The Dead Sea Scrolls - Session Two
The History of the Community –
Identifying the Key Players through Biblical Interpretation
The Dead Sea community did not write a straight-forward account of their history and there are very few uncoded historical references in the surviving texts. Thus, it is difficult to try to reconstruct the history of the sect – difficult, but not impossible. As Geza Vermes has written:
“Most of the knowledge we possess of the sect’s history originates from works of Bible interpretation. The Qumran writers, while meditating on the words of the Old Testament prophets, sought to discover in them allusions to their own past, present and future. Convinced that they were living in the last days, they read the happenings of their times as the fulfilment of biblical predictions.” (Vermes, 49).
Thus, if we have some rudimentary understanding of the history of the period, it is possible that we can try to “break the code”, as it were, and attempt to associate what is recorded in the interpretation of biblical prophecy with the religio-political events of the day.
Fortunately, we know quite a bit about the period through several works that have come down to us. 1 & 2 Maccabees relate events beginning in the 160s BCE concerning the Maccabean revolt against Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the Seleucid king who ruled over Judea and desecrated the Temple. 1 Maccabees, in particular, extends the narrative to the late 2nd century and the time of John Hyrcanus. Flavius Josephus, the late first century AD Jewish historian left two works that give accounts of the period, The Jewish War, and The Antiquities of the Jews. In those works, he had access to the Maccabean literature, as well as some sources that are no longer extant. The latter part of the Book of Daniel is also a coded account of the oppression of Judea into the time of the Maccabees. (Incidentally, Handel wrote a wonderful oratorio, Judas Maccabeus, which tells of the Maccabean Revolt)
We speak of the “Maccabean” Revolt, but it is probably more appropriate to call the whole era the “Hasmonean” period. The name Maccabee” refers to Judah the Maccabee (or “The Hammer” - which might give some indication of the type of person he was!), who was one of the sons of Mattathias, who with their father, rose up against Seleucid rule and the tyrant Antiochus IV Epiphanes. The descendants of Mattathias, who subsequently ruled Judea first as high priest and latterly as both kings and high priests were known as the Hasmoneans after their ancestor “Hasmoneus”.
Antiochus IV was a descendant of Seleucus, one of the generals of Alexander the Great, who were collectively known as the Diadochoi. When Alexander died in 323 BC his kingdom was divided between his generals. For our purposes, it is important to know about two of these kingdoms, the Seleucids (named after the general Seleucas), who inhabited roughly the area of Syria, north of Judea, and the Ptolemies (named after the general Ptolemy), who inhabited Egypt and the south. There is a complex history of war and rivalry between these two kingdoms, but suffice to say, Judea was always caught in the middle, falling under the rule of one or the other.
One of the characteristics of these two kingdoms was that they continued the tradition of Hellenization, that is, introducing Greek language, customs, and religion into the lands they ruled. Clearly, this was a problem for the Jews of ancient Judea. There are several ways that an oppressed people can respond to this kind of cultural imperialism. First, one can co-operate (or perhaps, collaborate) with the oppressors. It is clear from our sources that several highly placed members of the society, including the High Priest, did just that. When one considers the options, sometimes it might seem best to give a little for the sake of peace, but how much does one give before they are considered “sell-outs”? Secondly, they can rise up and fight. This is what the Maccabees/Hasmoneans did. They rejected both their Seleucid masters AND those who collaborated. Were the Maccabees freedom fighters or terrorists? It all depends on one’s perspective. Ultimately, they cast off the yoke of the oppressor and themselves became the rulers of Judea. Finally, one can “get out of dodge”, that is retreat into the wilderness and set up one’s own society. We learn of the “holy ones” in the Book of Daniel who did this, and based on the evidence from ancient sources (which we examined last week), it seems that these people were probably the founders of the Essene sect. They set up their own strict community, probably following a solar rather than lunar calendar, with their own leadership, and a sense that they were “the remnant to be saved.”
Needless to say, these three groups disagreed with each other and sometimes found themselves in conflict. When we read the various texts and fragments from Qumran, in particular the Damascus Document and the Pesharim (Biblical interpretation), we get a sense of a community at odds with the Jerusalem establishment (namely, the Hasmonean Dynasty).
Here is a handy family tree (courtesy of Wikipedia) of the Hasmonean dynasty:
For a brief history of the Hasmonean dynasty, click here.
“The Pesher Method” of Biblical Interpretation
The Pesharim (from the Hebrew root meaning “interpretation”) are a collection of biblical commentaries (especially of the biblical prophets) found at Qumran. The sect believed that Scripture functioned on two levels. There is what we might call the “plain reading” of the text, which can be understood by anyone without any special knowledge, and then there is a secret interpretation, that can only be understood by those with secret knowledge. Specifically, the gifted interpreter understands the biblical text to refer to events related to the life of the Qumran sect, living in the last days, and points to specific historical events in the history of the community and specific historical personages, whose identities are hidden under sobriquets such as “the Teacher of Righteousness”, “The Liar”, “The Wicked Priest”, “Seekers after Smooth Things”, “Ephraim and Manasseh”, “The Kittim”. The interpretation usually begins by quoting the biblical text and then continuing "interpreted this means..." and apply the text to some historical circumstance in the life of the community.
Read through the Damascus Document, several of the Pesharim, a Prayer for King Jonathan, and MMT (page numbers listed in the weekly schedule). One need not read the texts in their entirety (indeed, many are fragmentary) but try to dip in and “taste” them. Get a sense of how the sect applied Scripture to their own history and story. Get a sense of some of the key figures referred to in the texts and think about who they might be, and what they are struggling with as a community.
Questions for consideration:
What do you think were some of the major points of contention on the part of the Dead Sea Community? (how and why were they at odds with the Jerusalem establishment)
Who might key figures or groups (see above, e.g., Teacher of Righteousness, Wicked Priest, Liar, etc.) refer to?
What do you think about how the Dead Sea community interpreted Scripture?
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