Devotion and Dissension
This emphasis on devotion to the community can be examined by looking at texts found throughout the scrolls which speak to the following issues:
It is evident that the love for fellow community members was highly encouraged and even commanded in the scrolls. The opening passage of the Rule of the Community begins by stating the purpose of the community. Almost immediately one can see the import ance placed on the love between members of the community: " to love everything he [God] selects...to welcome into the covenant of kindness all those who freely volunteer to carry out God's decrees...to love all the sons of light, each one according to his lot in God's plan."(1QS I:3,11). A similar sentiment can be found in the Damascus Document as the reader is encouraged to "love his brother like himself." (CD VI:20-21).
This love and devotion supersede the individual's needs and even the members of the "Community council" are exhorted to "undergo trials in order to walk with everyone in the measure of truth and the regulation of time"(1QS VIII:4). Without love for each other, a community would quickly disintegrate. Love also inspires unity and togetherness, characteristics which would hinder dissension and uprisings.
There are many passages throughout the scrolls where this unity can be seen. The Rule of the Community calls the members "to be united in the counsel of God"(1QS I:8). In a psalm used by the community they are entreated to "unite your souls with the goo d ones and with the perfect ones to glorify the Most High. Join together to make his salvation known"(11Q5 XVIII: 1-2). In a hymn sinners are exhorted to "become united with the sons of your truth and in the lot of your holy ones...so that he can take his place in your presence with the perpetual host...and with those who know in a community of jubilation"(1QH XIX:11-14). They were also encouraged to worship in unity: "Sing favored ones, sing to the king of glory, be happy in the assembly of God. Exalt
t ogether with the eternal hosts...raise your voices in unison in all the periods"(1Q427 frag.7 I:13-16).
It is possible that the leaders of the community held to the same attitude expressed by the modern day proverb, "The family that prays together, stays together." In any case, the devotion to the community is evident throughout the scrolls. They call up on the members to love each other and be bound together in unity.
Another way in which devotion to the community is encouraged is the special position of the community in God's plan. The community sees itself as the true Israel and God's chosen people the "covenant of an everlasting Community"(1QS III:12). Throughout the entire collection of writings this attitude is prevalent.
This special status is especially clear in the eschatological writings found at Qumran. In the War Scroll the apocalyptic showdown between the "sons of light" and the "sons of darkness" is documented. In it, the community is referred to on the banners of war as, "God's congregation...God's camps...God's families...God's battalions...God's Assembly...Summoned by God...God's Army"(1QM IV:9-11). They see themselves as special and separate from the rest of the world, "And who is like your people, Israel, w hom you chose from among all the peoples of the earth, a people of holy once of the covenant, learned in the law, wise in knowledge, alert to the voice of Glory, seers of the holy angels, with open ears, hearing profound things?"(1QM X:9-11).
They set themselves apart from the rest of the world, and by doing so, brought the community together, united under a banner reading "God's congregation." To leave the community would mean you were no longer aligned with God and his people, but against
them.
Reading the scrolls one can get a strong sense of what type of characteristics were most praised and cultivated by this community. As would be expected, characteristics such as compassion, compliance, meekness, teachability, faithfulness, and acceptance of beliefs are highly regarded. These characteristics make for nice, happy, content, unobtrusive, non-radical, members of the community that wouldn't dream o rising up in rebellion against the authority structure of the group.
Many of these characteristics are listed in the Rule of the Community. "For all shall be in a single Community of truth, of proper meekness, of compassionate love and upright purpose, towards each other in the holy council, associates of an everlastin g society"(1QS II:24-25). "And by the spirit of uprightness and of humility his sin is atoned. And by the compliance of his soul with all the laws of God his flesh is cleansed...May he, then, steady his steps in order to walk with perfection all the paths o f God, conforming to all he has decreed"(1QS III:8-10) "A spirit of meekness, of patience, generous compassion, eternal goodness, intelligence, understanding, potent wisdom which trusts in all the deeds of God and depends on his abundant mercy...genero us compassion with all the sons of truth...unpretentious behavior with moderation in everything"(1QS IV:3-6). In order that the members of the community might attain these characteristics one of the purposes of the Community council is "to implement truth , justice, judgment, compassionate love and unassuming behavior of each person to his fellow"(1QS VIII:1-2).
