothed a woman but has not yet married her, he shall return] home. Otherwise he may die In the war and another man may take her. [The] of[flcers shall continue] to address the army and say, 'If any man Is afraid and has lost heart, he shall go and return. Otherwise he may render his kinsmen as faint-hearted as himself.' When the judges have finished addressing the army, they shall appoint army captains at the head of the people. When you approach a city to fight it, (first) offer It peace. If it seeks peace and opens (its gates) to you, then all the people found in it shall become your forced labourers and shall serve you. If It does not make peace with you, but is ready to fight a war against you, you shall besiege It and I will deliver it Into your hands. You shall put all its males to the sword, but the women, the children, the beasts and all that Is in the city, all its booty, you may take as spoil for yourselves. You may enjoy the use of the booty of your enemies which I give you. Thus shall you treat the very distant cities, those which are not among the cities of these nations. But In the cities of the peoples which I give you as an inheritance, you shall not leave alive any creature. Indeed you shall utterly exterminate the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hivites, the Jebusites, the Girgashites and the Perizzites as I have commanded you, that they may not teach you to practise all the abominations that they have performed to their gods. LXIII ... [a heifer with which] he has not worked, which [has not drawn the yoke. The elders of] that city [shall bring down] the heifer to a ravine with an ever-flowing stream which has never been sown or cultivated, and there they shall break its neck. The priests, the sons of Levi, shall come forward, for I have chosen them to minister before me and bless my name, and every dispute and every assault shall be decided by their word. All the elders of the city nearest to the body of the murdered man shall wash their hands over the head of the heifer whose neck has been broken in the ravine. They shall declare, 'Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it happen. Accept expiation for thy people Israel whom thou hast redeemed, O YHWH, and do not permit the guilt of innocent blood to rest among thy people, Israel. Let this blood be expiated for them.' You shall rid Israel (of the guilt) of innocent blood, and you shall do that which is correct and good before YHWH, your God. When you go to war against your enemies, and I deliver them into your hands, arxJ you capture some of them, if you see among the captives a pretty woman and desire her, you may take her to be your wife. You shall bring her to your house, you shall shave her head, and cut her nails. You shall discard the clothes of her captivity and she shall dwell in your house, and bewail her father and mother for a full month. Aften/vards you may go to her, consummate the marriage with her and she will be your wife. But she shall not touch whatever is pure for you for seven years, neither shall she eat of the sacrifice of peace-offering until seven years have elapsed. Afterwards she may eat. LXIV ... [the firstfruits of his virility he has the right of the first-born.] If a man has a disobedient and rebellious son who refuses to listen to his father and mother, nor listens to them when they chastise him, his father and mother shall take hold of him and bring him to the elders of his city, to the gate of his place. They shall say to the elders of his town, 'This son of ours is disobedient and rebellious; he does not listen to us; he is a glutton and a drunkard.' All the men of his city shall stone him with stones and he shall die, and you shall rid yourselves of evil. All the children of Israel shall hear of it and be awe-stricken. If a man slanders his people and delivers his people to a foreign nation and does evil to his people, you shall hang him on a tree and he shall die. On the testimony of two witnesses and on the testimony of three witnesses he shall be put to death and they shall hang him on the tree. If a man is guilty of a capital crime and flees (abroad) to the nations, and curses his people, the children of Israel, you shall hang him also on the tree, and he shall die. But his body shall not stay overnight on the tree. Indeed you shall bury him on the same day For he who is hanged on the tree is accursed of God and men. You shall not pollute the ground which I give you to inherit. If you see your kinsman's ox or sheep or donkey straying, do not neglect them; you shall indeed return them to your kinsman. If your kinsman does not live near you, and you do not know who he is, you shall bring the animal to your house and it shall be with you until he claims (it). LXV ... [Wh]en a bird's nest happens to lie before you by tlie roadside, on any tree or on the ground, with fledglings or eggs, and the hen is sitting on the fledglings or the eggs, you sliall not tal<e the hen with the young. You shall surely let the hen escape and take only the young so ttiat it may be weii with you and your days shaii be prolonged. When you buiid a new house, you shall construct a parapet on ttie roof so that you do not bring biood-guiit on your house if anyone should fall from it. When a man takes a wife, has sexual intercourse with her and takes a dislike to her, and brings a baseless charge against her, ruining her reputation, and says, 'i have taken ttiis woman, approached her, and did not find the proof of virginity in her', the father or ttie mottier of the giri shall take the girl's proof of virginity and bring it to ttie elders at the gate. The girl's father shaii say to the eiders, 'i gave my daughter to be this man's wife; he has taken a dislike to her and has brought a baseless charge against her saying, "I have not found the proof of virginity in your daughter." Here is the proof of my daughter's virginity' They shaii spread out the garment before the eiders of that city The eiders of that city shaii take that man and chastise him. They shaii fine him one hundred pieces of silver which they shall give to the father of the giri, because he (the husband) has tried to ruin the reputation of an Israelite virgin. He shall not LXVI ... [When a virgin betrothed to a man is found by another man In the city and he lies with her, they shaii bring both of them to the gate] of that city and stone them with stones and they shaii be put to death: the giri because she has not shouted (for help, although she was) In the city and the man because he has dishonoured his neighbour's wife. You shaii rid yourselves of evil. If the man has found the woman in the fields In a distant place hidden from the city and raped her, only he who has lain with her shall be put to death. To the giri they shall do nothing since she has committed no crime worthy of death. For this affair is like that of a man who attacks his neighbour and murders him. For it was in the fields that he found her and the betrothed giri shouted (for help), but none came to her rescue. When a man seduces a virgin who is not betrothed, but is suitable to him according to the rule, and lies with her, and he is found out, he who has lain with her shall give the girl's father fifty pieces of silver and she shall be his wife. Because he has dishonoured her, he may tx>t divorce her all his days. A man shall not take his father's wife and shall not lift his father's skirt. A man shall not take the wife of his brother and shall not lift the skirt of his brother, the son of his fether or the son of his mother, for this is unclean. A man shall not take his sister, the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother, for this Is abominable. A man shall not take his father's sister or his mother's sister, for this Is Immoral. A man shall not take the daughter of his brother or the daughter of his sister for this is abominable. (A man) shall rK>t take LXVII ... MMT (Miqsat Ma'ase Ha- Torah) - Some Observances of the Law (4Q394-9) Mutilated fragments of six Cave 4 manuscripts have acquired international notoriety on account of a lawsuit filed before the Jerusalem district court which found that one of the official editors of this text, Elisha Qimron, owned the copyright of the MMT text as reconstructed by him. Hershel Shanks, of the Biblical Archaeology Society of Washington, was held responsible for breaching this copyright and ordered to pay $43,000 damages. However, an appeal having been lodged with the Israeli Supreme Court, the matter is still subjudice. When the contents of the six copies are assembled into a single account, they amount to 120 lines mostly of a fragmentary nature. The document begins with a sectarian calendar (section A), which may or may not pertain to the original MMT; it continues with a series of special rules (section B), and ends with an exhortation (section C). MMT has been called an epistie, but since it lacks the introductory and concluding formulae of a letter, it is more likely to be a kind of legal tractate. It is addressed to a single leading personality who is compared to King David. The dramatis personae consist of a 'we' party, a 'you' party, and a 'they party. The group responsible for MMT, who refer to themselves as 'we', seek to detach the leader of the 'you' party from the erroneous views propounded by the 'they party. The editors claim that MMT was written by the Teacher of