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

228 THE QUMRAN CONCEPT OF TIME
limping or a man who (has) a permanent blemish in his flesh or a man
stricken with uncleanness of his flesh, all of these they shall not go with
them to war. All of them shall be volunteers of war, and perfect of spirit
and flesh, and ready for the Day of Vengeance. And every man who is not
purified from his discharge on the day of war shall not go down with them,
for the holy angels (are) together with their hosts (Mtw)bc M( #dwq yk)lm )yk;
1QM 7.3–6). 120
Although the context of the passages differs, the exclusion of certain
individuals in each is based on the presence of angels. The broad context
of the passage in Rule of the Congregation 121 is provided by its incipit;
“And this is the rule for the entire Congregation of Israel in the latter
days” (Mymyh tyrx)b l)r#y td( lwkl Krsh hzw; 1QS a 1.1 122 )
which provides instruction for, among other things, a messianic feast
immediately following the exclusion passage (see 1QS a 2.11–22). The
specific context of 1QS a 2.11–22 is at the end of a passage that began in
1.25b–27, indicated by the vacat between 1.25a and b:
And when there will be a convocation of 123 the entire assembly for
judgment, or for the Council of the Community, or for a convocation of
war, they shall sanctify them(selves) three days so that everyone entering
shall be pre[pared for the Co]uncil.
120. See transcription and translation of Jean Duhaime, “War Scroll (1QM,
1Q33),” in The Dead Sea Scrolls: Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek Texts with English Translations,
Vol. 2, Damascus Document, War Scroll, and Related Documents (ed. J. H. Charlesworth et
al.; PTSDSSP 2; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck; Louisville: Westminster John Knox,
1995), 110–11.
121. The Rule of the Congregation is attested on only one extant manuscript, 1Q28, on
which is also found the Rule of the Community (1QS) and Blessings (1Q28b). See Józef T.
Milik, “Annexes à la règle de la communauté,” in Qumran Cave 1 (DJD 1; Oxford:
Clarendon, 1955), 107–18, esp. 107 and pls. 22–24.
122. Schiffman understands this document as providing the rules for Israel at a
future time when “[t]he entire community of Israel is to be identified with the sect in
the end of days” (The Eschatological Community, 12). The future reference is established
by the references to the messiahs in 2.11–22 (cf. Talmon, “Waiting for the Messiah”).
Stegemann rightly points out that despite the presence of the Messiahs, the context is
still the last days of an evil age since the final War is yet to occur (see 1Q28a 1.21,
26; Stegemann, Die Essener, Qumran, Johannes der Täufer und Jesus [Freiburg: Herder,
1993], 159–63; followed by Annette Steudel, “Mymyh tyrx) in the Texts from
Qumran,” 230–31). Although the document points to a future age, the specificity of
the rules suggests that the Rule of the Congregation is not merely speculative. As
Schiffman suggests, the rules were probably practiced in the Community in anticipation
of the future (see the section entitled “The Future as a Mirror of the Present,” in
The Eschatological Community, 35–36).
123. Following the translation of Schiffman here and later in the passage; for discussion
see his The Eschatological Community, 29–30.