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

116 A STUDY IN SHARED SYMBOLISM AND LANGUAGE
created at Qumran (I am convinced that it originated with the Righteous
Teacher). Note these termini technici and the resulting dualistic paradigm.
Except for “Sons of Darkness,” all these technical terms are found in a
self-contained, short, memorable section of the Rule (e.g., cols. 3–4):
light darkness
Sons of Light [Sons of Darkness; see 1QS 1.10]
Angel of Light Angel of Darkness
Angel of Truth Spirit of Perversity
Sons of Truth Sons of Perversity
Sons of Righteousness Sons of Perversity
spring of light well of darkness
walking in the ways of light walking in the ways of darkness
truth perversity
God loves God hates
everlasting life punishment, then extinction
All these technical terms appear together in one section of the Rule. They
are termini technici and they form a paradigm.
This paradigm explains the human condition by clarifying that God
“created the spirits of light and darkness” (1QS 3.25), that “he founded
every work upon them” (3.25), and that all humans, including the “Sons
of Light,” err because of the Angel of Darkness (3.22). 59 All these terms
(except for “Sons of Darkness”) are clustered in a focused passage to be
taught to and, in my judgment, memorized by those who wish to cross
over the barrier and into the Qumran Community. This section, Rule
3.13–4.14, contains the quintessential dualistic teaching of the
Qumranites. “Sons of Light” is almost always unique to Qumran theology
and is the sect’s self-designation. 60 The term is defined in 1QS
3.13–4.26 (3.13, 24, 25; cf. 1.9; 2.16; 3.3) and is found in many other
59. Clearer in the Horoscopes than in the Rule is the explanation that each Son of
Light has a mixture of darkness along with light (see esp. 4Q186). Each human has
nine parts, some of light and others of darkness. Some humans are very evil, having
eight parts of darkness and one of light. Other humans are nearly perfect, having
eight parts of light and one of darkness.
60. The technical term “Sons of Light” has been found only in Qumran compositions
and in documents influenced by Qumran theology. See David Flusser, Judaism
and the Origins of Christianity (Jerusalem: Magnes, 1988), esp. 26; idem, “The Parable
of the Unjust Steward: Jesus’ Criticism of the Essenes,” in Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls
(ed. J. H. Charlesworth; ABRL; New York: Doubleday, 1992), 176–97. Bauckham,
“The Qumran Community and the Gospel of John,” claims that I “misrepresent the
matter” when I claim that “the expression ‘sons of light’ is characteristic of Qumran
and John” (109). He quotes me correctly, and from John and the Dead Sea Scrolls, 101.
Bauckham claims that “sons of light” appears in Luke 16:8; 1 Thess 5:5; and