Damascus Document

The Damascus Document^[a] is an ancient Hebrew text known from both the Cairo Geniza and the Dead Sea Scrolls.^[4]^[5] It is considered one of the foundational documents of the ancient Jewish community of Qumran.^[3]

The Damascus Document is a fragmentary text, no complete version of which survives. There have been attempts to reconstruct the original text from the various fragments. The medieval recension appears to have been shorter than the Qumran version, but where they overlap there is little divergence.^[1]^[4] The correct ordering of all the Qumran fragments is not certain.^[3]

The Damascus Document's primary body of composition is a compilation of sectarian laws that have been coupled with historical information on the sect, and utilize the same figure names used in the group's pesharim commentaries. As the rules permit a woman to marry and possess private property, most scholars believe that they were composed to determine the lifestyles of the Essenes who lived in the camps and did not join the Qumran community.^[5] The redactor of the text allows that the covenant is open to all Israelites who accept the sect's halakha, while condemning the others as the "wicked of Judah" against whom God would direct "a great anger with flames of fire by the hand of all the angels of destruction against persons turning aside from the path". The text states that those who abandon the true covenant "will not live".^[6]

^ ^a ^b ^c Timothy Ḥlim, "Damascus Document", in Adele Berlin (ed.), The Oxford Dictionary of the Jewish Religion, 2nd ed. (Oxford University Press, 2011).
^ "The Book of Covenant of Damascus," Jewish Virtual Library
^ ^a ^b ^c Joseph M. Baumgarten, "Damascus Document", in Lawrence H. Schiffman and James C. VanderKam (eds.), Encyclopedia of the Dead Sea Scrolls (Oxford University Press, 2000).
^ ^a ^b ^c Philip R. Davies, "Damascus Document", in Eric M. Meyers (ed.), The Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East (Oxford University Press, 1997).
^ ^a ^b Eshel, Hanan (2009). "The History of the Discoveries at Qumran". In Kister, Menahem (ed.). The Qumran Scrolls and Their World (in Hebrew). Vol. 1 (1+ ed.). Jerusalem: Yad Ben-Zvi Press. p. 9. ISBN 978-965-217-291-4.
^ Harrington, Hannah. Identity and Alterity in the Dead Sea Schools. Brill. p. 71.

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[ODJR-1] Timothy Ḥlim, "Damascus Document", in Adele Berlin (ed.), The Oxford Dictionary of the Jewish Religion, 2nd ed. (Oxford University Press, 2011).

[2] "The Book of Covenant of Damascus," Jewish Virtual Library

[EDDS-3] Joseph M. Baumgarten, "Damascus Document", in Lawrence H. Schiffman and James C. VanderKam (eds.), Encyclopedia of the Dead Sea Scrolls (Oxford University Press, 2000).

[OEANE-4] Philip R. Davies, "Damascus Document", in Eric M. Meyers (ed.), The Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East (Oxford University Press, 1997).

[Eshel2009-6] Eshel, Hanan (2009). "The History of the Discoveries at Qumran". In Kister, Menahem (ed.). The Qumran Scrolls and Their World (in Hebrew). Vol. 1 (1+ ed.). Jerusalem: Yad Ben-Zvi Press. p. 9. ISBN 978-965-217-291-4.

[7] Harrington, Hannah. Identity and Alterity in the Dead Sea Schools. Brill. p. 71.

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Damascus Document

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