‘ Doing Justice ’ ( ישועב טפשמ ) to the Dead Sea Scrolls : Reading 1 QS 8 : 1 – 4 in literary and sectarian context

Within the Community Rule, 1QS 8:1–4 has at times been used as an intertext to support claims pertaining to the future expectations of both early Jesus movements and the historical Jesus himself. In particular, the passage has functioned as an intertext to support the notion that Jesus and some of his earliest movements foresaw the future restoration and liberation of greater Israel in toto , including outsiders. Without getting involved in this larger New Testament debate, the current article wishes to address the appropriateness of using 1QS 8:1–4 as an intertext without taking its literary and sectarian contexts into consideration. Focusing throughout on the interrelationship between judgement and boundary demarcation, this article will unfold in a centripetal manner. Firstly, it will treat the commonalities among all the sectarian Dead Sea Scrolls. Secondly, the discussion will direct its focus specifically to the Community Rule. Finally, we will look at 1QS 8:1–4 in particular.

In particular, the passage has functioned as an intertext to support the notion that Jesus and some of his earliest movements foresaw the future restoration and liberation of greater Israel in toto, including outsiders.The claim is probably true that the historical Jesus proclaimed some form of liberation of Jewish (and gentile) outsiders, whether it be in this world or the next.As far as it relates to the early Jesus movements, however, this claim goes against the more standard scholarly conviction that these movements expected the liberation of insiders and the condemnation of outsiders at the final judgement.
Without getting involved in this larger New Testament debate, 4 the current article wishes to address the appropriateness of using 1QS 8:1-4 as an intertext without taking its literary and sectarian contexts into consideration.With the term 'literary context', the present author means not only the pericope's context in the Community Rule as such but also its context within the larger collection of Dead Sea Scrolls.In this regard, I fully agree with the following statement by 1.To simplify matters, the present discussion will overlook the fragments of this text discovered in cave four.Considering these fragments would not have altered or weakened the current argument and conclusion.
2.This article quotes from García Martínez (1994) when featuring translations of Dead Sea Scrolls.
3.The Hebrew text derives from Abegg (2004:30), as it appears in the edition by Parry & Tov (see bibliography).
4.For more information on the relationship between 1QS 8:1-4 and the historical Jesus, including especially the Sayings Gospel Q, see the more comprehensive discussion in Howes 2014.
Within the Community Rule, 1QS 8:1-4 has at times been used as an intertext to support claims pertaining to the future expectations of both early Jesus movements and the historical Jesus himself.In particular, the passage has functioned as an intertext to support the notion that Jesus and some of his earliest movements foresaw the future restoration and liberation of greater Israel in toto, including outsiders.Without getting involved in this larger New Testament debate, the current article wishes to address the appropriateness of using 1QS 8:1-4 as an intertext without taking its literary and sectarian contexts into consideration.Focusing throughout on the interrelationship between judgement and boundary demarcation, this article will unfold in a centripetal manner.Firstly, it will treat the commonalities among all the sectarian Dead Sea Scrolls.Secondly, the discussion will direct its focus specifically to the Community Rule.Finally, we will look at 1QS 8:1-4 in particular.
Weren (2015:1-2): 'In order to prevent that an intertextual analysis becomes bogged down in subjective links, the intertextual analysis must always be preceded by an intratextual analysis'.With the term 'sectarian context', the present author means the social context within which the sectarian Dead Sea Scrolls were authored, excluding from consideration those texts that did not originate with the 'Dead Sea sects', as I prefer to call them.The term 'Dead Sea sects' includes all the chronologically, geographically and socially diverse sectarian communities and factions responsible for authoring the original literature, later discovered at Qumran.Although it is very likely that these Dead Sea sects should be identified with the Essene movement, the present article will neither assume nor discuss this identification.This is not to deny that the Dead Sea sects were Essenes, but rather to ignore this question altogether, since it adds little to the current discussion.The legitimacy of calling these communities 'sects' is perhaps an open question, but to the extent that they deliberately separated themselves from mainstream Judaism -if not physically, then at least mentally and emotionally -it remains valid to refer to them as sects.
The literary and sectarian contexts overlap in as far as the literary content of the Dead Sea Scrolls betray the social context in which these documents originated.