Righteousness and sent to the Wicked Priest; ttiat the views of the 'we' party are akin to those of the Sadducees; and that the 'they party are the Pharisees. IHowever, these are no more than hypotheses. In particular, the identification of the author with the Teacher of Righteousness is less likely than that of the leader of ttie 'you' group with the man who was to become the Wicked Priest, probabiy Jonathan Maccabaeus. It has also been advanced that the original nucleus of the Qumran Community, responsible for MMT, consisted of eariy or proto- Sadducees. However, one should bear In mind that the priests in this writing are never called sons of Zadol< or Sadducees, but are referred to as sons of Aaron (of 4QS'' (=4Q256) and 405^^ (4Q258) above, p. 118). The alleged Sadducee connection relies on three legal rules, out of a list of more than twenty, In MMT which represent opinions identical with the halakhah attributed in rabbinic literature to the Sadducees, and contrasted with the stance taken by the Pharisees (cf mParah 5:4 and MMT B 13-17; mYad 4:7; mToh 8:9 and MMT B 55-8; mYad 4:6 and MMT B 72-4). The chief topics of controversy are (I) the calendar (if it is an integral part of the document); (2) ritual purity (acceptability of Gentile offerings, law on slaughter, the 'red heifer' ritual, exclusion of the blind and the deaf law relating to lepers, purity of running liquids, fourth-year fruit and tithe of cattle, ban on dogs in Jerusalem, the law regulating contact with dead bodies); (3) marriage and intermarriage rules, and (4) decrees regulating entry into the congregation. MMT is particulariy important as a source of ancient legal debate. It is unique among the Dead Sea Scrolls and foreshadows the halakhic process developed and practised by later rabbis. Instead of presenting a composite text, the translation will reflect actual manuscripts and follow their line numbering. If there are overlapping fragments, gaps In the main manuscript will be filled from the parallel text and the borrowing will appear between {}. However, to assist the reader who desires to consult the Qimron-Strugnell edition, the line numbers of their composite text are given in brackets. Unlike the editors, I have been economical with purely conjectural restorations of the many gaps. Obscurities in the translation therefore faithfully reflect the real status of the Hebrew original. For the editio princeps, see E. Qimron and J. Strugnell, Qumran Cave 4, V(DJD, X, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1994). 1 . MMT A = A SECTARIAN CALENDAR (4Q3941-2) (The fragmentary calendar is presented in five parallel columns which originally covered eighteen lines. Hence the end of the calendar at the top of 4Q394 3-7 i is listed as lines 19 to 21 by Qimron-Strugnell. Whether this calendar is part of the original MMT or is merely copied on the same scroll is uncertain.) I [On the sixteenth of it (of the second month); sabbath.] On the twenty-third of it: sabbath. [On] the thir[tie]th [of it: sabbath. On the seventh of the third month: sabbath. On the fourteenth of it: sabbath. On the fifteenth of it: Feast of Weeks. On the twenty-] II [f|irs[t] of it: sabbath. [On] the twenty-eighth of it: sabbath. The first of the sabbath (=Sunday), and the secon[d da]y (=Monday) [and the third are to be added. And the season is complete: ninety-one days. The first of the fourth month: Memorial day. On the fourth] III of it: [sabbath.] On the eleventh] of it: sabbath. On the eighteenth of it: sabbath. On the twenty-fifth of it: sabbath. On the second of the fifl[h] (month): [sa]bb[ath. On the third of it: Feast of Wine, first of sabbath (Sunday).] IV [On the ninth of it: sabbath.] On the sixteenth of it: sabbath. On the twenty-third of it: sabbath. [On the th]irtieth [of it: sabbath. On the seventh of the sixth (month): sabbath. On the fourteenth of it: sabbath. On the twenty-first] V of it: sabbatli. On the twenty-second of it: Feast of Oil, fir[st of sabjbath (Sunday). Af[ten/vards]: offering of Wood]. 403943-71 i (19) [The (twenty)-eighth of it (of the twelfth month)]: sabbath. The first [of the] s[abbath (=Sunday) and the second day (=Monday) and the third are to be ad]ded to it. (20) And the year Is complete: three-hundred and si[xty-four] (21) days, vacat 2. MMT B = SPECIAL RULES (4Q394 3-7 i conflated with 4Q395) (I) These are some of our teachings [ ] which are [ (2) the] works which w[e think and a]il of them concern [] (3) and the purity of... [And concerning the offering of the wh]eat of the [Gentiles which they ...](4) and they touch It ... and de[fiie it ... One should not accept anything] (5) from the wtieat [of the Gen]tiies [and none of It is] to enter the Sanctuary. [And concerning] {the sacrifice} (4Q395) ... (6) which they cook in a vessel ... {in it} (4Q395) (7) the meat of their sacrifices and that they ... in the courtyar[d ...] {it} (4Q395) (8) with the broth of their sacrifice. And concerning the sacrifice of the Gentiles ... [we consider that] they {sacrifice} (4Q395) (9) to [an idol and] that is [like] a woman fornicating with him. ... (the sacrifice} (4Q395) (10) of peace-off[erings] which they postpone from one day to the next. But [it is written (cf Lev. 7:15)] (II) that the meai-offe[ring] (is eaten} (4Q395) with the fat and the meat on the day of [their] being sacrifi[ced. For the sons] (12) of the priest[s] {are to take care of this matter} (4Q395) so as not to (13) burden the people with sin. {And concerning the purity of the heifer of the sin-offering) (4Q395), (14) he who slaughters it and he who burns it and he who collects {its ashes and he who sprinkles the} (4Q395) [water] (15) of purification - all these {are to be pure} (4Q395) at sunset (16) so that the pure shall sprinkle the impure. For the sons (4Q394 3-7 ii conflated with 4Q395) (17) {of Aaron are to be} (4Q395) ... And furthermore (18) [conceming the sk]ins of the cattle [and the sheep ... from] (19) their [skin]s vessel[s ... [they are not to (20) bring] them to the Sanctuary ... (4Q397 1-2 conflated with 4Q398 1-3) (21) ... And furthermore concerning the skin[s and bones of unclean animals, they shall not make from their bones] and from their s[k]i(ns] (22) handles of v[essels and] ... And furthermore [concerning the sjkin of the carcass (23) of a clean [animal], he who carries their carcass shall not touch the [sacred] purity. (24) And concerning ... (25) ... (4Q394 3-7 ii conflated with 4Q397 3) [the sons of] (26) the pri[es]ts are to [be care]f[ul] regarding {all these matters} (4Q397 3) so as not (27) to burden the people with sin. [And concerning that which is written, [If a man slaughters in the camp or (28) slaughters] outside the camp an ox or a lamb or a goat (Lev. 7:13) for ... {on the northern side of the camp} (4Q397 3). (29) And we consider the Sanctuary [as the tent of meeting and Je]rusale[m] as (30) the {camp and out[side] the] (4Q397 3) camp [i.e. outside Jerusalem], that is the camp (31) of their towns. Outside the camp ... they bring out the ashes [(32) of the] aitar and they burn ... For Jerusalem] is the piace which (33) [He has chosen] {from aii the tri[bes of Israel]} (4Q397 3) ... (4Q396 1-2 i conflated with 4Q394 8 iii and 4Q397 5) (35) ... they [do no]t slaughter in the Sanctuary. (36) [And concerning pregnant animals] {we consider} (4Q397 5) [that one should not sacrifice] the mother and the unborn young on the same day. (37) [And concerning eating, w]e consider that the unborn young (38) may be eaten ... (provided it has been slaughtered) ... [this is] so and the saying is written concerning a pregnant animal, vacat (39) [And concerning the Ammon]{ite and the Moabite} (4Q394 8 iii) and the {bastard} (4Q397 5) [and the man whose testicles] have been crushed [and one] whose penis [has been cut off] who enter (40) the congregation, [... and] they [ta]ke [wives so as to be] {one} (4Q397 5) bone (with them) ... (41)... (4Q394 8 iii conflated witli 4Q396 1-2 i-ii and 4Q397 5) (42) {impurities. And furthermore we consider} (4Q397 5) (43) [that they should not ... and should not have intercour]se with them. (44) [... and tfiey should] {not unite with them} (4Q397 5) so as to make them (45) [into one bone (46) ... that some of the people ... (47) ... (48) {from all} (4Q397 5) (sexual) mingling (49) ... {and to be fearful of the Sanctuary} (4Q396 1- 211). (4Q396 1-2 11) [And furthermore concerning] {the blind} (4Q394 8 iv) (50) who do not see how to beware of all minglpngs] (4Q394 8 iv conflated with 4Q396 1-2 ii and 4Q397 6-13) (51) and do not see the minglings which entail guilt (offering). (52) And furthermore concerning the deaf wfo have not heard the decrees and judgements and purity (rules) and have not (53) heard the judgements of Israel - for he who has not seen and has not heard (them) does not (54) know how to practise (them); yet ttiey come to the pure food of the Sanctuary, vacat (55) And furtfiermore conceming the pouring (of liquids), we say ttiat it contains no (56) purity. And furtfiermore the pouring does not separate ttie impure (57) {from the pure} (4Q397 6-13) for the poured liquid and that in the receptacle are alike, (58) one liquid. And {dogs} (4Q397 6-13) are not to be brought to the sacred camp for (59) they may eat some of the bones from the Sanctua[ry] to which meat is still attached. For (60) Jerusalem is {the sacred camp} (4Q397 6-13) and is the place (4Q396 1-2 iii