In the light of the recent publication of the cave 4 manuscripts of the Damascus Document the balance of admonitory material vis-à-vis Laws has changed considerably in favour of its legal components. Whereas the first hundred years or so of research on the Damascus Document have focused primarily though not exclusively on the Admonition it is foreseeable that the next centenary celebration will look back on a substantial increase of studies dealing with the legal part of the document. In this paper I will attempt a preliminary comparative study of the Laws of the Damascus Document and the halakhic portion of 4QMMT, a question that has recently been addressed by Lawrence Schiffman in a paper entitled 'The Place of 4QMMT in the Corpus of Qumran Manuscripts' and, more briefly, by Philip Callaway.¹

Before addressing the particular issues at stake let me briefly outline where I am approaching this question from. In my forthcoming book on the Laws of the Damascus Document I propose a source- and redaction critical analysis of this corpus.² In the wake of my source critical work on the Laws I have undertaken a number of comparative studies to which this paper may now be added.³ I have come to the view that since the Laws of the Damascus Document comprise a disparate collection of material some of its components may be fruitfully compared with a collection such as preserved in the Community Rule whereas others have a great deal more in common with a work such as 4QOrdinances^a or the halakhic part of 4QMMT.

Apart from a number of miscellaneous traditions and traces of redactional activity I distinguish two main literary strata in the Laws of the Damascus Document: a stratum of halakhah and a stratum of community organization. I am well aware that some are uncomfortable with the use of the term halakhah in the context of the Dead Sea Scrolls.⁴ I retain the terminology because it expresses the distinction I am trying to make very well. The alternative of speaking simply of 'laws' with lower case 'l' seems unsatisfactory to me because that term is customarily used with upper case 'L' to refer to the part of the Damascus Document that is distinguished from the Admonition.
 

Turning now to the specific question at hand it seems that when it comes to establishing the relationship between the Laws of D and 4QMMT we can safely exclude the communal legislation stratum. There is nothing in MMT that refers to matters pertaining to the organization and authority structure of a particular community.⁵ By contrast the point of reference seems to be Israel at large with particular emphasis on the distinctive position of the priesthood vis-à-vis the laity.

It is worth noting that the Laws of the Damascus Document are virtually unique among the Qumran documents as well as the wider body of intertestamental literature in combining almost seamlessly communal legislation with halakhic material that lacks reference to a particular organized community. Thus, we have the Community Rule and the Rule of the Congregation⁶ as the two main representatives besides the Damascus Document that preserve communal legislation on the one hand, and a host of writings that preserve halakhic traditions on the other hand. Almost uniquely the Laws of the Damascus Document preserve both elements side by side. I say almost uniquely because the curious text 4QSerekh Damascus (4Q265), at least on my understanding of it which is a topic for another occasion, comprises the only further example that I can think of and I am open to correction on this.

A further feature that deserves to be mentioned here is the shared employment of camp-terminology in MMT and in the communal legislation of D.⁷ It seems to me that the use and meaning of the terminology is quite distinct in both documents. In the Damascus Document the term camp (hnxm) appears as a unit in the organization of the movement described in the communal legislation. The terminology is used in this sense very unselfconsciously in this text and no need was felt, it seems, to offer a definition. In 4QMMT camp-terminology occurs in two passages.⁸ In the section dealing with the place of slaughter (4Q394 3-7 ii 14b-19 par.) the references to the camp occur in an exegetical context.⁹ The passage in question, though fragmentary, constitutes a piece of halakhic exegesis based on Lev. 17,3-4 as noted by Qimron.¹⁰ The scriptural base text includes a reference to the camp which is identified with Jerusalem in the interpretation offered subsequently. The exegetical context of the references to the camp are accentuated by the technical term bw%tkf@¹¹ introducing the reference to Lev. 17 as well as the multiple occurrence of the third person singular pronoun in the technical sense attested frequently in exegetical texts from Qumran. The second section that employs camp terminology is found in 4Q394 8 iv 8b-12a par. and begins with the prohibition of dogs entering Jerusalem.¹² Although the original prohibition is not scriptural the subsequent justification beginning with yk is written in the same exegetical style as the previous section on camps. That is, an element of the prohibition, 'the camp of holiness' (#dwqh hnxm), is identified with Jerusalem, and the third person singular pronoun is used repeatedly. It seems possible that the term 'the camp of holiness' and the exegetical leap to identify this with Jerusalem are based on Dt. 23,15 where the notion of the holiness of the camp is developed. Finally, it is worth noting that in both sections in MMT that employ camp terminology Jerusalem is identified as the camp, and that this identification is followed in both cases by an affirmation in deuteronomic style of the election of Jerusalem as 'the place which He has chosen from all the tribes of Israel'.¹³ In sum, the Laws of the Damascus Document and MMT employ camp-terminology in a distinct manner. In the Laws of D camp-terminology is used to refer to what appear to be well-established administrative and organizational units whereas in MMT camp-terminology occurs in two passages in an exegetical/definitional context with a Jerusalem-centric perspective.¹⁴
 

Let me now turn to the halakhah stratum of the Damascus Document and its relationship to the halakhic section of MMT. Here correspondences can be observed on a number of levels. I will begin with three observations of a general kind and then turn to a number of specific texts.
 

1. The halakhah stratum of the Laws of D shares with the halakhic section of MMT a lack of reference to a particular community that defines itself in distinction from society at large.