This article will unfold in a centripetal manner.Firstly, it will treat the commonalities among all the sectarian Dead Sea Scrolls.The content of the Dead Sea Scrolls indicate that the different Dead Sea sects had quite a lot in common.Secondly, the discussion will direct its focus specifically to the Community Rule.Finally, we will look at 1QS 8:1-4 in particular.Throughout this process, the focus will be on the relationship between judgement and boundary demarcation, which will function as the hermeneutical key to unlock the meaning of 1QS 8:1-4.
As far as these sects were concerned, they were themselves the exclusive embodiment of the 'actual' Israel (Blenkinsopp 2005:11;Brooke 2005:50-51;Collins 1997a:91;Davies 2008:33;Harrington 2008:203;Horsley 2006:50, 52;Lawrence 2005:87, 89, 90, 99;Shemesh 2002:54).Outsiders were therefore not part of the real Israel.According to Davies (2008:33), the word 'Israel' is used by the Dead Sea sects in three distinct ways: (1) as a self-designation for the in-group; (2) as a reference to an illegitimate nation of days gone by, who were rightfully punished during the Babylonian exile; and (3) as a reference to the existing and similarly illegitimate Jewish out-group.
the promises of the covenant were accepted as applying exclusively to the in-group (Nickelsburg 2008:24;Timmer 2008:396;cf. Brooke 2005:51).In sum, the Dead Sea sects regarded themselves to be the legitimate substitution of greater Israel and its defective cult (Timmer 2009:342, 344).
There existed only two groups on earth: those who belonged to the sectarian movement 7 and the rest of humanity (cf.Schiffman 1994:65; see Harrington 2008:187-203).
Such an austerely sectarian state of mind influenced their understanding and expectation of the apocalyptic future.
According to their brand of soteriology, God had chosen and reserved the Dead Sea sects for apocalyptic salvation (Collins 1997a:17;Qimron 2006:195). 8God's forgiveness, liberation and mercy applied exclusively to insiders.Conversely, outsiders were denied any access whatsoever to God's salvation, forgiveness and mercy (Timmer 2008:395). 9One of the most prevalent themes in the sectarian Dead Sea Scrolls is that of 'judgement' (Knibb 2010:413).These writings view the future condemnation of greater Israel as a positive event.To some extent, this is understandable because the condemnation of greater Israel equals the salvation of the Dead Sea sects.The latter explains why these writings do not hesitate to refer to the future punishment of outsiders as proof of God's 'merciful judgement'. 10In fact, the Dead Sea sects apparently delighted at the mere thought of Israel's obliteration. 11In their estimation, greater Israel was not deserving of divine forgiveness or mercy.The sects behind the Dead Sea Scrolls anticipated the complete eradication of all gentiles during the apocalyptic end (see Schiffman 1994:371, 379, 380-382).More importantly for our purposes, they likewise foresaw a wholesale annihilation of all Jewish outsiders at the apocalypse (Collins 1997a(Collins :108, 122, 1998:157, 171, 173;:157, 171, 173;Qimron 2006:195, 197;cf. Nickelsburg 2008:24;Puech 2006:261, 263, 279;see Shemesh 2002:55-57). 12In the afterlife, these Jewish outsiders would suffer endless agony in Sheol. 13 It follows that there would not be any people left on earth after the apocalypse besides the members of the Dead Sea sects (Schiffman 1994:382).The re-establishment of Israel 7.The reference here to the Dead Sea sects as a 'movement' is no more than a handy way to connote the idea that there were commonalities among individual sectarian groups.The term 'movement' here references all the constituent groups, although there may be minor exceptions.involved the extermination of all other people, leaving behind only the 'genuine Israel' in the form of the Dead Sea sects (Harrington 2008:203;cf. Collins 1997a:17;Davies 2008:39;Ginsburskaya 2010:85;Puech 2006:281). 14  Yet, the apocalyptic end would be directly preceded by the 'end of days' ‫הימים(‬ ‫,)אחרית‬ an eschatological period described in some of the sectarian Dead Sea Scrolls.The so-called end of days entailed the assessment and refinement of the Dead Sea sects, as well as the reinstatement of the rightful temple cult by instituting a new temple (cf.Arnold 2006:28;VanderKam & Flint 2002:264;see Collins 1997asee Collins :56-58, 1997bsee Collins :79-82, 1998:157;:157;Schiffman 1994:391-394;).According to Timmer (2009:342), the time of assessment should be distinguished from the end of days.This claim seems to be based on a misreading of Collins (1997a:52-70), who in truth describes the assessment and refinement of insiders as an essential part of the end of days.Be that as it may, the new temple was in all likelihood not to be an actual building, but rather the members themselves, who would embody the sanctuary through perfect conduct and ritual cleanliness (Collins 1997a:58, 60;cf. Harrington 2008:197;Klawans 2010:384;VanderKam & Flint 2002:264;see Horsley 2006:47-48).To complicate matters, the Qumran people already viewed themselves as a stand-in for the Jerusalem temple before the advent of the end of days (see Kapfer 2007:164-165, 169-172).Hence, the difference between the two temples must have entailed a different degree of individual and corporate holiness.At any rate, the definitive and final sanctuary would only be erected at the apocalyptic end (Collins 1997a:58, 60, 108;cf. Knibb 2010:415-416).
