The Qumran Paradigm

early Judaism and its Literature

rodney a. Werline, editor

Editorial Board:mark J. Boda

george J. Brookeesther glickler Chazon

Steven d. FraadeJames S. mcLaren

number 43

The Qumran Paradigm

a CriTiCaL evaLuaTion oF Some FoundaTionaL

hyPoTheSeS in The ConSTruCTion oF The

Qumran SeCT

gwynned de Looijer

SBL Pressatlanta

Copyright © 2015 by SBL Press

all rights reserved. no part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by means of any information storage or retrieval system, except as may be expressly permit-ted by the 1976 Copyright act or in writing from the publisher. requests for permission should be addressed in writing to the rights and Permissions office, SBL Press, 825 hous-ton mill road, atlanta, ga 30329 uSa.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data

Looijer, gwynned de., author.The Qumran paradigm : a critical evaluation of some foundational hypotheses in the construction of the Qumran sect / by gwynned de Looijer.

p. cm. — (early Judaism and its literature ; number 43)includes bibliographical references and index.Summary: “gwynned de Looijer reexamines the key hypotheses that have driven scholars’ understandings of the dead Sea Scrolls, the archaeological site of Khirbet Qumran, and the textual descriptions of the essenes. She demonstrates that foun-dational hypotheses regarding a sect at Qumran have heavily influenced the way the texts found in the surrounding caves are interpreted. de Looijer’s approach aban-don’s those assumptions to illustrate that the dead Sea Scrolls reflect a wider range of backgrounds reflecting the many diverse forms of Judaism that existed in the Second Temple period”— Provided by publisher.iSBn 978-0-88414-071-9 (pbk. : alk. paper) — iSBn 978-0-88414-072-6 (ebook) — iSBn 978-0-88414-073-3 (hardcover :alk. paper)1. Qumran community. 2. dead Sea scrolls. 3. Judaism—history—Post-exilic

period, 586 B.C.–210 a.d. i. Title.Bm487.L66 2015296.8'15—dc23 2015025096

Printed on acid-free paper.

Contents

acknowledgments xiabbreviations xiiiFigures and Tables xvii

1. introduction ..................................................................................................11.1. a Qumran Community? 41.2. a Sectarian Library? 151.3. moving the Foundation Stone: Sectarianism as a

Second Temple Phenomenon? 201.4. Judea and Judaism in Second Temple Times:

Power, Privilege, and Fragmentation 241.5. The Qumran Paradigm: a Persistent Phenomenon? 30

2. Textual Classification of Presectarianism: on in-Between Texts and Formative Periods .....................................................................37

2.1. dimant, a Sectarian Library and in-Between Sectarian Texts 39

2.2. evaluating dimant’s Qumran Library and its Textual Classifications 48

2.3. garcía martínez’s groningen hypothesis and a Formative Period of the Sect 62

2.4. evaluating garcía martínez’s Formative Period and model of Chronological development 76

2.5. Conclusions: Classification Systems and Their Function in the Paradigm 85

3. The Provenance of 4QmmT: a Case of Qumran (Pre-)Sectarianism? ....................................................................................89

3.1. The Task of This Chapter 903.2. a history of Controversies 91

3.3. The Texts 923.4. genre 1073.5. date 1083.6. historical Setting 1113.7. From 4QmmT as (Pre-)Sectarian Tool to 4QmmT

in its own right 1133.8. The Parameters of 4QmmT’s Status as

Foundational document 1153.9. Conclusions 138

4. ideology as a Cohesive Strategy: The development of Qumran dualism ......................................................................................139

4.1. dualism as a Qumran Characteristic 1404.2. dualism as an aspect of Larger Socioreligious

Phenomena 1544.3. dualism as a Concept in religious Systems 1674.4. revisiting Types of dualism at Qumran 1724.5. revisiting Frey’s Patterns of dualistic Thought

and Their developments 1824.6. revisiting dualism in its Socioreligious milieu:

aspect or Core? 1854.7. The Cohesive ideology of dualism: Building Block

of the Qumran Paradigm? 187

5. The Zenith of Qumran Thought: The Case of dualism and 1QS iii, 13–iv, 26 ..............................................................................189

5.1. The Text: The Treatise of the Two Spirits 1905.2. dating the Treatise 2015.3. Textual Correspondences and Sociohistorical Setting 2045.4. dualism in the Treatise 2095.5. The Treatise and its Position in the Sapiential Pattern

of Qumran dualism 2315.6. Two Ways: a Case Study 2485.7. The Cohesive Function of dualism at Qumran 251

6. The Qumran Paradigm: Toward a revisionist approach ....................2536.1. The Pyramid Structure of the Qumran Paradigm 2556.2. The Proposed alternatives: Protest reinforces the

Paradigm 257

viii ConTenTS

6.3. What Can We Learn from 4QmmT and the Treatise? 2606.4. Proposals for Future research 2616.5. Conclusion 268

Bibliography ...................................................................................................271

index of Primary Texts .................................................................................287index of modern authors.............................................................................295

ConTenTS ix