DSS Class Minutes #8 (1 Oct 1996)
by Andrew Fleming

Started class with a question...
--Does Masada have any connection with Qumran/DSS?
  --According to R. Kraft, some DSS documents were also found at 
    Masada but this only means that the document was popular enough to 
    reach other areas in the desert.
    --Not necessarily a significant connection here.  

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Next, we read some of the scrolls--

DAMASCUS DOCUMENT--

Significance of the word Damascus
-some say that in the background of the group who wrote the scrolls there 
 is a connection with the city of Damascus.
-Others say that Damscus is symbolic. ie. maybe for a place of exile etc...

1st Line-
"And now, listen, all those who know justice, and understand the actions
 of God; for he has a dispute ... and will carry out judgment ..." -- this
 reflects a traditional formula ("RIV gattung") found also in Jewish
 scriptures for focusing on the divine justice that will eventually come
 to all the people of the community and all humankind.

MINOR INTERJECTION--

-Gaster gives a translation of the DSS that sometimes is more readable.
-He tries to read the minds of the scribes and interpret what was written.
-On the other hand, Garcia Martinez tries to reflect what's found in 
 the text even though he may not know exactly what it means.    

-In this document there is a formalized use of the confrontation imagery in 
 order to get a message accross -- the "RIV gattung."
-usually the scene has God calling witness against his people who have 
 done wrong -- witnesses being the sun, moon, stars, trees etc...
-Riv Gattung is a formulaic approach to God's dissatisfaction with his 
 people in relationship to the "covenant" God has given.  
 "For when they were unfaithful in foresaking him, he hid his face from 
 Israel and from his sanctuary and delivered them up to the sword."
-This first column of the document is about a dispute about Israel and 
 "his sanctuary"--most likely the Jerusalem Temple.  
-It is evident that the aforementioned line from the DD is referring to 
 the fall of the first Temple in 586 B.C.E. -- Nebuchadnezzar came in and 
 destroyed the Temple and exiled the Jewish leaders, etc.
-However, God remembered the covenant he made with his people and he 
 saved a "remnant" of Israelites -- this is not quite eschatological for
 it's not clearly focusing on the endtimes as yet, as it will in some
 other texts about the "righteous remnant."  
 "However, when he remembered the covenant of the very first, he saved a 
 remnant for Israel and did not deliver them up to destruction."

MINOR INTERJECTION--

-Historical Reference--a direct reference to an occurrence in history 
 (Nebuchadnezzar)
-Very rare in the DSS.

-"...he visited them and caused to sprout from Israel and from Aaron a 
 shoot of the planting, in order to possess his land and to become fat 
 with the good things of his soil."
-above quote may set the stage for the two Messiahs that the DSS elsewhere 
 mention, or at least refers to one community or person with dual roots
 -- "Israel" often refers to the general group, and "Aaron" to its
 priestly leaders.
-Two Messiahs spoken of --
  1) a military or political messiah/leader (Israel)
  2) a religious or priestly messiah/leader (Aaron)
-"sprout" was a term used in many passages of the Jewish Bible.  Could be 
 a community term or could be a messianic term.  
-Basically, the community could have thought of themselves as a messianic 
 shoot.  This is very possible; e.g. Paul said that the eschatological
 community is the "body" of messiah -- this idea could have derived from
 his Jewish training, unless he invented it.

Definition of Midrash--

-refers to a type of Rabbinic literature.
-Another form of biblical commentary.
-Normally applied to texts that quote a Biblical passage and give it an 
 explanation.
-biblical commentry is NOT unique to Rabbinic lit., although the use of
 the term "midrash" suggests something special about that material.
-There is a similarity of form between some DSS and some Rabbinic lit. but
 there's not necessarily a direct connection; lots of problems stand in
 the way of attempts to draw straight lines from the DSS to Rabbinic
 Judaism.

/end #8/