The end of days also included the emergence of two distinct messiahs, namely a royal and a priestly messiah (cf.Hughes 1997:12;Neufeld 1997:121;VanderKam & Flint 2002:265;Werman 2009:294-295;see Collins 1997asee Collins :77-87, 1998:160-166;:160-166;Knibb 2010:420-425).Both messiahs would in different ways be responsible for re-establishing the kingdom and temple of Israel.On the one hand, the kingly messiah would contribute to the latter by defeating the gentiles and pacifying greater Israel (cf.Werman 2009:294-295;see Collins 1997asee Collins :80-85, 90, 1997bsee Collins :86, 1998:157-160:157-160).In the aftermath of military subjugation, this messianic king would govern all his conquered subjects and judge daily disputes like the kings of old (cf.Schiffman 1994:381-382;VanderKam & Flint 2002:266-267).On the other hand, the priestly messiah would contribute to the restoration of Israel's kingdom and temple by atoning for Israel's transgressions, maintaining the ritual purity and moral perfection of the Dead Sea sects, and performing his duties as instructor and judge (cf.VanderKam & Flint 2002:267; see Arnold 2006:194-197;Collins 1997a:85-87).These developments should not be mistaken for those events that would accompany the final apocalypse (cf. the Dead Sea sects foresaw a period in the future that would directly precede the apocalyptic end and prepare for its ultimate arrival.
The Community Rule tells us that the sons of light originated from a fountain of light.They were not only ruled by the 'prince of lights' ‫אורים(‬ ‫)שר‬ but also sustained by the God of Israel and his 'angel of truth' ‫אמתו(‬ ‫)מלאך‬ (cf.Nickelsburg 2008:24).The traits of these sons of light included goodness, humbleness and wisdom.Because of their inherently good nature, their ultimate fate would comprise of 'plentiful peace in a long life, fruitful offspring with all everlasting blessings, eternal enjoyment with endless life, and a crown of glory with majestic raiment in eternal light ' (1QS 4:7-8;cf. Timmer 2009:351;VanderKam & Flint 2002:261). 16On the other side of the tracks, the sons of darkness derived from a source of darkness.They were ruled by the 'angel of darkness' ‫חושך(‬ ‫,)מלאך‬ who caused their sinful actions (Nickelsburg 2008:24;Schiffman 1994:149).The traits of these sons of darkness included evilness, dishonesty and greediness.Their apocalyptic fate would include 'a glut of punishments at the hands of the angels of destruction, for eternal damnation for the scorching wrath of the God of revenge, for permanent 15.In secondary literature, the community behind this writing is often referred to as the Yaḥad ‫,)יחד(‬ which is the Hebrew term used by the scroll itself to refer to its own members.This term literally means 'community'. ‫עולמים.61‬ ‫באור‬ ‫הדר‬ ‫מדת‬ ‫עם‬ ‫כבוד‬ ‫וכליל‬ ‫נצח‬ ‫בחיי‬ ‫עולמים‬ ‫ושמחת‬ ‫עד‬ ‫ברכות‬ ‫כול‬ ‫עם‬ ‫זרע‬ ‫ופרות‬ ‫ימים‬ ‫באורך‬ ‫שלום‬ ‫.ורוב‬ error and shame without end with the humiliation of destruction by the fire of the dark regions ' (1QS 4:12-13;cf. VanderKam & Flint 2002:261). 171QS 4:14 goes on to claim that these outsiders would be utterly obliterated and exterminated at the apocalyptic end (Puech 2006:271).The function of such extensive annihilation was to eradicate injustice, deceit and sin from the world ad infinitum (1QS 4:18-20;cf. Collins 1997acf. Collins :116, 1997bcf. Collins :82, 86, 1998:153;:153;Knibb 2010:413;Timmer 2009:343, 344).As in the rest of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the authors of the Community Rule believed that apocalyptic salvation and punishment had been preordained by God, even if the actual conduct of individuals determined innocence and blameworthiness in each individual case (cf. Collins 1997a:44, 116, 142;Schiffman 1994:150, 380;VanderKam & Flint 2002:264;see Arnold 2006:64-66;Broshi 2006:235-246;Timmer 2009:345-347, 350-352).
