Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered - The Preterist Archive

Covenant' incumbent on all 'the Righteous' of mankind delineated in Rabbinic literature. They survive,
curiously enough, as the basis of Koranic dietary regulations, in this sense, the Arabs being one of the
'Gentile peoples' par excellence.
The specifics of Noah's physical characteristics are also set forth in this text, and the reference to his
being 'the Elect of God' is extremely important. A synonym for Zaddik or 'Righteous One' in the
minds of the progenitors of this literary tradition, the term 'the Elect' is also used in the Damascus
Document in the definition of 'the sons of Zadok' (iv.3f.), showing the esoteric or qualitative - even
eschatological - nature of these basically interchangeable terminologies. It also appears in an
extremely important section of the Habakkuk Pesher, having to do with 'the judgement God will make
in the midst of many nations', i.e. 'the Last judgement', in which 'the Elect of God' are actually said to
participate (x.13).
The reference to the 'Three Books' is also interesting, and certainly these 'books' must have been seen
as having to do with the mystic knowledge of the age, or as it were, the Heavenly or Angelic
Mysteries. In regard to these, too, the second half of this text has many affinities with the Chariots of
Glory and Mystery of Existence texts in Chapter 7. AD (Acts 16:16, 18:2 4f., and 2 4:22). At Qumran
it is widespread and also associated with 'walking', as well as the important 'Way in the wilderness'
proof text. One has phrases like the Perfect of the Way', 'Perfection of the Way', 'walking in
Perfection', and the very interesting 'Perfect Holiness' or 'the Perfection of Holiness' also known to
Paul in 2 Cor. 7:1.
In this text, too, the Kabbalistic undercurrents should be clear and the portrayal of Noah as a Wisdom
figure, or one who understands the Secret Mysteries, becomes by the end of Fragment 2 its main