The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English

by Geza Vermes

  4. Outline of the sacrificesand the altar (XI-XII).

  5. Daily, weekly and monthly sacrifices and those offered on festivals (XIII-XXIX).

  6. Buildings in the Temple courtyards: the stairhouse, the house of the laver, the house for sacred vessels, the slaughterhouse, etc. (xxx-xxxv).

  7. The three courtyards of the Temple, one for the priests, one for Jewish men over twenty years of age, and one for women and children (XXXVI-XLV).

  8. Purity regulations concerning the Temple and the city of the Sanctuary (XLVI-XLVIII).

  9. Purity regulations concerning the cities of Israel (XLVIII-LI).

  10. Judges and officers (LI).

  11. Laws relating to idolatry and to sacrificial animals (LI-LIII).

  12. Vows and oaths (LIII-LIV).

  13. Laws against apostasy (LIV-LV).

  14. Laws relating to priests and Levites and detailed statutes of the Jewish king (LVI-LIX).

  15. Miscellaneous laws regarding priestly dues, idols, witnesses, the conduct of war, the rebellious son, crimes punishable by ‘hanging’, and incestuous relations (LX-LXVI).

  The sequence of subjects generally follows the Bible, but an obvious effort has been made to systematize, harmonize and reinterpret the laws. Sections complementary to Scripture include the Temple legislation (III-XII, XXX-XLV), festivals (XVII-XXIX), purity material as rules relating to the Temple and the city (XLVI-XLVII), and the statutes of the king (LVI—LIX). The aim of the redactor is to present the message of the scroll not as an interpretation of the Bible, but as an immediate divine revelation. For this purpose, not only does he formulate the supplementary legislation as directly spoken by God, but also frequently substitutes ‘I’ for ’the Lord = YHWH’ of Scripture.

  Although the view has been advanced that the Temple Scroll is not a Qumran composition, the contrary thesis has a solid foundation. The relationship between this writing and the Damascus Document is particularly striking in the case of the prohibition of royal polygamy, of marriage between uncle and niece, and of marital relations within the city of the Sanctuary (compare CD IV, 20-V, II; XII, 1-2 with TS LVII, 16-18; LXVI, 15-17; XLV, 11-12), to name the most significant instances. Note also that the death penalty of ‘hanging’ (probably crucifixion) reserved for traitors appears both in TS LXIV, 6-13 and in the Nahum Commentary (cf. p. 504). Since the Damascus Document and the Nahum Commentary are more likely to depend on the Temple Scroll than vice versa, the latter may safely be dated to the second century BCE. But it may also have an antecedent history reaching back to the pre-Qumran age.

  As noted, Cave 4 has also yielded five fairly mutilated fragments (4Q365a), palaeographically dated to the mid-first century BCE, some of which have been used by Yadin. Fragment 1 deals with the festival of Unleavened Bread (11QTS XVII, II); fragment 2 corresponds to 11QTS XXXVIII, 4-15 while the other three fragments cannot be placed within the known version of the text.

  The composition is available in a magisterial edition by Yigael Yadin, who first published it in Hebrew in 1977 and subsequently, shortly before his death, in English under the title The Temple Scroll I-III (Jerusalem, 1983). My translation is often indebted to Yadin’s editorial work. Further improvements are due to E. Qimron, The Temple Scroll: A Critical Edition with Extensive Reconstructions (Beer-Sheva/Jerusalem, 1996). For 11Q20-21, see F. García Martínez et al., DJD, XXIII, 357-414. For 4Q365a, see S. White, DJD, XIII, 319-33. For 4Q524, see E. Puech, DJD, XXV, 79-114.

  II [Behold, I will make a covenant.]

  [For it is something dreadful that I] will do [to you.] [I myself will expel from before you] the A[morites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashit]es, the Pe[rizzites, the Hivites and] the Jebusites. Ta[ke care not to make a cove]nant with the inhabitants of the country [which you are to] enter so that they may not prove a sn[are for you.] You must destroy their [alta]rs, [smash their] pillars [and] cut down their [sacred trees and burn] [their] idols [with fire]. You must not desire silver and gold so [that you may not be ensnared by them; for that would be abominable to me]. You must [not] br[ing any abominable idol] into your house [and come] under the ban together with it. You shall de[test and abominate it], for it is under the ban. You shall not worship [another] go[d, for YHWH, whose name is] [Jealous], is a jealous God. Take care not to make a [covenant with the inhabitants of the country] [so that, when they whore] after [their go]ds [and] sacrifice to [them and invite you,] [you may not eat of their sacrifices and] t[ake their daughters for your sons, and their daughters may not whore after] their [gods] and cau[se your sons to whore after them.] ... 94

