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

GORDON M. ZERBE 327
Commercial activity is assumed, but controlled in various ways. (1) It
is prohibited on the Sabbath (CD 10.18–19; 11.2, 12, 15). 25 (2) It is extensively
restricted in relation to Gentiles, particularly on grounds of the
purity of potential objects sold (12.8–11). 26 (3) In relation to outsiders in
general, it is restricted to cash relationships; anything beyond that—such
as commercial associations or contracts—must be approved by the
Examiner (13.14–16). 27
As for economic relationships among members of the community, the
following regulations apply. (1) The property (Nwh) of all “those who join
the congregation,” along with their “deeds, strength, and power,” will be
examined and recorded by the Examiner upon their entry (CD
13.11–13; cf. 1QS 6.13–16). (2) “To take care of all their needs/affairs”
(Mhycpx lk Nykhl), 28 all among the Many are required to hand over
to “the Examiner and the judges” the “wage (rk#) of at least two days a
month” (CD 14.12–17). The next sentence clarifies that this fund is primarily
for works of charity: “From one portion they shall give to the
[orph]ans, from another they shall support the poor and the afflicted”
(14.14–17). (3) The Examiner is charged with the responsibility of “loosening
all the bonds which bind them (Mhyr#q twbwcrx lk rty) that
there may no more be any oppressed or broken (Cwcrw qw#() among
the congregation” (13.10). When this rule is seen in the light of (a) the
previous two items, (b) the corresponding legislation in the Exhortation
(above), (c) the fact that some members were concretely indebted to others
(10.18), and (d) its citation of Isa 58:6 and allusion to other prophetic
texts, 29 the only conclusion to be drawn is that the release refers to the
25. No lending to one’s fellow; no discussion of matters of property (Nwh) or gain
((cb); no talk of work or labor; no requiring an alien slave to work; no irritating a
slave, maidservant, or employee; no profaning the Sabbath for property or gain.
26. Not sell to Gentiles: clean beasts and birds, contents of granary or vat, proselyte
slaves. On not taking action against Gentiles on economic grounds, see CD
12.6–8, discussed below in connection with nonretaliation.
27. CD 13.14–16: “No member of the covenant of God shall give or receive anything
from the sons of the pit except (by paying) from hand to hand. And no man
shall form any association for buying or selling (rkmmlw xqml rbd) without
informing the Examiner of the camp.” Cf. 1QS 5.16–17. Some scholars suppose that
the second sentence refers to associations within the camp. But since it follows a rule
on relating to outsiders, and since it simply raises the nature of the interaction to a
new level (all associations to be supervised; otherwise, cash transactions tolerated
without supervision), it would appear to apply further to relations with outsiders.
28. The same word Cpx is also found in CD 10.20, in reference to one’s commercial
“affairs” or “business.”
29. The citation of Isa 58:6 (“to loose the bonds [twbcrx] of injustice, to undo
[rth] the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed [Mycwcr] go free”) is not verbatim.
The combination of the verbs q#( (oppress) and Ccr (break) is rare in the