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Essene name
>4QTherapia is purported to be a medical document. Astrological charts and
>forecasts were sometimes used for healing purposes as well as were amulets -
>all found at Qumran, e.g. 4Q561, 4Q560. If indeed some of the Yahad members
>were of priestly origins we should assume that healing was one of their
>major duties.
>Ita Sheres
>San Diego State University.
You use of the word "purported" troubles me. It implies rumor and innuendo
rather than fact, and implies that whoever is making the statement a) hasn't
seen 4Q Theraputae but has heard from someone or somewhere it might be medically
related; b) has seen it, but the contents at present are too fragmented to make
a definite statement about whether it is or is not. As for 4Q560 and 4Q561, it
is a leap, rather than a stretch, to assert that these astrological works were
specifically used for healing.
Furthermore, as you state, if at least some of the Qumranites were priests,
healing might be part of their duties, and thus even the presence of a single
document or fragment of a document would not prove the Qumranites were Essenes,
or that the name Essenes derived from "healing."
Still, your message was very interesting, and if you have more details on the
contents of 4QTheraputae please do post it.
Beruriah Bloom