by Geza Vermes
(For God made) XVI a Covenant with you and all Israel; therefore a man shall bind himself by oath to return to the Law of Moses, for in it all things are strictly defined.
As for the exact determination of their times to which Israel turns a blind eye, behold it is strictly defined in the Book of the Divisions of the Times into their Jubilees and Weeks. And on the day that a man swears to return to the Law of Moses, the Angel of Persecution shall cease to follow him provided that he fulfils his word: for this reason Abraham circumcised himself on the day that he knew.
And concerning the saying, You shall keep your vow by fulfilling it (Deut. xxiii, 24), let no man, even at the price of death, annul any binding oath by which he has sworn to keep a commandment of the Law.
But even at the price of death, a man shall fulfil no vow by which he has sworn to depart from the Law.
Concerning the oath of a woman
Inasmuch as He said, It is for her husband to cancel her oath (Num. xxx, 9), no husband shall cancel an oath without knowing whether it should be kept or not. Should it be such as to lead to transgression of the Covenant, he shall cancel it and shall not let it be kept. The rule for her father is likewise.
Concerning the statute for free-will offerings
No man shall vow to the altar anything unlawfully acquired. Also, no Priest shall take from Israel anything unlawfully acquired. And no man shall consecrate the food of his house to God, for it is as he said, Each hunts his brother with a net (or votive-offering: Mic. vii, 2). Let no man consecrate... And if he has consecrated to God some of his own field ... he who has made the vow shall be punished ... {[with] one sixth of his valuation money} (4Q266, fr. 8 ii, 2-3) ...
IX84 Every vow by which a man vows another to destruction (cf. Lev. xxvii, 29) by the laws of the Gentiles shall himself be put to death. And concerning the saying, You shall not take vengeance on the children of your people, nor bear any rancour against them (Lev. xix, 18), if any member of the Covenant accuses his companion without first rebuking him before85 witnesses; if he denounces him in the heat of his anger or reports him to his elders to make him look contemptible, he is one that takes vengeance and bears rancour, although it is expressly written, He takes vengeance upon His adversaries and bears rancour against His enemies (Nah. i, 2). If he holds his peace towards him from one day to another86 and thereafter speaks of him in the heat of his anger, he testifies against himself concerning a capital matter because he has not fulfilled the commandment of God which tells him: You shall rebuke your companion and not be burdened with sin because of him (Lev. xix, 17).
Concerning the oath with reference to that which He said, You shall not take the law into your own hands (I Sam. XXV, 26)
Whoever causes another to swear in the field instead of before the Judges, or at their decree, takes the law into his own hands. When anything is lost, and it is not known who has stolen it from the property of the camp in which it was stolen, its owner shall pronounce a curse, and any man who, on hearing (it), knows but does not tell, shall himself be guilty.
When anything is returned which is without an owner, whoever returns it shall confess to the Priest, and apart from the ram of the sin-offering, it shall be his.
And likewise, everything which is found but has no owner shall go to the Priests, for the finder is ignorant of the rule concerning it. If no owners are discovered they shall keep it.
Every sin which a man commits against the Law, and which his companion witnesses, he being alone, if it is a capital matter he shall report it to the Guardian, rebuking him in his presence, and the Guardian shall record it against him in case he should commit it again before one man and he should report it to the Guardian once more. Should he repeat it and be caught in the act before one man, his case shall be complete.
And if there are two (witnesses), each testifying to a different matter, the man shall be excluded from the pure Meal provided that they are trustworthy and that each informs the Guardian on the day that they witnessed (the offence). In matters of property, they shall accept two trustworthy witnesses and shall exclude (the culprit) from the pure Meal on the word of one witness alone. No X Judge shall pass sentence of death on the testimony of a witness who has not yet attained the age of enrolment and who is not God-fearing.
No man who has wilfully transgressed any commandment shall be declared a trustworthy witness against his companion until he is purified and able to return.
