Reading for History in the Damascus Document

Reading for History in the Damascus Document PDF

Author: Maxine L. Grossman

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2002-01-01

Total Pages: 280

ISBN-13: 9789004122529

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Thematic readings of the Damascus Document, in light of contemporary (audience-oriented) literary criticism, highlight the ideological structures of the text and allow for the development of an alternative approach to the history of ancient Jewish sectarianism.

Reading for History in the Damascus Document

Reading for History in the Damascus Document PDF

Author: Maxine L. Grossman

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2018-12-24

Total Pages: 272

ISBN-13: 9004350438

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Scholars tend to view the Damascus Document as a historical source, but a reading of the text in light of contemporary (audience-oriented) literary criticism finds its emphasis in the ideological construction of history and communal identity, rather than in the preservation of a historical record. An introduction to contemporary literary criticism is followed by a series of thematic readings, focusing on historical narrative, priestly imagery, and gender in the covenant community. Each theme is examined in terms of its potential for multiple (sometimes contradictory) interpretations and for its place in the larger sectarian discourse. This study offers an alternative approach to the historiography of ancient Jewish sectarianism, acknowledging the presence of competing claims to shared traditions and the potential for changes in textual interpretation over time or among diverse communities.

The Damascus Document

The Damascus Document PDF

Author: Steven D. Fraade

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2022-02-19

Total Pages: 206

ISBN-13: 0198734336

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The Damascus Document is an ancient Hebrew text that is one of the longest, oldest, & most important of the ancient scrolls usually referred to collectively as the Dead Sea Scrolls. Its oldest parts originate in the mid- to late 2nd century BCE. While the earliest discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls occurred in 1947, the Qumran Damascus Document fragments were discovered in 1952 (but not published in full until 1996), mainly in what is designated as Qumran Cave Four. However, it is unique in that two manuscripts (MS A & MS B) containing parts & variations of the same text were discovered much earlier, in 1896, among the discarded texts of the Cairo Geniza, the latter being written in the 10th-11th centuries CE. Together, the manuscripts of the Damascus Document, both ancient & medieval, are an invaluable source for understanding many aspects of ancient Jewish (& before that Israelite) history, theology, and much more.

Emerging Sectarianism in the Dead Sea Scrolls

Emerging Sectarianism in the Dead Sea Scrolls PDF

Author:

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2022-07-18

Total Pages: 482

ISBN-13: 900451712X

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These essays reflect the lively debate about the sectarian movement of the Scrolls. They debate the degree to which the movement was separated from the rest of Judaism, and whether there was one or several watershed moments in the separation. Notable contributions include a cluster of essays on the Teacher of Righteousness and a thorough survey of the archaeology of Qumran. The texts are problematic in historical research because they rely on biblical stereotypes. Nonetheless, possible interpretations can be compared and degrees of probability debated. The debate is significant not only for the sect but for the nature of ancient Judaism.

Reading the Dead Sea Scrolls

Reading the Dead Sea Scrolls PDF

Author: George J. Brooke

Publisher: Society of Biblical Lit

Published: 2013-10-01

Total Pages: 309

ISBN-13: 1589839021

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The Dead Sea Scrolls, which have long captured the public imagination, are now all available in principal editions and accessible translations. This book addresses the next stage in their analysis by raising questions about how they should be read and studied. The essays collected here illustrate two approaches. First, some essays argue that traditional methods of studying ancient texts need to be refined and broadened in the light of the Scrolls. The volume thus contains studies on text criticism, literary traditions, lexicography, historiography, and theology. Second, the book also argues that innovative methods of study, applied fruitfully in other areas, now also need to be applied to the Scrolls, such as studies that consider the relevance for the Scrolls of deviance theory, cultural memory, hypertextuality, intertextuality, genre theory, spatial analysis, and psychology. Many of the examples in these studies relate to how authoritative scripture was handled and appropriated by the groups that gathered the Scrolls together in the caves at and near Qumran, so some of the same texts are analyzed from several different perspectives.

The New Damascus Document

The New Damascus Document PDF

Author: Ben Zion Wacholder

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2006-11-30

Total Pages: 456

ISBN-13: 9047406419

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This composite edition of the Damascus Document and scrolls from Khirbet Qumran (with translation and commentary) presents a new understanding of the relationship of these texts, time and purpose; shedding additional light on the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Reading the Present in the Qumran Library

Reading the Present in the Qumran Library PDF

Author: Kristin De Troyer

Publisher: Society of Biblical Lit

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 246

ISBN-13: 1589831500

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How did ancient scribes interpret their own reality by means of scriptural exegesis? The essays in this volume explore this question from various perspectives by examining the earliest known exegetical texts of Jewish origin, namely, the exegetical texts from the Qumran library. Scholars have debated the precise nature of the exegetical techniques used in the Qumran texts. To bring clarity to the discussion, this book analyzes the phenomenon of reading the present in the Qumran library and asks how far comparable phenomena can be observed in authoritative literature in ancient Israel and Judah, in the textual tradition of the Hebrew and Greek Bible, in ancient Judaism, and in early Christian literature. --From publisher's description.