War Scroll (1QM) - Research Paper Example

?Introduction This paper examines the War Scrolls or the 1QM scrolls found amongst the Qumran Scrolls which relates to warfare in Ancient Israel. Thepaper is in two sections. The first section examines the major content, history, interpretation and scholarly sources on the Scrolls. The second section focuses more on the interpretation of the Qumran Scrolls in ancient Israel as well as the modern Jewish society. It also attempts to examine the possibility of relating the scrolls to messianic times and Jewish views of the End Times. Section A History The War Scrolls were discovered with the other Qumran Scrolls (Peerbolt, 2003, 259). It is a manual that lays out military strategy and organization for a serious war that seems to be the final showdown of years of divergence amongst two different groups of people (Schiffman & VanderKam, 2000, paragraph 5). These groups are indicated in the scrolls as the Sons of Light against the Sons of Darkness (Yadin, 1962, 3) From my point of view, I think that the War Scrolls envision the theoretical framework and conception of a group of people who belonged to the sect that hid the Qumran Scrolls in the cave. I infer this logically because at the time that the scrolls are dated (that is 50 BCE), Ancient Israel was under Roman Rule. Roman Rule was seen by many Jews of Ancient Israel as a rule perpetrated by people of an evil background. This is because many sources including the Christian New Testament indicate that the Jewish people of Ancient Israel had little regards for non-Jews. They also saw the rule of Rome as some form of evil oppression that prevented Jews from carrying out the commandments in the Laws of Moses. So it appears that the scrolls meant the final wars and battles that would be fought between Israel and the Roman nation that would ultimately liberate Israel from its enemies. However, there are numerous interpretations that have various logical backings. Content Image 1.1 The War Scrolls 1QM: Courtesy of Hebrew University of Jerusalem The War Scrolls , 1QM is made up of 19 columns (Sukenik 1955, 1). It contains descriptions of the final showdown between the Sons of Light and the Sons of Darkness. Since the display is not very clear and easily understandable to the modern man (ie it is not in chapters and verses as we have it in the Bible of today), it is divided into columns for the purpose of analysis amongst modern day theologists and social scientists. Philip Davies (1977) identifies that the 1QM or War Scrolls is divided into four main Parts. Part 1 which includes Columns 2 to 9 of the scrolls. It is about the basic elements of the war and it gives a description of the organization of the armies of the wars and the composition of the various units of the war and its spiritual implications which is paralleled with the 12 Tribes of Israel and the protection of the Covenant between Israel and God. Part 2 of the 1QM gives a background to the conflict and explains it into more details and includes some liturgical elements that makes the war more of a religious one than a secular one. It covers columns 14 to 19. Part 3 covers columns 10 – 14 whilst Part 4 is about column 1 which predicts the eventual victory of the Sons of Light over the Sons of Darkness. The extract from Image 1.1 above echoes elements from Numbers 10:9 (Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 2011 paragraph 1). This indicates that the war is to be fought with the various elements of a fair war which are outlined in the Torah in Numbers 10 and repeated by Moses in Deuteronomy 20. This includes amongst other things, the fact that a religious war should be sanctioned with a special priest from the descendants of Aaron who are known amongst Jews today as the Kohanim. The 1QM scrolls indicate that a special Kohen has to declare certain things to the soldiers before a religious war is sanctioned. This implies that the Sons of Light are really involved in some elements of Jewish religious life. The Sons of Light in the Qumran Scrolls are referred to as Yahad (Qumran.org). Yahad has a strong connection with the Oneness of God. Yahad means the people who believe in the Oneness of God. Interpretation There are various interpretations that have been advanced for the Dead Sea Scrolls in general and the 1QM scrolls in particular. One school of thought describes the Dead Sea Scrolls as just a sectarian document that describes the split that existed in the Israelite community as Professor Davila (2005 paragraph 3) puts it. This argument is based on the fact that the sect appeared to be an isolated sect dwelling far away in Damascus where they were operating with little contact with the rest of the Israelite nation. This therefore sparks the possibility that the Scrolls refers to an enlightened sect of Judaism, coming together to fight against a corrupted Israel which had connections with the Romans and Greeks and had been 