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

104 THE LAW AND SPIRIT OF PURITY AT QUMRAN
The penitential tone of the 4Q512 purification liturgy is readily recognizable.
It is illustrated by extant confessional phrases such as
rpktw hdn twr(m ynrh+tw “You have cleansed me from the turpitude
of impurity and atoned” (29–32 7.8), 17 wnr#b twr( lwkm “from all the
turpitude of our flesh” (36–38 3.17), hm#) twrtsn “hidden trespasses
of guilt” and hdnh (gnm “from the plague of impurity” (34 col. 5). M.
Baillet surmised that these were all allusions to sexual impurity.
Interestingly, the phrase h)m+ twdnmw “and from defiling impurity” and
other uses of hdn in the sense of impurity are found in 1–6 col. 12, a column
which mentions the “holy ashes” and the sprinkling waters. This would
lend support to the aforementioned premise that sprinkling was used also
for the purification of defilements other than those stemming from corpses.
CONCLUSION
Although fragmentary, the purification liturgies add to our understanding
of the purpose and spiritual dimension of the lustrations practiced at
Qumran. Far from being merely external acts for the removal of ritual
uncleanliness, the purifications were viewed as the means by which the
holy spirit restores the corporate purity of Israel. 4Q284 alludes to communal
cleansing in preparation for the Sabbaths and the festivals. But
individuals, too, who bathed themselves to remove the different categories
of uncleanliness or in order to be admitted to a higher level of
purity in the community, were made conscious of the indispensability
of penitence to make them worthy of renewed sanctification.
The affinities between the views of purification at Qumran and those
of John the Baptist, long recognized by scholars, appear to be enhanced
by the liturgical texts. The hypothetical distinctions concerning the onetime
nature of John’s baptism, its administration by an external authority,
and its noninvolvement of the holy spirit are in need of reevaluation.
The discovery of the Scrolls fifty years ago opened a window into an
ancient Jewish world in which ritual and religious purity were intimately
associated. That world, in which the sanctity of the Temple was to some
extent extrapolated into the sphere of daily life, could not practically be
preserved after its destruction. Henceforth the offerings required for
purification could no longer be brought and the lack of sprinkling water
17. The phraseology of the purification liturgy found in 4Q414 likewise reflects the
theme of atonement rpk.