Rick Sumner

While reading through 1QH, I noticed that in col.10.v.7 (Abegg), the Teacher of Righteousness declares "Then you gave the appropriate reply to my unci[rcumcised] lips. . ."

Only one other person in Jewish literature is described as having "uncircumcised lips":

(All quotes from the RSV)

Of course, most will be familiar with the expectation of a future Prophet in the style of Moses:

Other parallels between Moses and the Teacher are, of course, plentiful, but I hesitate to expand just yet, for reasons I'll outline below.

The chief caveat with such an identification, as near as I can tell, would be 1QS.9.11:

The problem, clearly, is the expectation of three figures--the Prophet (presumably of Dt.18), and the two Messiahs. These characters are coming in the future, which spells some difficulty for the ToR of the past.

This is far from fatal however, and one needn't engage in the unlikely speculation that the ToR would resurrect at a later date to counter it.

In the earliest version of 1QS (4Q259), the text moves from 8.15 directly to 9.12. Suppositions of scribal error are insufficient--the passage flows smoothly with the sections exempted. The break into harsh rules and penalties is out of place at this point in the text (1QS.8.16-9.2), and the section regarding the "Sons of Aaron" leads directly to the expectation of the future Messiahs--indicating (as the texts all but invariably do) the superiority of the Aaronic Messiah to the Davidic Messiah. This latter is significant, as it is an anachronism from the theocratic Judaism of the Roman rule. The Essenes fancied a return to pre-Exile Israel. Pre-Exile Israel was not a theocracy.

The dating of this is important, as if the earlier source did indeed omit 9.11 because it hadn't been written yet, there is no indication that the Prophet was still expected (4Q175, the other strong reference to the coming of the Prophet, was penned c. 100 BCE* and is thus late enough not to bear on the present disucssion)

Thus it is possible that the Qumranites did not, initially, expect the return of the Prophet, and in fact believed he had already come in the form of the ToR. Upon realizing that the end was not as imminent as they hoped, later generations decided that he wasn't the Prophet after all.

It is also possible that 1QH.10.7 was among the excerpts originally penned by the Teacher himself, and thus it was his own self-conception that he was the Prophet, and this conception was not shared by his followers.

What I'm wondering--and what keeps me from expanding just yet--is if I've read this somewhere, and then forgotten it until I read the verse again, or if it's my own observation--or, if I haven't read it, and it is my own observation, has it already been addressed, or have I happened upon something new? Is anyone aware of a discussion on the matter?

Regards,
Rick

*see Milik, Ten Years of Discovery in the Wilderness of Judea 124, Allegro, DJD V, 57-60, and the subsequent (and inevitable, with Allegro's DJD V, it seems) corrections by Strugnell in the Revue Qumran VII (which I don't have, so can't provide a specific reference, but Strugnell's response is on p163-276)

[Ed. for spelling and to add references]

DrJim

I've just checked my copy of Vanderkam and Flint, The Meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls. They briefly survey the many different copies of the Rule of the Community. They say 1QS, the longer version is widely believed to have been a later expansion. They say, p. 217, that there is a theory that the now-lost original Rule was a short version of what is now 1QS columns 5-9, and that it lacked 8:15b-9:11 and the "Signs" text found in 4Q259. The sources they cite in their footnote are:
S. Metso, The textual Development of the Qumran Community Rule (Studies on the Texts of the desert of Judah 21; Leiden: Brill, 1997);
M. Knibb, "Rule of the Community" in Schiffman and VanderKam, ed.s, Encyclopedia of the Dead Sea Scrolls, pp. 793-97.


Hope this helps.

JRLinville

DrJim

Opps, more to add..
You might want to compare your ideas with
M. Wise in "The First Messiah". I don't have it to hand, and I'm relying on VanderKam and Flint again. According to them, Wise thinks that the Thanksgiving Psalms column 10-17 are the work of the ToR (as do many others), but also thinks these columns are more or less autobiographical. The ToR was eventually driven from Jerusalem as a false prophet and was later attacked when it was feared he aspired to messianic status. In the wake of the death of the ToR in 72 bce, his faithful followers understood there to be be multiple messiahs. They also redacted some of the ToR's writings. This includes part of the Community Rule (the Manifesto which lies behind 8.1-16), which allows for the group to survive the teachers absense. VanderK and F. do not indicate whether Wise specificaly link the bits of Community Rule that you refer to to this expansion (he just might). They don't buy Wise's argument because of chronolgical difficulties and some other reasons.

Sorry for the third hand information! Anyway, I hope the refernces in my two posts help. It might give you a start for more digging around though. Who knows, you might come up with a version of the redactional argument that can be defended with confidence.

I suspect some others on the forum can give you more detailed answers and critiques.


JRLinville.

Rick Sumner

Much thanks for the references. I actually ordered a copy of "The Enc. of the DSS" a scant two days ago, so look forward to seeing what is said on the matter.

I've never been terribly persuaded by Wise's argument--I see no evidence that the Teacher was Messianic, and am unpersuaded that the relevant columns in the Hoyadot are autobiographical in any contemporary understanding of the term.

To draw an analogy, in what are supposed to be autobiographical Psalms of David, the suffering is often hyperbolic--he was really persecuted (at least in the mind of the author, I leave the historicity of David to another thread, for another time, perhaps), but that persecution is not reflected accurately in the Psalms. In like manner, I have little doubt that the ToR was persecuted, but am skeptical as to just how far that persecution went--the lowest of lows to highest of highs of the Hoyadot epitomizes a Jewish archetype: The Vindication of the Suffering Just One (really, is there any more Jewish hero than that?). As such, I think it was written specifically to create that sense, rather than to record real persecutions of the ToR.

I am, however, persuaded that it's likely the passage was written by the ToR, and am persuaded that there was a real persecution, and even a real vindication, with the WP being turned over to his enemies (1QpHab.9.9-12).

Regards,
Rick

Kosh

Circumcised lips?

Wouldn't that make it really hard to talk?

premjan

means that you speak no ill. your lips are more disciplined and not frivolous.

Rick Sumner

Ah, I knew I must've read it somewhere--it seemed odd that I would be aware that only Moses is described as having uncircumcised lips--not the sort of thing I'd expect to just pick up without some prodding.

Vermes, The Complete DSS in English, p.87
Regards,
Rick