  XIII [This is what you shall offer on the altar:] t[wo y]ear[ling lambs] without blemish [every day as a perpetual holocaust. You shall offer the first in the morning; and you shall offer the other lamb in the evening; the corresponding grain-offering will be a te]nth of fine flour mixed with [a quarter of a hin of beaten oil; it shall be a perpetual holocaust of soothing odour, an offering by fire] to YHWH; and the corresponding drink-offering shall be a quart[er of a hin of] wine. [The priest who offers the holocaust shall receive the skin of] the burnt-[offering which he has offered. You shall offer the other lamb in the even]ing with the same grain-[offering as in the] morning and with the corresponding drink-offering as an offering by fire, a soothing odour to YHWH ...

  On the S[abbath] days you shall offer two [yearling rams without blemish and two] XIV [tenths of an ephah of fine flour, mixed with oil, for a grain-offering and the corresponding drink-offering. This is the holocaust of every Sabbath in addition to the perpetual holocaust and the corresponding drink-offering. On the first day of each month you shall offer a holocaust to YHWH: two young bulls, one ram, seven yearling rams without blemish and a grain-offe]ring of fine flour, [three tenths of an ephah] mix[ed with half a hin of oil, and a drink-offering, ha]lf a hin for [each young bull and a grain-offering of fine flour mixed with oil, two tenths of an ephah] with a third [of a hin, and wine for a drink-offering, one third of a hinfor each ram;] ... one tenth [of fine flour for] a grain-[offering, mixed with a quarter of a hin, and wine, a quarter of a hi]n for each lamb ... a soothing [odour] to YHWH on the first day of each month. This is the burnt-offering for each month for the months of the year ... On the first day of the [first] month [the months (of the year) shall start; it shall be the first month] of the year [for you. You shall do no] work. [You shall offer a he-goat for a sin-offering.] It shall be offered by itself to expiate [for you. You shall offer a holocaust: a bullock], a ram, [seven yearli]ng ram lambs [without blemish] ... [ad]di[tional to the bu]r[nt-offering for the new moon, and a grain-offering of three tenths of fine flour mixed with oil], half a hin [for each bullock, and wi]ne for a drink-offering, [half a hin, a soothing odour to YHWH, and two] tenths of fine flour mixed [with oil, one third of a hin. You shall offer wine for a drink-offering,] one th[ird] of a hin for the ram, [an offering by fire, of soothing odour to YHWH; and one tenth of fine flour], a grain-offerin[g mixed with a quarter of a hinof oil. You shall offer wine for a drink-offering, a quarter of a hin] for each [ram] ... lambs and for the he-g[oat] ... XV [ea]ch day ... seven [year]ling [lambs] and a he-[goat] ... according to this statute. For the ordination (of the priests), one ram for each [day, and] baskets of bread for all the ra[ms of the ordination, one basket for] each [ram]. They shall divide all the rams and the baskets for the seve[n days of the ordination for each] day; according to [their] division[s, they shall offer to YHWH the right thigh] of the ram as a holocaust and [the fat covering the entrails and the] two kidneys and the fat on them [and on] the loins and the whole fat tail close to the backbone and the appendage of the liver and the corresponding grain-offering and drink-offering according to the sta[tute. They shall take one unleavened cake from the] basket and one cake of bread with oil and [one] wafer, [and they shall put it all on the fat] together with the offering of the right thigh. Those who sacrifice shall wave the rams and the baskets of bread as a wa[ve-offering be]fore YHWH. This is a holocaust, an offering by fire, of soothing odour
before YHWH. [They shall burn everything on the altar over] the holocaust, to complete their ordination during the seven days of [ordination].