conflated with 4Q394 8 iv and 4Q397 6-13) (61) which He has chosen from all the tribes of Israel, for Jerusalem is the head (62) of the camps of Israel. And furthermore con[ceming the pljanting of fruit trees planted (63) in the land of Israel, they are like {firstfruits} (4Q397 6-13) destined for the {priests} (4Q397 6-13)- {And the tithe} (4Q394 8 iv) of the cattle (64) and sheep is for the priests. And furthermore concerning the lepers, we (65) s[ay that they shall not cjome (into contact) with the sacred pure food for {they shall be} (4Q397 6-1 3) separated (66) ... Furthermore it is written tliat from the time he (the leper) has shaved and washed, he shall stay outside (67) ... [for seven] days. ArxJ now whiie their Impurity Is with them ... [they shall not (68) come Into contact w]ith the sacred pure food of the house. And you l<now (69) ... and It is conceaied from him, he is to bring (70) {a sin-offering) (4Q397 6-1 3). [And concerning the person who does anything with a high hand it is wriflten that he is one who despises and reviles (God) (cf. Num. xv, 30- 31). (71) ... {impurities of leprosy} (4Q397 6-13), they are not to eat from the holy things (4Q396 1-2 iv conflated with 4Q397 6-13) (72) until the sun has set on the eighth day. And concerning [the impurities] (73) {of a man, we say that every} (4Q397 6-13) bone to which (74) flesh is or [is not] attached is to be treated according to the law of the dead or slain, vacat (75) And concerning fornication practised byttie people, ttiey should be s[ons of] holiness, (76) as it is written, {Israel} (4Q397 6-13) is holy (Jer. ii, 3). And concerning [his clea]n ani[mal], (77) It Is written that It shall not be mated with a different kind. And conceming [his clothes], it Is written Uiat they shall [not (78) be of mixed] material. And he shall not sow his field arx) vlne[yard with two kind]s. (79) For they are holy and the sons of Aaron are most h[oly]. (80) And you know that some of the priests and [the people mingle] (81) [and they] unite and defile the [holy] seed and also (82) their [seed] with whores f[or] ... (40397 14-21) (4) And conceming ttie wome[n ... vlolen]ce and betrayal ... (5) For in these ... [on account ofj the violence arxJ fornication they perish[ed ... ] (6) places. [And furthermore] it is written [in tine Bool< of Moses that] You shall not bring an abominable thing in[to your house (cf. Deut. vii, 26) for] (7) an abominabie thing is detestabie. 3. MMT C = THE EXHORTATION (4Q397 14-21 1 followed by 4Q398) [And you l<now that] we have separated from the mass of the peo[pie] ... (8) and from mingling with them in these matters and from being in contact with them in these (matters). And you k[now that no] treachery or lie or evil (9) is found in our hands for we give for [these] th[e ... And furthermore] (10) we [have written] to you (sing.) that you should understand {the Book of Moses} (4Q398 14-17 1) and the Book[s of the Pr]ophets and Davi[d arxJ all (11) the events] of every age. And in {the Book is written} (40398 14-17 1) ... not [for] (12) you {and the days ofold} (40398 14-171). And furthermore it is written that [you will depari:] from ttie w[a]y and that evil will befall you (cf. Deut. xxxi, 29). {And it is written} (40398 14- 171), (4Q398 14-17 1) (13) And it (14) [shall come to pas]sv\hen all these {things} (4.Q39714-21) [/)e]/a// you in the en[d] of days, the blessing (15) and the curse, [then you wll call them to mind] and retu[rn to Him wth a]ll your heart (16) and ail your soul (Deut. xxx, 1-2) at the end of days. (17) [And it is written in the Book] of Moses and in the Boo[ks of the Prophet]s that there shall come ... (18) [and the blessings came] (4Q398 11-13) in the days of Solomon the son of David. And the curses (19) came from in the days of Jeroboam the son of Nebat(20) untii Jerusalem and Zedekiah king of Judah were exiled that He will b[rin]g them to ... And we recognize that some of the blessings and curses which are (21 ) written in the B[ook of Mo]ses have come. And this is at the end of days when they will come back to Israel (22) for [ever] ... and shall not turn back-war [ds]. And the wicked shall act (23) wickedly and ... Remember the kings of Israel and understand their works that each of them who (24) feared [the To]rah was saved from troubles, and to those who were seekers of the Law, (25) their iniquities (4Q398 14-17 ii conflated with 4Q399) were [par]doned. Remember David, that he was a man of piety, and that (26) he was also saved from many troubles and pardoned. We have also written to you (sing.) concerning (27) some of the observances of the Law {miqsat ma'ase ha-Torab), which we think are beneficial to you and your people. For [we have noticed] that (28) prudence and knowledge of the Law are with you. Understand all these (matters) and ask Him to straighten (29) your counsel and put you far away from thoughts of evil and the counsel of Belial. (30) Consequently you will rejoice at the end of time when you discover that some of our sayings are true. (31) And it will be reckoned for you as righteousness when you perform what is right and good before Him, for your own good (32) and for that of Israel, vacat The Wicked and the Holy (4Q181) The first fragment of a document from Cave 4(4Q181), which its editor has left untitled, describes in a manner similar to Community Rule IV the respective destinies of the damned and the chosen. See J. M. Allegro and A. A. Anderson, DJD,V, 79-80; cf. J. Strugnell, RQ 7 (1970), 254-5; J. T. Mi Ilk, JJS 23 (1972), 114-18. ... for guilt with the congregation of his people, for it has wallowed in the sin of the sons of men; (and it was appointed)for great judgements and evil diseases in the flesh according to the mighty deeds of God and in accordance with their wickedness. In conformity with their congregation of uncleanness, (they are to be separated) as a community of wickedness until (wickedness) ends. In accordance with the mercies of God, according to His goodness and wonderful glory. He caused some of the sons of the world to draw near (Him) ... to be counted with Him in the com[munity of the 'g]ods' as a congregation of holiness in service for eternal life and (sharing) the lot of His holy ones ... each man according to his lot which He has cast for ... for eternal life ... 4QHalakhah A (4Q251) Twenty-six severely damaged fragments, palaeograptiically dated to the late first century BCE, represent extracts from the Pentateuch with textual variations and exegetical paraphrases. The main topics are the Sabbath, compensation for injuries, firstfruits, the priest's wife, forbidden marital unions, etc. For the editio phnceps, see E. Larson, M. R. Lehman and L. Schiffman, DJD, XXXV, 25-51 . Frs. 1-2 ... and to draw water from a cistern ... the drawing ... [No] man shall take anything from his place on the Sabbath, [from outside the house into it] or from the house outsi[de] ... for him to interpret and read in the Book on the [Sabba]th ... Frs. 4-7 i ... [Wh]en m[en] quarrel [and one stri]kes [his fellow with a stone or with his fist and the man does not] di[e but keeps] his [be]d, [then if the man rises again] and w[alks outside, tie who injur]ed him is not guilty. Only [he shall pay for the loss of his time] and for his medical [treatment]. vacat [When a man strikes his slave, male or female] with a rod ... (cf. Exod. 21:1 8-20). Fr. 8 [When a man strikes his slave, male or female,] in the eye [and destroys it, or if he knocks out the tooth of his slave, male or female, he shall free] him. He shall pay for the lo[ss of his time and for his medica]l treatment [for the sake of his eye or his tooth (cf. Exod. 21:26 combined with 21:19). When an ox gores a man or] a woman, the ox shall be killed and they will stone it [and its flesh shall not be eaten. But the owner of the ox will be not guilty. But if the ox has been accustomed to gore] in the past, and its owner has been warned but has not kept it in, and it has killed [a ma]n or a woman, [the ox shall be stoned and its owner also shall be put to death. If a ransom is laid upon him, then the man shall give ... (cf Exod. 21 :28-30). Fr. 9 [Let no man eat wheat, wljne or oil unless [the priest has waved] their best, the firstfruit of the produce. No man shall delay, for [wine] is the firstfruit of the produce, [and] the wheat. The juice ... (cf Exod. 22:28). The firstfrults are the leavened loaves which they bring [on the d]ay of the [firstfrults.] These are firstfrults: let no man eat new wheat ... until the day of the bread of the firstfrults has come ... Fr. 16 ... When a woman is given to a priest, stie [may eat] the food of her husband. [... One acquired by him for money and one born into his house, they] may eat his food. But a whore [and a profaned woman may not eat the consecrated food. And] every unfaithful deed which [a man] shall commit ... to eat, for It Is an abomination ... owner who is without redeemer ... Fr. 17 On cases of incest ... No man shaii tal<e the w[ife of his father so as to uncover the sl<irt of his father. No man shaii tal<e] the daughter of his brother or the daughter of [his] si[ster]. No man shaii uncover the nai<edness of the sister of [his] mo[ther or of his father This is wicl<edness. A woman shaii not be given to the brother of] her father or to the brother of her mother ... A man shaii rrat uncover the nal<edness of ... A man shaii not give his daughter ... 