Other scrolls also share this positive view of conformity and loyalty. In the Damascus Document it states that God will atone for "all those who remain steadfast in these regulations, coming and going in accordance with the law, and listen to the Teache r's voice"(CD XX:27-28). In the Targum of Job a passage reads, "If they are converted from their sins, if they listen and submit, they shall end their days in well-being and the years in honor and delights"(11Q10 XXVII:3-5). In one of the hymns it is sta ted "those who keep your regulations are saved. You protect the ones who serve you loyally"(1QH IV:13-14). And those who walk faithfully are blessed, "Bless those who fear God, do his will, keep his commandments, remain constant in his holy covenant and walk with perfection on all the paths of his truth"(1Q28b I:1-2).
From this it is easy to see that loyalty, faithfulness, meekness, and other such qualities are highly valued. A member having these characteristics would not be a threat to the stability of the community. Such a member would willingly fall into line an d not rebel against the governing structure of the community.
To examine the hierarchy of the community would be a long discussion in itself. Not all the different documents are in agreement concerning the set-up of the governing body of the community. However, in all the documents a strong sense of rank and order can be found.
In The Rule of the Community, The Damascus Document, and The Rule of the Congregation, a strong emphasis on rank can be observed. In The Rule of the Community: "The priest shall enter the Rule foremost, one behind the other, according to their spirits. And the levites shall enter after them. In third place all the people shall enter the Rule, one after another, in thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens, so that all the children of Israel may know their standing in God's Community in conformity with the e ternal plan. And no-one shall move down from his rank nor move up from the place of his lot"(1QS II:19-24).
In the Damascus Document :"And everyone who joins his congregation, he should examine, concerning his actions, his intelligence, his strength, his courage and his wealth: and they shall inscribe him in his place according to his condition in the lot of l ight...All shall be enlisted by their names: the priests first, the levites second, the children of Israel third, and the proselyte fourth...And thus shall they sit and thus shall they be questioned about everything"(CD XIII:12, XIV:3-6).
In The Rule of the Congregation :"And at the age of thirty he shall approach to arbitrate in disputes and judgments, and to take his place among the chiefs of the thousand of Israel, the commanders of a hundred, commanders of fifty, commanders of ten, th e judges and the officials and their tribes with all their families, according to the decision of the sons of Aaron , the priests, and of all the chiefs of the clans of the congregation, as the lot for him comes out, to take his place in the duties, to go out and to come in before the congregation"(1Q28a I:13-17).
In The Temple Scroll a similar ranking order can be found (11Q19 XLII:13, LI 11-14).
Although the exact form of the hierarchy may be presented somewhat differently in the different documents, one thing that is universal to them all is the importance of this hierarchy in establishing rule. The members of the community are strongly encour aged not to overstep the bounds of their position or rank. In The Rule of the Community, this is especially hammered in. "And they shall be recorded in the Rule, each one according to his insight and his deeds, in such a way that each one obeys his fello w, junior under senior"(1QS V:23). "No-one should talk during the speech of his fellow before his brother has finished speaking. And neither should he speak before one whose rank is listed before his own...And whoever retorts to his fellow with stubbornne ss and speaks with brusqueness, ruining the footing he has with him, defying the authority of his fellow who is enrolled ahead of him, he has taken the law into his own hands; he will be punished for a year...And if he has spoken angrily against one of th e priests enrolled in the book, he will be punished for a year and shall be excluded, under sentence of death, from the pure food of the Many(1QS VI:10,26 VII:2,3).
Even stiffer penalties then expulsion are found in The Temple Scroll. "Whoever does not listen and acts with effrontery in order not to listen to the priest placed there to serve in my presence or the judge, that man shall die. Thus you shall eliminate t he evil from Israel and all the people shall listen and fear and no-one will behave insolently in Israel any more"(11Q19 LVI:8-11). Basically the members of the community are "not to esteem themselves above their duties"(4Q405 frag 23. I:12) and to "bend their shoulder to all discipline"(4Q416 frag.2 III:13).
What results from this highly regulated society is a community in which it would be difficult to rebel against those of a higher position. Any revolutionary ideas or individuals could quickly be subdued by those of a higher rank. Those of low rank woul d not have the authority to lead a rebellion against the leaders. Humility and submission to authority is a theme that runs throughout many of the Dead Sea scrolls.
