The Damascus Document has a relatively compact description of DSS opponents. For the Fourth Philosophic sect, the main opponents were Romans and their taxation. For Jesus, the main opponents were Pharisees and Sadducees who were hypocrites. Now Pesharim scrolls talk about Kittim, The Seekers After Smooth Things, and Ephraim all the time. Do we have that in CD? I don't think so.And to me, the reason why the DSS sect and Christians talk the same kind of talk is because they were all Fourth Philosophic Jews. This is why they use the concept of the "new covenant," since it was a new kind of Judaism, "which we were before unacquainted withal" (meaning before the first century CE), as Josephus puts it.
But CD mentions Ephraim in 7.9-13 (and repeated in CDb):
When God judged the land bringing the just deserts of the wicked to them that is when the oracle of the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came true, which says, ‘Days are coming upon you and upon your people and upon your father’s house that have never come before, since the departure of Ephraim from Judah’ (Isa 7:17), that is, when the two houses of Israel separated, Ephraim departing from Judah. All who backslid were handed over to the sword ...
This is similar to the way that "smooth things" is used in 1.19, where just like those who sought "smooth things" in the past would be punished, so too would it happen to those who sought "smooth things" in CD's time. Likewise, just as Ephraim had backslid in the past and was punished for it, so too would Ephraim be punished in CD's time.
At best, we have one very cryptic reference to a Roman Emperor (as the head of the Greco-Roman kings) and one very ambiguous reference to The Seekers After Smooth Things. No Kittim, no taxation problem, no hypocrites.
I'll give you no Kittim, but "smooth things" seems clear when we factor in the pesharim. The pesharim and CD have the Teacher, "smooth things," "Ephraim" and the "new covenant," so while CD doesn't mention Kittim, I assume that the author was aware that they are mentioned in the pesharim, like "Ephraim" and "smooth things" and the "new covenant."
That CD doesn't mention taxes seems of little matter, since even the pesharim only mention them once, based on the underlying Hab. 1:16 ("Their portion is fat and their sustenance rich"). And if CD knows about the Teacher, Ephraim, the new covenant and smooth things, I'm comfortable assuming it knows about taxes.
And I would even expect a reference to Jesus' crucifixion.
Why? In any event, CD says right off the bat that the opponents of the sect had "called the guilty innocent, and the innocent guilty. They overstepped covenant, violated law; and ‘they conspired together to kill the innocent’ (Ps 94:21), for all those who lived pure lives they loathed from the bottom of their heart. So they persecuted them violently," similar to how James 5:6 says, "You have condemned and put to death the righteous person" (which I see as including Jesus).
But again, I see no such thing there. What I see is a group of Hellenized priests who defiled the Temple (by not being ritually clean). This doesn't match the Herodians who were not expected to be ritually clean. Agrippa might be an exception but that's all - one person, not a group. And it doesn't match Pharisees either because they were ritually clean par excellence even if they didn't have to be (they were mostly laymen).
But the Pharisees approved of niece marriage and easy divorce, two of the big things that CD condemns. They didn't need to practice these things themselves. It was enough that they were cool with the "princes of Judah" (or anyone else) doing these kinds of things. And all Jews were expected to be ritually clean, whether they were priests or not.
Statistics: Posted by John2 — Fri Feb 14, 2025 5:55 pm