And this is the Rule for the Judges of the Congregation
Ten shall be elected from the congregation for a definite time, four from the tribe of Levi and Aaron, and six from Israel. (They shall be) learned in the Book of Meditation and in the constitutions of the Covenant, and aged between twenty-five and sixty years. No man over the age of sixty shall hold office as Judge of the Congregation, for ‘because man sinned his days have been shortened, and in the heat of His anger against the inhabitants of the earth God ordained that their understanding should depart even before their days are completed’ (Jubilees, xxiii, II).
Concerning purification by water
No man shall bathe in dirty water or in an amount too shallow to cover a man. He shall not purify himself with water contained in a87 vessel. And as for the water of every rock-pool too shallow to cover a man, if an unclean man touches it he renders its water as unclean as water contained in a vessel.
Concerning the Sabbath to observe it according to its law
No man shall work on the sixth day from the moment when the sun’s orb is distant by its own fulness from the gate (wherein it sinks); for this is what He said, Observe the Sabbath day to keep it holy (Deut. v, 12). No man shall speak any vain or idle word on the Sabbath day. He shall make no loan to his companion. He shall make no decision in matters of money and gain. He shall say nothing about work or labour to be done on the morrow.
No man shall walk in the field88 to do business on the Sabbath. He shall not walk more than one thousand cubits beyond his town.
No man shall eat on the Sabbath day except that which is already prepared. He shall eat nothing lying in the fields. He shall not drink except in the camp. XI If he is on a journey and goes down to bathe, he shall drink where he stands, but he shall not draw water into a vessel. He shall send out no stranger on his business on the Sabbath day. No man shall wear soiled garments, or garments brought to the store, unless they have been washed with water or rubbed with incense. No man shall willingly mingle (with others) on the Sabbath.
No man shall walk more than two thousand cubits after a beast to pasture it outside his town. He shall not raise his hand to strike it with his fist. If it is stubborn he shall not take it out of his house.
No man shall take anything out of the house or bring anything in. And if he is in a booth, let him neither take anything out nor bring anything in. He shall not open a sealed vessel on the Sabbath.
No man shall carry perfumes on himself whilst going and coming on the Sabbath. He shall lift neither stone nor dust in his dwelling.
No man minding a child shall carry it whilst going and coming on the Sabbath.
No man shall chide89 his manservant or maidservant or labourer on the Sabbath.90 No man shall assist a beast to give birth on the Sabbath day. And if it should fall into a cistern or pit, he shall not lift it out on the Sabbath.
No man shall spend the Sabbath in a place near to Gentiles on the Sabbath.
No man shall profane the Sabbath for the sake of riches or gain on the Sabbath day. But should any man fall into water or (fire), let him not be pulled out with the aid of a ladder or rope or (some such) utensil.
No man on the Sabbath shall offer anything on the altar except the Sabbath burnt-offering; for it is written thus: Except your Sabbath offerings (Lev. xxiii, 38).
No man shall send to the altar any burnt-offering, or cereal offering, or incense, or wood, by the hand of one smitten with any uncleanness, permitting him thus to defile the altar. For it is written, The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination, but the prayer
of the just is as an agreeable offering (Prov. xv, 8).
No man entering the house of worship shall come unclean and in need of washing. And at the sounding of the trumpets for assembly, he shall go there before or after (the meeting), and shall not cause the whole service to stop, XII for it is a holy service.
No man shall lie with a woman in the city of the Sanctuary, to defile the city of the Sanctuary with their uncleanness.
Every man who preaches apostasy under the dominion of the spirits of Belial shall be judged according to the law relating to those possessed by a ghost or familiar spirit (Lev. xx, 27). But no man who strays so as to profane the Sabbath and the feasts shall be put to death; it shall fall to men to keep him in custody. And if he is healed of his error, they shall keep him in custody for seven years and he shall afterwards approach the Assembly.
No man shall stretch out his hand to shed the blood of a Gentile for the sake of riches and gain. Nor shall he carry off anything of theirs, lest they blaspheme, unless so advised by the company of Israel.
