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

JOSEPH M. BAUMGARTEN 101
There is likewise an abundance of lustral metaphors applied to the
divine spirit, which purifies man as water that is sprinkled or poured out
upon those in need of cleansing. Jubilees 1:23 speaks of the Lord’s assurance
of Israel’s penitence and return to him: “And I shall create for them
a holy spirit, and I shall purify them.” In the Rule of the Community 4.20–21
the divine purification of man is depicted as follows:
hdn ymk tma) xwr wyl( zyw h(#r twlyl( lwkm #dwq xwrb wrh+l
To purify him by the holy spirit from all works of wickedness and shed
upon him the spirit of truth like sprinkling water.
Here the purifying effect of the holy spirit, apparently synonymous with
the spirit of truth, is juxtaposed with the sprinkling of water. The context
of this passage is eschatological, and appears to echo Joel 3:1: “And it
shall come to pass afterwards, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh;
and your sons and daughters shall prophesy.” However, the biblical
prophets were also depicted as speaking through the holy spirit (1QS
8.16), and the purifying function of the holy spirit was believed to continue
in the present life of the community, as is clear from the Thanksgiving
Hymns (1QH) 8.21 (K#dwq xwrb ynrh+l), 1QS 3.7, and 4Q255 2.1.
The use of the verb qcy “to pour” for the holy spirit (as in 4Q504 1–2,
line 15, wnyl( hk#dwq xwr t) htqcy) shows how readily the spirit
could be conceived as acting concomitantly with the rituals of lustration.
In a significant passage (4Q414 10.7) God is described as the one who
wills 10 [C]xwr ymymb wm( rh+l “to purify his people in cleansing
water.” The collective formulation, “to purify his people,” again underlines
the communal aspect of purification as ritually affecting all of Israel.
The fact that purification was intimately associated with the holy spirit
at Qumran is likely to raise new questions concerning the baptism of
John as portrayed in the synoptic gospels and the book of Acts.
According to these John, himself, described his baptism of repentance as
limited to water, while that of the “one who is coming” would be a
baptism with the holy spirit. 11 This raises the question why John would
have rejected or postponed to the future the pneumatic aspect of purification
which had already emerged so saliently at Qumran. David
10. The restoration of the word [C]xwr seems open to question, since Cxr is not
spelled with a waw, and the restored phrase appears elsewhere in Qumran as Cxr ym.
I considered the possibility that the traces of the letter after xwr might be compatible
with a qôp, thus suggesting the possible restoration [w#d]q xwr ymymb wm( rh+l
“to purify his people with the water of his holy spirit.” However, Stephen Pfann, who
graciously examined PAM 43.482, concludes that [C]xwr seems preferable.
11. Mark 1:5–6 and par.; Acts 19:1–7.