4QHalakhah B (4Q264a) Three fragments of a legal documerrt, the first of which partly overlaps with various sections of 4Q421, deal with Sabbath regulations. For the editio princeps, see J. M. Baumgarten, DJD, XXXV, 53-6. Fr. li I ... [No man shall revise the scro]!! of a book reading Its script on the day of [Sabbath] ... But they may read and study it. No man shall make plans with his mouth ... [on the day of Sabbath. He shall not taik] about any matter relating to work or wealth or ... on the day of Sabbath. He shall sp[eak no wojrd apart from speaking holy words as prescribed and from pronouncing blessings of God. He may talk about eating and drinkpng] ... 4QTohorot (Purities) A (4Q274) This is tlie first of ten Cave 4 manuscripts dealing witli purity matters. Ttie text translated represents column I of the document and the first word of column II. 4Q274 deals with uncleanness caused by bodily fluxes and issues of blood and with the means of its removal. Parts of fr 3 are concerned with the uncleanness associated with the juice oozing out of fruit. For the editio princeps, see J. IVI. Baumgarten, DJD, XXXV, 99- 109. Fr. li I ... [Let him not] begin to cast his lot. He shall lie on a bed of sorrow and sit in a seat of sighs. He shall dwell in isolation with all the unclean, and away from (food) purity at a distance of twelve cubits in the wing (assigned) to him (?) on the north-west of every dwelling-house according to this measure. Every man from among the unclean ... he shall bathe in water [on the seven]th d[ay] and wash his clothes, and afterwards he may eat. For this is what he said , He shall cry, Unclean, unclean (Lev. xiii, 45), as long as [the pla]gue af[fects him]. A woman with a seven-day issue of blood shall not touch a man with a flux, nor any vessel touched by a man who has a flux, nor anything he has lain or sat on. But if she has touched (them), she shall wash her garments and bathe, and afterwards she may eat. Above all, she shall not mingle (with the pure) [during] her seven days so that she may not pollute the c[amp]s of the Ho[ly] of Israel. Neither shall she touch any woman with a long-term issue of blood. And the person, either male or female, who counts (the seven days: cf. Lev. xv, 13) shall not touch the menstruant during her uncleanness. Only when she has purified herself [from] her [un]cleanness (may she be touched), for the blood of the menstruant Is reckoned as a flux for anyone who touches It. And If he has touched [bodily] f[luxor s]emen, h[e shall] be unclean. [And he who has toujched a man from among all these unclean persons during the seven days of [his] cleanspng] he shall [n]ot eat. If he has become unclean because of a corp[se, he shall bathe In wat]er, wash (his garments) and afterwards II he may e[at]. Fr. 2 i ... when they sprinkle on him for the first time. He shall bathe and wash (his clothes) before [he eats. If it oc]curs for him on the seventh (day) on the Sabbath day, he shall not sprinkle on the Sabbath, for [He says: Keep] the Sabbath (Deut. v, 12). But he shall not touch anything pure until he has repeated it. All that touches semen be it a man or any vessel shall be immersed. And the bearer of it [shall immer]se. And the garment on which it (the semen) is and the vessel which carries it shall be immersed [in wate]r If there is a man in the camp who is unable to do this (lacks a spare garment), he shall bath[e and put on an]y garment which has not been touched by it (the semen) as long as it does not touch his bread (food). He who touches [his bed or] his [sea]t, if [his] gar[ment] has not touched it (the semen), [he shall bathe] in water But if [his garment has touched it (the bed or the seat)], he shall wash it (tfie garment). A man shall wash (his garment) with water for (eating) all consecrated food ... 4Q274 3 i-ii I ... God uncovers the pupil of his eye, he shall read ... all their precepts ... for he wfK) eats ... arxJ he is unclean ... [ifj (the fruit's) juice [has not oozed out, he shall eat It in purity, but all those] which have been squeezed so that their juice has oozed out, no man should eat them [if] an unclean man [has to]uchied them. [And aOso from the greens ... or ripe cucumber. Whoever has ... II ... and any (vessel) w/hich has a seal ... [shaii be unclean] for a cleaner man. Any green [that has no] moisture of dew/ [on it] may be eaten. And if It is n[ot eaten, let him put it] Into the midst of the water For if a man [w/ere to put it on] the ground, and [water] reached it when the rain [descended] on it. If an [unclean man] touches it, [let him not eat it] in the field by any means until the period [of his purification] ... Any earthen vessel which ... which is in its midst ... the liquid ... 4QTohorot B^-B' (40276-7) These two fragments deal with the biblical law of the 'red heifer', the ashes of which were used for the preparation of the 'water for (the removal of) uncleanness' necessary for the cleansing of impurity resulting from contact with a dead body Relevant extracts from Num. xix are freely quoted. The subject is treated also in MMT B 1 3 (4Q394 frs. 3-7 i, 1 6-20). The script dates to the late first century BCE. For Vneeditio princeps, see J. M. Baumgarten, DJD, XXXV, 111- 19. 4Q276 [And the priest wears the garments] in which he is not ministering in the Sanctuary ... renders the garments guilty And he slaughtered [the] heifer before Him. He shall carry her blood in a clay vessel which is [not broughjt near tlie altar. ArKi with his finger lie shall sprinlde some of her blood seven [times towajrds the front of the tent of meeting. And he shall cast the cedanwood, [the hyssop and the scarlet ma]terial in the midst of her burning. [And he who bums (it)], a man who is clean of every corpse uncleanness, [shall wash his clothes and gather] up the ashes of the heifer [and shall de]posit them to be kept [by the children of Israel for the water for uncleanness, for the removal of sin. And] the priest shall put on ... 4Q277 The priest shall take the hyssop and ... The man cleansed from uncleanness (lasting until) the evening [shall gather the ashes of the heifer and give them to] the priest who atones with the blood of the heifer ... with [whi]ch they atone with the law of the [red heifer] ... in water [and he shall be un]clean until the evening. And he who carries the cauldron of the water for uncleanness shall be uncl[ean and shall wash himself In water and wash (his clothes)]. And [the] man [shall sprinkle] the water for uncleanness on those defiled by uncleanness, for a pure priest ... on them, fo[r he shall] atone for the unclean. No wanton man shall sprinkle on the unclean ... the water for uncleanness and he shall bring him to the water and shall purify him from corpse uncleanness.... [The pri]est shall scatter on them the water for uncleanness to purify [them] ... for they will indeed be purified and their flesh shall be p[ure] and anyone who touches [him] ... his flux ... and [his] h[ands] are not drenched in water His [b]ed and [his] dwelli[ng] shall be unclean ... they who touch his flux are like one who has touched the uncleanness of one who has touched (a corpse); [he will be unc]lean until the evening. And he who carries his [cOothes shall wash and shall be unclean until the evening. 4Q Harvesting (4Q284a) Four fragments of a document have survived in a late Hasmonaean — early Herodian script (mid-first century BCE). They deal with matters of uncleanness affecting fruits. Only fr 1 is translatable. The phrase 'liquids of the Congregation' links this fragment to IQS VI, 20, VII, 20. For the editio princeps, see J. M. Baumgarten, DJD, XXXV, 1 31 -3. Fr. 1 ... bask[et ... And let him no]t gather them ... may not touch the liquids of the Congregation, for these [render unclean the] basket and the figs [and the pomegranates, if] their ju[ice] oozes out wh[en he squeejzes them all and [a man] who has not been brou[ght into the C]ovenant has gathered them. And if they press [olives in the olive press], let him not pollute them in a[ny manjner by opening them until he pours [them into the press].... in purity... The Master's Exhortation to the Sons of Dawn (40298) Eight fragments of a manuscript which, apart from its title, is written in a cryptic alphabet, contain an exhortation to a group, designated as 'sons of dawn' by the 'iVIaster' (maskil), the title of the teacher in charge of instruction in the Community (cf Community Rule). The phrase, 'sons of dawn' {bene ha-shahar) is possibly attested in the Damascus Document XIII, 14 (cf M. Broshi, The Damascus Document Reconsidered, Jerusalem, 1992, [35]: 'No member of the Covenant shall have any dealings with the sons of dawn except for payment'). The earlier reading was 'sons of the Pit' {bene ha-shahat). S. Pfann suggests that 'the sons of dawn' (not yet 'sons of light') are newcomers to the sect at the earliest stages of their initiation. The exhortation recalls the opening pages of the Damascus Document. The square script of the title is said to belong to the second half of the first century BCE. Parts of frs. 1-2 and 3-4 are large enough to be translated. For the editio princeps, see Stephen Pfann and IVI. Kister, DJD, XX, 1-30. 