The Rule of the Congregation (1QSa) is an appendix to one of the first seven
Dead Sea Scrolls
The Dead Sea Scrolls (also the Qumran Caves Scrolls) are ancient Jewish and Hebrew religious manuscripts discovered between 1946 and 1956 at the Qumran Caves in what was then Mandatory Palestine, near Ein Feshkha in the West Bank, on the ...
discovered in
caves
A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...
near the
Qumran
Qumran ( he, קומראן; ar, خربة قمران ') is an archaeological site in the West Bank managed by Israel's Qumran National Park. It is located on a dry marl plateau about from the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea, near the Israeli ...
site in 1946. Three related sectarian documents were discovered in Qumran
Cave 1: The
Community Rule
The Community Rule ( he, סרך היחד, ''Serekh haYahad''), which is designated 1QS and was previously referred to as the Manual of Discipline, is one of the first scrolls to be discovered near ''khirbet'' (ruin of) Qumran, the scrolls found in ...
(1QS), The Rule of the Congregation (1QSa), and
The Rule of the Blessing (1QSb). The Rule of the Congregation and the Rule of the Blessing were at first overlooked by researchers and considered a continuation of the much longer
Community Rule
The Community Rule ( he, סרך היחד, ''Serekh haYahad''), which is designated 1QS and was previously referred to as the Manual of Discipline, is one of the first scrolls to be discovered near ''khirbet'' (ruin of) Qumran, the scrolls found in ...
.
Since their discovery, the two passages have been called many names, including The Messianic Rule, The Charter for Israel in the Last Days, The Rule of the Benedictions, and A Priestly Blessing for the Last Days. The book’s
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
names are Serekh ha-‘Edah, and Serekh ha-Berakhot.
References
*Phillip R. Davies, George J. Brooke and Phillip R. Callaway. "The Complete World of the Dead Sea Scrolls," London: Thames and Hudson, 2002.
*Michael O. Wise, Martin G. Abegg Jr., and Edward M. Cook. "The Dead Sea Scrolls: A New Translation," San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 2005.
*
Lawrence H. Schiffman
Lawrence Harvey Schiffman (born 1948) is a professor at New York University (as of 2014); he was formerly Vice-Provost of Undergraduate Education at Yeshiva University and Professor of Jewish Studies (from early 2011 to 2014). He had previously ...
, “Community (Rule of the),” The Anchor Bible Dictionary. Ed. David Noel Freedman, Gary A. Herion, David F. Graf, John David Pleins, Astrid B. Beck. New York: Doubleday, 1992. 450.
*
Lawrence H. Schiffman
Lawrence Harvey Schiffman (born 1948) is a professor at New York University (as of 2014); he was formerly Vice-Provost of Undergraduate Education at Yeshiva University and Professor of Jewish Studies (from early 2011 to 2014). He had previously ...
, The Eschatological Community of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Atlanta: Scholar’s Press, 1989.
*
Lawrence H. Schiffman
Lawrence Harvey Schiffman (born 1948) is a professor at New York University (as of 2014); he was formerly Vice-Provost of Undergraduate Education at Yeshiva University and Professor of Jewish Studies (from early 2011 to 2014). He had previously ...
, “Rule of the Congregation.” The Encyclopedia of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Ed. Lawrence H. Schiffman and James C. Vanderkam. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. 797-799.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rule Of The Congregation, The
Dead Sea Scrolls
Essene texts