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Sectarian Law in the Dead Sea Scrolls: Courts, Testimony and the Penal Code

Lawrence H. Schiffman 1983

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license

© Brown University

Open Access

ISBN(s)

978-1-951498-46-7 (PDF)
978-1-951498-45-0 (ebook)

Subject

Religion

Citable Link

Cover
Series Page
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Table of Contents
Publishers’ Preface
Preface
List of Abbreviations
Introduction
- 1. The Problem
- 2. The Manual of Discipline
- 3. The Rule of the Congregation
- 4. The Zadokite Fragments
- 5. Relationship of the Texts
- 6. The Sectarian Community
- 7. The Enigma of the Temple Scroll
- 8. The Derivation of Law
- 9. The Method
- Notes
I. Judges and Their Qualifications
- 1. The Law of Judges
- 2. The Number of Judges on a Court
- 3. The Composition of the Court
- 4. Selection and Terms of Judges
- 5. Minimum Age of Judges
- 6. Maximum Age of Judges
- 7. Ages of Other Sectarian Officials
- 8. Rabbinic Parallels
- 9. Some Functions of Judges
- 10. Summary
- Notes
II. The Qualifications of Witnesses
- 1. The Law of Witnesses
- 2. Minimum Age of Witnesses
- 3. The Age of Twenty in Jewish Sources
- 4. Moral Qualifications for Witnesses
- 5. The Testimony of Women
- 6. Twenty as the Age of Majority at Qumran
- 7. Summary
- Notes
III. The Law of Testimony
- 1. Witnesses and their Testimony
- 2. The Number of Witnesses Required
- 3. Combination of Testimony
- 4. Summary
- Notes
IV. Reproof as a Requisite for Punishment
- 1. The Law of Reproof
- 2. Reproof in Qumran Literature
- 3. Reproof as a Legal Procedure
- 4. The Importance of Reproof
- 5. Reproof and Rabbinic “Warning”
- 6. Summary
- Notes
V. The Restoration of Lost or Stolen Property
- 1. The Oath of Adjuration
- 2. Medieval Parallels
- 3. Restoration in the Absence of an Owner
- 4. Restoration of Lost Objects
- 5. Summary
- Notes
VI. The Use of Divine Names
- 1. The Tetragrammaton in Qumran Law
- 2. Swearing of Oaths
- 3. Pronouncing a Curse by the Divine Name
- 4. Escape from Danger
- 5. Scriptural Readings and Benedictions
- 6. Summary
- Notes
VII. The Sectarian Penal Code
- 1. Purpose of the Sectarian Penal Code
- 2. Formulation of the Penalty Clauses
- 3. Ritual Purity and Impurity and the Admission Process
- 4. Ritual Purity and Impurity and the Penalties
- 5. Expulsion from the Sect
- 6. Summary
- Notes
VIII. The Communal Meal
- 1. The Non-Sacral Character of the Communal Meals
- 2. The Messianic Banquet
- 3. Archaeological Evidence of the Communal Meal
- 4. Summary
- Notes
Conclusion: Law and Community in the Dead Sea Scrolls
- 1. The Sectarian Legal System
- 2. Scriptural Authority and Sectarian Law
- 3. The Agenda of the Sectarian Codes
- 4. Private Property
- 5. Marriage
- 6. The Priesthood
- 7. Ritual Purity and Impurity
- 8. The Organic Character of Sectarian Law
- Notes
Bibliography
Index of Citations
- 1. Hebrew Scriptures
- 2. Qumran Literature
- 3. Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha
- 4. Philo and Josephus
- 5. New Testament
- 6. Rabbinic Literature
- A. Mishnah
- B. Tosefta
- C. Palestinian Talmud
- D. Babylonian Talmud
- E. Targumim
- F. Midrashim
Index of Hebrew and Aramaic Terms
General Index

Schiffman_9781951498467.pdf