SCROLLS FROM THE DEAD SEA:
THE ANCIENT LIBRARY OF QUMRAN AND MODERN SCHOLARSHIP
Today - 2,000 Years Later
Scroll Fragments
These scroll fragments were displayed in the exhibit at the Library
of Congress, May - August 1993. They were provided courtesy of the
Israel Antiquities Authority. The exhibit captions and
translations (below) provide background on the fragments and their
relationships with the other Dead Sea Scrolls, the Qumran
Community, and its Library.
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Damascus Document
Brit Damesek
4Q271(Df)
Parchment
Copied late first century B.C.E.
Height 10.9 cm (4 1/4 in.), length 9.3 cm (3 5/8 in.)
Courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority (1)
The Damascus Document is a collection of rules and
instructions reflecting the practices of a sectarian community. It
includes two elements. The first is an admonition that implores
the congregation to remain faithful to the covenant of those who
retreated from Judea to the "Land of Damascus." The second lists
statutes dealing with vows and oaths, the tribunal, witnesses and
judges, purification of water, Sabbath laws, and ritual
cleanliness. The right-hand margin is incomplete. The left-hand
margin was sewn to another piece of parchment, as evidenced by the
remaining stitches.
In 1896, noted Talmud scholar and educator Solomon Schechter
discovered sectarian compositions which later were found to be
medieval versions of the Damascus Document. Schechter's find in a
synagogue storeroom near Cairo, almost fifty years before the
Qumran discoveries, may be regarded as the true starting point of
modern scroll research.
References:
Baumgarten, J. "The Laws of the Damascus Document in Current
Research." In The Damascus Document Reconsidered. Edited by M.
Broshi. Jerusalem, 1992.
Rabin, C. The Zadokite Documents. Oxford, 1958.
Schechter, S. Fragments of a Zadokite Work: Documents of Jewish
Sectaries, vol. 1. Cambridge, England, 1910.
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Damascus Document - Translation
Brit Damesek
4Q271(D<superscript>f)
Courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority (1)
1. ...with money...
2. ...[his means did not] suffice to [return it to him] and the year [for redemption approaches?]...
3. ...and may God release him? from his sins. Let not [ ] in one, for
4. it is an abomination....And concerning what he said (Lev. 25:14), ["When you sell
5. anything to or buy anything from] your neighbor, you shall not defraud one another," this is the expli[cation...
6. ...] everything that he knows that is found...
7. ...and he knows that he is wronging him, whether it concerns man or beast. And if
8. [a man gives his daughter to another ma]n, let him disclose all her blemishes to him, lest he bring upon himself the judgement
9. [of the curse which is said (Deut. 27:18)] (of the one) that "makes the blind to wander out of the way." Moreover, he should not give her to one unfit for her, for
10. [that is Kila'yim, (plowing with) o]x and ass and wearing wool and linen together. Let no man bring
11. [a woman into the holy] who has had sexual experience, whether she had such experience
12. [in the home] of her father or as a widow who had intercourse after she was widowed. And any woman
13. [upon whom] there is a bad name in her maidenhood in her father's home, let no man take her, except
14. [upon examination] by reliable [women] who have clear knowledge, by command of the Supervisor over
15. [the Many. After]ward he may take her, and when he takes her he shall act in accordance with the law ...and he shall not tell...
16. [ ] L [ ]
Transcription and translation by J. Baumgarten
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The War Rule
Serekh ha-Milhamah
4Q285 (SM)
Parchment
Copied early first century C.E.
Height 4 cm (1 1/2 in.), length 5 cm (2 in.)
Courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority (12)
This six-line fragment, commonly referred to as the "Pierced
Messiah" text, is written in a Herodian script of the first half of
the first century C.E. and refers to a Messiah from the Branch of
David, to a judgement, and to a killing.
Hebrew is comprised primarily of consonants; vowels must be
supplied by the reader. The appropriate vowels depend on the
context. Thus, the text (line 4) may be translated as "and the
Prince of the Congregation, the Branch of David, will kill him," or
alternately read as "and they killed the Prince." Because of the
second reading, the text was dubbed the "Pierced Messiah." The
transcription and translation presented here support the "killing
Messiah" interpretation, alluding to a triumphant Messiah (Isaiah
11:4).
References:
Tabor, J. "A Pierced or Piercing Messiah?--The Verdict Is Still
Out," Biblical Archaeology Review 18 (1992):58-59.
Vermes, G. "The Oxford Forum for Qumran Research: Seminar on the
Rule of the War from Cave 4 (4Q285)," Journal of Jewish
Studies 43 (Spring 1992):85-90.
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The War Rule - Translation
Serekh ha-Milhamah
4Q285 (SM)
Courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority (12)
1. ]Isaiah the prophet: [The thickets of the forest] will be cut [down
2. with an axe and Lebanon by a majestic one will f]all. And there shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse [
3. ] the Branch of David and they will enter into judgement with [
4. ] and the Prince of the Congregation, the Bran[ch of David] will kill him [
5. by stroke]s and by wounds. And a Priest [of renown (?)] will command [
6. the s]lai[n] of the Kitti[m]
Transcription and translation by G. Vermes
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