2. On a formal level both the halakhah stratum of the Laws of D and the halakhic section of MMT frequently employ headings introduced by the preposition l( 'concerning'.¹⁵ This preposition seems to have been the standard way of compiling strings of halakhic statements or expositions in the late Second Temple period. Baumgarten has drawn attention to the historical significance of this phenomenon.¹⁶ Outside of D and MMT it is found also in 4QOrdinancesa and the still unpublished 4QHalakhah A.¹⁷

3. A particular sub-category of halakhah in D deals with matters pertaining to the priesthood. I have chosen the term torot to identify this sub-category, a term derived from Jacob Milgrom's analysis of Lev. 1-16 where he defines torot as 'the special lore of the priesthood'.¹⁸ Moreover, in a paper on the origins of the Temple Scroll Hartmut Stegemann has applied the term torot to the laws contained in the Temple Scroll.¹⁹ I have assigned the two sizeable blocks of additional legal material from 4QD that deal with the disqualification of certain categories of priests²⁰ and the section dealing with the diagnosis of skin disease²¹ to this category. As I will argue below a great deal of the additional legal material in 4QD reflects priestly concerns. However, what seems to set apart the sections on priestly disqualifications and skin disease is that whereas much of 4QD gives the impression of having been written by priests these particular sections seem to have been written by priests as well as for priests and, one might add, about priests. It is of course well known that priestly concerns lie at the heart of the halakhot in MMT also.
 

1. The 4QD Material on The Disqualification of Priests The material on the disqualification of certain categories of priests preserved in 4QD^a 5 ii 1-16; 4QD^b 5 iii 1-8; 4QD^h 2,1-2; 4 i 5-11 shares with the halakhic portion of MMT an explicit focus on priestly concerns. This hardly needs spelling out for the disqualification material and is equally beyond dispute regarding MMT. In the latter case one need only look at the refrain 'For the priests shall take heed concerning x so as not to cause the people to bear sin' which occurs three times in MMT (4Q394 3-7 i 14-16; 4Q394 3-7 i 19 - ii 1a; 4Q394 3-7 ii 13-14)²² and is based on Lev. 22,16.^{23 Related to this priestly flavour is the common concern articulated in both texts with the purity of the sanctuary and the offerings. Furthermore, both texts include statements that describe the conduct of some priests as falling short of the expected standard, cf. 4QDa 5 ii 10-11 which refers to a priest who has caused his name to fall from the truth and the critique of intermarriage with Israelites (on Qimron's interpretation24) or with gentiles (on Baumgarten's interpretation25) practised by some priests according to 4Q396 1-2 iv 4-11. Whatever interpretation one favours for the latter fragmentary passage it seems clear from 4Q396 1-2 iv 9-11 that some priests are being criticised for their nuptial practices. To be sure, the shortfall in the behaviour of priests criticised in each text is of a different kind, and there is nothing to indicate in 4QDa 5 ii that priestly marital practices are an issue in D. It is nevertheless noteworthy that both texts seem to contain material commenting on priestly misconduct of some kind. This overlap, though general, suggests that both texts reflect inner-priestly disputes. It has already been convincingly suggested by Schiffman that inner-priestly disputes form the background to 4QMMT.26 I would like to add to this that this particular part of the Laws of D points in a similar direction. I would not want to attach any further labels to these priestly groups since it seems to me that the debates about the names to be given to the Qumran groups, legitimate though they may be, should not dominate the discussion of the issues raised by their writings.27 Finally, the theological rationale given for the disqualification of priests with imperfect pronunciation from reading the torah in 4QDa 5 ii 1-3 reflects a broadly equivalent approach to physical defects as is expressed with regard to the blind and the deaf in 4QMMT (4Q394 8 iii 19 - iv 4). According to 4QD priests with defective pronunciation are barred from reading the torah in case they mislead in a capital matter. 4QMMT seems to criticize the presence of blind and deaf people in the vicinity of the purity of the temple because the deaf are unable to hear the commandments and the blind may inadvertently fail to act according to the laws on mixtures.28 Thus, in all three cases the theological concern is obedience to the torah which may be put in jeopardy by physical imperfections.29 A rather different rationale for excluding the blind and the deaf from the congregation is expressed in CD 15,15b-17a par. 4QDa 8 i 6-7 and 1QSa 2,4b-9. Both texts include the blind and the deaf in lists of persons to be excluded from the congregation because of the presence of angels.30 On my analysis of the Laws of D the exclusion passage in CD 15 par. occurs in the context of a piece of communal legislation on the admission into the covenant community. It suffices to stress here that the theological emphases reflected in the material on the disqualification of priests and the exclusion of the blind and the deaf in 4QMMT overlap.}

2. The 4QD Material on Skin Disease, Flux³¹ and Childbirth A similar relationship exists between the block of material dealing with skin disease, flux and childbirth in 4QD^a 6 i-iii; 4QD^d 7; 4QD^g 1 i-ii; 4QD^h 4 ii and the halakhic portion of MMT. This part of the Laws of D is heavily based on Lev. 12-15 and, as noted above, particularly the portion dealing with skin disease has a pronounced and explicit priestly character. A concern for the purity of the sanctuary, a dominant theme in MMT, is reflected in 4QD^a 6 ii 4 where women with a discharge are prohibited from entering the sanctuary. As noted by Baumgarten such a prohibition is not scriptural and was probably derived in analogy to the legislation on childbirth in Lev. 12,4.³² Finally, 4QD^a 6 ii 4 reflects the same halakhic position on the question of purification as is expressed in MMT as has been noted already by Schiffman.³³ Thus, both 4QD^a 6 ii 4 and 4Q396 1-2 iv 1a insist that an impure person (a woman with a discharge in the case of D and a person with leprosy in the case of MMT) remains so until sunset on the eighth day.³⁴ The same halakhic position comes to the fore in 4QD^d 8 ii 3b-6 par. which deals with the topic of purification after contracting corpse impurity and the passage laying down the requirements for those preparing the red cow in MMT (4Q394 4-7 i 16b-19 - ii 1a par.). Both passages insist on the sprinkler waiting for sundown.³⁵ Finally, Avi Solomon has recently argued that CD 11,21-12,1 is best understood on the background of the tevul yom debate.³⁶

