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

ELISHA QIMRON 197
B. DUALISM AND THE DAY OF JUDGMENT
Surely, God knows who is righteous and who is wicked; and on the Day
of Judgement, He will annihilate all the evildoers. He has, however, not
revealed this secret to any human being. How could the community
ensure that no evildoers be within it? As said above, all those who intentionally
and openly transgressed were expelled and all the others
remained within. Were there no dubious cases? This simple question has
never been asked. Prima facie evidence of dubious cases would surely contradict
the assumed dualistic approach. Is it not more reasonable to
assume that in human decision, there may be cases of doubt? Two passages
in the Dead Sea Scrolls do indeed deal with doubtful cases. Both,
however, were totally misinterpreted, because of the ignorance of the
practical aspect, the misreading of one of these texts and as a result of
the assumed dualism bias discussed above.
These texts deal with a group who entered the community, yet
retained some of their old perverse ways with regard to the performance
of the Torah commandments. Since these men were neither purely righteous
nor purely wicked, it was impossible to decide whether or not they
should be expelled from the community and consigned to Belial.
Benefiting from the doubt, it was determined that they would remain in
the community until Elijah arises on the Day of Judgment and decides in
each case. They were, however, not allowed to partake in the common
property symbolizing the mutual responsibility and common fate. Let us
discuss these two passages. The first one is 1QS 9.5–11:
#dwqh y#n) Nwhw[…]#dwq tyb dxyh y#n) wlydby )yhh t(b
Mymtb Myklwhh
wkzh )wl r#) hymrh y#n) Nwh M( Mnwh br(ty l) Krd
lw(m ldbhl Mkrd
tkll w)cy )wl hrwth tc( lwkmw Krd Mymtb tkllw
Mbl twryr# lwkb
d( Mb rsytl dxyh y#n) wlxh r#) Mynw#rh My+p#mb w+p#nw
l)r#yw Nwrh) yxy#mw )ybn )wb
The prevailing interpretation of this passage may be exemplified by the
translation of Geza Vermes:
5:5–7, 13, Josh 7:1. Note also l(mb M)w drmb M) Josh 22:22. Also see Jehuda L.
Palache, Semantic Notes on the Hebrew Lexicon (Leiden: Brill, 1959), 10–12, 45 (I am
indebted to my friend Chaim Cohen for this reference).