4Q298, frs. 1-2 i [Wor]d of the IVIaster which he spoke to all the sons of Dawn. Liste[n to me a]ll men of heart (=intelligence) and understand my word. [And seekejrs of righteousness, h[ea]r my word in all that proceeds from [my] lips. Those who [k]now have sear[ch]ed [th]ese (matters) and [have] returned [to the path] of life ... Frs- 3-4 ii ... And now listen, [O wise men], and hear, O you with knowledge, hear. And men of understanding, ln[crease mighjt, and modesty, you who search judgement. [You who] kn[ow the way], increase strength, and men of truth, pursu[e righteousness], and you who love kindness, increase humility ... appointed time which ... you will understand the end of the ages and you will gaze at ancient things to know ... 4Q Men Who Err (40306) Three small fragments allude to a group unfaithful to the Covenant (of Israel). The allusion to dogs recalls 4QMMT B 58-9. For the editio princeps, see T. LIm, DJD, XXXVI, 249-54. Fr. 1 The outcasts (?) who stray and do not practise [the precept], for they transgress it [from day] to day from month to mon[th], all that is (in) the Covenant of l[srael].... its flesh and they spit ... and he will be angry. And the dogs will eat [the bones (coming) from the Temple]. He shall exclude the d[og]s from the (Temple) court ... Register of Rebukes (4Q477) Fragments of two columns of a document contain a list of Community members rebuked for offences against the rules. This Is the only scroll fragment which reveals the names of individual members: Yohanan son of Ar[ ], Hananlah Notos and Hananiah son of Slm[on]. According to the editor, Esther Eshel, the rebukes listed here were read out In public by the mebaqqer (or Guardian), hence the title given by her, The Rebukes Reported by the Overseer. To be more precise. It Is likely that the rebukes originated with witnesses of the offence. They reported It to the Guardian who was to record the infringement (cf. CD IX, 2-4; 1 6-20). The epithet Notos attached to the name of Hananlah probably means 'Southerner' In line with a parallel Masada Inscription (no. 462: Shim'on bar Notos) according to Y Yadin and J. Naveh, Masada I (Jerusalem, 1989), 40. D. Flusser, as quoted by Eshel, associates Notos with the Greek nothos (bastard). In col. II, 1 . 8, Eshel, following M. BroshI, reads shyr(=sh'r) bsrw(\.e. near kin); R. Elsenman and M. Wise have shpk bsrw (emission of his body) and J. M. Baumgarten {JJS 45 (1994), 277) swi tefw(the carnal foundation of man). Frs. 1 , 2 i and 3: the text Is too fragmentary for translation. Note the significant phrases '[to] recall their transgression', 'men of the [Community?]', 'to rebuke' and ['c]amps of the Congregation' and 'they rebuked'. For the editio princeps, see E. Eshel, DJD, XXXVI, 474-83. Fr. 2 II ... who ... [wh]o acted wickedly ... the Congregation ... Yohanan son of Ar ... [they rebuked because] he was short-tempered ... with him ... the iniquity with him and also the spirit of pride was with [him] ... vacat They rebuked Hananlah Notes because he ... [to dis]turb the spirit of the Communi[ty ... and] also to mingle the ... they rebu[k]ed because evil ... was with him and also because he was not ... and also because he loved his bodily nature (or: showed preference to his near kin) ... [blank] And [they rebuked] Hananlah son of Sim[on] [because he] ... and he also loves the goodness ... Remonstrances (before Conversion?) (40471^) This small fragment, written in Herodian script, contains reproofs addressed in the second person plural to a group of wicked Jews. The context is that of a war. It is unlikely to belong to the War Scroll or the Book of War as neither of these includes speeches to outsiders. According to a conjecture proposed by the editors, the opponents of the sect thus criticized are the ruling class of Judaea (Hasmonaeans and perhaps also Sadducees), but nothing In the surviving text positively supports their cautiously presented surmise. However, the second half of the fragment can be Interpreted In a positive sense, in which case the scene may be a last-minute mass conversion of unfaithful Jews before the final battle. For the editio princeps, see Esther Eshel and Menahem Kister, DJD, XXXVI, 446-9. ... time(?) you have commanded not to ... You have been unfaithful to His covenant ... [You] said: Let us fight His wars for He has redeemed us ... Your [mighty men] shall be humbled. And they did not know that He has despised ... you shall show yourselves mighty in war. And you have been reckoned ... by His measuring line(?). You shall seek righteous judgement and the work ... you shall exalt yourselves. And He has chosen t[hem] ... for a cry ... And you will return ... sweet B. Hymns and Poems 'Thanksgiving Scroll', The Shrine of the Book, Israel Museum, Jerusalem The Thanksgiving hlymns (IQH, IQ36, 40427-32) The Hymns Scroll was published by E. L. Sukenik in 1954-5 (The Dead Sea Scrolls of the Hebrew University, Jerusalem). It has suffered a good deal of deterioration and the translator has difficulty, not only in making sense of the poems, but also in determining where one ends and another begins. For a method of restoration of the Hymns, see E. Puech, 'Quelques aspects de la restauration du Rouleau des Hymnes', JJS 39 (1988), 38-55. He has convincingly argued that apart from some fragments, the first three columns of the original Hymns Scroll are lost. The missing beginning should be followed by the existing columns in the following order: XVII (sheet 1), XIII-XVI (sheet 2), l-IV (sheet 3), V-VIII (sheet 4) and IX-XII of the editio princeps. Four further columns (XXI-XXIV) may be reconstructed with the help of the former col. XVIII and various fragments published by Sukenik. Puech tentatively suggests also two further columns (XXV- XXVI) made up from other fragments. Our presentation of the Hymns Is now rearranged according to Puech's thesis and his reconstruction of the poem In col. VI (formerly XIV) is also adopted (cf art. cit., 53-4). No translation Is offered for the extremely fragmentary cols. XXIV-XXVI, though it should be noted that col. XXV includes the beginning of a new poem, 'For the Master A s[ong (?)]' from IQH, fr 8. Further fragments, occasionally used to improve the reading of IQH, may be found at IQ35 (cf also IQ36 and 37-40; see DJD, I, 136-43) and 40427-32; for the latter, see Eileen Schuller, DJD, XXIX, 69-232. The poems contained In the Scroll are similar to the biblical Psalms. They are mostly hymns of thanksgiving, individual prayers as opposed to those intended for communal worship, expressing a rich variety of spiritual and doctrinal detail. But the two fundamental themes running through the whole collection are those of salvation and krowledge. The sectary thanks God continually for having been saved from the 'lot' of the wicked, arKi for his gift of insight into the divine mysteries. He, a 'creature of clay, has been singled out by his Maker to receive favours of which he feels himself unworthy and he alludes again and again to his frailty and total dependence on God. Whereas some of the Hymns give expression to thoughts and sentiments common to all the members of the sect, others, particularly nos. 1,2, and 7-11 , appear to refer to the experiences of a teactier abandoned by his friends and persecuted by his enemies. Several scholars tend to ascribe the authorship of these to the Teacher of Righteousness, and even consider that he may be responsible for all the Hymns. But although this hypothesis is not impossible, no sure conclusion can yet be reached. Nor are we in a position to date any particular composition. The most we can say is that the collection as such probably attained its final shape during the last pre-Christian century. Philo's account of the banquet celebrated by the contemplative Essenes, or Therapeutae, on the Feast of Pentecost may indicate the use to which the Hymns were put. He reports that when the President of the meeting had ended his commentary on the Scriptures, he rose and chanted a hymn, either one of his own making or an old one, and after him each of his brethren did likewise {The Contemplative Life, § 80). Similarly it is probable that the psalms of this Scroll were recited by the Guardian and newly initiated members at the Feast of the Renewal of the Covenant. Hymn 4 (formeriy 21 ) expressly refers to the oath of the Covenant, and Hymn 5 (formerly 22) appears to be a poetic commentary on the liturgy marking the entry into the Community Indeed, the relative poverty of principal themes may be due to the fact that all this poetry was intended for a special occasion and its inspirational scope was thereby limited. Cols. I-III are missing. IV (formerly XVII).. Hymn I (formerly 23) As Thou hast said by the hand of Moses, Thou forgivest transgression, iniquity, and sin, and pardonest rebellion and unfaithfulness. For the bases of the mountains shall melt and fire shall consume the deep places of Hell, but Thou wilt deliver all those that are corrected by Thy judgements, that they may serve Thee faithfully and that their seed may be before Thee for ever. Thou wilt keep Thine oath and wilt pardon their transgression; Thou wilt cast away all their sins. Thou wilt cause them to inherit all the glory of Adam and abundance of days. Hymn 2 (formerly 24) [I give Thee thanks] because of the spirits which Thou hast given to me! I [will bring forth] a reply of the tongue to recount Thy righteous deeds, and the forbearance ... and the works of Thy mighty right hand, and [the pardon] of the sins of the forefathers. [I will bow down] and implore Thy mercy [on my sins and wicked] deeds, and on the