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

CHAPTER THIRTEEN
QUMRAN COMMUNITY STRUCTURE AND
TERMINOLOGY AS THEOLOGICAL STATEMENT 1
Sarianna Metso
I. INTRODUCTION
The organizational terminology used in the Qumran writings is puzzling
in its diversity. 2 This diversity is apparent in all levels of the community
structure: the community as a whole, the different groups of members,
the community officials, and the organizational units. This article will
attempt to answer a number of questions that I had laid out for future
discussion in a previous article:
Should we think that the use of different organizational terms indicates the
existence of different types of groups? Or is it possible that a single group or
functionary had several names in use simultaneously? Or was the use of
1. This chapter was originally prepared for the Princeton conference in 1997. A
revised form of it was meanwhile published as, “Qumran Community Structure and
Terminology as Theological Statement,” RevQ 20/79 (2002): 429–44. The present
chapter is further revised and updated.
2. This is well recognized, e.g., by James H. Charlesworth, one of the two authors of the
entry “Community Organization,” in EDSS. His view of the possibility of finding any clarity
in the matter is somewhat pessimistic: “Numerous technical terms designating social groups
or leaders are found in the Rule of the Community. It is not wise to seek to systematize the
meanings of all these terms and relate them, because the quintessential Qumran document
reflects the evolutionary nature of the Qumran community; that is, the terms most likely had
different meanings at different periods in the history of the community and perhaps also at the
same time.” Idem, “Community Organization in the Rule of the Community,” EDSS
1:133–36, esp. 133–34. For the other two parts of that article, see Michael A. Knibb,
“Community Organization in the Damascus Document,” 1:136–38, and “Community
Organization in Other Texts,” 1:138–40. See also Nathan Jastram, “Hierarchy at Qumran,” in
Legal Texts and Legal Issues: Proceedings of the Second Meeting of the International Organization for Qumran
Studies, Cambridge 1995; Published in Honour of Joseph M. Baumgarten (ed. M.J. Bernstein, F. García
Martínez, and J. Kampen; STDJ 23; Leiden: Brill, 1997), 349–76; Charlotte Hempel,
“Community Structures in the Dead Sea Scrolls: Admission, Organization, Disciplinary
Procedures,” in The Dead Sea Scrolls after Fifty Years: A Comprehensive Assessment (ed. P. W.
Flint, J. C. VanderKam, and A. E. Alvarez; 2 vols.; Leiden: Brill, 1998–1999), 2:67–92.
283