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235 CHAPTER ELEVEN PREDESTINATION IN THE BIBLE AND THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS1 Magen Broshi The study of the Dead Sea scrolls started with the right foot forward—the seven Scrolls discovered in 1947 were quite well preserved and among the most important of the 900 manuscripts unearthed in the decade 1947–1956. It is frightening to think what would have been the state of the research had it started with the shabby 15,000 fragments of Cave 4. It is no secret that, even so, the scholarly community has known in the past half century plenty of disagreements, some of which were quite acrimonious. Four of the scrolls are sectarian, i.e., Essene, and would have been shortlisted by almost any scholar who would be asked to compile a list of the ten most important scrolls.2 Just a year after the publication of the Manual of Discipline, it became clear that the single most important theological element in this composition is its firm belief in predestination, to be precise, double predestination.3 This element is what differentiates it sharply from “Normative Judaism.” In short time it will become apparent that this belief in predestination is common also to the other three scrolls: the Thanksgiving Scroll, the War Scroll, and the Habakkuk Commentary. That predestination lies at the foundation of the sectarian teachings will reach soon almost a status of opinio communis.4 1. This a slightly revised and updated version of a chapter in my book, Bread, Wine, Walls and Scrolls (JSPSup 36; Sheffield; Sheffield Academic Press, 2001), 238–51. I dedicate this essay to the blessed memory of Prof. David Flusser, an eminent scholar and inspiring teacher. 2. The other six Sectarian scrolls, in my opinion, would be: the Damascus Document; the Temple Scroll; MMT (Miqsat Ma(ase ha-Torah); Angelic Liturgy; the Nahum Commentary; and the Book of the Mysteries. 3. William H. Brownlee, “The Dead Sea Manual of Discipline,” BASORSup 10–12 (1951): 4–60; Karl G. Kuhn, “Die Sektenschrift [1QS] und die iranische Religion.” ZTK 49 (1952): 296–316. 4. Friedrich Noetscher, Zur Theologischen Terminologie der Qumran Texte (Bonn: Peter Hanstein, 1956); Jacob Licht, “Legs as Signs of Election,” Tarbiz 35 (1965–66): 18–26; David Flusser, “The Dead Sea Scrolls and Pre-Pauline Christianity,” in Judaism and 236 PREDESTINATION IN THE BIBLE AND THE SCROLLS Predestination will be the main argument in identifying the Dead Sea Sect with the Essenes. Josephus tells us that of the three “philosophies” the Pharisees say that some events are the work of fate (heimarmenos); The Sadducees “do away with fate,” believing that “all things lie within our power,” but the Essene are of the opinion that “fate is the ruler of all things, and nothing can happen to people except it be according to its decree” (Ant. 13.171–73; 18.18). Using the term fate is the closest Josephus, a very well informed informant, could get when trying to convey the meaning of divine providence to his pagan readers.5 No monotheistic religious system can adhere exclusively to either predestination or free will. Sanders correctly turned our attention to the fact that no form of Judaism known to us (except, perhaps, for the Sadducees) considered predestination and free will to be incompatible.6 In both Judaism and Christianity those two contradictory tenets live paradoxically side by side, at different times in different amounts. Not until the Middle Ages was any attempt made to reconcile the two. The Hebrew Bible, a collection of writings of various and numerous genres composed during almost 1,000 years is certainly not a homogenous collection. However, it is an anthology upholding free will. The Lord has relegated some of his power to humans (“Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels,” Ps 8:5) including the freedom to defy God’s will. This freedom allows a person to choose the way of righteousness but it is also a freedom to choose the way of sin and evil. “Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse. A blessing if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God.…and a curse if you will not obey the commandments” (Deuteronomy 26–28). An important element is that the gates of repentance are always open (e.g., Deut 4:30–31; Ezek 14:6 et passim). “The Bible never represents God as causing man to sin in the first instance, he hardens the heart of the voluntary sinner to...

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