3. 4QD Halakhah Dealing with Agricultural Matters Legal questions relating to the agricultural sphere, particularly the harvest, make up a large proportion of the additional legal material from cave 4 in D (cf. 4QD^a 6 iii a; 4QD^e 3 i; 4QD^a 6 iii par. 4QD^b 6 and 4QD^e 3 ii³⁷; 4QD^a 6 iv; 4QD^f 2,1-5 par. 4QD^e 3 iii 13-15). In an article on 4QOrd^a (4Q159) Francis Weinert suggested some years ago that the agricultural questions dealt with in 4Q159, particularly the material on the rights of the poor to gather grapes and grain in 4Q159 1 ii 2-5, suggest an agricultural milieu. Thus, he argues, "4Q159 would seem to presume an agricultural situation where poverty lies in the background."³⁸ Should the same be said about D? I think not. Rather, it seems to me that the agricultural issues raised in D are dealt with from the particular point of view of the priesthood. The key issue is the harvest and the appropriate contributions to the priests and the sanctuary. Thus, on a general level this very substantial portion of 4QD shares the priestly character of the halakhic portion of MMT. Incidentally, I do not agree with Weinert's assessment of the situation behind 4Q159 as indicative of poverty and agriculture either since the topic of gleanings addressed there is based on scripture (cf. Dt. 23,25-26), and the writer's concern is exegetical rather than a social comment.

A specific topic that is addressed both in 4QD^a 6 iv 4 and 4Q396 1-2 iii 2b-3a is the fourth year produce.³⁹ Although the legislation in 4QMMT does not explicitly refer to the fourth year Qimron has shown that 4QMMT is closely based on Lev. 19,23-24, the biblical text on the produce of the fourth year.⁴⁰ According to Lev. 19,23-25 the fourth year produce from the fruit trees is to be offered to the Lord. In addition to 4QD and 4QMMT a host of post-biblical sources interpret this law to mean that the fourth year produce belongs to the priests, cf. Jub. 7,35-37, 11QT^a 60,3-4; 1QapGen 12,13-15.⁴¹ As far as this paper is concerned it is of interest that the position advanced with regard to the fourth year produce is shared by 4QMMT and D.

4. Texts Expressing Concern about Defilement through Contact with Gentiles Concern to avoid defilement through contact with gentiles, particularly the pagan cult, is voiced in a number of passages in the Laws of D.⁴² CD 12,6b-11 provides a series of restrictions in dealings with gentiles⁴³ which includes a prohibition of selling clean animals or birds to the gentiles lest they sacrifice them as well as a prohibition of selling untithed produce to the gentiles following the interpretation of Ginzberg and Schiffman of CD 12,9b-10a.⁴⁴ In the additional legal material from cave 4 4QD^a 5 ii 5-6 seems to refer to the impurity of priests taken captive by the gentiles.⁴⁵ Finally 4QD^d 8 ii 1-3 refers to the dangers of defilement through gentile sacrifices, if we accept Baumgarten's interpretation of the third person masc. pl. suffix in line 1,⁴⁶ as well as metals that have been used in pagan cults. As far as 4QMMT is concerned, as restored in the editio princeps 4Q394 3-7 i 6b-8a prohibits bringing gentile wheat into the temple. However, too little text is preserved to allow us even to be certain about the subject matter addressed, and in a review article of DJD 10 Baumgarten has rightly drawn attention to the textual uncertainties of this ruling.⁴⁷ We are on slightly firmer ground in 4Q394 3-7 i 11b-12a par. which deals with the sacrifices of gentiles. Whatever the exact scenario envisaged here it is clear that this part of 4QMMT as well as a number of passages in the Laws of D address the danger of defilement through contact with gentiles.

5. The Catalogue of Transgressions in 4QD^e

A fragmentary catalogue of transgressions preserved in 4QD^e 2 i 9 - ii 21 is particularly instructive for an analysis of the relationship between the Laws of the Damascus Document and the halakhic portion of MMT.⁴⁸ It is instructive to distinguish between the body of the catalogue, the actual list of transgressions, and the conclusion found at the end of the catalogue. The conclusion to the catalogue is found in 4QD^e 2 ii 17b-18 in the form of a warning against transgressors of the consequences of provoking the divine wrath. Immediately following on from this conclusion lines 19-21 begin with a call to hearken reminiscent of similar calls in the Admonition and read 'And now listen to me all who know righteousness' (qdc y(dwy lk yl w(m# ht(w). In particular this call to hearken may be compared to 4QD^a 1 a-b 5; CD 1,1; 2,2.14.⁴⁹ In his outline of the contents of the Damascus Document Baumgarten has placed the fragments containing this catalogue at the end of the Admonition rather than taking it as part of the legal portion of D, and I believe he was following Milik's placement here. It seems likely that the presence of the call to hearken influenced this editorial decision. Furthermore, in an outline of the contents of 4QD that appeared some years before his official edition Baumgarten notes in his description of the catalogue of transgressions, 'The author concludes (emphasis mine) with an appeal to the qdc y(dwy to choose between the "ways of life" and the "paths of perdition".'⁵⁰ Rather than taking this call to hearken and the subsequent admonition to follow the ways of life and to avoid the paths of destruction as a conclusion to the preceding catalogue of transgressions, it seems preferable to understand the call to hearken as an introduction to what follows as is indeed the case in all the other instances where a similar call to attention occurs in the Admonition of the Damascus Document. I am delighted to learn that Prof. Stegemann is thinking along the same lines and has gone further in his contribution to this volume by thinking through the probable consequences of the presence of admonitory material at this point for the overall structure of D. He is surely right when he argues that we should reckon with a substantial admonitory section to have followed this call. An initial understanding of this call to attention as a conclusion can be accounted for by the fragmentary nature of the material. Because of accidents of preservation virtually everything that followed our call to hearken has been lost so that as the fragments now stand it looks at first sight as if this call concludes the preceding list of transgressions.