Before the ultimate end, however, the Community Rule foresees a period of severe refinement and cleansing.At the time when the Community Rule was authored, this preparatory period was still to be initiated (see Collins 1997bCollins :80-81, 2010:168):168).In other words, this preliminary stage was also viewed as part of the Yaḥad's eschatological future, even if it were to precede the apocalyptic end (Himmelfarb 2001:31;Horsley 2006:42).To clarify, the Yaḥad looked forward to a specific period of time in the future, but earlier than the apocalypse and final judgement, when God would purify and refine his chosen people (cf.1QS 4:20).Such decontamination pertained only to the Dead Sea sects themselves, and not to greater Israel (cf.Flint 1997:60).The belief in a period of internal refinement raises the question of why the so-called 'sons of light', preordained for apocalyptic salvation, would need to be purified.The answer lies in their particular brand of demonology.Even if the sons of light were not ruled by the spirit of darkness like the rest of humanity, they were nevertheless influenced by it (Collins 1998:153;Knibb 2010:408;cf. Arnold 2006:74;see Levison 2006:177-185).According to the Community Rule (4:23), people's hearts were inhabited by both the spirits of light and darkness.This pertained also to the sons of light.The Dead Sea sects believed that all people, members and non-members included, were made up of nine distinct parts (Broshi 2006:238-239;Knibb 2010:408;cf. 4Q186).Since the number nine is uneven, every person on the earth belongs either to the camp of darkness or the camp of light, depending on which spirit controlled the majority of those nine parts.In other words, the sons of light also experienced the influence of the spirit of darkness, even if they were for the most part controlled by the spirit of light.Every so often, the angel of darkness would cause an insider to stray from the path of righteousness (1QS 3:21-24;11:9-10;cf. Puech 2006:271;VanderKam & Flint 2002:261).
Due to such a rigorous process of cleansing, this period would entail the achievement of 'perfect behaviour' and the complete nonappearance of injustice amidst the sons of light (1QS 4:22-23;cf. Flint 1997:60).Such purification and perfection was necessary to prepare for the final judgement, since it would enable God to liberate the Yaḥad while condemning the sons of deceit (1QS 4:22-26;cf. Arnold 2006:42;Puech 2006:271;Timmer 2009:343, 344).Crucially, the futurist epoch of preparation sketched here should in all likelihood be equated with the eschatological 'end of days' ‫הימים(‬ ‫)אחרית‬ discussed in the previous section.
A lexical survey supports the foregoing summative analysis.The verb 'judge' ‫)שפט(‬ and the noun 'judgement' ‫)משפט(‬ feature variously in the Community Rule to convey five distinct meanings: (1) something that must be exercised internally by those who form part of the in-group, in the sense of 'justice' and 'discernment'; 18 (2) legal proceedings performed either within the community before the 'end of days' or by the community during the 'end of days'; 19 (3) the time of apocalyptic judgement; 20 (4) this-worldly admonishing of the community by God 21 and (5) full-scale condemnation of the out-group by God at the apocalyptic end. 22The second, fourth and fifth meanings are particularly significant to the overall purpose of the current article.
As far as the reference to 'twelve men and three priests' ‫שלושה(‬ ‫וכוהנים‬ ‫איש‬ ‫עשר‬ ‫)שנים‬ is concerned, a decidedly persuasive case has been made by Berg (2007:161-177) 1998:176, 2010:162, 163;see Berg 2007:171-172).According to Arnold (2006:41-43), the phrase 'perfect holiness' pertains to the Yaḥad as a whole, and not exclusively to the fifteen Jewish leaders.This seems unlikely, though, because the Community Rule uses the phrase in question here and elsewhere consistently in reference to the fifteen Jewish leaders, and only them.The Damascus Document likewise refers to leaders of the Dead Sea sects as persons of perfect holiness (Kapfer 2007:154).The term 'perfect holiness' describes an increased level of holiness and perfection when compared with isolated occurrences of the words 'perfect' and 'holy' or 'holiness'.The term denotes a state of complete and utter faultlessness.One day, it is imagined, such perfect holiness would be instituted and sustained via trials (Berg 2007:173).Tribal leaders would submit themselves voluntarily to such scrutiny.It is not explained in 1QS 8:1-4 who would judge during these proceedings.Yet, if this text is interpreted via both 1QS 9:7-21 and the Liturgy of the Tongues of Fire (4Q375; 4Q376; 1Q29), it seems most probable that the judge would be either the Maskil or the priestly messiah (see Arnold 2006:194-197, 201;Berg 2007:173-176).Thus, the fifteen tribal leaders would subject 23.The possibility should not be ignored that the demonstrative pronoun ‫אלה‬ actually refers to the fifteen men of the preceding verses (Berg 2007:166-167, esp. n. 18; cf.The translation of Wise et al. 2004:31).
