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

SARIANNA METSO 287
The whole work of the Rule of the Congregation can be seen as reflecting
the theology attached to the term hd(. The group is referred to as the
congregation of Israel (l)r#y td(1QSa 1.1, 20; 2.12), sometimes as
the holy congregation (#dwq td( / #dwqh td( 1.9, 12–13) or simply
as the congregation (hd(h 1.17, 23; 2.5, 7, 8, 10). It is the congregation
of the men of renown (M#h y#w[n]) td( 2.8), consisting of the wise
men of the congregation, the commanders of the tribes, the judges and
officers, and the commanders of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens,
and the Levites. In one instance the term dxyh td( lwk is used (2.21),
and there it may be synonymous with dxyh tc(, which occurs several
lines earlier in 2.11. 10
The term hd( is frequently mentioned also in CD, in both the
Admonition and the Laws. Four times the term occurs with the third person
masculine suffix referring to God (wtd( 8.13; 13.10, 11; 19.26).
Particularly often hd( occurs in the titles or designations of persons or
officials: (hd(h lk )y#n (7.20), hd(h y+p# (10.4, 8 par. 4QDe [=
4Q270] frag. 6, col. 4, lines 15, 18), hd(h Nm Myrwrb My#n) hr#( d(
(10.5 par. 4QDe [= 4Q270] frag. 6, col. 4, lines 15–16), hd(h y)b
(14.10). In CD, there is a reference to a congregation of the men of perfect
holiness, #dqh Mymt y#n) td( (20.2), and J. Baumgarten has
argued that #dqh Mymt y#n) td( would signify an inner group, more
advanced in their piety, within the Essene community. 11 It may be noted
TDOT 10:468–81. To the military and legal aspects of the term, a ritual or cultic
dimension should be added, as pointed out by Levy and Milgrom, 473–74.
10. This conclusion is based on the assumption that the officials and groups
mentioned in 1QSa 2.12–17 together constitute the full membership of the community,
who are summoned for the “assembly of the council of the community”
(dxyh tc(l d(wm 2.11): cf. 1QSa 1.25–26, “If the whole assembly (lhqh lwk) is
summoned, whether for judgment, or for a council of the community (dxy tc()…”
In 1QSa 2.17–21, “the whole congregation of the community” (dxyh td( lwk)
seems to include everyone else except the two messiahs. Thus, it seems likely to me
that dxyh td( lwk (2.21) and dxyh tc( (1.26; 2.11) are synonymous. However,
the question is complicated by the likelihood that the latter part of the manuscript
starting with 2.11, forms a redactionally separate unit. Further indication that
dxyh td( lwk(2.21) and dxyh tc( (1.26; 2.11) are synonymous and refer to the
full membership of the community is given by 1QS, for the sections dealing with the
admission of the new members seem to use the term dxyh tc( synonymously with
dxyh (see 1QS 5.7, and cf. 6.13 with 6.18 and 23). See below section D. “The Names
Used for Organizational Units within the Community.” Heinz-Josef Fabry (TDOT
10:481), on the other hand, referring to 1QSa 2.21 and 4QpPsa (4Q171) 1–10, col. 4,
line 19, suggests that dxyh td( “constituted a subdivision” of dxyh.
11. Joseph M. Baumgarten, “The Duodecimal Courts of Qumran, Revelation and
Sanhedrin,” JBL 95 (1976): 59–78; repr., in Studies in Qumran Law (SJLA 24; Leiden: Brill, 1977),
145–71; and idem, “The Qumran-Essene Restraints on Marriage,” in Archaeology and History in the
Dead Sea Scrolls (ed. L. H. Schiffman; JSPSup 8; Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1990), 13–24,
esp. 18, n23.