The Dead Sea Scrolls on Sexuality: Attitudes towards Sexuality in Sectarian and Related Literature at Qumran »

William Loader here investigates the Dead Sea Scrolls, mining every document of potential relevance for understanding ancient attitudes towards sexuality, aside from the biblical writings — and there are many such documents. They include the Temple Scroll, 4QMMT, the Damascus Document, and a number of legal, liturgical, wisdom, and exegetical documents. These texts treat a wide range of matters pertaining to sexuality, from ritual and cultic concerns to visions of human community and family in future expectation. Far from the common view that the writers of the Scrolls held a low view of sexuality and marriage, Loader concludes that most of these sources reflect an affirmative stance towards sex and marriage within a framework of clear boundaries marking out where sex did and did not belong.

The Dead Sea Scrolls on Sexuality offers the first comprehensive treatment of this subject and comprises both detailed exegetical discussion of each work and a synthetic analysis of themes. The attention to detail displayed and the helpful summaries included make this book an indispensable resource for both scholar and general reader.

Acknowledgments x

Introduction 1

Chapter 1 Attitudes Towards Sexuality in the Temple Scroll 5

1 Warnings about Idols 8

2 Sexuality and the Temple 10

3 The Deuteronomic Paraphrase 28

4 The Law of the King 37

5 Conclusion 48

Chapter 2 Attitudes Towards Sexuality in 4Qmmt 53

1 The Problem of Gentiles 57

2 "...and concerning the Ammonite and the Moabite..." 60

3 "...and concerning the practice of illicit marriages..." 65

4 "...and concerning the women..." 75

5 Conclusion 89

Chapter 3 Attitudes Towards Sexuality in The Damascus Document 91

1 The Admonition 93

The Beginning 4QDa/4Q266 1 a-b 5a-25; 1 c-f?; 2 i.1-6a 4QDb/4Q267 1 2-8; 4QDc/4Q268 1 1-8 95

The First Account CD 1.1 - 2.1; 4QDa/4Q266 2 i.6b-25; 4QDc/4Q268 1 9-17 95

The Second Account CD 2.1-13; 4QDa/4Q266 2 ii.1-13a 97

The Third Account CD 2.14-5.19; 4QDa/4Q266 2 ii.14-23; iii.5, 19-20; 3 i.1-7; ii. 1-7a; 4QDb/4Q267 2 1-3; 4QDe/4Q270 1 i.1-3; 1 ii a-b; 6QD/6Q15 1 1-3; 2 1-2; 3 1-2 97

History as a Story of Failure because of Sexual Wrongdoing 2.14-3.12 98

The Nets of Belial and Sexual Wrongdoing 4.12b-5.19 107

The Fourth Account CD 5.20-8.21a; CD 19.1-20.34; 4QDa/4Q266 3 ii. 7b-13; 4QDb/4Q267 2 4-15; 4QDd/4Q269 4 i. 1-3; 6QD/6Q15 3 2-5 125

A Catalogue of Transgressions 4QDe/4Q270 2 i.9-ii.18; and 6QD/6Q15 5 1-5 136

2 The Laws and Community Regulations 145

Male and Female Discharges 4QDa/4Q266 6 i-iii; 4QDd/4Q269 7; 4QDg/4Q272 1 i-ii; 4QDh/4Q273 4 ii 146

Women Accused of Adultery, and Intercourse with Female Slaves 4QDa/4Q266 12 1-9; 4QDe/4Q270 4 1-21 153

Dress, Finding Appropriate Marriage Partners, and Dealing with Slander 4QDb/4Q267 7 1-7, 12-14; 4QDd/4Q269 9 1-8; 4QDe/4Q270 514-21; 4QDf/4Q271 3 1-15 156

Remaining Qumran fragments and the Beginning of the Laws Preserved in CD 163

The Penal Code 4QDa/4Q266 10 i-ii. 15; 4QDb/4Q267 9 vi. 1-5; 4QDd/4Q269 11 i. 1-8; ii. 1-2; 15 1-5; 4QDe/4Q270 7 i.1-15 171