For our present purposes it is most instructive to focus on the fragmentary list of transgressions preserved in 4QD^e 2 i 9-ii 17a. This list includes a number of issues that are developed in more detail elsewhere in the Laws of D, and, what is more, several of the topics addressed in the catalogue are included in the halakhic portion of 4QMMT as well as in 11QT. This overlap between 4QD, 4QMMT, and 11QT has been noted by a number of scholars.⁵¹ It is noteworthy, furthermore, that the catalogue does not raise any topic dealt with in the communal legislation stratum of the Laws and that the overlap is restricted to the halakhah stratum. That is to say, there is nothing in the list of transgressions that speaks in terms of a particular organized community. Baumgarten takes the reference to 'those anointed with the holy spirit' in 4QD^e 2 ii 14 as a reference to "inspired teachers of the community."⁵² It seems more likely to me, however, that this expression refers to the prophets as is the case in CD 2,12-13. Such an identification is suggested by a number of biblical passages, esp. Ps. 105,15.⁵³ Moreover, the reference to the offence of revealing a secret of his people to the nations in 4QD^e 2 ii 13 clearly reflects a national perspective.⁵⁴ As far as the literary growth of the Laws of the Damascus Document is concerned two alternatives seem possible to me. Either this list was a pre-existent document that was incorporated into the Laws, and a number of issues were spelt out in more detail subsequently; or the list of transgressions is a kind of summary of the topics dealt with in the halakhic stratum of the Laws of D. The former seems more likely to me. It seems less likely that we are dealing with a summary of halakhic points that was composed at a late stage in the development of the halakhah stratum since not all the material mentioned in the catalogue is dealt with elsewhere, although because of the fragmentary nature of both the catalogue and the rest of the Laws it is difficult to be sure.

If the catalogue of transgressions pre-dates the rest of the Laws it could be of central importance for our understanding of the growth of the Laws, or at least for the literary growth of the halakhic component of the Laws. It may have served as a skeleton parts of which were subsequently fleshed out. Moreover, the largest number of thematic correspondences between the Laws of D and the halakhic portion of 4QMMT can be traced to this catalogue of transgressions.⁵⁵ 1. 4QD^e 2 ii 6 as read and partly restored by Baumgarten deals with the fourth year produce. This topic is dealt with again in 4QD^a 6 iv 4 and in 4Q396 1-2 iii 2b-3a, and both passages were briefly dealt with above. 2. 4QD^e 2 ii 7-8 is partially preserved and as plausibly completed by Baumgarten deals with the tithe of cattle and sheep, an issue referred to also in 4Q396 1-2 iii 3b-4a. 3. Skin disease is mentioned in the catalogue in 4QD^e 2 ii 12, taken up in the body of the Laws of D in 4QD^a 6 i par. as well as in 4Q396 1-2 iii 4b-11; iv 1a par. 4. Slaughtering pregnant animals is referred to as a contentious issue in 4QD^e 2 ii 15 as well as in 4Q396 1-2 i 2-4 par.⁵⁶

In sum, the relatively small amount of text preserved of the list of transgressions in 4QD^e deals with four issues that are paralleled in the halakhot in MMT.
 

By way of conclusion let me sum up the results of these comparative remarks as well as offer a number of further reflections. Rather than comparing the Laws of the Damascus Document in toto to 4QMMT I have focused on those parts of both documents that resemble each other most closely, i.e. the halakhah stratum of the Laws of D and the halakhic portion of 4QMMT. Correspondences of various kinds (theological, halakhic, formal, and thematic) between the halakhah stratum in the Laws of D and the halakhic portion of MMT were identified. Priestly concerns were seen to lie behind a substantial portion of the Laws of D and virtually all of the halakhot in MMT. The priestly character of the latter is widely acknowledged,⁵⁷ and I hope to have been able to show that a considerable portion of the Laws of D shares such concerns. A concentration of thematic overlap was noted between the halakhot listed in 4QMMT and the catalogue of transgressions in 4QD^e. On the negative side 4QMMT's focus on Jerusalem and the Temple is more pronounced than in the halakhic parts of D. Moreover, MMT's characteristic references to the practice of opponents distinguishes the way its halakhot are presented from the Laws of D.