Although the scrolls aren't specific, there are some guidelines laid down in both the Rule of the Community and The Damascus Document concerning the resolution of internal conflict. "Each should reproach his fellow in truth, in meekness and in compassion ate love for the man. No-one should speak to his brother in anger or muttering, or with a hard neck or with passionate spiteful intent and he should not detest him in the stubbornness of his heart, but instead reproach him that day so as not to incur a s i n for his fault. And in addition, no-one should raise a matter against his fellow in front of the Many unless it is with reproof in the presence of witnesses."(1QS V:23-VI:1). A similar passage can also be found in the Damascus Document (CD IX:1-8, XX:5 ) and in a Sapiential Work (4Q424 frag3 I;1).
Internal conflict has the potential of ripping apart a community. The way in which a community deals with it is very important to its survival. The scrolls emphasize private and peaceful confrontations, in order not to aggravate the situation and keep th e conflict from affecting the entire community.
Anger, resentment, grudge bearing and all things which would disrupt the community in a conflict were heavily discouraged in the community. This is demonstrated by a pesher on psalm 37: "'Curb anger and control temper and do not get exasperated; it onl y leads to evil and those doing evil will be cut off.' Its interpretation concerns all who converted to the law, who do not reject their separation from their wickedness, for all the rebels to convert from their sin will be cut off"(4Q171 II:1). In the D amascus Document the author comments on some people of Israel who let anger and resentment run wild, "For they entered the covenant of conversion, but did not keep themselves apart from the path of traitors and defiled themselves by paths of licentiousnes s and with wicked wealth, avenging themselves, each one bearing resentment against his brother and each one hating his fellow, and each one despising his blood relative"(CD XIX:17-18). And in a hymn one can find the simple plea to "Be slow to anger, and do not spurn [...]"(1QH IX:37).
The scrolls record one instance where two members were reproached, one because of anger and one for reducing the spirit of the community: "And they reproached Johanan, son of Matathias because he[...]and was quick for anger, [...]and has the evil eye, an d also has a boastful spirit...And they reproached Hananiah Notos because he[...]to reduce the spirit of the community"(4Q477 frag.1 II:1-6).
In order to avoid conflict when the large group was assembled, the meetings were regulated rather strictly. It was not a free-for-all discussion where passions could fly and some rising punk could whip off a rousing speech to get everyone inflamed: "all the people will sit down in order of rank. And following the same system they shall be questioned with regard to the judgment, the counsel and any matter referred to the Many, so that each can impart his wisdom to the council of the Community. No-one sh ould talk during the speech of his fellow before his brother has finished speaking. And neither should he speak before one whose rank is listed before his own. Whoever is questioned should speak in turn . And in the session of the Many no-one should utter anything without the consent of the Many. And if the Examiner of the Many prevents someone having something to say to the Many but he is not in the position of one who is asking questions to the Community council, that man should stand up and say: 'I hav esomething to say to the Many.' If they tell him to, he should speak"(1QS VI:9-13).
Other rules concerning the session are the following: no sleeping, no giggling, no spitting, no gesticulating with the left hand, no slandering, and no complaining against the community or individuals (1QVII:12-20). All these rules emphasize the curbin g of passion that might easily arise at these large group sessions. The majority of the guests on Geraldo would have been kicked out after about a minute. Order and submission to authority is once again emphasized.
The most compelling argument for the existence of concern over desertion and disloyalty can be seen in the extremely negative way in which disloyalty, and characteristics associated with it, is viewed. The community is called "to hate everything that he [God] rejects" (1QS I:4), and told that God will "have no mercy for all those who deviate from the path"(1QS X:20-21). In a fragment of blessings and curses most likely used in a liturgical setting, "the men of the Community Council shall say, all togethe r, Amen. Amen. And afterwards they shall damn Belial and all his guilty lot"(4Q286 frag. 7 II:1-2). After joining in with the damning Belial's lot one would not be so quick to join it.