perversity of [my heart], for I have wallowed in uncleanness, and have [turned aside] from the counsel [of Thy truth] and I have not laboured ... [For] Thine, Thine is righteousness. and an everlasting blessing be upon Thy Name! [According to] Thy righteousness, let [Thy servant] be redeemed [and] the wicl<ed be brought to an end. For I have understood that [it is Thou who dost establish] the path of whomsoever Thou choosest; Thou dost hedge him in with [true] discernment that he may not sin against Thee, and that his humility [may bear fruit] through Thy chastisement. [Thou dost purify] his heart in [Thy trials]. [Preserve] Thy servant, [O God], lest he sin against Thee, or stagger aside from any word of Thy will. Strengthen the [loins of Thy servant that he may] resist the spirits [of falsehood, that] he may walk in all that Thou lovest, and despise all that Thou loathest, [that he may do] that which is good in Thine eyes. [Destroy] their [dominion] in my bowels, for [within] Thy servant is a spirit of [flesh]. Hymn 3 (formerly 25) [I thank Thee, O Lord, for] Thou didst shed [Thy] Holy Spirit upon Thy Servant V (formerly XIII) All these things [Thou didst establish in Thy wisdom. Thou didst appoint] all Thy works before ever creating them: the host of Thy spirits and the Congregation [of Thy Holy Ones, the heavens and all] their hosts and the earth and all it brings forth. In the seas and deeps ... ... and an everlasting task; for Thou hast established them from before eternity. And the work of ... and they shall recount Thy glory throughout all Thy dominion For Thou hast shown them that which they had not [seen by removing all] ancient things and creating new ones, by breaking asunder things anciently established, and raising up the things of eternity. For [Thou art from the beginning] and Shalt endure for ages without end. And Thou hast [appointed] all these things inthe mysteries of Thy wisdom to make known Thy glory [to all]. [But what is] the spirit of flesh that it should understand all this, and that it should comprehend the great [design of Thy wisdom]? What is he that is born of woman in the midst of all Thy terrible [works]? He is but an edifice of dust, and a thing kneaded with water, whose beginning [is sinful iniquity], and shameful nakedness, [and a fount of uncleanness], and over whom a spirit of straying rules. If he is wicked he shall become [a sign for] ever, and a wonder to (every) generation, [and an object of horror to all] flesh. By Thy goodness alone is man righteous, and with Thy many mercies [Thou strengthenest him]. Thou wiit adom him with Thy spiendour and wilt [cause him to reign amid] many deiights with everlasting peace and length of days. [For Thou hast spoken], and Thou wilt not take back Thy word. And I, Thy servant, I know by the spirit which Thou hast given to me [that Thy wonds are truth], and that all Thy works are righteousness, and that Thou wi It not take back Thy word VI (formerly XIV) Hymn 4 (formerly 21) [Blessed art Thou,] O Lord who hast given understanding to the heart of [Thy] servant that he may understand all these things and resist [the works] of wickedness and bless justly all those who choose Thy will, [and that he may love all] that Thou lovest and loathe all that Thou [hatest]. Thou Shalt instruct Thy servant ... [spi]rits of man for Thou hast cast their (lot) according to the spirits between good and evil to accomplish their task. And I know through the understanding which comes from Thee, that in Thy goodwill towards m[a]n [Thou hast] increa[sed his inheritance] in Thy Holy Spirit and thus Thou hast drawn me near to understanding of Thee. And the closer I approach, the more am I filled with zeal against all the workers of Iniquity and the men of deceit. For none of those who approach Thee rebels against Thy command, nor do any of those who know Thee alter Thy words; for Thou art righteous, and all Thine elect are truth. Thou wilt blot out all Injustice and wickedness for ever, and Thy righteousness shall be revealed before the eyes of all Thy creatures. I know through Thy great goodness; and with an oath I have undertaken never to sin against Thee, nor to do anything evil In Thine eyes. And thus do I bring Into community all the men of my Council. I will cause each man to draw near In accordance with his understanding, and according to the greatness of his Inheritance, so will I love him. I will not honour an evil man, nor consider [the bribes of shame]; I will [not] barter Thy truth for riches, nor one of Thy precepts for bribes. But [I will lo]ve [each ma]n according to his sp[eech](?) and according as Thou removest him far from Thee, so will I hate him; and none of those who have turned [from] Thy [Co]venant will I bring Into the Council [of Thy] t[ruth]. Hymn 5 (formerly 22) [I thank] Thee, O Lord, as befits the greatness of Thy power and the multitude of Thy marvels for ever and ever. [Thou art a merciful God] and rich in [favours], pardoning those who repent of their sin and visiting the iniquity of the wicked. [Thou delightest in] the free-will offering [of the righteous] but iniquity Thou hatest always. Thou hast favoured me. Thy servant, with a spirit of knowledge, [that I may choose] truth [and goodness] and loathe all the ways of iniquity. And I have loved Thee freely and with all my heart; [contemplating the mysteries of] Thy wisdom [I have sought Thee]. For this is from Thy hand and [nothing is done] without [Thy will]. VII (formerly XV) I have loved Thee freely and with all my heart and soul I have purified... [that I might not] turn aside from any of Thy commands. I have clung to the Congregation... that I might not be separated from any of Thy laws. I know through the understanding which comes from Thee that righteousness is not in a hand of flesh, [that] man [is not master of] his way and that it is not in mortals to direct their step. I know that the inclination of every spirit [is in Thy hand]; Thou didst establish [all] its [ways] before ever creating it, and how can any man change Thy words? Thou alone didst [create] the just and establish him from the womb for the time of goodwill, that he might hearken to Thy Covenant and walk in all (Thy ways), and that [Thou mightest show Thyself great] to him in the multitude of Thy mercies, and enlarge his straitened soul to eternal salvation, to perpetual and unfailing peace. Thou wilt raise up his glory from among flesh. But the wicked Thou didst create for [the time] of Thy [wrath], Thou didst vow them from the womb to the Day of IVIassacre, for they walk in the way which is not good. They have despised [Thy Covenant] and their souls have loathed Thy [truth]; they have taken no delight in all Thy commandments and have chosen that which Thou hatest. [For according to the mysteries] of Thy [wisdom]. Thou hast ordained them for great chastisements before the eyes of all Thy creatures, that [for all] eternity they may serve as a sign [and a wonder], and that [all men] may know Thy glory and Thy tremendous power. But what is flesh that it should understand [these things]? And how should [a creature of] dust direct his steps? It is Thou who didst shape the spirit and establish its work [from the beginning]; the way of all the living proceeds from Thee. I know that no riches equal Thy truth, and [have therefore desired to enter the Council of] Thy holiness. I know that Thou hast chosen them before all others and that they shall serve Thee for ever. Thou wilt [take no bribe for the deeds of iniquity], nor ransom for the works of wickedness; for Thou art a God of truth and [wilt destroy] all iniquity [for ever, and] no [wickedness] shall exist before Thee. VIII (formerly XVI) Because I know all these things my tongue shall utter a reply. Bowing down and [confessing all] my transgressions, I will seek [Thy] spirit [of knowledge]; cleaving to Thy spirit of [holiness], I will hold fast to the truth of Thy Covenant, that [I may serve] Thee in truth and wholeness of heart, and that I may love [Thy Name]. Blessed art Thou, O Lord, IVIaker [of all things and mighty in] deeds: all things are Thy work! Behold, Thou art pleased to favour [Thy servant], and hast graced me with Thy spirit of mercy and [with the radiance] of Thy glory. Thine, Thine is righteousness, for it is Thou who hast done all [these things]! I know that Thou hast marked the spirit of the just, and therefore I have chosen to keep my hands clean in accordance with [Thy] will: the soul of Thy servant [has loathed] every work of iniquity. And I know that man is not righteous except through Thee, and therefore I implore Thee by the spirit which Thou hast given [me] to perfect Thy [faxADurs] to Thy servant [for ever], purifying me by Thy Hoiy Spirit, and drawing me near to Thee by Thy grace according to the abundance of Thy mercies [Grant me] the piace [of Thy ioving-l<indness] which [Thou hast] chosen for them that iove Thee and i<eep [Thy commandments, that they may stand] in Thy presence [for] ever. Let no scourge [come] near him iest he stagger aside from the iaws of Thy Covenant. i [l<now, O Lord, that Thou art mercifui] and compassionate, [iong]-suffering and [rich] in grace and truth, pardoning transgression [and sin]. Thou repentest of [evii against them that iove Thee] and l<eep [Thy] commandments, [that] return to Thee with faith and wholeness of heart ... to serve Thee [and to do that which is] good in Thine