The Temple Scroll

Abstract

by Alexandra Walter

(Alexandra Walter is a fourth-year student from Germany who is spending a year abroad at the University of St. Andrews--JRD)

The so-called Temple Scroll (11Q19 and 11Q20) is framed by a narration. Though the first column is lost, col. II gives the setting of the revelation to Moses at Mount Sinai after Exodus 34/Deuteronomy 7. Here and in the following, the speech of God is in the first-person singular, despite the third-person singular of Torah parallels -- the author(s) could not emphasise his claim for divine authorisation, and therefore universal normative validity, more strongly! The following columns describe the temple, its equipment and the related laws from the priestly view on the concentric areas of holiness. Starting in the Temple House in the middle of the area of sacrificial service the description goes on to the outer parts.

11Q19 XL, 8ff. gives measures for the Outer Court which exceed the whole Herodian setting--even the city--by far. This raises the question of interpretation, hence, it seems unlikely that the Temple Scroll was meant to be a blueprint for an architect.

The evidence shows that the author(s) maintained a high symbolic value of the Jerusalem sanctuary, which carried eschatological notions ( Hebrew _L(WLM_ [for ever/eternity]). In addition the oversized measurements of the Outer Court make a realistic demand for translation into action unlikely, and give eschatological notions, but further classifications are speculations. The naming of several parts of the building with names of Israelite tribes demonstrate that, at least in ideology, a separation of the author(s) from Israel was not carried out.

The cycle of feast mostly paraphrases the Torah, but the dating of feasts is based on the 364-day solar calendar. Moreover, it must be noted that three additional feasts are introduced. This illustrates the tendency of the Temple Scroll towards a more complex cult, which also can be seen in the requiring of cereal offering and drink offering to accompany the sin offering. By generally coming first, the sin offering acquires the function as a preparatory purification rite, hinting at a very strong sense for ritual purity which can be seen in various other laws. Furthermore, laws that concern only priests in the Torah are applied to all Israel.

This repeated stress may mean that the author(s) held the opinion that the actual cult was not sufficient in these matters. Among the Qumran scriptures that deal in a way with the ideal temple and its cult, angelology might be taken as a point of differentiation, as angels do not appear within the surviving fragments of this scroll. Nevertheless it should be mentioned that the angelology has a hierarchical structure, which has its counterpart in the notion of hierarchical holiness in the different areas of the temple.

In the judicial concepts several agreements with other Qumran literature against the rabbinical tradition can be found. Parallels with later Sadducean views will be taken up in a future seminar in this course.

(c) 2001
Reproduction beyond fair use only on permission of the author.