Intertestamental, Apocrypha, NT UseQumran Christopher T. Begg, Brian J. Meldrum, and Thomas Hieke 2382. [The DSS and Qumran Connection] Kenneth Atkinson, "Are the Dead Sea Scrolls from Khirbet Qumran?" QC 28-29 (2020-2021) 35-59 [see #2498]. A. discusses his title question—to which he gives a largely negative answer—under four headings: (1) The Nature of the Collection; (2) The Qumran Caves and Their Connection with Khirbet Qumran's Occupational Phases; (3) The Dead Sea Scrolls: A Library of Various Sectarian Communities; and (4) Are the Dead Sea Scrolls from Khirbet Qumran? In the course of his discussion, A. highlights what he sees as problematic scholarly uses of the Qumran materials, e.g., the distinction between "sectarian" and "non-sectarian" scrolls, and the attempt to reconstruct a "master text" of a given document, e.g., the Community Rule, by conflating elements from different copies of the document deriving from different caves and dating to different times. He concludes (pp. 58-59, adapted): The size of the DSS collection is unprecedented for an ancient library. Although there is a scribal focus to the collection, the presence of multiple copies of texts of different dates suggests that the Scrolls emanated from several communities. Khirbet Qumran appears to have been the location where a small number of residents practiced a form of animal sacrifice in relative isolation. Those who lived there had some relationship with earlier like-minded groups and shared many of the same writings. Each group, as evident in the multiple recensions of texts such as the Community Rule, shared certain documents, but interpreted them differently. Each was undoubtedly influenced by different historical experiences or understood the impact of their experiences differently. Because the scrolls are not from Khirbet Qumran, the site was likely not the center for a group of related sectarian communities. Nor was it the site of original thinking: most theological developments can be traced to the pre-Maccabean era. Because relatively few scrolls were produced in the period between 63 b.c.e. (the Roman conquest of Judea) and 68 c.e. (the Roman destruction of the Qumran site), the Scrolls communities seem to have largely died out during this period. Khirbet Qumran appears to have merely been the place where those who lived elsewhere but shared a similar ideology with its residents hid the contents of their libraries in the hope of retrieving them after the expected defeat [End Page 883] of the invading Roman army. Were it not for the tragic events of the First Jewish Revolt, relatively few scrolls would have been found at or near Khirbet Qumran.—C.T.B. 2383. [1QS] Melissa Sayyad Bach, "How Hard Is It to Get into the Community Rule? Exploring Transmission in 1QS from the Perspective of the Modes of Religiosity," SJOT 35 (2, 2021) 159-86. The Community Rule from Qumran (1QS) communicates its message to its recipients by employing a variety of genres (e.g., instructions, rules, rituals, myth, hymns). B.'s article attempts to explore some of the underlying cognitive mechanisms involved in the process of transmission by drawing on insights from cognitive science, Harvey White-house's Modes of Religiosity theory in particular. According to this approach, certain religious ideas and concepts are "cognitively optimal" (i.e., relatively simple and straightforward, often minimally counterintuitive) and therefore easy to remember, while others are "cognitively costly" (i.e., requiring greater conscious effort to be preserved and transmitted). Two different "modes" are the typical ways to preserve and transmit such contents: The "imagistic" mode relies on low-frequency and high-arousal rituals, whereas the "doctrinal" mode is associated with high-frequency and low-arousal rituals. Its use of different genres, each of which sheds light on 1QS's agenda, serves to highlight the costly and demanding nature of the 1QS content. Analyses of selected passages from 1QS show how elements of the doctrinal and the imagistic modes are employed in facilitating the transmission of the content. [Adapted from published abstract—B.J.M.] 2384. [DSS Research in Oxford] Markus Bockmuehl, "Introduction: Dead Sea Scrolls Research in Oxford," RevQ 32 (2, 2020) 165-69. In his capacity...
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Nov 4, 2024
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