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

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64 THE COVENANT IN QUMRAN<br />

Cursed be <strong>the</strong> man who enters this covenant while walking among <strong>the</strong><br />

idols of his heart, who sets up before himself his stumbling block of sin so<br />

that he may backslide; hearing <strong>the</strong> words of this covenant, he blesses himself<br />

in his heart <strong>and</strong> says “Peace” be with me even though I walk in <strong>the</strong><br />

stubbornness of my heart whereas his spirit parched <strong>and</strong> watered shall be<br />

destroyed without pardon. God’s wrath <strong>and</strong> his zeal for his comm<strong>and</strong>s<br />

shall consume him in everlasting destruction. All <strong>the</strong> curses of <strong>the</strong><br />

Covenant shall cling16 to him:<br />

wynpl My#y wnww( lw#kmw twzh tyrbb rwb(l wbl ylwlgb rwr)<br />

wb gwshl<br />

.rwm)l wbblb Krbty twzh tyrbh yrbd t) w(mw#b hyhw<br />

Kl) ybl twryr#b )yk yl yhy Mwl#<br />

hxyls Ny)l hywrh M( h)mch wxwr htpsnw<br />

Mymlw( tlkl wb wr(by wy+p#m t)nqw l) P)<br />

twzh tyrbh twl) lwk wqbdw<br />

This is totally dependent on Deut 29:18–20.<br />

t)zh hl)h yrbd t) w(m#b hyhw<br />

Kl) ybl twryr#b yk yl hyhy Mwl# rm)l wbblb Krbthw<br />

h)mch t) hwrh twps N(ml<br />

wl xwls hwhy hb)y )l<br />

)whh #y)b wt)nq hyhw P) N#(y z) yk<br />

hzh rpsb hbwtkh hl)h lk wb hcbrw<br />

When such a one hears <strong>the</strong> words of <strong>the</strong>se sanctions, he may fancy himself<br />

immune, thinking “I shall be safe so I follow my own willful heart” to <strong>the</strong><br />

utter ruin of moist <strong>and</strong> dry alike. <strong>The</strong> Lord will never forgive him; ra<strong>the</strong>r<br />

will <strong>the</strong> Lord’s anger <strong>and</strong> passion rage against that man, till every sanction<br />

recorded in this book comes down upon him.<br />

This pericope contains a warning against harboring of treasonable<br />

thoughts. <strong>The</strong>se persons delude <strong>the</strong>mselves in thinking that since <strong>the</strong>y<br />

are committing no actual transgression no harm will befall <strong>the</strong>m (29:18),<br />

Kl) ybl twryr#b yk yl hyhy Mwl#. This idea appears in ancient treaties.<br />

Thus, for example, in <strong>the</strong> treaty between Suppiluliumas <strong>and</strong><br />

Huqqanas we read:<br />

If a Hittite man will do evil against me <strong>and</strong> you will not report it <strong>and</strong> you<br />

will even say: “I have sworn an oath-imprecation, I shall not speak <strong>and</strong> I<br />

16. wqbdw instead of hcbrw in Deut 29:18 LXX is identical with <strong>the</strong> Qumran versions,<br />

cf. <strong>the</strong> discussion by Alex<strong>and</strong>er Rofé , Introduction to Deuteronomy (Jerusalem:<br />

Akademon, 1986), 197.

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