It seems to me that the close relationship between the halakhah stratum of D, particularly the catalogue of transgressions, and the halakhic portion of MMT is beyond doubt. I would like to end by attempting to relate these results to the literary and compositional history of both documents. As far as the Laws of the Damascus Document are concerned I suggest that the compiler of that corpus made use of a body of halakhic traditions and incorporated these into the Laws as we know them today alongside a variety of other material most notably a sizeable amount of communal legislation. I have argued elsewhere that 4Q159 constitutes an example of the kind of source used by the compiler of the Laws of D.⁵⁸ Moreover, I noted above that the list of transgressions fragmentarily preserved in 4QD^e may well constitute an important witness to the growth of the halakhah stratum of D. Turning to 4QMMT, the excitement over the initial assessment of it as a letter by the teacher of righteousness to the wicked priest, still held by some⁵⁹ and questioned by others,⁶⁰ may have prevented us from thinking in terms of a compositional history of 4QMMT. An exception is the much debated question of the relationship of the calendric section to the rest of the work.⁶¹ I see no reasons to believe that the compositional history of 4QMMT is any less complex than is increasingly taken for granted for other DSS. It seems probable to me that its author(s) made use of earlier collections of halakhot of the kind that lie behind the Laws of D.
 

1 Cf. L. H. Schiffman, 'The Place of 4QMMT in the Corpus of Qumran Manuscripts', in Reading 4QMMT. New Perspectives on Qumran Law and History ed. J. Kampen and M. J. Bernstein, Georgia: Scholars Press, 1996, pp. 81-98, esp. pp. 90-94 and P. R. Callaway, '4QMMT and Recent Hypotheses on the Origin of the Qumran Community', in Mogilany 1993. Papers on the Dead Sea Scrolls ed. Z. J. Kapera, Kraków: Enigma, 1996, pp. 15-29, esp. p. 26. See also J. Strugnell, 'MMT: Second Thoughts on a Forthcoming Edition', in The Community of the Renewed Covenant. The Notre Dame Symposium on the Dead Sea Scrolls ed. E. Ulrich and J. C. VanderKam, Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1994, pp. 57-73, p. 68. [Back to text]

2 C. Hempel, The Laws of the Damascus Document. Sources, Traditions and Redaction, Leiden: Brill, 1998. [Back to text]

3 Cf. C. Hempel, 'The Earthly Essene Nucleus of 1QSa', DSD 3 (1996) 253-67; eadem, 'The Penal Code Reconsidered', in Legal Texts and Legal Issues. Proceedings of the Second Meeting of the International Organization for Qumran Studies, Published in Honour of Joseph M. Baumgarten ed. M. Bernstein, F. García Martínez, and J. Kampen, Leiden: Brill, 1997, pp. 337-48; and eadem, '4QOrda (4Q159) and the Laws of the Damascus Document', in Proceedings of the International Congress The Dead Sea Scrolls. Fifty Years after their Discovery, Jerusalem, July 1997, Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society, forthcoming. [Back to text]

4 Cf. Strugnell, 'Second Thoughts', pp. 65-66; also idem, 'More on Wives and Marriage in the Dead Sea Scrolls: (4Q416 2 ii [Cf. 1 Thess 4:4] And 4QMMT §B)', RQ 17 (1996) 537-47, esp. p. 541 n. 7. Prof. Shemaryahu Talmon has expressed similar reservations in a discussion at the Hebrew University's Orion Centre in April 1996. [Back to text]

5 This has frequently been noted, cf. Y. Sussman 'The History of the Halakhah and the Dead Sea Scrolls. Preliminary Talmudic Observations on Miqsat Ma'ase ha-Torah (4QMMT)', Appendix 1 in E. Qimron and J. Strugnell, Qumran Cave 4. V. Miqsat Ma'ase ha-Torah (DJD 10), Oxford: Clarendon, 1994, pp. 179-200, p. 186; also Qimron and Strugnell, Qumran Cave 4. V, pp. 113 and 121; Stugnell, 'Second Thoughts', p. 68. [Back to text]

6 For the view that the bulk of 1QSa constitutes communal legislation see my 'Earthly Essene Nucleus'. [Back to text]

7 This feature has been discussed previously by H. Stegemann,'The Qumran Essenes - Local Members of the Main Jewish Union in Late Second Temple Times', in The Madrid Qumran Congress ed. J. Trebolle Barrera and L. Vegas Montaner, Leiden: Brill, 1992, 1. 83-166, esp. pp. 134-37. [Back to text]

8 Cf. L. H. Schiffman, 'The Temple Scroll and the Systems of Jewish Law of the Second Temple Period', in Temple Scroll Studies ed. G. J. Brooke, Sheffield: JSOT, 1989, pp. 239-55, esp. pp. 248-49. [Back to text]

9 See L. H. Schiffman, 'Sacral and Non-Sacral Slaughter According to the Temple Scroll', in Time to Prepare the Way in the Wilderness. Papers on the Qumran Scrolls by Fellows of the Institute for Advanced Studies of the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, 1989-1990 ed. D. Dimant and L. H. Schiffman, Leiden: Brill, 1995, pp. 69-84. Further, E. Eshel, '4QLevd: A Possible Source for the Temple Scroll and Miqsat Ma'ase Ha-Torah', DSD 2 (1995) 1-13. [Back to text]

10 Cf. Qimron and Strugnell, Qumran Cave 4. V, pp. 156-57. For a discussion of the scriptural background see M. J. Bernstein, 'The Employment and Interpretation of Scripture in 4QMMT: Preliminary Observations', in Reading 4QMMT., pp. 29-51, esp. pp. 39-40; G. J. Brooke, 'The Explicit Presentation of Scripture in 4QMMT' in Legal Texts and Legal Issues, pp. 67-88, p. 72. Brooke shows that on closer inspection Lev. 17,3 has been reordered here rather than paraphrased, a term that implies rewording, as was argued previously. [Back to text]

