Early Judaism- A Comprehensive Overview

enumerations of the number of days per month, registers of the holy festi-

vals on their respective dates in a 364-day year, registers of the priestly

watches ormišm#rZtrelated to this calendar, lists relating phases in the

monthly revolution of the moon to corresponding dates of the 364-day

year, and the so-called}Ototlist synchronizing the six-yearmišm#rZtcycles

with the seven-yearshemitahand the forty-nine-year jubilee cycle. In some

cases calendrical lists are part of larger documents. For example,}Otot

(4Q319) is actually the end of one of the Cave 4 copies of theRule of the

Community(4Q259), and a calendrical list is found at the beginning of one

of the MMT manuscripts (4Q394). A special, related case is the two very

fragmentary works (Historical Texts DandE;4Q332 and 4Q333) that list

historical events, including proper names, in relation to dates and priestly

watches.

Virtually all the calendrical documents attest to the 364-day calendar

defended in the EnochicBook of the Luminariesand inJubilees,and implied

in most other texts in the corpus — exceptions could beDaily Prayers

(4Q503) andZodiology and Brontology(4Q318). These documents are the

result of exegetical activity and try to harmonize the different scriptural

prescriptions for Sabbaths and dates of festivals, as well as priestly watches

and larger cycles, into a coherent system. Many of the liturgical texts are

based on this calendrical system, and the lists can therefore be seen as the le-

gal basis for the priestly service and the liturgical and festal year. The differ-

ence between the 364-day calendar and the 354-day calendar known from

other Jewish sources is crucial, since it implies a different festival calendar

and would have provoked a major schism in early Judaism.

Performing Scripture: Liturgical and Poetical Manuscripts

Some poetical manuscripts in the corpus have explicit markers that indi-

cate an intended liturgical or ritual use; other collections of poems lack

such evidence. A large number of texts may be categorized as hymns and

prayers. These include liturgies for evening and morning blessings for all

days of the month, prayers for the days of the week, songs for the Sabbath

sacrifice, and festival prayers. All of these texts are the oldest liturgies for

fixed prayer times on record. Scholars are divided on two questions. First,

whether these liturgies for fixed prayers were specifically sectarian or were

rather representative of liturgies of Second Temple Judaism at large. Sec-

ond, how these prayers relate to rabbinic prayer material. Because of the

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EERDMANS -- Early Judaism (Collins and Harlow) final text
Tuesday, October 09, 2012 12:04:04 PM