‫שלושה.42‬ ‫וכוהנים‬ ‫איש‬ ‫עשר‬ ‫שנים‬ ‫היחד‬ ‫.בעצת‬ themselves to a process of judgement, testing and cleansing directly before but also during their tenure.
As long as these individuals are perfectly holy, they would qualify to 'implement truth, justice [and] judgement' ‫ומשפט(‬ ‫וצדקה‬ ‫אמת‬ ‫)לעשות‬ in the rest of the Yaḥad.It seems likely that this process has in mind the responsibility of the fifteen leaders to act as judges of their individual tribes.Both the War Scroll and the Damascus Document support the latter interpretation.According to 4Q491 frags.1-3:9-10, priests, Levites and the 'chiefs of the camps' ‫שרי(‬ ‫)המחנות‬ are in charge of judging the tribes before they enter into battle (cf.Arnold 2006:199).In CD 10:4-10, the leaders of the tribes of Israel and Levi are explicitly defined as 'the judges of the congregation' ‫העדה(‬ ‫)שפטי‬ (cf.Metso 2008:67). 25The intention behind this process of judgement is to 'implement compassionate love and unassuming behaviour' 26 and to 'preserve faithfulness on the earth with firm purpose and repentant spirit in order to atone for sin'. 27It follows that the Yaḥad's decontamination would occur by means of a process during which its members would be judged by the recently selected tribal leaders.Hence, the Community Rule predicts that there will be a messianic epoch during which a remnant of Israel will be cleansed and kept faultless through continuous judgement of the Yaḥad.Tribal leaders will remove imperfection from the Yaḥad to prepare for the final judgement (cf.Berg 2007:168).This process of judgement will lead to a perfect Yaḥad (see Kapfer 2007:169-170).This untarnished community will embody the temple through perfect behaviour.In addition, they will be thoroughly ready for the final judgement.

Conclusion
If 1QS 8:1-4 is considered in literary and sectarian context, the function and meaning of this text is illuminated.Far from describing a form of future judgement that is devoid of condemnation, it describes a preliminary eschatological step that is absolutely necessary for the future condemnation of outsiders, as well as the future liberation of insiders.As such, it is illegitimate to use this text as an intertext to support claims that the historical Jesus and/or one or more of the early Jesus movements expected a form of future judgement that would exclude the condemnation of gentile and/or Jewish outsiders.This conclusion remains true in spite of how legitimate these claims about Jesus and/or (some of) his early movements might be in their own right.Ultimately, the evidence is overwhelming that those responsible for the sectarian Dead Sea Scrolls expected the future condemnation and annihilation of all outsiders.
Collins 1998re an elite group within the (council of the) Yaḥad (cf.Collins 1998Collins   :176, 2010:161-162;:161-162; pace Metso 2008:78-84).These individuals should therefore not merely be understood as a symbolic designation of the community proper.The numbers 'twelve' and 'three' do in all likelihood respectively reference Israel's twelve and Levi's three tribes (cf.Collins 2010:162;  Hempel 2008:54; Metso 2008:81).Additional support comes from 4Q164.In this text, the number 'twelve' ‫עשר]…[(‬ ‫)שנים‬ is pertinently associated with 'the heads of the tribes of Israel' ‫ישראל(‬ ‫שבטי‬ ‫.)ראשי‬ Reading these two texts side by side almost forces a conclusion that reads the twelve men and three priests in 1QS 8:1 as leaders of Israel's traditional tribes (pace Metso 2008:81).Unlike the Yaḥad itself, this selection of tribal chiefs is typically portrayed as being not just 'holy' ‫)קודש(‬ or 'perfect' ‫)תמים(‬ but as treading in 'perfect holiness' ‫קודש(‬ ‫)תמים‬ (cf.Collins