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

MAGEN BROSHI 237
motive of hardening the heart, but for him it had a predestinarian nature
(e.g., Rom 9:17–18).
“THE TREATISE OF THE TWO SPIRITS” AND
OTHER PREDESTINARIAN DEAD SEA SCROLLS
Our starting point, and the basis of our research, will be a text that is the
only extant theological treatise in Jewish literature prior to the Middle
Ages. The text, part of the Manual of Discipline (1QS 3.13–4.26), is quite
a sizable composition, 40 lines, some of which are almost 20 words long.
From the God of Knowledge comes all that is occurring and shall occur.
Before they came into being he established all their design; and when they
come into existence in their fixed times they carry through their task
according to his glorious design. Nothing can be changed. (1QS 3.15–16) 8
This succinct preamble encapsulates the gist of the whole treatise: the
world is governed by the principle of dual predestination—the Lord has
preordained everything in it and let the “two spirits,” the “Spirit of Truth”
and the “Spirit of Falsehood,” conduct its affairs. This is an eloquent and
lucid exposition of the basic teachings of the Dead Sea Sect, i.e., the
Essenes. As we shall see later, there is a high probability that this treatise
belongs to a pre-Essene or proto-Essene stage but it became the most
important sectarian component in their teaching. 9 The doctrine of dual
predestination looms high also in the other three of the original sectarian
scrolls and we would like to mention briefly the manifestations of this
tenet in these works.
The Thanksgiving Scroll is a collection of psalm-like hymns, personal
prayers in which the author thanks God for saving him, a salvation due
to election, i.e., predestinarian salvation. The antithesis of God’s glory
versus man’s lowliness is repeated time and again. The poet describes
himself as “…a shape of clay kneaded in water, a ground of shame and
a source of pollution” (1.23–24). 10
8. James H. Charlesworth et al., eds., The Dead Sea Scroll: Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek
Texts with English Translations, Vol. 1, The Rule of the Community and Related Documents (PTS-
DSSP 1; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck; Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1994), 15.
9. Philip S. Alexander, “The Redaction-History of Serekh ha-Yahad: A Proposal,”
RevQ 17 (1996): 437–56.
10. Translation from Geza Vermes, The Dead Sea Scrolls: Qumran in Perspective
(London: Collins World, 1978).