Many of these strong feelings could have originated at the start of the community during the time of the Teacher of Righteousness. The Teacher of Righteousness is highly esteemed by the writers of the scrolls and most likely had a large role in forming the ideology of the community. It is also quite evident that during the time of the Teacher of Righteousness, there were serious conflicts with other sects, and possibly strife within the community. There are several different names given to those who opposed the community: priests who are in Jerusalem, those looking for easy interpretations, the Spreader of Lies, the Wicked Priest, and the Man of Lies, to name a few. What is common to them all is that they all intensely ill-favored by the community, a nd characterized in a similar, negative manner. Many of the attitudes of the community towards dissension and disloyalty could have originated in these early conflicts. Also of interest is the way in which the members of the community are expected to t reat those outside the community. The scrolls show what appears to be a very segregated society. The Rule of the Community demands of the members that "they are to be segregated from within the dwelling of the men of sin to walk to the desert in order t o open there His path"(1QS VIII:13). He should swear by the covenant to be segregated from all the men of sin who walk along the paths of irreverence...'You shall remain at a distance from every lie'. None of the men of the Community should acquiesce to his authority in any law or regulation"(1QS V:10-11,15,16). "He should not reproach or argue with the men of the pit but instead hide the counsel of the law in the mid st of the men of sin"(1QS IX:16-17). In this way the community is protected from any outside influence which might stir up trouble in the community. The "bad guys" get bad-mouthed quite a bit in the scrolls. The community is called upon to "detest all the sons of darkness"(1QS I:10), and they are characterized by a spirit of deceit to wh ich belong "greed, frailty of hands in the service of justice, irreverence, deceit, pride and haughtiness of heart, dishonesty, trickery, cruelty, much insincerity, impatience, much insanity, impudent enthusiasm, appalling acts performed in a lustful pass ion, filthy paths for indecent purposes, blasphemous tongue, bl indness of eyes, hardness of hearing, stiffness of neck, hardness of heart in order to walk in all the paths of darkness and evil cunning"(1QS IV:9-11). A description which is quite the oppo site of the meek, patient, and humble community member.
Arrogance is condemned by the scrolls in an Isiah Pesher (4Q162 frag.1 I:10), a Psalms Pesher (4Q171 IV:15), and several hymns (1QH X:14-16), (4Q427 frag.7 II:8).
Words against the stubborn can be found in the Rule of the Community (1QS II:25, III:3), The Damascus Document (CD VIII:19, XIX:20), and a hymn (1QH XII:15).
Those opposed to the community are characterized as always fighting (1QpHab I:8-9)(4Q183 I:1), unteachable (1QS III:6), presumptuous (1QH XXI:15), and full of deceit (1QH X:31)(4Q428 frag.7 I:1).
Anyone who has abandoned the community or is opposed to it is seen as one who has turned his or her back on God's law. In a pesher of Hosea it says "they will turn their back on his precepts which he had sent to them through the mouth of his servants, t he prophets. They will listen to those who misdirect them"(4Q166 II:4-5). "They, like Adam, broke the covenant. Its interpretation: [...] they desert God and followed the laws of[...]"(4Q167 frag7-8). In a pesher of Habakkuk it condemns the Man of Lies for rejecting the law: "Why are you staring, traitors, and you maintain your silence when a wicked person consumes someone more upright than himself? Its interpretation concerns the House of Absolom and the member of his council, who kept silent at the ti me of the reproach of the Teacher of Righteousness and did not help him against the Man of Lies who rejected the Law in the midst of their whole Community"(1QpHab V:8-12).
Finally, a hymn that many scholars have attributed to the Teacher of Righteousness reads, "But they are sowers of deceit and seers of fraud, they have plotted evil against me {...} to alter your Law, which you engraved in my heart, by flattering teaching s for your people...they look for you with a double heart, and are not firmly based in your truth...Those who walk on the path of your heart have listened to me, they have aligned themselves with you in the council of the holy ones"(1QH XI:10,14,24). Fro m this it is easy to see that the community -or at least the author- believed that they were the only ones who followed God's law. Anyone outside of the community was outside of the law.
This attitude could have been the impetus behind 4QMMT. Some scholars have suggested that it is a letter from the Teacher of Righteousness to the Wicked Priest. The letter lists out some legal differences between the two groups and calls on the second group to amend their ways. However, the tone of the letter is rather friendly, and the animosity against outsiders that is prevalent throughout the scrolls is not to be found.
How does one go about setting up a religious community? The first thing one must do is to make some claim like: We are God's chosen community. Then one has to find people who are willing to submit to the authority structure of that community. Once the y are in the community love and unity must be promoted, and a way of dealing with internal conflicts must be devised. If any members break away from the community they must be treated with scorn and hatred.
For any community to survive it must protect itself against desertion and rebellion. All these devotion propagating devices listed above can be found throughout the Dead Sea scrolls. The rocky beginnings of the community probably intensified this insiste nce of devotion. It is evident that the community was concerned with desertion and took steps to counter-act it. What resulted is a collection of literature in which devotion to the beliefs and members of the community is heavily emphasized.
All quotations taken from, Florentino Garcia Martinez, The Dead Sea Scrolls Translated,Wilfred Watson,translator (Leiden, The Netherlands: E.J. Brill, 1994)