eyes. Reject not the face of Thy servant Hymn 6 (formerly I) IX (formerly I) Thou art long-suffering in Thy judgements and righteous in all Thy deeds. By Thy wisdom [all things exist from] eternity, and before creating them Thou knewest their works for ever and ever. [Nothing] is done [without Thee] and nothing is known unless Thou desire it. Thou hast created all the spirits [and hast established a statute] and law for all their works. Thou hast spread the heavens for Thy glory and hast [appointed] all [their hosts] according to Thy will; the mighty winds according to their laws before they became angels [of holiness] ... and eternal spirits In their dominions; the heavenly lights to their mysteries, the stars to their paths, [the clouds] to their tasks, the thunderbolts and lightnings to their duty, and the perfect treasuries (of snow and hall) to their purposes, ...to their mysteries. Thou hast created the earth by Thy power and the seas and deeps [by Thy might]. Thou hast fashioned [all] their [lnhabl]tants according to Thy wisdom, and hast appointed all that Is In them according to Thy will. [And] to the spirit of man which Thou hast formed In the worid, [Thou hast given dominion over the works of Thy hands] foreveriasting days and unending generations. ... In their ages Thou hast allotted to them tasks during all their generations, and judgement In their appointed seasons according to the rule [of the two spirits. For Thou hast established their ways] for ever and ever. [and hast ordained from eternity] tlieir visitation for reward and chastisements; Thou hast aiiotted it to aii their seed for eternai generations and everiasting years... In the wisdom of Thy l<nowiedge Thou didst estabiish their destiny before ever they were. Aii things [exist] according to [Thy wiii] and without Thee nothing is done. These things I i<now by the wisdom which comes from Thee, for Thou hast unstopped my ears to marveiious mysteries. And yet i, a shape of ciay l<neaded in water, a ground of shame and a source of poiiution, a meiting-potof wicl<edness and an edifice of sin, a straying and perverted spirit of no understanding, fearfui of righteous judgements, what can i say that is not forel<nown, and what can i utter that is not foretoid? Aii things are graven before Thee on a written Reminder for everiasting ages, and for the numbered cycies of the eternai years in aii their seasons; they are not hidden or absent from Thee. What shaii a man say concerning his sin? And how shall he plead concerning his Iniquities? And how shall he reply to righteous judgement? For Thine, O God of knowledge, are all righteous deeds and the counsel of truth; but to the sons of men Is the work of Iniquity and deeds of deceit. It Is Thou who hast created breath for the tongue and Thou knowest Its words; Thou didst establish the fruit of the Hps before ever they were. Thou dost set words to measure and the flow of breath from the Hps to metre. Thou bringest forth sounds according to their mysteries, and the flow of breath from the Hps according to Its reckoning, that they may tell of Thy glory and recount Thy wonders In all Thy works of truth and [In all Thy] righteous Oudgements]; and that Thy Name be praised by the mouth of all men, and that they may know Thee according to their understanding and bless Thee for ever. By Thy mercies and by Thy great goodness, Thou hast strengthened the spirit of man In the face of the scourge, and hast purified [the erring spirit] of a multitude of sins, that It may declare Thy marvels in the presence of all Thy creatures. [I wi II declare to the assembly of the si mple] the judgements by which I was scourged, and to the sons of men, all Thy wonders by which Thou hast shown Thyself mighty [In me In the presence of the sons of Adam]. Hear, O you wise men, and meditate on knowledge; O you fearful, be steadfast! Increase In prudence, [O all you simple]; O just men, put away Iniquity! Hold fast [to the Covenant], 0 all you perfect of way; [O all you afflicted with] misery, be patient and despise no righteous judgement! [but the foojilsh of heart shall not comprehend these things X (formerly II) Upon my [unclrcumclsed] Hps Thou hast laid a reply. Thou hast upheld my soul, strengthening my loins and restoring my power; my foot has stood in the realm of ungodliness. 1 have been a snare to those who rebel, but healing to those of them who repent, prudence to the simple, and steadfastness to the fearful of heart. To traitors Thou hast made of me a mockery and scorn, but a counsel of truth and understanding to the upright of way. I have been iniquity for the wicked, ill-repute on the lips of the fierce, the scoffers have gnashed their teeth. I have been a byword to traitors. the assembly of the wicked has raged against me; they have roared iil<e turbuient seas and their towering waves have spat out mud and siime. But to the eiect of righteousness Thou hast made me a banner, and a discerning interpreter of wonderful mysteries, to try [those who practise] truth and to test those who love correction. To the interpreters of error I have been an opponent, [but a man of peace] to all those who see true things. To all those who seek smooth things I have been a spi rit of zeal; like the sound of the roaring of many waters so have [all] the deceivers thundered against me; [all] their thoughts were devilish [schemings]. They have cast towards the Pit the life of the man whose mouth Thou hast confirmed, and into whose heart Thou hast put teaching and understanding, that he might open a fountain of knowledge to all men of insight. They have exchanged them for lips of uncircumcision, and for the foreign tongue of a people without understanding, that they might come to ruin in their straying. Hymn 7 (formerly 2) I thank Thee, O Lord, for Thou hast placed my soul in the bundle of the living, and hast hedged me about against all the snares of the Pit. Violent men have sought after my life because I have clung to Thy Covenant. For they, an assembly of deceit, and a horde of Belial, know not that my stand Is maintained by Thee, and that In Thy mercy Thou wilt save my soul since my steps proceed from Thee. From Thee It Is that they assail my life, that Thou mayest be glorified by the judgement of the wicked , and manifest Thy might through me In the presence of the sons of men; for It Is by Thy mercy that I stand. And I said, Mighty men have pitched their camps against me, and have encompassed me with all their weapons of war. They have let fly arrows against which there Is no cure, and the flame of (their) javelins Is like a consuming fire among trees. The clamour of their shouting Is like the bellowing of many waters, like a storm of destruction devouring a multitude of men; as their waves rear up, Naught and Vanity spout upward to the stars. But although my heart melted like water, my soul held fast to Thy Covenant, and the net which they spread for me has taken their own foot; they have themselves fallen Into the snares which they laid for my life. But my foot remains upon level ground; apart from their assembly I will bless Thy Name. Hymn 8 (formerly 3) I thank Thee, O Lond, for Thou hast [fastened] Thine eye upon me. Thou hast saved me from the zeal of lying Interpreters, and from the congregation of those who seek smooth things. Thou hast redeemed the soul of the poor one whom they planned to destroy by spilling his blood because he served Thee. Because [they knew not] that my steps were directed by Thee, they made me an object of shame and derision In the mouth of all the seekers of falsehood. But Thou, O my God, hast succoured the soul of the poor and the needy against one stronger than he; Thou hast redeemed my soul from the hand of the mighty. Thou hast not permitted their Insults to dismay me so that I forsook Thy service for fear of the wickedness of the [ungodly], or bartered my steadfast heart for folly Hymn 9(formerly 4) XI (formerly III) They caused [me] to be like a ship on the deeps of the [sea], and like a fortified city before [the aggressor], [and] like a woman in travaii Willi her first-born child, upon whose belly pangs have come and grievous pains, filling with anguish her child-bearing crucible. For the children have come to the throes of Death, and she labours in her pains who bears a man. For amid the throes of Death she shall bring forth a man-child, and amid the pains of Hell there shall spring from her child-bearing crucible a Marvellous Mighty Counsellor; and a man shall be delivered from out of the throes. When he is conceived all wombs shall quicken, and the time of their delivery shall be in grievous pains; they shall be appalled who are with child. And when he is brought forth every pang shall come upon the child-bearing crucible. And they, the conceivers of Vanity, shall be prey to terrible anguish; the wombs of the Pit shall be prey to all the works of horror. The foundations of the wall shall rock like a ship upon the face of the waters; the heavens shall roar with a noise of roaring, and those who dwell in the dust, as well as those who sail the seas, shall be appalled by the roaring of the waters. All their wise men shall be like sailors on the deeps, for all their wisdom shall be swallowed up In the midst of the howling seas. As the Abysses boll above the fountains of the waters, the towering waves and billows shall rage with the voice of their roaring; and as they