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

PHILIP R. DAVIES 229
an assembly of nations for destruction without remnant” (14.5).
References to “Belial” and “Children of Darkness” toward the end of the
column suggest, however, that this piece has been edited in a dualistic
direction (14.9, 17). (This is not a convenient speculation, for a parallel
text of the hymn from Cave 4 lacks any sectarian vocabulary at all.)
The final section, columns 15–19, describes a seven-stage battle in
which the forces of light and darkness are alternately successful. The
battle sequences are developed from those of columns 7–9 and simply
repeated the necessary number of times. But interspersed are framing
passages, speeches, and hymns that sustain the dualistic presentation.
The opening speech of the priests is not that from Deuteronomy but a
short discourse on the character of the enemy.
The text presents the battle as taking place according to a precise and
preordained plan, according to which even the enemy falls dead at the
required moment. Yet in the second engagement, the children of darkness
rally and the forces of light withdraw. This necessitates another speech
(16.15–17.9), explaining that the righteous slain have fallen “according to
the mysteries of God,” and that the final victory is nevertheless assured.
The setback is a “test”: God will send help. But this help apparently
comes in the person of the heavenly prince Michael. It is to be assumed
that Michael and the “Prince of light” are here identified, but although
Michael is the agent of Israel’s deliverance in the book of Daniel, the
“Prince of light” is generally unnamed.
In column 18, the final victory is described, as “Asshur,” the “children
of Japhet,” and the Kittim are finally routed by the “great hand of God”
(18.1). Perhaps in a reminiscence of the battle of Aijalon near Gibeon in
Joshua 10, as the sun hastens (or does not hasten—there is a gap in the
text), a final blessing of the “God of Israel” is uttered (18.6). Next comes
the hymn earlier given in column 12, glorifying God as the “glorious
king” (19.1) whose sword “devours flesh” (19.4). Whether or not the War
Scroll originally ended here, or shortly after, is unknown, but the extant
text concludes aptly with ascription of victory to God.
Evaluation
The War Scroll is curious not only in its literary complexity and its not
always elegant combination of so many different ideological perspectives.
It displays two particularly interesting paradoxes. One is its rather clumsy
overlaying of an ethical/sectarian perspective over a nationalistic one. But
this is a feature shared by a great deal of early Jewish literature. One suspects