ian rule books (Metso 1998). TheCommunity RuleandDamascus Docu-
mentdescribe a complex sectarian movement that had more than one
form of community life. They exhibit important parallels with Greek vol-
untary associations (Weinfeld 1986; Gillihan 2011), but they are conceived
in terms of membership in a new covenant. These rules show extensive
similarity to the descriptions of the Essenes in Philo and Josephus, with re-
gard to admission procedures, common property, and community life.
The Essenes were not the only sectarian movement to emerge in Judaism
in the last centuries before the turn of the era. Rather, sectarianism was a
feature of the age, and the scrolls are an important witness to the phenom-
enon (Baumgarten 1997).
The movement described in the scrolls has often been called an “apoc-
alyptic community,” with good reason (Collins 1997c). TheWar Scrolland
the Treatise on the Two Spirits in theCommunity Ruleare prime examples
of what Seth Schwartz has called “the apocalyptic myth” (Schwartz 2001:
74-82). Yet the community does not seem to have used the literary form of
apocalypse to any significant degree. In this case, the Torah of Moses was
unequivocally regarded as the primary source of revelation. Moreover, the
figure called the Teacher of Righteousness was revered as the authoritative
interpreter, and rendered pseudonymous mediators such as Enoch or
Daniel superfluous. In this respect, the sect was quite unique. It shows,
however, that there was no necessary conflict between the veneration of
the Torah and interest in apocalyptic revelations.Judaism and Hellenism
Throughout the period under consideration in this volume, Jews lived in a
world permeated by Hellenistic culture. The pervasiveness of Hellenistic
influence can be seen even in the Dead Sea Scrolls (where there is little evi-
dence of conscious interaction with the Greek world), for example, in the
analogies between the sectarian communities and voluntary associations.
Modern scholarship has often assumed an antagonistic relationship
between Hellenism and Judaism. This is due in large part to the received
account of the Maccabean Revolt, especially in 2 Maccabees. The revolt
was preceded by an attempt to make Jerusalem into a Hellenisticpolis.
Elias Bickerman (1937) even argued that the persecution was instigated by
the Hellenizing high priest Alcimus, and in this he was followed by Martin
Hengel (1974). Yet the revolt did not actually break out until the Syrian20john j. collinsEERDMANS -- Early Judaism (Collins and Harlow) final text
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