The Bible and the Dead Sea Scrolls: The ... - josephprestonkirk

326 ECONOMIC JUSTICE AND NONRETALIATION
denunciation (“and they hid themselves, each man to him who is flesh of
his flesh,” CD 8.6) confirms this. This denunciation directly echoes Isa
58:7: the proper fast is “to share your bread with the hungry, and bring
the homeless poor (Myyn() into your house; when you see the naked to
cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin” (NRSV;
Ml(tt )l Kr#bmw). Moreover, all of the occurrences of the hithpa‘el
of Ml( (“to hide oneself”) in the Hebrew Bible refer to the refusal to help
someone in need (Deut 22:1, 3–4; Isa 58:7; Ps 55:2 [55:1 ET]; Job
6:16). 20 The significance of Isaiah 58 for the moral code of CD is further
evident in the reference to the obligation of the “Examiner” in his community
to “unloose all the bonds which bind them,” based on Isa 58:6
(CD 13.10, see below).
Turning to the Laws of CD (A 15–16, 9–14), we find rules governing
economic activity, both in relation to those outside the community and
in relation to fellow members. These laws assume personal ownership of
property (9.10–16, 22–23; 11.13) 21 and personal income (14.12–13) 22 ;
they presume the presence of farmers (12.10), herders (11.5), lenders
(10.18), employers, wage-earners, slaves, and servants (11.2, 12; 12.10;
14.13). The Laws assume, then, some degree of economic disparity
within the community; there is no reference to any property held in common,
although there is a sense of the overall “property of the camp”
(hnxmh d)m; 9.11). 23 Fragmentary copies of CD from Qumran indicate
that the Laws also included regulations for gleaning (4Q266 frag. 6 cols.
3–4) 24 and for agricultural priestly dues (4Q270 frag. 3 cols. 2–3 = 4Q271
frag. 2 = 4Q269 frag. 8 lines 1–2).
20. Note especially Deut 22:3: “You dare not hide yourself” (Ml(thl lkwt-)l)
from the neighbor in need.
21. Note references in CD 9.10–16 to “lost objects” (dbw)h) and their “owners”
(Myl(b).
22. Note here the reference to “wages” (rk#) to be handed over to the Examiner,
to provide for the “needs, affairs” of the Many and for works of charity; see further
below. Nevertheless, some interpreters, attempting to harmonize CD with 1QS, argue
that this income is not “private,” but to be understood in the context of communal ownership
of property and income. For example, Joseph A. Fitzmyer, “Jewish Christianity in
Acts in Light of the Qumran Scrolls,” in Studies in Luke-Acts (ed. L. E. Keck and J. L.
Martyn; Nashville: Abingdon, 1966), 256.
23. For d)m (“strength”) as referring to “property,” see also CD 13.11, and possibly
12.10. In numerous Scripture texts, d)m has the connotation of “abundance” or
“muchness” (BDB), as in 2 Kings 22–23. See further below, and n33 (below), on the
interpretation of 1QS 1.11–13, where “property” may be understood as derived from
“strength” in Deut 6:5.
24. On gleaning, see also 4Q284a and 4Q159; the latter regulates the gleanings of
the poor.