11 On the use of bwtk in MMT see Brooke, 'Explicit Presentation of Scripture in 4QMMT', p. 71. [Back to text]

12 E. Qimron has recently identified a fragment of a third copy of the Temple Scroll (11QTc) that includes a prohibition of rearing chickens in Jerusalem and noted its affinity to the attitude about dogs in Jerusalem in 4QMMT, cf. E. Qimron, 'Chickens in the Temple Scroll (11QTc)', Tarbiz 64 (1995) 473-76 [Hebrew] and E. Qimron, The Temple Scroll. A Critical Edition with Extensive Reconstructions. Bibliography by F. García Martínez, Beer Sheva: Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Press / Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society, 1996, p. 69. See also J. M. Baumgarten, 'The "Halakhah" in Miq×at MaÆa—e Ha-Torah (MMT)', JAOS 116 (1996) 512-16, p. 514 where he argues that the halakhic concern about dogs articulated in MMT may bear upon the practice of burying animal bones attested at Qumran. [Back to text]

13 The latter phrase is partly restored in the Composite Text (B32-33) based on 4Q394 3-7 ii 19 par. 4Q397 3,5. Since the opening words of such a statement are clearly preserved in 4Q394 3-7 ii 19 (Mwqmh r#) )yh) the editors' restoration seems plausible. [Back to text]

14 For a discussion see Qimron, Qumran Cave 4. V, pp. 143-45. [Back to text]

15 Professor J. M. Baumgarten has drawn my attention to the difference in length of the blocks of material introduced by l( headings in D and MMT respectively. On closer inspection great variety in the length of the blocks of material thus introduced exists already within D itself. One need only compare the brief sections on women's oaths (CD 16,10-12) or oaths (CD 9,8b-10a) to the long treatment of the sabbath (CD 10,14-11,18b). [Back to text]

16 Cf. J. M. Baumgarten, Qumran Cave 4. XIII. The Damascus Document (4Q266-273) (DJD 18), Oxford: Clarendon, 1996, pp. 14-15 as well as his contribution to the present volume. [Back to text]

17 For preliminary editions of the text see J. T. Milik in M. Baillet, J. T. Milik and R. de Vaux, Les 'Petites Grottes' de Qumrân. Exploration de la falaise. Les grottes 2Q, 3Q, 5Q, 6Q, 7Q à 10Q. Le rouleau de cuivre (DJD 3), Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1962, p. 300 where the text of fg. 5 only is transcribed; B. Z. Wacholder and M. G. Abegg eds., A Preliminary Edition of the Unpublished Dead Sea Scrolls. The Hebrew and Aramaic Texts from Cave Four. Fascicle Three, Washington D.C.: Biblical Archaeology Society, 1992, pp. 34-40; and most recently F. García Martínez and E. J. C. Tigchelaar eds., The Dead Sea Scrolls Study Edition. Volume One 1Q1-4Q273, Leiden: Brill, 1997, pp. 496-501. [Back to text]

18 J. Milgrom, Leviticus 1-16. A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary, New York: Doubleday, 1991, p. 2. [Back to text]

19 Cf. H. Stegemann, 'The Origins of the Temple Scroll', SupVT 40 (1988) 235-56, esp. p. 255 where he describes the laws of the Temple Scrolls as "...old tôrôt originating among the priests at the temple in Jerusalem." [Back to text]

20 Cf. J. M. Baumgarten, 'The Disqualifications of Priests in 4Q Fragments of the "Damascus Document", a Specimen of the Recovery of pre-Rabbinic Halakha' in The Madrid Qumran Congress, 2. 503-13. [Back to text]

21 Cf. J. M. Baumgarten, 'The 4Q Zadokite Fragments on Skin Disease', JJS 41 (1990) 153-65 and E. Qimron, 'Notes on the 4Q Zadokite Fragments on Skin Disease', JJS 42 (1991) 256-59. [Back to text]

22 The textual remains of this phrase are substantially preserved in both the first and third instance. In 4Q394 3-7 i 19 - ii 1a remnants of a further occurrence of this refrain may be preserved. [Back to text]

23 Cf. Qimron and Strugnell, Qumran Cave 4. V, p. 48 note ad B13. See also Bernstein, 'Employment and Interpretation of Scripture in 4QMMT', p. 36. [Back to text]

24 Cf. Qimron and Strugnell,Qumran Cave 4. V, pp. 171-75. [Back to text]

25 Baumgarten's position is spelt out by Qimron, Qumran Cave 4. V, p. 55 note ad B 75 and p. 171 n. 178a, and Baumgarten has argued his case in 'The "Halakhah" in Miqsat Ma'ase Ha-Torah', pp. 515-16. Grabbe has recently expressed his support for Baumgarten's interpreation, cf. L. L. Grabbe, '4QMMT and Second Temple Jewish Society', in Legal Texts and Legal Issues, pp. 89-108, p. 103 n. 53. See also R. A. Kugler, 'Halakic Interpretative Strategies at Qumran: A Case Study', in Legal Texts and Legal Issues, pp. 131-40, esp. pp. 135-36, who concludes his analysis "... we are left with an ambiguous passage, at least with respect to precisely whom priests may not marry.", p. 136. [Back to text]

26 Cf. L. H. Schiffman, 'The New Halakhic Letter (4QMMT) and the Origins of the Dead Sea Sect', BA 53 (1990) 64-73. [Back to text]

