Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered - The Preterist Archive

[the sl]ai[n of the] Kitti[m] . . .
3. The Servants Of Darkness (4Q471)
This is a text of extreme significance and another one related to the War Scroll. The violence,
xenophobia, passionate nationalism and concern for Righteousness and the Judgements of God are
evident throughout. Though these may have a metaphoric meaning as well as an actual one, it is
impossible to think that those writing these texts were not steeped in the ethos of a militant army of
God, and hardly that of a peaceful, retiring community. Their spirit is unbending, uncompromising.
They give no quarter and expect none.
There is the particularly noteworthy stress on 'Lying', a theme one finds across the spectrum of
Qumran literature, in particular where the opponents of the community or movement responsible for
these writings are concerned. There is also the actual use of the verb ma'as (meaning to 'reject' or
'deny') in Fragment 2.7, paralleling similar usages in the Community Rule, the Habakkuk Pesher, etc.
In texts such as these, ma~as is always used to portray the activities of the ideological adversary of the
Righteous Teacher, the 'Liar'/ 'Spouter' who 'rejects the Law in the midst of the whole congregation' or
the parallel activities of those archetypical 'sons/servants of Darkness' who do likewise. Here it is used
in contradistinction to 'choosing' in this case the groups' opponents reverse the natural order; they
'choose the Evil', instead of 'the Good', which they 'reject'.
Similar reversals occur across the board in Qumran literature - one particularly noteworthy one in
Column i of the Damascus Document, where 'justifying the Wicked and condemning the Righteous'
on the part of 'the Breakers' of both 'Law and Covenant' is juxtaposed in Column iv with the proper
order noted below of 'justifying the Righteous and condemning the Wicked'. This last is definitive of
'the sons of Zadok', itself synonymous probably too with 'the Zaddikim' in Line 5 of the Messiah of
Heaven and Earth text. Both texts use the same reference, 'called by name', as descriptive of these
respective terminologies.
There is the usual emphasis on fire, presumably the judgements of Hellfire, and there is no shirking
the duty for war, which is to be seen in some sense, if Fragment 4 is taken into account, as being
fought under levitical or priestly command (cf. War Scroll ii. l- 3). There is the usual emphasis on
'works' (Fragment 2, Column 4 reconstructed) and particularly noteworthy is the reference to 'Servants
of Darkness' as opposed presumably to 'Servants of Light'.
The Jamesian parallels to the theme of 'works' should be clear; so too should Paul's characterization in
2 Cor. 11-12 of the Hebrew 'archapostles' - presumably including James - as disguising themselves as
'Servants of Righteousness' (cf. the actual use of this allusion in the Testaments of Naphtali below)
and 'apostles of Christ', when in fact they are 'dishonest workmen and counterfeit apostles'. Paul also
employs 'Light' terminology in this passage, not to mention an allusion to 'Satan' so important in
referring to Mastemoth /Mastema and its parallels below, i.e. 'even Satan disguises himself as an
Angel of Light.' Emphasizing 'Truth' (the opposite, it will be noted, of 'Lying') and at the same time
parodying the position of everyman according to his works, in 11:31 he revealingly insists, 'he does
not lie', thus demonstrating his awareness of the currency of these kinds of accusations at this time.