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

198 THREE SOBRIQUETS, THEIR MEANING AND FUNCTION
The positive allusions to the title Nhwkh here make it impossible to interpret
these instances as referring to the Wicked Priest. 49
The confrontation between the two priests on Yom ha-Kippurim suggests
further implications. Since a priest was expected to fulfill the priestly
obligations on the Day of Atonement, both of them were, so to speak, out
of place. The Righteous Teacher had obviously withdrawn to somewhere
away from Jerusalem, and he and his companions were supposed to celebrate
Yom ha-Kippurim (Mtxwnm tb#$, “Sabbath of their repose”) at
their place of resort. It can be inferred from this passage that the Wicked
Priest was not due to celebrate the Day of Atonement on this particular
occasion. Consequently, the Wicked Priest must have followed a different
calendar. 50 This conclusion is supported by other documents in the
Qumran texts. In the fragments of Jubilees and in 1 Enoch found at
Qumran, a solar calendar of 364 days is presupposed. 51 Furthermore,
this calendar issue may be one of the reasons for the hostility between
these two parties. 52
It appears that the Wicked Priest was successful in his disturbance on
Yom ha-Kippurim. The first part of the lemma, cited from Hab 2:15,
reads “Woe to him who causes his neighbors to drink” (1QpHab 11.2).
This could well be an allusion to the fact that the party of the Righteous
Teacher was forced to break the fast on Yom ha-Kippurim. 53 At least this
might be the idea that the writer had in mind when he combined Hab
2:15 with the stumbling of the Righteous Teacher’s party on the Day of
Atonement. Notably, it is not stated anywhere that the Wicked Priest
specifically violated the Torah on this occasion; instead, the infliction fell
upon the Righteous Teacher and his adherents. 54
Conclusion for 1QpHab 11.2–8
Beyond doubt, in this passage a strong indignation is expressed toward
the Wicked Priest for disturbing the celebration on Yom ha-Kippurim. As
49. Here the textual context decides which reference this particular sobriquet
should have.
50. Shemaryahu Talmon, “Yom Hakippurim in the Habakkuk Scroll,” Biblica 32
(1951): 549–63; repr. in idem, The World of Qumran from Within: Collected Studies
(Jerusalem: Magnes; Leiden: Brill, 1989), 186–89.
51. James C. VanderKam, The Dead Sea Scrolls Today (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,
1994), 114.
52. Depending on how the document 4QMMT (= 4Q394–399) is regarded, it may
be evidence for an early converging view upon calendrical issues.
53. Talmon, “Yom Hakkippurim,” 190.
54. Ibid., 189.