  If the High Priest is to [minister to YHWH, whoever] has been ordained to put on the vestments in place of his father, shall offer [a bull fo]r all the people and another for the priests. He shall offer the one for the priests first. The elders of the priest[s] shall lay [their hands] XVI [on] its [hea]d and after them the High Priest and all the [priests. They shall slaughter] the bull [before YHWH]. The elders of the priests shall take from the blood of the bull and [place] it [with their finger on the horns of the altar] and they shall pour [the blood] around the four corners of the [altar] ledge ... [and they shall take from its blood and pl]ace it [on his right ear lobe and on the thumb of his right hand and the big toe of his] right [foot. They shall sprinkle on him and his vestments some of the blood which was on the altar]... [he] shall be [holy] all his days. [He shall not go near any dead body]. He shall [not] render himself unclean [even for his father or mother,] for [he is] hol[y to YHWH, his God] ... [He shall offer on the al]tar and burn [the fat of the first bull] ... [all] the fat on the entrails and [the appendage of the liver and the two kidne]ys and the fat on the[m] and [the fat on] the loins, and the corresponding grain-offering and drink-[offering according to their statute,] he shall bur[n them on the altar.] It shall be [a burnt-]offering, an offering by fire, of soothing odour be[fore YHWH. The flesh of the bull], its skin and offal, they shall burn outside the [sanctuary city on a wood fire] in a place reserved for sin-offerings. There they shall bur[n it with its head and legs] together with all its entrails. They shall burn all of it there except the fat. It is a sin-[offering]. He shall take the second bull, which is for the people, and by it he shall expiate [for all the people of] the assembly, by its blood and fat. As he did with the fir[st] bull, [so he shall do] with the bull of the assembly. He shall place with his finger some of its blood on the horns of the [altar, and the remainder of] its blood, he shall sprinkle o[n the f]our corners of the altar ledge, and [its fat and] the corresponding [grain-] offering and drink-offering, he shall burn on the altar. It is a sin-offering for the assembly. XVII ... They shall rejoice because expiation has been made for them ... This day [shall] be a holy gathering for them, [an eternal rule for all their generations] wherever they dwell. They shall rejoice and ...

  [Let] them [prepare on the fourtee]nth day of the first month [between dusk and dark the Passover of YHWH]. They shall sacrifice (it) before the evening offering and shall sacrifice ... men from twenty years of age and over shall prepare it. They shall eat it at night in the holy courts. They shall rise early and each shall go to his tent ...

  On the fifteenth day of this month (there shall be) a ho[ly] gathering. You shall do no work of labour on it. (It shall be) a seven-day feast of unleavened bread for YHWH. You shall offer on each of the[se] seven days a holocaust to YHWH: two young bulls, a ram, and seven ram lambs without blemish and a he-goat for a sin-offering and the corresponding grain-offering and drink-offering [according to the sta]tute for the young bulls, rams, l[am]bs and the he-goat. On the seventh day [(there shall be) an assembly] for [YHWH]. You shall do no work on it. XVIII ... [he-] goat for a sin-offering ... [the corresponding grain-offering and drink-] offering according to the statute; one tenth of fine flour [mixed with a quarter of a hin of oil and] a quarter of a hin of wine for a drink-offering ... [he shall expiate] for all the guilt of the people of the assembly ... This shall be an eternal [ru]le for you [for your generations wherever you dwell.] Then they shall offer the one ram, on[ce], on the day of the waving of the sheaf.

  You shall count seven complete Sabbaths from the day of your bringing the sheaf of [the wave-offering. You shall c]ount until the morrow of the seventh Sabbath. You shall count [fifty] days. You shall bring a new grain-offering to YHWH from your homes, [a loaf of fine fl]ou[r], freshly baked with leaven. They are firstfruits to YHWH, wheat bread, twe[lve cakes, two] tenths of fine flour in each cake ... the tribes of Israel. They shall offer XIX ... their [grain-offerin]g and dr[ink-offering] according to the statute. The [priests] shall wave ... [wave-offering with the bread of] the firstfruits. They shall b[elong to] the priests and they shall eat them in the [inner] court[yard], [as a ne]w [grain-offering], the bread of the firstfruits. Then ... new bread from freshly ripened ears. [On this] da[y] there shall be [a holy gathering, an eter]nal [rule] for their generations. [They] shall [do] no work. It is the feast of Weeks and the feast of Firstfruits, an eterna[l] memorial.

  You [shall count] seven weeks from the day when you bring the new grain-offering to YHW [H], the bread of firstfruits. Seven full Sabbaths [shall elapse un]til you have counted fifty days to the morrow of the seventh Sabbath. [You] shall [bring] new wine for a drink-offering, four hins from all the tribes of Israel, one third of a hin for each tribe.

  They shall offer on this day with the wine twelve rams to YHWH; all the chiefs of the clans of Israel XX ... [r]ams and the corresponding grain-offering according to the statute: two [tenths of fine flour mixed with oil, one third of a h]in of oil for a ram; with this drink-offering ... seven yearling ram lambs and a he-[goat] ... assembly ... their [grain-offering and drink-offering] (shall be) according to the statute concerning young bulls and the ram ... to YHWH. At the quarter of the day, they shall offer ... [the r]ams and the drink-offering. They shall offer ... fourteen yearling ram lambs ... the burnt-offering. They shall prepare them ... and they shall burn their fat on the altar, [the fat covering the entrails] and the fat that is on them, and [the appendage of the liver with] the kidneys he shall remove and the fat on [them], and that which is on the loins and the fat tail close to the backbone. They shall b[urn all on the altar] together with the corresponding grain-offering and drink-offering, an offering by fire, of soothing odou[r before YHWH]. They shall offer every grain-offering joined to a drink-offering according to [the statute]. They shall take a handful from [eve]ry grain-offering offered either with frankincense or dry, (this being) its [memorial portion], and burn it on the altar. They shall eat the remainder in the [in]n[er] courtyard. The priests shall e[a]t it unleavened. It shall not be eaten with leaven. It shall be ea[ten] on that day [before] sun[se]t. They shall salt all their offerings. You shall never allow the covenant of salt to fail.

