Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered - The Preterist Archive

'exact sense of the Law'. The actual words are: the Way 'is the study / interpretation of the Torah
which He commanded by the hand of Moses that they should do according to all that has been
revealed . . . as the Prophets have revealed by His Holy Spirit' (italics ours).
This then ties all these documents and approaches together. Those, who in 1QS,viii.14's words
'.separate from the habitation of the men of Evil and go out in the wilderness to prepare the Way of
the Lord' (italics ours) are none other than the inhabitants of 'the camps' being addressed and
described in the present text. The implications are quite startling and far-reaching. One thing is sure:
one has in these texts a better exposition of what was really going on 'in the wilderness' in these times
so pivotal for Western civilization than in any other parallel accounts.
Translation
[. . . before the Priest commanding] (1) the Many, and he freely accepted His judgement when He said
by the hand (2) of Moses regar[ding] the person who sins inadvertently, 'let such a one bring (3) [his]
sin offering [or] his guilt offering.' And concerning Israel it is written, 'I shall ascend (4) to [the
Highest in Heaven, and there will not smell the fragrance of their offerings.' And in another place (5)
it is written, 'return to God with weeping and fasting.' (5a) (In [anoth]er place it is written, 'rend your
hearts and not your clothes.') As for every person who rejects these (6) Judgements (which are) in
keeping with all the Laws found in the Torah of Moses, he will not be reckoned (7) among all the sons
of His Truth, for his soul has rejected the Foundations of Righteousness. For rebellion, let him be
expelled (8) from the presence of the Many. The Priest commanding the Many shall speak against
him. He (the Priest) is to stand (9) and say, 'Blessed are You, You are all, everything is in Your hand