rage, [Hell and Abaddon] shall open [and all] the flying arrows of the Pit shall send out their voice to the Abyss. And the gates [of Hell] shall open [on all] the works of Vanity; and the doors of the Pit shall close on the concelvers of wickedness; and the everlasting bars shall be bolted on all the spirits of Naught. Hymn 10 (formerly 5) I thank Thee, O Lord, for Thou hast redeemed my soul from the Pit, and from the hell of Abaddon Thou hast raised me up to everlasting height. I walk on limitless level ground, and I know there Is hope for him whom Thou hast shaped from dust for the everlasting Council. Thou hast cleansed a perverse spirit of great sin that It may stand with the host of the Holy Ones, and that It may enter Into community with the congregation of the Sons of Heaven. Thou hast allotted to man an everlasting destiny amidst the spirits of knowledge, that he may praise Thy Name In a common rejoicing and recount Thy marvels before all Thy works. And yet I, a creature of clay, what am I? Kneaded with water, what Is my worth and my might? For I have stood In the realm of wickedness and my lot was with the damned; the soul of the poor one was carried away In the midst of great tribulation. Miseries of torment dogged my steps while all the snares of the Pit were opened and the lures of wickedness were set up and the nets of the damned (were spread) on the waters; while all the arrows of the Pit flew out without cease, and, striking, left no hope; while the rope beat down In judgement and a destiny of wrath (fell) upon the abandoned and a venting of fury upon the cunning. It was a time of the wrath of all Belial and the bonds of death tightened without any escape. The torrents of Belial shall reach to all sides of the world. In all their channels a consuming fire shall destroy every tree, green and barren, on their banks; unto the end of their courses It shall scourge with flames of fire, and shall consume the foundations of the earth and the expanse of dry land. The bases of the mountains shall blaze and the roots of the rocks shall turn to torrents of pitch; It shall devour as far as the great Abyss. The torrents of Belial shall break Into Abaddon, and the deeps of the Abyss shall groan amid the roar of heaving mud. The land shall cry out because of the calamity fallen upon the world, and all its deeps shall howl. And all those upon it shall rave and shall perish amid the great misfortune. For God shall sound His mighty voice, and His holy abode shall thunder with the truth of His glory. The heavenly hosts shall cry out and the world's foundations shall stagger and sway. The war of the heavenly warriors shall scourge the earth; and it shall not end before the appointed destruction which shall be for ever and without compare. I thank Thee, O Lord, for Thou art as a fortified wall to me, and as an iron bar against all destroyers Thou hast set my feet upon rock... that I may walk in the way of eternity and in the paths which Thou hast chosen XII (formerly IV) I thank Thee, O Lord, for Thou hast 1 llumi ned my face by Thy Covenant, Hymn 11 (formerly 6) Hymn 12 (formerly 7) I seek Thee, and sure as the dawn Thou appearest as [perfect Light] to me. Teachers of lies [have smoothed] Thy peopie [with words], and [faise prophets] have led them astray, they perish without understanding for their works are in folly. For I am despised by them and they have no esteem for me that Thou mayest manifest Thy might through me. They have banished me from my land like a bird from its nest; all my friends and brethren are driven far from me and hold me for a broken vessel. And they, teachers of lies and seers of falsehood, have schemed against me a devilish scheme, to exchange the Law engraved on my heart by Thee for the smooth things (which they speak) to Thy people. And they withhold from the thirsty the drink of Knowledge, and assuage their thirst with vinegar, that they may gaze on their straying, on their folly concerning their feast-days, on their fall into their snares. But Thou, O God, dost despise all Belial's designs; it is Thy purpose that shall be done and the design of Thy heart that shall be established for ever. As for them, they dissemble, they plan devilish schemes. They seek Thee with a double heart and are not confirmed in Thy truth A root bearing poisoned and bitter fruit is in their designs; they walk in stubbornness of heart and seek Thee among idols, and they set before themselves the stumbling-block of their sin. They come to inquire of Thee from the mouth of lying prophets deceived by error who speak [with strange] lips to Thy people, and an alien tongue, that they may cunni ng ly turn all their works to folly. For [they hearken] not [to] Thy [voice], nor do they give ear to Thy word; of the vision of knowledge they say, ' It is unsure' , and of the way of Thy heart, ' It is not (the way)' . But Thou, O God, wilt reply to them, chastising them in Thy might because of their idols and because of the multitude of their sins, that they who have turned aside from Thy Covenant may be caught in their own designs. Thou wilt destroy in Judgement all men of lies, and there shall be no more seers of error; for in Thy works is no folly, no guile in the design of Thy heart. But those who please Thee shall stand before Thee for ever; those who walk in the way of Thy heart shall be established for evermore. Clinging to Thee, I will stand. I will rise against those who despise me and my hand shall be turned against those who deride me; for they have no esteem for me [that Thou mayest] manifest Thy might through me. Thou hast reveaied Thyseif to me in Thy power as perfect Light, and Thou hast not covered my face with shame. All those who are gathered in Thy Covenant inquire of me, and they hearken to me who walk in the way of Thy heart, who array themselves for Thee in the Council of the holy. Thou wilt cause their law to endure for ever and truth to go forward unhindered, and Thou wilt not allow them to be led astray by the hand of the damned when they plot against them. Thou wilt put the fear of them into Thy people and (wilt make of them) a hammer to all the peoples of the lands, that at the Judgement they may cut off all those who transgress Thy word. Through me Thou hast illumined the face of the Congregation and hast shown Thine infinite power. For Thou hast given me knowledge through Thy marvellous mysteries, and hast shown Thyself mighty within me in the midst of Thy marvellous Council. Thou hast done wonders before the Congregation for the sake of Thy glory, that they may make known Thy mighty deeds to all the living. But what is flesh (to be worthy) of this? What is a creature of clay for such great marvels to be done, whereas he is in iniquity from the womb and in guiity unfaithfuiness until his oid age? Righteousness, I i<now, is not of man, nor is perfection of way of the son of man: to the iVIost High God beiong aii righteous deeds. The way of man is not estabiished except by the spirit which God created for him to mal<e perfect a way for the children of men, that aii His creatures may l<now the might of His power, and the abundance of His mercies towards aii the sons of His grace. As for me, shal<ing and trembling seize me and all my bones are broken; my heart dissolves like wax before fire and my knees are like water pouring down a steep place. For I remember my sins and the unfaithfulness of my fathers. When the wicked rose against Thy Covenant and the damned against Thy word, I said in my sinfulness, 'I am forsaken by Thy Covenant.' But calling to mind the might of Thy hand and the greatness of Thy compassion, I rose and stood, and my spirit was established in face of the scourge. I lean on Thy grace and on the multitude of Thy mercies, for Thou wilt pardon iniquity, and through Thy righteousness [Thou wilt purify man] of his sin. Not for his sake wilt Thou do it. [but for the sake of Thy glory]. For Thou hast created the just and the wicked XIII (formerly V) Hymn 13 (formerly 8) I thank Thee, O Lord, for Thou hast not abandoned me whilst I sojourned among a people [burdened with sin]. [Thou hast not] judged me according to my guilt, nor hast Thou abandoned me because of the designs of my Inclination; but Thou hast saved my life from the Pit. Thou hast brought [Thy servant deliverance] In the midst of Hons destined for the guilty, and of lionesses which crush the bones of the mighty and drink the blood of the brave. Thou hast caused me to dwell with the many fishers who spread a net upon the face of the waters, and with the hunters of the children of Iniquity, Thou hast established me there for justice. Thou hast confirmed the counsel of truth In my heart and the waters of the Covenant for those who seek It. Thou hast closed up the mouth of the young Hons whose teeth are like a sword, and whose great teeth are like a pointed spear, like the venom of dragons. All their design Is for robbery and they have lain In wait; but they have not opened their mouth against me. For Thou, O God, hast sheltered me from the children of men. and hast hidden Thy Law [within me] against the time when Thou shouidst reveai Tiny saivation to me. For Thou hast not forsal<en me in my soul's distress, and Thou hast heard my cry in the bitterness of my soui; and when I groaned, Thou didst consider my sorrowfui compiaint. Thou hast preserved the soui of the poor one in the den of iions which