historical perspectives: from the hasmoneans to bar kokhba in light ...

SHELAMZION IN QUMRAN 65
the same vain: "You shall not abhor an Edomite, for he is your
brother; you shall not abhor an Egyptian, because you were a
sojourner in his land. The sons of the third generation that are born
to them may enter the assembly of the Lord" and the midrash adds
"sons, not daughters" (Sifre Deut. 253). Sometimes the issue is not
quite so simple. Deut. 15:12 reads "If your brother, a Hebrew man
or a Hebrew woman, is sold to you, he shall serve you six years."
On the complication that ensues in a case where the owner dies
during this period, the midrash comments: "a Hebrew slave (continues
to) serve the son but not the daughter." Furthermore, in Deut.
19:17 it states: "Then both men disputing shall stand before the
Lord." Here the midrash must concede "both men: does this refer
only to cases were there are two men? How about a man and a
woman or a woman and a man or two women? It is written 'disputing'—This
means all." However, just in case we misunderstood
the uniqueness of this case, the midrash adds: "Does this mean that
a woman is a reliable witness? It is written here 'both' and it is written
'both' elsewhere (verse 16). Since 'both' there means men and
not women, so too here 'both' means men and not women" (Sifre
Deut. 190). Thus even in cases that are not straightforward, the
gender-exclusive exegesis is maintained.
The midrash on Queen Shelamzion is thus unique in the context
of Sifre Deuteronomy in that it affirms the queenship of Shelamzion
over and against the exclusivist editorial approach of the compilation
and specifically against the texts that exclude women from queenship
and other leadership roles. This aspect, together with the considerations
discussed above, confirms the relative antiquity of this text.
We may thus conclude that the Qumranic midrash on Hosea is
a sectarian response to the notion circulated by the Pharisees that
Queen Shelamzion's reign was so idyllic, that at that time the promise
of God's bounty on earth was realised. The Dead Sea sect rejoined
by recruiting a verse from Hosea—the biblical antithesis of the verse
of bounty from Deuteronomy—and applying it to the reign of
Shelamzion (together with the wanton woman who, in their mind,
represented the queen). They also went on to refer to the wars
between the Queen's sons that raged after her death and to the terrible
famine that followed. 12 This was their answer to the pharisaic
propaganda.
12 The notion that the queen is to blame for the sibling war that, after her death,