Qumran and Jerusalem: Studies in the Dead Sea Scrolls and the History of Judaism »

Lawrence H. Schiffman is Ethel and Irvin A. Edelman Professor of Hebrew and Judaic Studies and Chairman of the Skirball Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies at New York University. His previous books include Reclaiming the Dead Sea Scrolls and From Text to Tradition: A History of Judaism in Second Temple and Rabbinic Times.

With the full publication of the Dead Sea Scrolls come major changes in our understanding of these fascinating texts and their significance for the study of the history of Judaism and Christianity. One of the most significant changes — that one cannot study Qumran without Jerusalem nor Jerusalem without Qumran — is explored in this important volume. / Although the Scrolls preserve the peculiar ideology of the Qumran sect, much of the material also represents the common beliefs and practices of the Judaism of the time. Here Lawrence Schiffman mines these incredible documents to reveal their significance for the reconstruction of the history of Judaism. His investigation brings to life a period of immense significance for the history of the Western world.

Preface x

Acknowledgments xiv

Abbreviations xvii

Introduction: The Qumran Scrolls and Rabbinic Judaism 1

The Scholarly Controversy

1 The Many “Battles of the Scrolls” 15

2 Literary Genres and Languages of the Judean Scrolls 44

3 Halakhah and History: The Contribution of the Dead Sea Scrolls to Recent Scholarship 63

History, Politics, and The Formation of The Sect

4 Community without Temple: The Qumran Community's Withdrawal from the Jerusalem Temple 81

5 Political Leadership and Organization in the Dead Sea Scrolls Community 98

6 The New Halakhic Letter (4QMMT) and the Origins of the Dead Sea Sect 112

7 The Place of 4QMMT in the Corpus of Qumran Manuscripts 123

Jewish Law at Qumran

8 Legal Texts in the Dead Sea Scrolls 143

9 Codification of Jewish Law in the Dead Sea Scrolls 170

10 Pre-Maccabean Halakhah in the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Biblical Tradition 184

11 Contemporizing Halakhic Exegesis in the Dead Sea Scrolls 197

12 Halakhic Elements in 4QInstruction 204

Religious Outlook of The Qumran Sectarians

13 The Early History of Jewish Liturgy and the Dead Sea Scrolls 219

14 The Concept of Covenant in the Qumran Scrolls and Rabbinic Literature 235

15 Holiness and Sanctity in the Dead Sea Scrolls 256

16 Messianic Figures and Ideas in the Qumran Scrolls 270

17 The Concept of Restoration in the Dead Sea Scrolls 286

18 Jerusalem in the Dead Sea Scrolls 303

Qumran Sectarians and Others

19 The Pharisees and Their Legal Traditions according to the Dead Sea Scrolls 321

20 Pharisees and Sadducees in Pesher Nahum 337

21 Inter- or Intra-Jewish Conflict? The Judaism of the Dead Sea Scrolls Community and Its Opponents 353

22 Non-Jews in the Dead Sea scrolls 365

Language and Literature

23 Pseudepigrapha in the Pseudepigrapha: Mythical Books in Second Temple Literature 383

24 Second Temple Literature and the Cairo Genizah 393

25 Inverting Reality: The Dead Sea Scrolls in the Popular Media 411

Bibliography 424

Index of Modern Authors 457

Index of Subjects 464

Index of Ancient Sources 471