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

296 QUMRAN COMMUNITY STRUCTURE AND TERMINOLOGY
considered as belonging to Mybrh (see 1QS 6.13–23). In fact, examining
and accepting the candidates for membership was a major duty of
Mybrh, and here we see a difference between the Rule of the Community
and the Damascus Document: according to the Rule of the Community the
group of Mybrh is superior to rqbmh in matters related to the new
members (see esp. 1QS 6.13–23, where the final decision is made by the
authority of Mybrh, not by rqbmh). In the Damascus Document the relationship
between the two seems to be the reverse: The mebaqqer has a
more important role in accepting a new member (CD 15.7–15), and it is
the duty of rqbmh to instruct Mybrh (CD 13.7).
A rule for the session of the rabbim (Mybrh b#wm) has been recorded
in 1QS 6.8–13, and a comparison between 1QS 6.8 and 10 indicates that
Mybrh b#wm and dxyh tc( were two different names for the same
community meeting. Somewhat confusing is the observation that
whereas in 1QS 6.8 the term dxyh tc( seems to designate an organizational
body within the community, “a council of the community,” the
sections 1QS 5.7–20 and 6.13–23 dealing with the admission of new
members seem to use term dxyh tc( synonymously with dxyh (see
esp. 5.7, and cf. 6.13 with 6.18 and 23). The community meeting termed
twnxmh lk b#wm in CD 14.3 appears to have had a function similar to
that of the Mybrh b#wm of the Rule of the Community (cf. esp. CD 14.3–6
and 1QS 6.8–10). In the Rule of the Congregation, the rabbim is never mentioned.
Instead, the terms M#h y#n) b#wm and dxyh tc(l d(wm
(both in 1QSa 2.11) are used.
III. EXAMPLES OF REDACTIONALACTIVITY TO INCREASE
THEOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE ORGANIZATIONAL TERMS
Among the copies of the Rule of the Community manuscripts 4QS b,d (4Q256,
4Q258) contain a text which is considerably shorter than that of 1QS.
Despite the fact that both 4QS b and 4QS d are palaeographically later than
1QS, they have transmitted a more original text than 1QS. A comparison
between the versions of 4QS b,d and 1QS reveals a process of redaction,
the purpose of which was to strengthen the self-understanding of the
community and to emphasize its role as the true keeper of the covenant.
Several of the editorial changes involve terms related to community
organization, and the words absent from 4QS b,d but added in 1QS
demonstrate the theological significance attached to the terms.