The Social Role of Liturgy in the Religion of the Qumran Community (Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah, Vol. LX)

This volume investigates the layers of meaning of the Qumran community's liturgical practice as prayer (communication with the divine), ritual (actions that establish and reinforce the social and ideological structures of the community), and speech (containing both verbal and non-verbal communication). After a chapter on the social and ideological structures of the Qumran community, each successive chapter covers a different type of liturgy: Rites of Passage, Feasts and Fasts, Calendrical Rites, Rites of Affliction, Political Rites, and Rites of Communion. Each chapter presents the evidence for each practice and the social implications of the practice, especially with respect to community identity. CONTENTS 6 PREFACE 9 INTRODUCTION 12 1. THE LEVELS OF MEANINGS OF LITURGY 27 2. PROVENANCE OF QUMRAN LITURGICAL TEXTS 29 2.1. Orthography and Language 29 2.2. Terminology 31 2.3. Formal Characteristics 32 2.4. Rhetorical Polemic 33 2.5. Problems in Determining Provenance of Liturgy and Prayer 33 3. LITURGICAL USE OF A TEXT 34 4. PLAN FOR THIS STUDY 35 CHAPTER ONE COMMUNITY STRUCTURE 37 1. GROUP IDENTITY 40 1.1. Self-designations 44 1.2. Women 47 1.3. Corporate Identity and Hierarchy 49 2. GRID OF IDEOLOGICAL STRUCTURES 51 2.1. Righteousness and Holiness 52 2.2. Calendar 54 2.3. Proper Speech 58 3. SUMMARY 61 CHAPTER TWO RITES OF PASSAGE 63 1. INITIATION AND COVENANT RENEWAL CEREMONY 65 1.1. Preparation 67 1.2. Entrance of New Initiates (1QS 1:16-2:1) 72 1.3. Blessings and Curses (1QS 2:1-18) 78 1.4. Entrance into the Serekh (1QS 2:19-25) 81 1.5. Purification and Instruction (1QS 2:25-4:26) 82 1.6. Rebuke and Dismissal 86 2. SUMMARY 91 CHAPTER THREE FEASTS AND FASTS 93 1. ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE FOR COMMUNAL MEALS AT QUMRAN 94 1.1. Dining Rooms 94 1.2. Animal Remains 95 2. TEXTS ABOUT MEALS 96 2.2. 1QSa 2:17-22 99 2.3. Tohorat HaRabim 101 2.4. Was there Grace after Meals? 103 3. LITURGICAL CONTEXT 105 4. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE MEAL 107 5. SUMMARY 111 6. EXCURSUS: THE ROLE OF FASTING AT QUMRAN 112 CHAPTER FOUR CALENDRICAL RITES 117 1. CALENDAR TEXTS 120 2. EVIDENCE FOR CALENDRICAL RITUALS 122 3. ARTIFACTS RELEVANT TO CALENDRICAL RITES 126 3.1. Sundial 126 3.2. Tefillin 127 4. LITURGICAL TEXTS CONNECTED TO DAILY RITES 129 4.1. Daily Prayers (4Q503) 131 4.2. Words of the Luminaries (4Q504, 4Q506) 141 4.3. 4Q408 – Liturgy on Morning and Evening Prayer 145 4.4. Summary of Daily Rites 147 5. LITURGICAL TEXTS CONNECTED TO SABBATH RITES 148 5.1. Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice (4Q400-407; 11Q17; Mas1k) 149 6. LITURGICAL TEXTS CONNECTED TO FESTIVAL RITES 159 6.1. Festival Prayers (4Q507, 4Q508, 4Q509 + 4Q505) 160 6.2. Times for Praising God (4Q409) 165 7.MONTHLY RITES 167 8. SUMMARY 168 CHAPTER FIVE RITES OF AFFLICTION 170 1. CURSES 171 1.1. 1QS 2:4-18 172 1.2. 4QBera (4Q286) frg. 7 173 1.3. Curses (4Q280) frg. 2 174 1.4. Significance of Curses 175 2. APOTROPAIC PRAYERS AND INCANTATIONS 176 2.1. Apotropaic Prayers 176 2.2. Incantations 177 3. PURIFICATION RITES 180 3.1. Tohorot (4Q274-278; 4Q514) 180 3.2. Ritual of Purification (4Q512, 4Q414) 182 3.3. Purification Liturgy (4Q284) 192 4. SUMMARY 195 CHAPTER SIX POLITICAL RITES 198 1. RANKING THE MEMBERS 199 2. DISCIPLINE 201 3. AUTHORITY OF THE PRIESTHOOD 204 3.1. Liturgy of the Tongues of Fire (4Q375, 4Q376, 1Q29) 205 3.2. The War Scroll (1QM, 4Q491-496) 208 3.3. Benedictions (1QSb) 210 4. SUMMARY 214 CHAPTER SEVEN RITES OF COMMUNION 216 1. HODAYOT 219 1.1. Liturgical Context 223 1.2. The Hodayot as Rites of Communion 225 2. PSALMS 232 2.1. Communion Elements in 11QPs 235 3. 4Q380-4Q381 237 4. BARKHI NAFSHI 240 5. SUMMARY 243 CONCLUSION 245 BIBLIOGRAPHY 248 INDEX OF ANCIENT SOURCES 264

This volume investigates the layers of meaning of the Qumran community's liturgical practice as prayer (communication with the divine), ritual (actions that establish and reinforce the social and ideological structures of the community), and speech (containing both verbal and non-verbal communication).
After a chapter on the social and ideological structures of the Qumran community, each successive chapter covers a different type of liturgy: Rites of Passage, Feasts and Fasts, Calendrical Rites, Rites of Affliction, Political Rites, and Rites of Communion.
Each chapter presents the evidence for each practice and the social implications of the practice, especially with respect to community identity.

"This volume investigates the layers of meaning of the Qumran community's liturgical practice as prayer (communication with the divine), ritual (actions that establish and reinforce the social and ideological structures of the community), and speech (containing both verbal and non-verbal communication)."--BOOK JACKET. This volume analyzes the wide variety of the Qumran community's liturgical practices in light of their social and ideological structures, discussing their implications for community identity formation, boundary formation, and instruction of new members.