Course Syllabus

LINK TO THE CURRENT SYLLABUS HERE

 

Introduction to the Dead Sea Scrolls

Spring 2015

McGuinn 526

Wednesday, 10am-12:25pm

Yonder Moynihan Gillihan

Office: 457 North Stokes Hall

Phone: 2-1614

E-mail: gillihan@bc.edu

Office hours: MW 12-2 and by appointment

 

 

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NB: This is a writing-intensive research seminar that covers the corpus of the DSS in English and, for those with language skills, Hebrew and Aramaic. It is designed for advanced undergraduates and graduate students who have completed specific prerequisites in biblical studies. For inquiries about requirements, contact the instructor.

 

 

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The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls is the most important archaeological event of the 20th century for historians of Judaism and Christianity, and for modern Jews and Christians as well. While other caches of ancient texts in Egypt compete (Oxyrhynchus at the turn of the twentieth century and Nag Hammadi in 1945), these texts are separated from the period during which Palestinian Judaism faced its greatest crises, schisms, and transformations by geographic, temporal and linguistic gulfs. The DSS are from Judea, not Egypt; they were composed and copied in the first centuries before and after the Common Era. Their writers and scribes were aristocratic, informed, and keenly interested observers of sometimes bloody conflict between Jewish sects; they fiercely resisted Hasmonean and Herodian accommodation of Roman imperial rule and culture. Many members witnessed the war against Rome that ended with the destruction of the Temple in 70 ce. This event that saw the destruction of numerous varieties of Judaism, and the survival of Judaism in a form dominated by rabbis who saw themselves as successors of the Pharisees-- a sect violently hated by the writers of the DSS. The scrolls belong to the era during which John the Baptist and Jesus lived, and reveal much about the environment in which they formulated their proclamations. Historians have much for which to be grateful.

 

Jewish and Christian theologians also have much to gain from study of the DSS. The laws of the DSS also show the flourishing of precise and practical interpretation of the Torah, several centuries before the codification of rabbinic laws in the Mishnah, Tosefta, and Talmuds.  The Scrolls also confirm how thoroughly Jewish Jesus' preaching was, as was that of his earliest followers. Christianity in the first century was one of many, often competing, varieties of Judaism. Those interested in modern Jewish and Christian dialogue will find the scrolls invaluable. Students of theology and ethics will also find the DSS intriguing: the problem of scriptural authority in light of contemporary events is not new. The scrolls present one carefully constructed system for appropriating the authority of ancient scriptures to support a contemporary agenda; theologians can profit from comparisons of modern and ancient methods and systems.  

 

Requirements

Students are expected to attend seminars having read assigned primary and secondary literature.

 

Grades will be based on class participation and writing assignments. Students will give three oral presentations: first, a presentation with a partner on a seminar topic; second, an individual presentation on a weekly seminar topic; and an individual presentation on research in progress. 80% of the final grade will be determined by the quality of the research essay. The essay should be 12-15 pp. for undergraduates and 18-25 pp. for graduate students.

 

Graduate students are required to conduct research in the ancient languages in which they have ability, and to consult scholarship in German and French. A supplementary weekly session to read texts in Hebrew will be added in accordance with students' ability.

 

Research Essay Schedule

2/11Schedule meeting to discuss research interests

2/25Statement of research interests due

3/18 15-item annotated bibliography due (grad students, 25 items); include revised

research statement

4/1 Annotated outline and/or draft of paper due; include expanded annotated

bibliography (20 items, undergrads; 30, grad; should not include works that are general, reference, or primarily translations of texts)

4/29Research papers due; include new revision of research statement as précis/

abstract at beginning of essay

 

Sources must be properly documented. The best style guide for papers on ancient topics is the SBL Manual of Style (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1999); however, consistent use of any of the standard styles, e.g., MLA, Chicago, etc., is acceptable. All written work must be your own. For university policy see www.bc.edu/integrity.

