152 A History of Judaism
Teacher of Righteousness. Most evidence about the career of this
Teacher is found in the remarkable interpretations of the prophecies of
Habakkuk found in a single, but well- preserved, scroll from Cave 1.
The interpretation, which in each case follows a citation from the bib-
lical text, assumes knowledge of the story, so that historians now have
to piece together a narrative of the origins of the Yahad from a series of
allusions, such as the following on the phrase in the text of Habakkuk
‘Behold the nations and see, marvel and be astonished; for I accomplish
a deed in your days, but you will not believe it when told’:
[Interpreted, this concerns] those who were unfaithful together with the
Liar, in that they [did] not [listen to the word received by] the Teacher of
Righteousness from the mouth of God. And it concerns the unfaithful of
the New [Covenant] in that they have not believed in the Covenant of God
[and have profaned] His holy Name. And likewise, this saying is to be
interpreted [as concerning those who] will be unfaithful at the end of days.
They, the men of violence and the breakers of the Covenant, will not
believe when they hear all that [is to happen to] the final generation from
the Priest [in whose heart] God set [understanding] that he might interpret
all the words of His servants the Prophets, through whom He foretold all
that would happen to His people and [His land].
In another passage, the biblical phrase ‘O traitors, why do you stare
and stay silent when the wicked swallows up one more righteous than
he?’ is interpreted as ‘This concerns the House of Absalom and the
members of its council who were silent at the time of the chastisement
of the Teacher of Righteousness and gave him no help against the Liar
who flouted the Law in the midst of their whole [congregation].’ At
some point, it seems, a Teacher had proclaimed new teachings to these
sectarians, through which they believed themselves elect so long as they
remained faithful, and all others damned:
None of the men who enter the New Covenant in the land of Damascus,
and who again betray it and depart from the fountain of living waters,
shall be reckoned with the Council of the people or inscribed in its Book
from the day of the gathering in of the Teacher of the Community until the
coming of the Messiah out of Aaron and Israel. And thus shall it be for
every man who enters the congregation of men of perfect holiness but
faints in performing the duties of the upright. He is a man who has melted
in the furnace; when his deeds are revealed he shall be expelled from the
congregation as though his lot had never fallen among the disciples of