Review of Laws and Community Regulations 175

The Laws and the Catalogue of Transgressions 180

3 Conclusion 180

Chapter 4 Attitudes Towards Sexuality in the Legal Texts 187

1 The Community Rule 188

The Treatise on the Two Spirits 189

The Remainder of the Community Rule 195

Conclusion 199

2 The Rule of the Congregation 201

3 The War Scroll 211

4 Other Legal Texts 215

4.1 11QSefer ha-Milhamah/4QSefer ha-Milhamah 215

4.2 4QOrdinancesa 4Q159 216

4.3 4QOrdinancesb 4Q513 221

4.4 4QOrdinancesc 4Q514 223

4.5 4QHalakhah A 4Q251 224

4.6 4QMiscellaneous Rules 4Q265 228

4.7 4QPurification Rules A 4Q274 231

4.8 4QRebukes Reported by the Overseer 4Q477 232

Chapter 5 Attitudes Towards Sexuality in the Liturgical and Related Material 234

1 Purification Rituals 234

1.1 4QPurification Liturgy 4Q284 234

1.2 4QRitual of Purification A 4Q414 235

1.3 4QRitual of Purification B 4Q512 235

2 The Thanksgiving Hymns 237

Conflict and Sexuality 238

Self-Deprecation and Sexuality 243

3 4QBlessings 4Q286-90 254

4 4QBarkhi Nafshi 4Q434-438 255

5 The Words of the Luminaries 4Q504-506 256

6 4QFestival Prayers 4Q507, 508 257

7 4QpapRitual of Marriage 4Q502 257

8 The Songs of the Sage 4Q510, 511 260

9 4QIncantation 4Q444 262

10 4QExorcism ar 4Q560 263

11 11QApocryphal Psalms 11Q11 264

12 4QHoroscope 4Q186 264

Chapter 6 Attitudes Towards Sexuality in Biblical Exposition and Related Material 265

1 Pesharim 265

1.1 4QPsalms Peshera 4Q171 265

1.2 Habukkuk Pesher 1QpHab 266

1.3 4QUnidentified Pesher Fragments 4Q172 267

1.4 Other Pesharim 268

2 4QFlorilegium and 4QCatenaa 4Q174 and 4Q177 269

3 4QAges of Creation 4Q180-181 272

4 4QCommentary on Genesis A 4Q252 275

5 Other Reworked Biblical Material and Exhortations 279

5.1 Reworked Pentateuch 4Q158; 4Q364-367 279

5.2 References to Eden 280

5.3 4QPseudo-Jubilees 4Q225 and 4Q227 280

5.4 Apocryphon of Jeremiah and Pseudo-Ezekiel 281

5.5 Material Related to the Flood 282

5.6 Material Related to Exodus, the Entry and the Exile 283

5.7 4QDanSuz? Ar 4Q551 284

5.8 Two Narrative Works 284

6 The Genesis Apocryphon 1Q20 285

Chapter 7 Attitudes Towards Sexuality in the Wisdom Texts 298

1 1/4QInstruction 298

Instructions to a Married Woman and a Married Man 300

An Exposition of Marriage 306

Dualism and Sexuality 312

Conclusion 322

2 1/4QMysteries 1Q27;4Q299-301 323

3 The Testament of Qahat and the Visions of Amram 323

3.1 The Testament of Qahat 324

3.2 The Visions of Amram 324

4 The Wiles of the Wicked Woman 4Q184 326

Chapter 8 Attitudes Towards Sexuality in the Dead Sea Scrolls: Concluding Assessment 341

1 Conflict and Sexuality 341

2 Purity Laws, Human Embodiment, and Discharges 346

Ritual and Moral Impurity 348

3 Sexuality and Order 351

Polygyny 353

Sexual Intercourse with a Menstruant 354

Incest 354

Other Forbidden Marriages, including to Gentiles 356

The Myth of the Watchers 359

Other Instances of Sexual Wrongdoing, including Homosexual Acts 361

The Range of $$ "Sexual Wrongdoing" 362

Sexual Wrongdoing as an Issue 363

4 Sexuality in Time and Space 363

Nakedness 363

Sexual Intercourse in Sacred Time 365

Sexual Intercourse in Sacred Space 366

Restricted Entry 367

5 A Place for Sexuality? 369

Celibacy 369

Marriage and Sexuality in the Future and the Present 376

6 Sexuality, Self-Deprecation, and the Demonic 383

7 Conclusion 387

Bibliography 391

Index of Modern Authors 421

Index of Ancient Sources 426