 

Literature

RequiredG. Vermes, The Complete DSS in English (rev. ed.; Penguin, 2004)

 

J. Collins, Beyond the Qumran Community: the Sectarian Movement of the Dead Sea Scrolls (Eerdmans, 2010)

J. VanderKam, The DSS Today (Rev. ed.; Eerdmans, 2010)

_____,  An Introduction to Early Judaism (Eerdmans, 2000)

 

 

RecommendedM. Abegg and P. Flint, eds., The DSS Bible (HarperCollins, 2002)

Y. Hirschfeld, Qumran in Context (Hendrickson, 2004)

J. Magness, The Archaeology of Qumran and the DSS (Eerdmans, 2002)

L. Schiffman, Reclaiming the DSS (Doubleday, 1995)

 

On Reserve:J. J. Collins, Apocalypticism in the DSS (Routledge, 1998)

_____, The Scepter and the Star (2d ed.; Doubleday, 2010)

F. M. Cross, The Ancient Library of Qumran (3d ed.; Fortress, 1995)

F. García Martínez, The DSS Translated (Eerdmans, 1996)

J. Fitzmyer, The DSS and Christian Origins (Eerdmans, 2000)

E. Ulrich, The DSS and the Origins of the Bible (Eerdmans, 1999)

M. Wise et al., The DSS: A New Translation (HarperCollins, 1995)

Schedule of Lectures and Reading

NB: Readings for a given day should be read in advance of that class. *Readings marked with an asterix are strongly recommended but not required.

 

Bring a translation of the DSS and a Bible to each class meeting.

1/14Introduction to the Course

 

1/21Discoveries in the Judean Desert, 1947-1956 (Slide Lecture)

Selections from Cave 1 Scrolls and the Damascus Rule:

Damascus Rule (CD) 1:1-8:21 (NB: CD 19:1-20:34 || CD 7:9-8:21)

Community Rule (1QS) 1:1-4:26

Commentary on Habbakuk (1QpHab) 7-11

War Rule (1QM) 1-2; 11-13

Thanksgiving Hymns (1QH), hymns 7; 12

 

Genesis Apocryphon (1QapGen) 20-22

Great Isaiah Scroll (1QIsaa) in DSSBible (read editors' introduction)

 

Collins, "Introduction" and "Epilogue"

VanderKam, chs. 1-2

 

1/28The Context of Judea, c. 200 BCE-100 CE

2/11The Covenanters, Qumran and the Essenes

Philo, the elder Pliny, and Josephus on the Essenes (Canvas)

Damascus Rule (CD) 7:1-9

Community Rule (1QS) 5-9

Rule for the Congregation (1QSa) 1-2

 

VanderKam, chs. 3-4

Collins, chs. 4-5

 

* Schiffman, chs. 1-3

* Hirschfeld, Qumran in Context

* Norman Golb, "Who Hid the DSS?" Biblical Archaeologist, June 1985, pp. 68-82; idem, "Khirbet Qumran and the Manuscript Finds," in Methods of Investigation of the DSS and the Khirbet Qumran Site, ed. M. Wise et al. (New York: Academy of Sciences, 1994) (Canvas)

 

Student Report: Evidence for and Against the Essene Hypothesis

 

2/18Essenes, Pythagoreans, Ḥaverim: Who Were the Covenanters?

The Essenes according to the Classical Sources, ed. Vermes and Goodman

 

Iamblichus, On the Pythagorean Way of Life

 

rabbinic statutes on ḥaverîm

 

Statutes from ancient Greco-Roman Associations

 

Y. M. Gillihan, "Associations, Clubs," Dictionary of Early Judaism, ed. J. Collins and D. Harlow (Eerdmans, 2010) (Canvas)

 

_____, Organization, Law, and Civic Ideology in the Rule Scrolls, chs. 1-2

 

_____, "Ḥavurah: Second Temple and Hellenistic Judaism," Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception (de Gruyter, 2015)

 

M. Weinfeld, The Organizational Pattern and the Penal Code of the Qumran Sect: A Comparison with Guilds and Religious Associations of the Hellenistic-Roman Period (Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1986)

 

2/25Life among the Covenanters: The Rule Scrolls

Community Rule, esp. 1QS 5-9

Damascus Rule 15-14 (NB: the new order of columns in CD is 1-8, 15-16, 9-14)

Rule for the Congregation

 

Collins, chs. 1-2

Broshi, "A Day in the Life" (Canvas)

 

*Schiffman, chs. 6-9

*E. Regev, "The Yaḥad and the Damascus Covenant: Structure, Organization, and Relationship" (Canvas)

 

Student Report: How are the Rule Scrolls Related?