No man shall sell clean beasts or birds to the Gentiles lest they offer them in sacrifice. He shall refuse, with all his power, to sell them anything from his granary or wine-press, and he shall not sell them his manservant or maidservant inasmuch as they have been brought by him into the Covenant of Abraham.
No man shall defile himself by eating any live creature or creeping thing, from the larvae of bees to all creatures which creep in water. They shall eat no fish unless split alive and their blood poured out. And as for locusts, according to their various kinds they shall plunge them alive into fire or water, for this is what their nature requires.
All wood and stones and dust defiled by the impurity of a man shall be reckoned like men having defilement of oil on them; whoever touches them shall be defiled by their defilement. And every nail or peg in the wall of a house in which a dead man lies shall become unclean as any working tool becomes unclean (Lev. xi, 32).
The Rule for the assembly of the towns of Israel shall be according to these precepts that they may distinguish between unclean and clean, and discriminate between the holy and the profane.
And these are the precepts in which the Master shall walk in his commerce with all the living in accordance with the statute proper to every age. And in accordance with this statute shall the seed of Israel walk and they shall not be cursed.
This is the Rule for the assembly of the camps
Those who follow these statutes in the age of wickedness until the coming of the Messiah of Aaron XIII and Israel shall form groups of at least ten men, by Thousands, Hundreds, Fifties, and Tens (Exod. xviii, 25)-And where the ten are, there shall never be lacking a Priest learned in the Book of Meditation; they shall all be ruled by him.
But should he not be experienced in these matters, whereas one of the Levites is experienced in them, then it shall be determined that all the members of the camp shall go and come according to the latter’s word.
But should there be a case of applying the law of leprosy to a man, then the Priest shall come and shall stand in the camp and the Guardian shall instruct him in the exact interpretation of the Law.
Even if the Priest is a simpleton, it is he who shall lock up (the leper); for theirs is the judgement.
This is the Rule for the Guardian of the camp
He shall instruct the Congregation in the works of God. He shall cause them to consider His mighty deeds and shall recount all the happenings of eternity to them [according to] their [ex]planation (4Q267, fr. 9 iv, 2). He shall love them as a father loves his children, and shall carry them in all their distress like a shepherd his sheep. He shall loosen all the fetters which bind them that in his Congregation there may be none that are oppressed or broken. He shall examine every man entering his Congregation with regard to his deeds, understanding, strength, ability and possessions, and shall inscribe him in his place according to his rank in the lot of L[ight].
No member of the camp shall have authority to admit a man to the Congregation against the decision of the Guardian of the camp.
No member of the Covenant of God shall give or receive anything from the sons of Dawn (shahar) [or: of the Pit (shahat)] except for payment.
No man shall form any association for buying and selling without informing the Guardian of the camp and shall act on (his) advice and they shall not go {astray. Likewise he who marri[es]} (4Q266, fr. 9 ii, 4) a woma[n] ... advice. Likewise he who divorces (his wife). And he (the Guardian) shall instruct {their sons [and their daughters in a spiri]t} (4Q266, fr. 9 ii, 6-7) of humility and in loving-kindness and shall not keep {anger} (4Q266, fr. 9 ii, 8) towards them ...
This is the Rule for the assembly of the camps during all [the age of wickedness, and whoever does not hold fast to] these (statutes) shall not be fit to dwell in the Land [when the Messiah of Aaron and Israel shall come at the end of days].
[And] these are the [precepts] in which the Master [shall walk in his commerce with all the living until God shall visit the earth. As He said, There shall come upon you, and upon your people, and upon your father’s house, days] XIV such as have not come since Ephraim departed from Judah (Isa. vii, 17); but for whoever shall walk in these (precepts), the Covenant of God shall stand firm to save him from all the snares of the Pit, whereas the foolish shall be punished.91
The Rule for the assembly of all the camps
They shall all be enrolled by name: first the Priests, second the Levites, third the Israelites, and fourth the proselytes. And they shall be inscribed by name, one after the other: the Priests first, the Levites second, the Israelites third, and the proselytes fourth. And thus shall they sit and thus be questioned on all matters. And the Priest who is appointed {to head} (4Q267, fr. 9 v, II) the Congregation shall be from thirty to sixty years old, learned in the Book of Meditation and in all the judgements of the Law so as to pronounce them correctly.
