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- Title
THE ORIGIN OF THE SCROLLS COMMUNITY AND ITS HISTORICAL CONTEXT.
- Authors
COLLINS, JOHN J.
- Abstract
The first generation of scholars on the Dead Sea Scrolls reached a consensus that the sectarian movement arose in reaction to the disputes over the High Priesthood in the Maccabean era. The figure of 390 in CD 1 was thought to point to a date in second century BCE. The fact that the sectarians called themselves "sons of Zadok" was thought to confirm their priestly origin. The dispute between the Teacher and the Wicked Priest, reflected in the Pesharim, was thought to be the conflict that gave rise to the movement. The archeology of Qumran was taken to support a date of origin in the midsecond century BCE Doubts about this reconstruction began to emerge when 4QMMT came to light in the 1980's. This text indicated that the factors that led to the separation of the sect were disputes over interpretation of the Law, especially in matters of purity. There is no good evidence that such disputes were a significant factor in Jewish life as early as the time of the Maccabees. Rather, sectarianism first emerges somewhat later in the Hasmonean period in the reigns of John Hyrcanus and Alexander Jannaeus. The most plausible date for 4QMMT, and also for the quarrel between the Teacher and the Wicked Priest, is after the death of Alexander Jannaeus when the Hasmonean rulers agreed to follow the teachings of the Pharisees. The movement known from the Scrolls must have been in existence for some time at this point, but its origin should probably be dated to the late second century, in the time of John Hyrcanus. It was not a reaction to the usurpation of the High Priesthood by the Hasmoneans.
- Subjects
WEST Bank; DEAD Sea scrolls; MACCABEES; BIBLICAL manuscripts; PRIESTHOOD; QUMRAN Site (West Bank); JEWISH history -- 586 B.C.-70 A.D.; ANTIQUITIES
- Publication
Henoch, 2017, Vol 39, Issue 1, p8
- ISSN
0393-6805
- Publication type
Article