This volume investigates the layers of meaning of the Qumran community's liturgical practice as prayer (communication with the divine), ritual (actions that establish and reinforce the social and ideological structures of the community), and speech (containing both verbal and non-verbal communication). After a chapter on the social and ideological structures of the Qumran community, each successive chapter covers a different type of liturgy: Rites of Passage, Feasts and Fasts, Calendrical Rites, Rites of Affliction, Political Rites, and Rites of Communion. Each chapter presents the evidence for each practice and the social implications of the practice, especially with respect to community identity.
Author(s): Russell C. D. Arnold
Series: Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah 60
Publisher: Brill Academic Publishers
Year: 2006
Language: English
Pages: 280
The Social Role of Liturgy in the Religion of the Qumran Community......Page 4
CONTENTS......Page 6
Preface......Page 9
Introduction......Page 12
1. THE LEVELS OF MEANINGS OF LITURGY......Page 27
2.1. Orthography and Language......Page 29
2.2. Terminology......Page 31
2.3. Formal Characteristics......Page 32
2.5. Problems in Determining Provenance of Liturgy and Prayer......Page 33
3. LITURGICAL USE OF A TEXT......Page 34
4. PLAN FOR THIS STUDY......Page 35
1. Community Structure......Page 37
1. GROUP IDENTITY......Page 40
1.1. Self-designations......Page 44
1.2. Women......Page 47
1.3. Corporate Identity and Hierarchy......Page 49
2. GRID OF IDEOLOGICAL STRUCTURES......Page 51
2.1. Righteousness and Holiness......Page 52
2.2. Calendar......Page 54
2.3. Proper Speech......Page 58
3. SUMMARY......Page 61
2. Rites of Passage......Page 63
1. INITIATION AND COVENANT RENEWAL CEREMONY......Page 65
1.1. Preparation......Page 67
1.2. Entrance of New Initiates (1QS 1:16-2:1)......Page 72
1.3. Blessings and Curses (1QS 2:1-18)......Page 78
1.4. Entrance into the Serekh (1QS 2:19-25)......Page 81
1.5. Purification and Instruction (1QS 2:25-4:26)......Page 82
1.6. Rebuke and Dismissal......Page 86
2. SUMMARY......Page 91
3. Feasts and Fasts......Page 93
1.1. Dining Rooms......Page 94
1.2. Animal Remains......Page 95
2.1. 1QS 6:1-8......Page 96
2.2. 1QSa 2:17-22......Page 99
2.3. Tohorat HaRabim......Page 101
2.4. Was there Grace after Meals?......Page 103
3. LITURGICAL CONTEXT......Page 105
4. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE MEAL......Page 107
5. SUMMARY......Page 111
6. EXCURSUS: THE ROLE OF FASTING AT QUMRAN......Page 112
4. Calendrical Rites......Page 117
1. CALENDAR TEXTS......Page 120
2. EVIDENCE FOR CALENDRICAL RITUALS......Page 122
3.1. Sundial......Page 126
3.2. Tefillin......Page 127
4. LITURGICAL TEXTS CONNECTED TO DAILY RITES......Page 129
4.1. Daily Prayers (4Q503)......Page 131
4.2. Words of the Luminaries (4Q504, 4Q506)......Page 141
4.3. 4Q408 – Liturgy on Morning and Evening Prayer......Page 145
4.4. Summary of Daily Rites......Page 147
5. LITURGICAL TEXTS CONNECTED TO SABBATH RITES......Page 148
5.1. Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice (4Q400-407; 11Q17; Mas1k)......Page 149
6. LITURGICAL TEXTS CONNECTED TO FESTIVAL RITES......Page 159
6.1. Festival Prayers (4Q507, 4Q508, 4Q509 + 4Q505)......Page 160
6.2. Times for Praising God (4Q409)......Page 165
7.MONTHLY RITES......Page 167
8. SUMMARY......Page 168
5. Rites of Affliction......Page 170
1. CURSES......Page 171
1.1. 1QS 2:4-18......Page 172
1.2. 4QBera (4Q286) frg. 7......Page 173
1.3. Curses (4Q280) frg. 2......Page 174
1.4. Significance of Curses......Page 175
2.1. Apotropaic Prayers......Page 176
2.2. Incantations......Page 177
3.1. Tohorot (4Q274-278; 4Q514)......Page 180
3.2. Ritual of Purification (4Q512, 4Q414)......Page 182
3.3. Purification Liturgy (4Q284)......Page 192
4. SUMMARY......Page 195
6. Political Rites......Page 198
1. RANKING THE MEMBERS......Page 199
2. DISCIPLINE......Page 201
3. AUTHORITY OF THE PRIESTHOOD......Page 204
3.1. Liturgy of the Tongues of Fire (4Q375, 4Q376, 1Q29)......Page 205
3.2. The War Scroll (1QM, 4Q491-496)......Page 208
3.3. Benedictions (1QSb)......Page 210
4. SUMMARY......Page 214
7. Rites of Communion......Page 216
1. HODAYOT......Page 219
1.1. Liturgical Context......Page 223
1.2. The Hodayot as Rites of Communion......Page 225
2. PSALMS......Page 232
2.1. Communion Elements in 11QPsa......Page 235
3. 4Q380-4Q381......Page 237
4. BARKHI NAFSHI......Page 240
5. SUMMARY......Page 243
Conclusion......Page 245
Bibliography......Page 248
Indexes......Page 264