'polluted' by foreign ideas that broke them away from the mainstream Torah that God had given to the Israelites. Parallels for this argument can be drawn from the life of Elijah who dwelt in isolation whilst the Israelite nation worshiped the idols of Baal under King Ahab and Jezebel. In this wise, it can be argued that the Qumran sect was just writing about elements of the Torah that can be used to defeat the corrupted nation. This was to be done in a fashion similar to Elijah's era. However, a widely accepted view is that the scrolls can be interpreted to mean the waging of a communal war by Israel against its enemies (Davila, 2005 paragraph 4). This is because as a small community living in an isolated area outside the Biblical borders of Israel, it is not likely that this scripture referred to the defeat of a wayward Israel. This is because the rules given in the Torah for the waging of wars are Commandments given to the whole nation to fight against enemies of Israel. The need for a Cohen (a priest) and the mention of the 12 tribes suggests that the 1QM scrolls are meant to describe the principles for war between the Israelite nation, who are members of the Covenant (Bris) against the non-Jews in that generation. However, a third school of thought evolves from the second school of thought. This is because there was no such victory between 50 BCE and 70 CE when the Temple was destroyed and the Israelites were scattered amongst the nations in the Diaspora. This therefore gives the scriptures a futuristic background. This therefore means that it refers to the era of messianic times and days. Section B Application in 200 BCE – 200 CE The validity and the application of the 1QM can only be done by understanding the origins of the Qumran Sect. Why did they go into isolation in an area outside the Biblical borders of Israel? What was their life like? Several explanations have been given to the formation of the Qumran Sect. Schiffman (1975 p25) indicates that the Qumran sect was probably formed by the group of Levites who descended from the like of Zaddok. He rationalizes this by stating that the Zaddokite priests were discontented priests who fled Jerusalem after the Greek invasion and the Maccabean revolution which they might have had differences with. Thus, they moved into isolation to be able to live a religious life that would meet all their ideal standards of divine worship and observance of Torah. Other scholars like Corrado Martone and Gabriele Boccaccini create empirical links between the Qumran sect and the Zaddokite priesthood that had a strong connection with the Davidic dynasty. It is also worthy to note that the Davidic dynasty has a strong link with the concept of the Messiah in Judaism and the End Times. So although there is a strong rationalization of the concept of sectarianism in Israel at that time, there is also a strong connection between the Qumran scrolls and the Zaddokites, the Davidic dynasty and the possibility that the Qumran scrolls pointed out to a battle that would bring the Jewish Messiah who would restore the Kingdom of Israel and the Jewish people would enjoy a prosperous life in the Promised Land. Most of thee three scholars identified above (Schiffman, Mortone and Boccoccini) are Jews who have a strong connection to the concept of a Jewish Messiah and the resurrection of the dead. It is therefore possible that their analysis had a strong Jewish influence. The term Yahad which is used extensively to describe the Sons of Light has a strong connection to the fundamental Jewish belief of the Oneness of God. The Shema which Jews recite during the morning and evening services and also at bedtime which is taken from Deuteronomy and Numbers has a strong connection to this concept of Yahad. The Shema begins with the statement from Deuteronomy 6:7 which says Shema Y'Israel Hashem Elokhainu Hashem Eckhad* This means: Hear O Israel! The Lord is our God, The Lord is One. The word Eckhad has a strong parallel with Yahad. They both refer to 'One'. And whilst Eckhad means One, Yahad means 'the people who believe in the Oneness of God'. It therefore implies that from the Jewish point of view, the 1QM refers to the final showdown between the Jewish people and the rest of the world. This shows clearly that the Jewish people can draw clear parallels between the 1QM scrolls and a promised end that they have been promised whereby they will defeat the powers of evil and establish the dominance of the Torah. Contemporary Interpretations Christian analysis of the 1QM and the Qumran community is quite different. Mahlon Smith and Mehalios Stefanos link the text strongly with the vision of Daniel about the end times. This is because the sensitivity of the Jewish people to the Covenant of the Old Testament that existed amongst the Jewish commentators is not really present in these scholars. This therefore means that they could only juxtapose the Qumran Scrolls with spiritual