The Guardian of all the camps shall be from thirty to fifty years old, one who has mastered all the secrets of men and the languages of all their clans. Whoever enters the Congregation shall do so according to his word, each in his rank. And whoever has anything to say92 with regard to any suit or judgement, let him say it to the Guardian.
This is the Rule for the Congregation by which it shall provide for all its needs
They shall place the earnings of at least two days out of every month into the hands of the Guardian and the Judges, and from it they shall give to the fatherless, and from it they shall succour the poor and the needy, the aged sick and the man who is stricken (with disease), the captive taken by a foreign people, the virgin with no near kin, and the ma[id for] whom no man cares ...
And this is the exact statement of the assembly ...
This is the exact statement of the statutes in which [they shall walk until the coming of the Messia]hof Aaron and Israel who will pardon their iniquity
[Whoever] deliberately lies in a matter of property... and shall do penance for six days ...
[Whoever slanders his companion or bears rancour] unjustly [shall do penance for one] year...
Damascus Document manuscripts from Cave 4
Three Qumran caves have provided supplementary documentation to the text preserved in the Cairo Genizah. Of these the evidence furnished by Caves 5 (CD IX, 7-10) and 6 (CD IV, 19-21, v, 13-14, v, 18-VI, 2, VI, 20-VII, 1) is negligible, but the fragments discovered in Cave 4 (4Q266-273) are of the highest importance. Furthermore 4Q265 provides a kind of hybrid connecting the Damascus Document and the Community Rule. Palaeographically 4Q266-73 are dated from the mid-first century BCE to the beginning of the first century CE.
The 4Q material represents (1) a prologue missing from CD (4Q266, fr. I—b; fr. 2 i, 1-6, combined with 4Q267, fr. 1 and 268, fr. 1) and substantial legal sections which follow the broken ending of the Statutes of CD. These laws relate to (2) the admission or dismissal of candidates (4Q266, fr. 5); to (3) criteria for disqualifying priests (4Q266, fr. 5; 267, fr. 5 ii; 273, frs. 2, 4 i); to (4) detailed
rulings concerning the diagnosis and quarantining of persons suffering from skin disease (4Q266, fr. 6; 272, fr. 1); to (5) laws pertaining to gleanings (4Q266, fr. 6 iii-iv) and to the agricultural priestly dues (4Q270, fr. 3 ii-iii; 271, fr. 2; 269, fr. 8 i-ii). (6) A penal code partly overlapping with 1QS VII follows (4Q266, fr. 10; 270, fr. 7 i; 269, fr. II i-ii). The two main manuscripts (4Q266, fr. II and 270, fr. 7i-ii) end with the ritual for the dismissal of unworthy members used in the ceremony marking entry into and expulsion from the Covenant. This festival was celebrated in the third month and coincided with the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost. Finally (7) the hybrid S-D (4Q265), in which the Community Rule and the Damascus Document merge, allows a glimpse into the interrelationship between the two main constitutional documents of the Community.
For the editio princeps, see J. M. Baumgarten, DJD, XVIII. For 4Q269, see H. Stegemann, DJD, XXXVI, 201-11.
(1) THE OPENING OF THE DAMASCUS DOCUMENT ACCORDING TO 4QD
(4Q266-8)
Three Cave 4 manuscripts of the Damascus Document (4Q266, fr. 1a-b; fr. 2 i, 1-6, combined 4Q267 fr. 1 and 268 fr. 1) have preserved parts of a prologue unattested in the Cairo version. The prologue contains a title vaguely reminiscent of the opening of 4QSd. The context is eschatological and alludes to a revelation by God to those ‘who search His commandments and walk in the perfection of way’. CD 11,1 follows on directly from the end of the prologue.
