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

184 THE TWO SPIRITS IN QUMRAN THEOLOGY
of the masculine gender in the similar expression, “the spirits of truth and
deceit” (1QS 4.23), indicates a reference to the good and evil spirits
which fill the cosmos, for throughout the remainder of Qumran literature
references to angelic beings as “spirits” occur with relative consistency in
the male gender. According to Sekki, the author of this essay on the two
spirits allows these two interpretations to coexist in order to teach that
“the pious must deal not only with their own sinful nature but also with
the problem of demonic attack.” 41 (3) Alongside references to two human
dispositions and a multiplicity of angelic and demonic beings, the author
of 1QS 3.13–4.26 refers as well to the singular spirit of God as the “spirit
of holiness” and the “spirit of truth” (4.21) in an eschatological context
replete with traditional allusions to Isa 44:3, Joel 3:1, and Ezek 36:25–27.
1QS 3–4, therefore, preserves various conceptions of the spirit as dispositions,
angels, and an eschatological reality in order to reinterpret the traditional
view of the sect for whom God, through the holy spirit, will
deliver God’s people from sin in the last days by describing the eschatological
holy spirit as the spirit of truth (1 QS 3.18–19). “In this way the
author indicates that the ‘holy Spirit’ which will come from God in the
future is really none other than the good spirituality given to the sectarian
at his creation.” 42
Synthesis
This altogether too brief survey of scholarly positions on the two spirits
suggests how little consensus there is even amongst scholars who agree
that the cosmic and anthropological interpretations of the two spirits
coexist in 1QS 3–4. The solution to this conundrum, then, is one of the
desiderata of Qumran scholarship.
Despite this lack of consensus, a return to the first decade of studies
may suggest a complementarity in these studies that has led to the
embrace of various interpretations of the spirit in 1QS 3–4. Kuhn and
Dupont-Sommer provided, via external parallels, a credible explanation
of the stark opposition of two cosmic spirits: the influence of Persian cultural
hegemony, particularly Zoroastrian dualism, made inroads into
early Jewish theology. What this hypothesis could not satisfactorily
explain—the struggle within individuals—Wernberg-Møller, by approaching
41. Sekki, Meaning, 211. See also 4Q510, 1, 6, in which the demons attempt to
destroy the heart of the faithful.
42. Sekki, Meaning, 217–18.