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CHAPTER 8. The Pharisees and the Dead Sea Scrolls
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CHAPTER 8 THE PHARISEES AND THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS James C. VanderKam 225 The Dead Sea Scrolls are rightly celebrated as firsthand witnesses to the ways and thoughts of a Second Temple Jewish group, as pristine texts not overlaid with editorial accretions from later ages. Among the invaluable disclosures of the Qumran texts has been information about the controversies waged by the group and their attitudes toward opponents who disputed their understanding of God’s revelations. Modern readers are naturally interested in knowing more about these controversies and those involved in them, but when they turn to the texts with such questions in mind they are typically frustrated. The writers of the scrolls rarely divulge specific data about an opponent, preferring to label them with insulting names rather than historically recognizable ones. This problem has been at the heart of the debate whether the scrolls deal with the Pharisees. The name Pharisee does not occur in the scrolls. Nevertheless, there is good reason to expect they are present in them: not only were Pharisees prominent contemporaries of the Qumran community, they were also interested in the sorts of issues that engaged the covenanters. Do the Dead Sea Scrolls tell us about the Pharisees? If so, what do they tell us about them? This chapter falls into two parts. The first surveys and discusses the evidence that allows us to say the Pharisees do play a role in the scrolls; the second assembles passages that give a broader picture of the Pharisees as the writers of the scrolls saw them. “THOSE WHO SEEK SMOOTH THINGS” AS PHARISEES There is a venerable tradition among scholars of the scrolls that “those who seek smooth things [twqljh yçrwd]” are Pharisees and that 226 JAMES C. VANDERKAM the word twqlj is a play on twklh, which is supposed to be a Pharisaic term for legal positions.1 Although the hypothesis was stated before John Allegro published Pesher Nahum (4Q169), the occurrences of the expression in the commentary on the prophecy provide, according to many scholars, the decisive data for the conclusion.2 The next paragraphs review the occurrences of the epithet “those who seek smooth things,” ending with those in Pesher Nahum. The data from these texts will then be compared with Josephus’s narratives about Alexander Jannaeus, Alexandra, and the Pharisees. The review will show that “those who seek smooth things” are indeed Pharisees. Occurrences The first word in the construct phrase twqljh yçrwd designates individuals who search; the searching could be studying or investigating the Scriptures. The second word means “smooth,” and it can have a negative connotation when describing words or speech (see Prov 26:28; Dan 11:32).3 The epithet may refer to people who are trying to flatter , but also to someone looking for easy interpretations, rather than the full and perhaps more rigorous meaning of a law.4 The phrase those who seek smooth things appears (with slight variations ) in five texts found at Qumran. Damascus Document After God raised up the Teacher for the community, an opponent of the new group and its leader came on the scene: [T]he Scoffer [˜wxlh çya] arose who shed over Israel the waters of lies. He caused them to wander in a pathless wilderness, laying low the everlasting heights, abolishing the ways of righteousness and removing the boundary with which the forefathers had marked out their inheritance , that he might call down on them the curses of His Covenant and deliver them up to the avenging sword of His Covenant. For they sought smooth things [twqljb wçrd] and preferred illusions (Isa. xxx, 10) and they watched for breaks (Isa. xxx, 13) and chose the fair neck; and they justified the wicked and condemned the just, and they transgressed the Covenant and violated the Precept. They banded together against the life of the righteous (Ps. xciv, 21) and loathed all who [44.212.26.248] Project MUSE (2024-03-29 01:13 GMT) THE PHARISEES AND THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS 227 walked in perfection; they pursued them with the sword and exulted in the strife of the people. And the anger of God was kindled against their congregation [µtd[b] so that He ravaged all their multitude; and their deeds were defilement before Him. (CD 1.14–2.1)5 The author of the Damascus Document accused the Scoffer of misleading a congregation into violating the covenant. Their pursuit of “smooth things” is just one in a catalog...