27 A similar sentiment is expressed by Strugnell, 'Second Thoughts', p. 65. See also J. M. Baumgarten's recent cautious assessment of this issue in 'Sadducean Elements in Qumran Law', in The Community of the Renewed Covenant, pp. 27-36 and the balanced and cautious argumentation by Y. Sussman, 'History of the Halakhah', pp. 192-96 and p. 200. Further, Grabbe, '4QMMT and Second Temple Jewish Society'; L. H. Schiffman, 'The Sadducean Origins of the Dead Sea Scroll Sect', in Understanding the Dead Sea Scrolls ed. H. Shanks, London: SPCK, 1993, pp. 35-49; idem, 'New Halakhic Texts from Qumran', Hebrew Studies 34 (1993) 21-33; J. C. VanderKam, 'The People of the Dead Sea Scrolls: Essenes or Sadducees' in Understanding the Dead Sea Scrolls, pp. 50-62. See also A. I. Baumgarten, 'Rabbinic Literature as a Source for the History of Jewish Sectarianism in the Second Temple Period', DSD 2 (1995) 14-57, esp. pp. 22-30. [Back to text]

28 The Hebrew term used is tbr[t, for linguistic comments see Qimron, Qumran Cave 4. V, p. 96. [Back to text]

29 Cf. Qimron and Strugnell, Qumran Cave 4. V, p. 160 where Qimron observes with reference to the blind and the deaf in 4QMMT "...none of them are able to act in accordance with the laws of purity." See also A. Shemesh, '"The Holy Angels are in their Council": The Exclusion of Deformed Persons from Holy Places in Qumranic and Rabbinic Literature', DSD 4 (1997) 179-206, p. 201 n. 60. [Back to text]

30 See also the material in 4Q396 1-2 i 5-6 par. and 4Q394 8 iii 12b-19a par. which is critical of various categories of people entering the assembly and marrying Israelites. Cf. further 1QM 7,4b-6a, 4QFlor 1,3b-5a and 11QTa 45,12-14. For scholarly discussions see J. M. Baumgarten, Studies in Qumran Law, Leiden: Brill, 1977, pp. 75-87; G. J. Brooke, Exegesis at Qumran. 4QFlorilegium in its Jewish Context, Sheffield: JSOT, 1985, pp. 178-83; M. J. Davidson, Angels at Qumran. A Comparative Study of 1Enoch 1-36, 72-108 and Sectarian Writings from Qumran, Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1992, pp. 185-86; Qimron and Strugnell, Qumran Cave 4. V, pp. 145-47; L. H. Schiffman, 'Exclusion from the Sanctuary and the City of theSanctuary in the Temple Scroll', HAR 9 (1985) 301-320; idem, 'Purity and Perfection: Exclusion from the Council of the Community in the Serekh Ha-(Edah' in Biblical Archaeology Today ed. Janet Amitai, Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society, 1985, pp. 373-89; idem, The Eschatological Community of the Dead Sea Scrolls. A Study of the Rule of the Congregation, Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1989, pp. 47-48; Shemesh, '"The Holy Angels are in their Council"'; Y. Yadin The Temple Scroll, Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society, 1983, 1.289-91. [Back to text]

31 Cf. J. M. Baumgarten, 'The Laws about Fluxes in 4QTohora^a (4Q274)', in Time to Prepare the Way in the Wilderness, pp. 1-8 and idem, 'Zab Impurity in Qumran and Rabbinic Law', JJS 45 (1994) 273-77. See also J. Milgrom, '4QTohora^a: An Unpublished Qumran Text on Purities', in Time to Prepare the Way in the Wilderness, pp. 59-68. Whereas Baumgarten argues that lines 4Q274 1,1-4a deals with zab impurity Milgrom is of the opinion that the same lines pertain to skin disease. [Back to text]

32 Baumgarten, Qumran Cave 4. XIII, p. 56. [Back to text]

33 See Schiffman, 'Place of 4QMMT', p. 90. [Back to text]

34 Cf. J. M. Baumgarten, 'Pharisaic-Sadducean Controversies about Purity', JJS 31 (1980) 157-70; L. H. Schiffman, 'Miqsat Ma'ase Ha-Torah and the Temple Scroll', RQ 14 (1990) 435-57, esp. pp. 438-42; idem, 'Pharisaic and Sadducean Halakhah in the Light of the Dead Sea Scrolls. The Case of the Tebul Yom', DSD 1 (1994) 285-299; and Qimron and Strugnell, Qumran Cave 4. V, pp. 166-70. [Back to text]

35 Cf. Baumgarten, Qumran Cave 4. XIII, pp. 130-32; Qimron and Strugnell, Qumran Cave 4. V, pp. 152-54 and the articles by Baumgarten and Schiffman cited in the immediately preceding note. Cf. also M. Broshi, 'Anti-Qumranic Polemics in the Talmud', in The Madrid Qumran Congress ed. J. Trebolle Barrera and L. Vegas Montaner, Leiden: Brill, 1992, 2.589-600, esp. pp. 591-92. The same halakhic position is expressed also in 4Q277 1,5-6. For a preliminary transcription, translation, and commentary on this text see J. M. Baumgarten, 'The Red Cow Purification Rites in Qumran Texts', JJS 46 (1995) 112-19. [Back to text]

36 See A. Solomon, 'The Prohibition Against Tevul Yom and Defilement of the Daily Whole Offering in the Jerusalem Temple in CD 11:21-12:1: A New Understanding', DSD 4 (1997) 1-20. [Back to text]

37 On this text and its parallels in 4QD^{a and b}, cf. J. M. Baumgarten, 'A Qumran Text with Agrarian Halakhah', JQR 86 (1995) 1-8. Note that the numeration of fragments has changed since this article appeared, and I have adopted the numeration as it appears in Baumgarten's editio princeps of the 4QD manuscripts. [Back to text]

