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

328 ECONOMIC JUSTICE AND NONRETALIATION
concrete bonds of economic privation, not to some loosening of spiritual
bonds of sin. Although this rule does not imply complete community of
goods, as reflected in 1QS, the emphasis on communally based and oriented
redistribution of resources and support for those in economic need
appears central.
Further placarding the importance of economic justice in CD are (a)
the clarification of the number of witnesses required for adjudicating
cases involving “property” (Nwh; 9.22–23), and (b) the placement first in
the penal code of penalties for “lying in matters of property (Nwmm)”
(14.20–21; cf. 1QS 6.24–25). 30 The appearance of Nwmm (“mammon”) in
this last text, and elsewhere in the Dead Sea Scrolls, indicates that it was
used as a virtual synonym for the more commonly found Nwh for
“wealth” or “property.” 31
Rule of the Community
When we turn to 1QS, we find (1) the extension of the practice of mutual
solidarity to complete community of goods, (2) heightened separation
from outsiders, (3) invective against the unjust wealth of oppressors, and
(4) the theme of renunciation of wealth, including subservience (as a
facade behind concealed hatred) in response to wealthy oppressors.
Scripture and always refers to concrete oppression. “Oppressed and broken” occurs
together in Deut 28:33 and Hos 5:11 to refer to the concrete effect of judgment; reference
to those who “oppress and break” appears in 1 Sam 12:3–4 and Amos 4:1.
30. The fragmentary and damaged character of the penal code in CD precludes a
determination of the precise penalties. In the parallel item in 1QS 6.24–25, the
penalty is one year “separation from the purity” and a “punishment” of one-quarter
reduction in food allotment. The reference in CD 14.20–21 to the penalty of “separation”
is missing due to manuscript damage, and the “punishment” is identified as
“six days.” CD 9.22–23 indicates that two witnesses are required for a sentence of
“separation” in cases involving “property” (presumably including not only the problem
of lying to the community, but also cases between two members). Thus, it is not
possible to determine whether the penalties in CD are milder compared to 1QS, since
six days “punishment” (of food rations) cannot be compared to one year “separation”
(from the “purity”). On the penal code of 1QS and CD, see further Lawrence H.
Schiffman, Sectarian Law in the Dead Sea Scrolls: Courts, Testimony, and the Penal Code (BJS
33; Chico, CA: Scholars Press, 1983), 155–90.
31. The parallel to CD 14.20–21 in 1QS 6.25 has Nwh, while 4Q261 frag. 2 line 3
has the variant Nwmm for the reading in 1QS 6.25. For the 1QS reading of Nwmm in 6.2,
the scrolls 4Q258 frag. 1 1.3 and 4Q263 frag. 1 line 3 read Nwh. Another occurrence
of Nwmm can be found in 1Q27 frag. 1 2.5, also next to Nwh. In the Aramaic Targum on
Job (on Job 27:16–17; 11Q10 11.8), Nwmm is the translation for “silver” (Psk); see
Joseph A. Fitzmyer and Daniel J. Harrington, A Manual of Palestinian Aramaic Texts
(BibOr 34; Rome: Biblical Institute Press, 1978), 20.