  They shall offer to YHWH an offering from the rams and the lambs, the right thigh, the breast, [the cheeks, the stomac]h and the foreleg as far as the shoulder bone, and they shall wave them as a wave-offering. XXI [The priests’] portions [shall] be the thigh of the offering and the breast ... [the foreleg]s, the cheeks and the stomachs ... [as an eternal rule, from the children of Isra]el and the shoulder remaining of the foreleg [shall be for the Levites] ... an eternal rule for them and for their seed .. the princes of the Thousands ... [from] the rams and from [the lambs, one ram and one ram lamb (shall belong) to the priests; to the Levites], one [ra]m, one lamb; and to every [tribe, on]e [ram], one lamb for all the tri[bes], the [twe]lve tribes of Israel. They shall eat them [on that day, in the out]er [courtyard] before YHWH.

  ... [the priest]s shall drink there first and the Levites [second] ... the princes of the standards first ... [men of] renown. After them the whole people, from the great to the small, shall begin to drink the new wine. They [shall not e]a[t] any un[ri]pe grapes from the vines, for [on] this [da]y they shall expiate for the tirosh. The children of Israel shall rejoice before YHWH, an eternal [rule] for their generations wherever they dwell. They shall rejoice on [this] d[ay for they have begun] to pour out an intoxicating drink-offering, the new wine, on the altar of YHWH, year by year.

  [You sha]ll count from that day seven weeks, seven times (seven days), forty-nine days; there shall be seven full Sabbaths; until the morrow of the seventh Sabbath you shall count fifty days. You shall then offer new oil from the homes of [the tr]ibes of the ch[ildren of Is]rael, half a hin from a tribe, new beaten oil ... oil on the altar of the holocaust, firstfruits before YHWH. XXII ... [shall expi]ate with it for all the cong
regation before [YHWH] ... with this oil, half a hin ... [according to the st]atute, a holocaust, an offering by fire, of soothing [odour to YHWH] ... [With] this oil they shall light the lamps ... the princes of the Thousands with ... fourteen [yearling] m[ale lamb]s and the corresponding grain-offering and drink-offering ... [for the lambs and] the rams. The Levites shall slaughter ... [and] the priests, the sons of Aaron, [shall spri]nkle their blood [on the altar all around] ... [and] they shall burn their fat on the altar of the [holocaust] ... [and the corresponding grain-offering] and drink-offering, they shall burn over the fats ... [an offering by fire, of soothing odour to] YHWH. They shall take away fr[om] ... the right thigh and the breast ... the cheeks and the stomach shall be the priests’ portion according to the statute concerning them. (They shall give) to the Levites the shoulder. Afterwards they shall bring them (the offerings) out to the children of Israel, and the children of Israel shall give the prie[st]s one ram, one lamb, and to the Levites, one ram, one lamb, and to each tribe, one ram, one lamb. They shall eat them on that day in the outer courtyard before YHWH, an eternal rule for their generations, year by year. Afterwards they shall eat from the olives and anoint themselves with the new oil, for on this day they shall expiate for [al]l [the o]il of the land before YHWH once yearly. They shall rejoice XXIII ...

  The High Priest shall offer the [holocaust of the Levites] first, and afterwards he shall send up in smoke the holocaust of the tribe of Judah, and w[hen he] is sending it up in smoke, they shall slaughter before him the he-goat first and he shall lift up its blood in a bowl to the altar and with his finger he shall pu[t some] of the blood to the four horns of the alta[r] of the holocaust and to the four corners of the altar ledge, and shall toss the blood towards the bas[e] of the altar ledge all around. He shall burn its fat on the altar, the fat covering the entrails and that over the entrails. The appendage of the liver with the kidneys he shall remove as well as the fat over them and on the loins. He shall send up in smoke all of them on the altar together with the corresponding grain-offering and drink-offering, an offering by fire of soothing odour to YHWH. And XXIV ... the flesh, of [soothing] odour; it shall be [an offering by fire to YHWH. Thus they must do to every] young bull, and to every ram and to [every lamb] and its limbs (?) shall remain apart. The corresponding [grain-offering] and drink-offering shall be on it, an [eternal] rule for your generations before YHWH.