 

SCHEDULE INDIVIDUAL MEETINGS TO DISCUSS RESEARCH INTERESTS

          

 

2/25History in the DSS: the Covenanters and Their Enemies

Hasmoneans: 4QMMT; 1QpHab; 4QpNahum; 4QTestimonia; 4Q448

Pharisees: 1QpHab; 4QpNahum; CD 1

The Wicked Priest: 1QpHab 7-9, 11-12

Internal dissidents: CD 1; 1QpHab 2, 4, 10

Outsiders in general: CD 1-8; 1QS 1-4

Romans and other Gentiles: 1QpHab, passim; 1QM, passim

 

Collins, ch. 3

 

1 Maccabees 1-10; 2 Maccabees 5-10

Josephus on Jewish sects (Canvas)

 

*Schiffman, chs. 2-4

*VanderKam, Introduction, chs. 1, 3

*Y.M. Gillihan, "The גר Who Wasn't There: Fictional Aliens in the Damascus Rule," Revue de Qumran (Canvas)

 

Student Report: candidates for the Wicked Priest and the Teacher of Righteousness

 

 

2/25The Covenanters Among Ancient Voluntary Associations

 

**Statement of research interests due**

3/4SPRING BREAK

 

3/11Apocalypticism in the DSS

CD 1-8; 19-20

1QS 3:13-4:26; 9:3-11

1QSa

4QFlorilegium

4QTestimonia

4QNew Jerusalem

1QM

 

Schiffman, chs. 19-21

 

*J. J. Collins, Apocalypticism in the DSS

*_____, The Scepter and the Star

*J. VanderKam, Calendars in the DSS: Tracking Time

 

Student Report: Messianism and the End of Days in the DSS

3/18The Covenanters' Bible

Jubilees, Enoch, Epistle of Jeremiah (Dead Sea Scrolls Bible 196-98; 480-81; 628-31)

Reworked Pentateuch and Non-Canonical Psalms B (4Q381)

 

Biblical Interpretation

The pesharim (1QpHab; 4QpNahum; etc.)

4QTestimonia

4QFlorilegium

4QInstruction

 

Vanderkam, ch. 5

 

*Schiffman, chs. 10-14

*Ulrich, chs. 1-6

 

Student Report: The DSS and the Concept of Canon

 

** 15-item annotated bibliography due **

3/25Cult and Liturgy in the DSS

Relationship to Temple Cult

1QS 8-9; CD 6:11-7:1; 16:13-14; 9:13-16; 11:17-23

 

Communal Liturgy

1QS 1:1-3:13; 10-11

Conclusion to the Damascus Rule from 4QDa, e

Daily Prayers (4Q503)

Josephus on Essene liturgy (Canvas)

*Thanksgiving Hymns (1QHodayot)

*Calendrical Texts

 

*Schiffman, chs. 15-16

 

Student Report: Cult and Liturgy among the Covenanters

4/1The DSS and Rabbinic Judaism

4QMMT

Halakic texts (4Q251, 264a, 265, 274-278, 284, 284a, 414)

Selections from the Mishnah (Canvas)

 

Schiffman, chs. 23-25

 

Student report: "Formative Judaism" and the DSS

 

** Paper Draft Due **

 

4/8The DSS and Early Christianity Part 1

John 1:1-18; 1 Cor 5-7; 11

 

VanderKam, ch. 6

 

*Collins, Scepter and the Star, ch. 9

 

Student Report: Christian Origins and the DSS

 

4/15The DSS and Early Christianity Part 2

 

4/22Student Research Presentations

 

 

4/29Research papers due