38 F. D. Weinert, '4Q159: Legislation for an Essene Community Outside of Qumran?', JSJ 5 (1974) 179-207, p. 206. [Back to text]

39 Cf. Schiffman, 'Place of 4QMMT', pp. 90-91. [Back to text]

40 Cf. Qimron and Strugnell, Qumran Cave 4. V, pp. 164-65. [Back to text]

41 For a comprehensive discussion see J. M. Baumgarten, 'The Laws of cOrlah and First Fruits in the Light of Jubilees, the Qumran Writings, and Targum Ps. Jonathan', JJS 38 (1987) 195-202; M. Kister, 'Some Aspects of Qumranic Halakhah', in The Madrid Qumran Congress, 2. 571-88, esp. pp. 575-88; and Schiffman, 'Miqsat Ma'ase Ha-Torah and the Temple Scroll', pp. 452-56. [Back to text]

42 See Schiffman, 'Place of 4QMMT', p. 92. [Back to text]

43 Cf. L. H. Schiffman, 'Legislation Concerning Relations with Non-Jews in the Zadokite Fragments and in Tannaitic Literature', RQ 11 (1989) 379-89. [Back to text]

44 See L. Ginzberg, An Unknown Jewish Sect, New York City: Jewish Theological Seminary of America, 1976, pp. 77-78 and Schiffman, 'Legislation Concerning Relations with Non-Jews', pp. 387-88. [Back to text]

45 Following the interpretation of 4QD^a 5 ii 6 proposed by Baumgarten, Qumran Cave 4. XIII, p. 51. [Back to text]

46 Cf. Baumgarten, Qumran Cave 4. XIII, p. 131. [Back to text]

47 Cf. Baumgarten, 'The "Halakhah" in Miqsat Ma'ase Ha-Torah , p. 512. [Back to text]

48 Cf. Baumgarten, Qumran Cave 4. XIII, pp. 142-46. [Back to text]

49 See also 4Q298 which attests similar calls to attention, cf. S. Pfann, '4Q298: The Maskîl's Address to All Sons of Dawn', JQR 85 (1994) 203-35 and M. Kister, 'Commentary to 4Q298', JQR 85 (1994) 237-49. See also 4Q185, cf. A. Lange, Weisheit und Prädestination. Weisheitliche Urordnung und Prädestination in den Textfunden von Qumran, Leiden: Brill, 1995, p. 253 n. 83. [Back to text]

50 J. M. Baumgarten, 'The Laws of the Damascus Document in Current Research', in M. Broshi ed. The Damascus Document Reconsidered, Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society, 1992, pp. 51-62, p. 53. [Back to text]

51 Cf. Baumgarten, Qumran Cave 4. XIII, pp. 145-46; O. Betz, 'The Qumran Halakhah Text Miqsat Ma'sê Ha-Tôr®h (4QMMT) and Sadducean, Essene, and Early Pharisaic Tradition', in The Aramaic Bible. Targums in Their Historical Context ed. D. R. G. Beattie and M. J. McNamara, Sheffield: JSOT, 1994, pp. 176-202; and Schiffman, 'Place of 4QMMT'. [Back to text]

52 Qumran Cave 4. XIII, p. 146. [Back to text]

53 Cf. M. A. Knibb, The Qumran Community, Cambridge: CUP, 1987, p. 27. [Back to text]

54 A similar offence is found in 11QT^a 64,6-9 and the En Gedi inscription, see Baumgarten, Qumran Cave 4. XIII, p. 146 and M. Weinfeld, The Organizational Pattern and the Penal Code of the Qumran Sect. A Comparison with Guilds and Religious Associations of the Hellenistic-Roman Period, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht / Fribourg: Éditions Universitaires, 1986, p. 25. [Back to text]

55 The overlap between the catalogue of transgressions and 4QMMT is noted also by Baumgarten, Qumran Cave 4. XIII, p. 13. [Back to text]

56 See also 11QT^a 52,5, cf. Schiffman, 'Miqsat Ma'ase Ha-Torah and the Temple Scroll', pp. 448-51; idem , 'Place of 4QMMT', pp. 88 and 93. Further, J. M. Baumgarten, 'A Fragment on Fetal Life and Pregnancy in 4Q270', in Pomegranates and Bells. Studies in Biblical, Jewish, and Near Eastern Ritual, Law, and Literature in Honor of Jacob Milgrom ed. D. P. Wright, D. N. Freedman and A. Hurvitz, Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 1995, pp. 445-48. [Back to text]

57 Cf., for example, the observations offered by Y. Sussman in 'History of the Halakhah', p. 187. [Back to text]

58 See my '4QOrd^a (4Q159) and the Laws of the Damascus Document'. [Back to text]

59 This position has been restated recently by H. Eshel, '4QMMT and the History of the Hasmonean Period', in Reading 4QMMT, pp. 53-65. [Back to text]

60 See, for example, Schiffman, 'New Halakhic Letter' and Strugnell, 'Second Thoughts', pp. 70-73. [Back to text]

61 Cf. García Martínez, 'Dos notas sobre 4QMMT', RQ 16 (2993) 293-97; Schiffman, 'Place of 4QMMT', pp. 82-86; Strugnell, 'Second Thoughts', pp. 61-62; J. C. VanderKam, 'The Calendar, 4Q327, and 4Q394', in Legal Texts and Legal Issues, pp. 179-94. [Back to text]