things to make rationalize it and get an understanding of the Wars that are described in the 1QM scrolls. Personally, I think this is the only logical explanation of these scrolls looking at it from a Christian perspective. This is because I have not seen any evidence that shows that those wars were fought. It therefore seem to me that the descriptions of those wars have some parallels with the theories linked to the End Times as described by Daniel in his vision and also by John in the Revelations. Qumran.org on the other hand states that the 1QM was written at a time where the enemies of Israel were causing a lot of havoc to them. The website therefore suggests that in isolation and in an effort to flee from persecution, the Qumran sect of the Israelite nation had to come up with theories and explanations of the fact that good will ultimately triumph over evil and this led them to write the scrolls. Qumran.org therefore goes all out to explicitly state that the scrolls were written on the basis of nations and communities that are seen to be violators of the covenant. This therefore suggests that they were written to display the end and punishment that nations like the Greeks, Romans and other tribes like Moab and Amalek were to get for violating the Chosen Nation. Personally, I feel that the interpretation of the 1QM War Scrolls and the Qumran scrolls in general will always mirror the divergence between Christianity and Judaism. This is because whereas the Jews link the Scrolls to real events and incidents and also place emphasis on it as an authoritative source of what the End Times will be, Christianity cannot view it that way. This is because most Christians view the Jews in the era within which the scrolls were written as an era where the Jews were being punished for their sins because the Covenant had been replaced by the New Testament. This therefore means that belief in the Dead Sea Scrolls and the 1QM could potentially be a source of conflict between Judaism and Christianity. This is because whereas Jews could rely on it as a proof of their final redemption from nations that are now Christian or Muslim today, Christians might also view it with a high degree of doubt and at best, try to use it to justify Christian doctrines. Messianic Implications Since the predictions made in the 1QM scrolls were not realized in the era within which they were written, most Jews consider it as a source of redemption that would come someday. This is because the texts show strong parallels with Jewish beliefs in the Messiah and in several other elements of their return to Jerusalem. To an extent, Christianity can also gain some justification of these prophesies, since Paul stated that the Covenant between God and Israel is and will always exist. This therefore means that the 1QM scrolls could mirror some of the elements of this redemption. However, on the other hand, some Christian groups, particularly Evangelicals are likely to see this as the prelude to the coming of the Anti-Christ. This is because such groups believe that the redemption of the Jewish people will come with a firm opposition to Christianity. Conclusion I see strong parallels between the 1QM and Jewish liturgy and beliefs about the End Time. The 1QM on the other hand gives Christians some hope that good will always triumph over evil. This causes the Scrolls to be interpreted in relation to the revelations of John and Daniel that has a strong support for Christian values. References Boccaccini, Gabriele (2005) Enoch & Qumran Origins: New Light on a Forgotten Connection Mesorah Publishing: Jerusalem Davies, Philip (1977) IQM The War Scrolls from Qumran Biblical Institute Press Davila, J. R. (2005) The War Rule Available online at: http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/divinity/rt/dss/abstracts/warrule/ Accessed: 13th September, 2011 Hebrew University of Jerusalem (2011) Scroll of the War of the Sons of Light against the Sons of Darkness Available online at: www.orion.mscc.huji.ac.il/cave/megila1.shtml Accessed: September 13, 2011 Mahlon Smith (2008) War Rule 1QM Available online at: http://virtualreligion.net/iho/1QM.html Accessed: September 13, 2011. Mehalios Stefanos (2011) The Danielic Eschatology in Hour in Johnnine Literature Virginia: Biblical Institute Press Peerbolt, Leijtaert (2003) The Antecedents of the Anti-Christ BRILL Books Qumran.org (2006) 1QM, 4Q491-496 – The War Scroll Available online at: http://www.qumran.org/js/qumran/hss/about/1qm-intro Accessed: 13th September, 2011 Schiffman, Lawrence (1975) Halakha at Qumran Oxford University Press. Schiffman, Lawrence & Vanderkam, James (2000) Encyclopedia of the Dead Sea Scrolls Oxford University Press Sukenik, E. L. (1955) The Dead Sea Scrolls of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Magness Press Hebrew University Yadin, Y (1962) The Scroll of the War of the Sons of Light against the Sons of Darkness Oxford: Clarendon Press Read More