the-bible-and-the-dead-sea-scrolls

PHILIP R. DAVIES 225
seven engagements between the forces of light and darkness, ending with
the final victory, the despoiling of the slain, and the song of the returning
victors. Whether or not a substantial amount of material has been lost
from the end of the scroll, the preserved ending lies on an appropriate
note and allows the modern reader to gain a view of an entire eschatological
war.
History of Scholarship
Initial impressions of the War Scroll were that it was a unified composition;
and the earliest commentary, that of Jean Carmignac, even attributed the
work to the Righteous Teacher. 19 Yigael Yadin, in what remains the most
complete analysis to date, also upheld the unity of the work. 20 From an
evaluation of the armory and tactics described, he argued that it reflected
Republican (but not Imperial) Roman warfare, and that the author used
a number of sources.
The commentary of Johannes van der Ploeg accepted, however, that
the manuscript was composite and that columns 1 and 15–19, which
present a coherent account of a seven-stage battle, were supplemented by
other material expressing a nationalistic viewpoint, in which Israel
defeated the other nations of the world. 21 The monograph of Peter von
der Osten-Sacken on Qumran dualism in general included a more rigorous
analysis of the literary composition of 1QM and concluded that the
war dualism of 1QM represented the earliest stage of dualism in the
Qumran literature, with column 1 as the earliest stratum. 22
Philip R. Davies argued, however, that on internal literary-critical
grounds, the dualistic material in columns 15–19 was later than the
nationalistic material in 2–10. 23 He pointed out that column 14 contains
an earlier form of the dualistic rule in 15–19, in which the foes are Israel
and the nations, and suggested that column 1 represents a harmonizing
introduction (and thus the latest stratum), which places a seven-stage battle
19. Jean Carmignac, La Règle de la Guerre des Fils de Lumière contre les Fils de Ténèbres
(Paris: Letouzey et Ané, 1958).
20. Yigael Yadin, The Scroll of the War of the Sons of Light against the Sons of Darkness
(trans. B. Rabin and Ch. Rabin; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1962).
21. Johannes P. M. van der Ploeg, Le Rouleau de la Guerre (STDJ 2; Leiden: Brill, 1959).
22. Peter von der Osten-Sacken, Gott und Belial: Traditionsgeschichtliche Untersuchen zum
Dualismus in den Texten aus Qumran (SUNT 6; Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1969).
23. Philip R. Davies, 1QM, the War Scroll from Qumran: Its Structure and History (BibOr
32; Rome: Biblical Institute Press, 1977); idem, “Dualism and Eschatology in the War
Scroll,” VT 28 (1978): 28–36.