contents - Description: Description: Description: Description ...

philosophy. Discovered in 1952, its contents weren’t revealed until 1984, and it has led some
researchers to believe that the Qumran group seceded from the established religious center in
Jerusalem, and became the group known as the Essenes. Yet the Essene name is never used.
How this break occurred is not really known. According to one theory, when Judea, under
Judas Maccabeus, revolted in 165 BC against the Syrian tyrant King Antiochus IV, thus
beginning the Hasmonean line of Kings with Judas (165-160 BC), his brother Jonathan (160-143
BC), then his brother Simon (143-134 BC), maintained a friendly relationship with Rome; and in
152 BC when Jonathan made himself the High Priest, this upset the hardline Jews who chose to
follow a man they referred to as the “Teacher of Righteousness,” who was of the Zadokite (who
were descendants of the priestly line of Aaron) line. They went to the desert where they could
observe the laws of God.
A document found at Qumran was an earlier version of the Damascus Document, which was
discovered (2 copies) in a Cairo synagogue in 1896. Dated between 80 - 75 BC, a copy was
found in Cave 6, and 7 copies in Cave 4. The fragments recovered at Qumran have proven the
Cairo text to be incomplete. The text refers to a contingent of Jews that remained faithful to the
Law. A ‘Teacher of Righteousness’ came to them, and led them into Damascus so they could
renew their ‘Covenant’ with God. This Covenant is referred to in the Community Rule. It is
believed that there was an Essene community in Damascus. In the book of the Acts of the
Apostles, Saul was going to Damascus to persecute these early Christians.
Another theory says that after the destruction of the First Temple in 586 BC, when the Jews
were exiled to Babylon, the Essenes were formed as a strict Order because they believed they
were being punished by God for their disobedience. When the Jews returned to Jerusalem after
the Maccabean victories, they became disenchanted and went to Qumran.
It was believed that the Essenes were a pacifist, monastic Order who wanted to separate
themselves from the revolutionary-minded Zealots, yet some of the evidence seems to indicate
otherwise. Originally thought to have been celibate, the graves of two women and a child were
discovered; plus the Community Rule contained marriage laws. The Essenes did not engage in
animal sacrifice, yet the Temple Scroll contains instructions for such rituals, and animal bones
have been found. Thought to have been peaceful, their scrolls seem to indicate the knowledge of
military strategy; and the ruins of a military defense tower and a forge have been excavated.
Several manuscripts from Qumran, were also found at the Zealot stronghold on Masada, and
there has been some researchers who believe that there was a connection between the two
groups.
While de Vaux and his team were trying to distance the Scrolls from Judaism and
Christianity, saying there were no connections, the texts which were already published seem to
indicate otherwise. Either the early Christians were just living at the Qumran community, or the
early Christians and the Qumran community were one and the same. Though Essene in nature,
the group in Qumran has been compared to the early Church which was based in Jerusalem. The
Habakkuk Commentary said that Qumran’s governing body, the Council of the Community, was
in Jerusalem. In fact, it is believed that the scrolls were taken to Qumran from Jerusalem for
protection. Professor Norman Golb of the University of Chicago has theorized that the Scrolls
were from the library of the Jewish Temple, and taken to Qumran, a military installation, during
the first Jewish revolt to keep them safe. The vital link for this belief comes from the Copper
scroll, which lists 64 locations of hidden Temple treasure. This seems to indicate that perhaps the
Qumran settlement was a retreat for the early Christians. But wait, ‘Christians’ before Christ?
This is one of the controversial developments that have emerged from the discovery of the Dead