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

230 THE QUMRAN CONCEPT OF TIME
has been revealed to sectarian community: “Should he err in any matter
of the Torah revealed to the multitude of the camp (Nm hlgn r#) lkw
hnxmh bwrl hrwth), the Examiner shall ma[ke it known] to him and
enjoin it upon him, and te[ac]h (him) for (a minimum of) one complete
year” (15.13–15). 128 After discussing the exclusion of the physically and
mentally impaired, the passage returns to discussing the return to the
Torah of Moses;
Similarly, 129 a man shall take upon himself (an oath) to return to the Torah
of Moses (h#m trwt l) bw#l 130 K#pn l( #y)h Mwqy), for in it everything
is specified. And the explication of their times, when Israel was blind
to all these; behold it is specified in the Book of the Divisions of the Times
in their Jubilees and in their Weeks. 131 And on the day when a man takes
upon himself (an oath) to return to the Torah of Moses (w#pn l( #y)h Mwqy
h#m trwt l) bw#l), the angel Mastema shall turn aside from after him,
if he fulfills his words (CD MS A 16.1–5).
In this passage, “the Book of the Divisions of the Times in their
Jubilees and in their Weeks” is a reference to the ancient title of the book
of Jubilees. Moreover, the reference to Jubilees is framed by the phrase
h#m trwt l) bw#l w#pn l( #y)h Mwqy. The passage emphasizes
that “in it (i.e., the Torah of Moses) everything is specified” (lkh hb
qdqwdm). 132 Thus, the presence of angels is affirmed in the community
which understands itself as returning to the Torah, which includes the
correct calendar.
The context of the third passage, from the War Scroll, is the final war
between the Sons of Light against the Sons of Darkness. The War Scroll
describes the time when “the congregation of divine beings and the
assembly of men, the Sons of Light and the lot of Darkness, will war
together” (dxy Mymxln K#wx lrwgw rw) ynb My#n) tlhqw Myl) td(;
128. Cf. 1QS 5.8–10 where the initiate swears “to return to the Torah of Moses …
according to everything which has been revealed from it to the Sons of Zadok” (lwkl
qwdc ynbl hnmm hlgnh).
129. Baumgarten translates Nk as “Therefore.” Nk probably functions comparatively
as in 15.6 where a comparison is made between the oath of the covenant and the
(oath) to return to the Torah of Moses. Here, in 16.1, the previous sentence ends
“with you a covenant and with all Israel” and Nk marks a transition to the “(oath) to
return to the Torah of Moses.”
130. Read w)pw (see line 4; see also 4Q271 frag. 4 2.4).
131. This is the ancient title of Jubilees. See earlier note, which discusses the evidence
for Jubilees as a tradition inherited by the Qumran Community.
132. Note that this is consistent with 1QS 5.9, where what has been revealed to the
Sons of Zadok “has been revealed from it” (hnmm hlgnh), i.e., the Torah of Moses
in 5.8.