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

314 DAILY AND FESTIVAL PRAYERS AT QUMRAN
validity and value of offering religious sacrifices to God. This has led
some scholars to conclude that the practice of prayer had in part
replaced the sacrificial system, in particular, the sacrifices associated with
the Temple at Jerusalem. 35 However, 4Q508 frag. 9, line 1 contains a reference
to “offerings,” and 4Q508 frag. 13, line 3 mentions a meal offering
of “gr[ain,] new wine, and olive oil.” Hence, it is possible that some
offering of nonanimal sacrifices may have accompanied prayer as a
means of atonement and expiation. The process of individual and community
atonement included but also extended beyond the regular practice
of prayer. Other elements involved participating in rituals of purity,
obeying the commandments, observing festivals, confessing sin and
receiving forgiveness. 36 Worship, forgiveness, offerings, and obedience
were part of the larger dynamic of the community’s life of liturgy and
prayer at Qumran.
CONCLUSION
These fragmentary collections of prayers provide tantalizing glimpses
into a vibrant life of prayer and liturgy within the desert community of
Qumran. The three major collections surveyed represent three different
systems or schedules of prayer. The prayers in 4Q503 are individual
prayers or blessings assigned for the evening and the morning for each of
the successive days of the month. The prayers in 4Q504-506 are thematic
prayers for individual days of the week. The theme for Sunday was
creation, Wednesday was the covenant, Friday was the confession of sin
and forgiveness, and Saturday was praise. The prayers in 1Q34–1Q34 bis
35. Lawrence H. Schiffman, “The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Early History of Jewish
Liturgy,” 42. 4Q508 frag. 15, col. 1, line 1 does contain the verb “to sacrifice.”
However, this isolated occurrence does not overturn the prevailing notion in the
Qumran texts that prayer in some way takes over some of the function of the sacrifices
at the Temple in Jerusalem. In reference to 1QS 8–9, Michael Knibb argues that
“despite some uncertainties of translation these words seem to constitute a clear statement
that prayer and right behavior would take the place of sacrifice as the means of
effecting atonement” (Qumran Community, 138). See also Shemaryahu Talmon, “The
Emergence of Institutionalized Prayer in Israel in the Light of Qumran Literature,” in
Qumrân: Sa Piété, sa Théologie et son Milieu (ed. M. Delcor; BETL 46; Paris: Duculot,
1978), 265–84; repr., in The World of Qumran from Within: Collected Studies (Jerusalem:
Magnes; Leiden: Brill, 1989), 200–243.
36. As an example, 1QS 3.4–12 and 9.3–5 state that according to the Torah, the
offering of the lips replaces the flesh and fat of burnt offerings on the altar as an
acceptable means of expiation.