Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered - The Preterist Archive

appear that this requires their leaving their homes during this period in order to dwell outside the
town. It is surprising to read in 1.7 that a 'scribe' or 'counter' kept records of the number of days of a
woman's menstrual cycle, and that the record-keeper could be a female. Since in the ancient world
women were much less likely than men to be literate, their inclusion in scribal activity is noteworthy.
Much of the text concerns the question of when those suffering the impurities under discussion are
allowed to partake of the 'purity' - priestly foodstuffs. The answer is that they are free to do so on the
seventh day, after bathing and washing their clothes. The more fragmentary portions of the text
apparently concerned impurities that could be transmitted by liquids.
The reference in Line 1.6 to 'the camps of the Holy Ones of Israel' (Kedoshim) is also interesting. This
allusion calls to mind materials in the War Scroll, vii.3-6 about the extreme purity regulations relating
to 'the Holy Angels' actually joining the camps of the Community, i.e. 'in the wilderness'. The same
allusion is recapitulated in CD, xv, where the blind, lame, deaf, simple, children, etc. are barred from
'the Community' or these camps, because of the presence of 'the Holy Angels among them'.
The term, taken as another name for the rank and file of the Community and those adhering to this
rule, paralleling 'the Many', also calls to mind Dan. 7:21-2's 'Saints' (Kedoshim) and 'Saints of the
Most High God'. Whatever the conclusion, the allusion at this point in this 'Halakhic' text brings this
movement even closer to the one founded by and centred around Judas Maccabee - thought by many
to be the subject of these allusions in Daniel. However this may be, there can be no doubt that the
spirit and purpose are the same, i.e. Holy War, which is, of course, the gist of the War Scroll's
statement that 'none of these shall march out to war with them. They shall be . . . Perfect in Spirit and
body prepared for the Day of Revenge' (vii.5). The allusion to 'camps', too, besides making it clear
that these 'camps' actually existed, implies multiple settlements of this kind and resonates strongly
with this usage in the apocalyptic and Messianic War Scroll and Damascus Document.