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

62 THE COVENANT IN QUMRAN
3. 28:7–14, 20–68 elaboration by the Deuteronomic author.
That the ceremony of blessings and cursings on Mt. Gerizim and Mt.
Ebal (27:11–13) respectively refer to the series of blessings and curses in
Deut 28:3–6, 16–19 was already observed by Ibn Ezra. It was also Ibn
Ezra who saw that the curse proclamations in Deut 27:14–26 apply to
transgressions perpetrated in secrecy.
It is indeed interesting that both types of anathema—cursing the violators
of the oath and banning transgressors—are attested in Greek covenantal oaths.
Thus, for instance, in the oaths taken by the members of the amphictyony
against Cirrha (the first “holy war,” 590 B.C.E.) we read (Aeschines,
Ctes. 3.109–111):
If anyone should violate this, whether city, private man or tribe, 11 let them
be under the curse…that their land have no fruit; that their wives have
children not like those who begat them, but monsters; that their flocks
yield not their natural increase; that defeat await them in court and camp
and their gathering place.
Similarly in the Greek’s oath at Plataea 12 before the battle with the
Persians (479 B.C.E.):
If I observe what is written in the oath my city will be free of disease; if not
it shall be such…and the earth shall bear fruits; if not it shall be barren; and
the women shall bear children like their parents, if not, they shall bear monsters;
and the flock shall bear like the flock; if not they shall be monsters.
These blessings and curses are strikingly similar to the series of
blessings and curses in Deut 28:3–6, 16–19 quoted above. As in the
Greek’s oath of Plataea every blessing in Deut 28:3–6 has its corresponding
curse. And the content of the series is identical with that of the
Greek oath: fertility of the soil, women and the flock. The element of
“coming and going” in Deuteronomy is identical with the element of success
or failure in camp, court, and agora in the Greek oath. 13
Furthermore the element of sickness, which occurs in the oath of Plataea,
is identical with the series of blessings and curses in the ancient epilogue
to the Covenant Code. In Exod 23:25–26:
11. Compare Deut 29:17 in connection with the oath at the plains of Moab: “perhaps
there is among you some man or woman or some clan or tribe.” In Deuteronomy
13 we also find warning against instigators from a family or city. For similar warning
in ancient Near Eastern treaties, see Weinfeld, DDS, 91–116.
12. Cf. Peter Siewart, Der Eid von Plataiai, (Munich: Beck, 1972), 5–7.
13. The coming and going Kt)cw K)wb in Deut 28:6, 19 refer to war activities
(see Num 27:17, Josh 14:11; 1 Sam 18:16; 29:6 as well as the participation in judicial
procedure in Gen 23:18; 34:24).