Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary

QUMRAN*

Ancient Jewish religious community near the site where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found in 1947.

On the north side of the Wadi Qumran, about one mile (1.6 kilometers) south of Cave I, lie the ruins of a Jewish monastery known as Khirbet Qumran. The ruins had been noted by travelers for years.

Excavations at Khirbet Qumran

Preliminary investigations of Khirbet Qumran were made in 1949 by Harding and de Vaux. Systematic excavations were carried out, beginning in 1951, under the auspices of the Jordanian Archaeological Museum and the École Biblique. They uncovered the main building in the complex, concluding that it was the center of a well-organized community. An estimated 200 to 400 people lived at Qumran at one time, most of them in tents outside the buildings or in nearby caves. A large cemetery, with smaller secondary graveyards, was located to the east toward the Dead Sea. De Vaux concluded that Khirbet Qumran was the headquarters of a Jewish sect called the Essenes.

Investigations at the site have shown that it was occupied at various times in antiquity. The earliest level of occupation dates back to the eighth and seventh centuries BC. Some have suggested that the buildings and cisterns may have been built during the reign of King Uzziah (cf. 2 Chr 26:10). Evidence of occupation of the site in the Greco-Roman period is abundant. A major settlement began shortly before 100 BC, probably in the time of Hyrcanus I (the first ruling priest of the Hasmonean dynasty, 134–104 BC), and ended with an earthquake in 31 BC. The site was probably reoccupied about the time of the death of Herod the Great (4 BC). That occupation ended when the area was captured by the Romans in AD 68. A Roman garrison remained there until about AD 90. Finally, Jewish rebels used the site in the second revolt against the Romans under Bar-Kochba in AD 132–135.

The largest building was the main assembly hall, with adjoining rooms. Pottery was found in abundance, not only for kitchen use but also (probably) for housing the scrolls, which were copied in the writing room, or scriptorium. Although no manuscripts were found in the ruins of Khirbet Qumran, the pottery was similar to that in which the scrolls were found in Cave I, thus establishing a link between the ruins and the manuscripts. Low plaster tables or benches, together with inkwells dating from Roman times, were found in the scriptorium.

An interesting feature of the area was an elaborate water system, with many round and rectangular cisterns that collected water from the mountains to the west. The cisterns were probably used for ritual purifications and baptismal ceremonies of the Qumran sect. Hundreds of coins from the Greco-Roman period have also helped in dating the various layers of occupation. An oasis and spring known as ‘Ain Feshka, about two miles (3.2 kilometers) to the south, appears to have been an agricultural outpost of Khirbet Qumran.

Identity of the Qumran Sect

The Qumran community was a sectarian group of Judaism. It originated in the second century BC, probably as a result of the imposition of Greek culture on the Jews by rulers of the Seleucid dynasty. The community repudiated the temple at Jerusalem and withdrew into the desert. “Damascus” was probably the designation of their community at Qumran. As the “community of God,” the members believed they were obedient to God’s will and were keeping his covenant.

The sect has been identified with various groups, including the Hasidim, Pharisees, Sadducees, Zealots, Ebionites, and others. The best identification seems to be with the Essenes, a sect mentioned by such first-century AD writers as Josephus, Philo, and Pliny the Elder. They described the Essenes as an ascetic group who lived along the western shores of the Dead Sea. In addition to the geographical and chronological arguments in favor of that identification, a more important argument is based on similarities in beliefs and practices between the Qumran community and the Essenes. Both had a probationary period of about two years for entrance into the group, ranked the members in their community, held their property and wealth in common, ate communal meals, practiced immersion and ritual cleansings, and were subject to the discipline and examination of overseers.

The Qumran sect was composed of priests and laity. The council of the community consisted of 15 men: 3 priests and 12 laymen. A superintendent or examiner was over the whole group. There are some discrepancies and alleged differences between the Qumran sect and the Essenes. Unlike the Essenes, the Qumran members were allowed to marry, and women were permitted entrance into the sect. Although the Essenes were pacifists, the people of Qumran were not.

Beliefs of the Qumran Sect

Like both orthodox Jews and Christians, the Qumran sect held the Scriptures in high esteem. Considering themselves God’s covenant people, they separated themselves from the mainstream of Jewish life to study the law of God and prepare the way of the Lord. As Jews, they believed in the God of the OT: the Lord of creation, sovereign over all things, predestining human beings to either salvation or condemnation. Angels played an important role in their theology as spirit creatures who would fight beside the “elect” in a final war against evil and darkness. The sect strongly emphasized knowledge and, within their basic framework of monotheism, viewed the world as evil and good—with God as the author of both.

Qumran teachings pictured humans as frail creatures of dust who were utterly sinful and who could be saved only by God’s grace. Cleansing came only as one obeyed God’s ordinances and the community’s teachings as given by the Teacher of Righteousness. The anonymous Teacher of Righteousness described in the “Habakkuk Commentary” and other scrolls was not the founder of the sect but had been raised up by God to teach the community the way of life. He had been given special insight into God’s purposes, which would be accomplished in the end times. He was a priest who had received understanding from God to interpret the words of the prophets, but he was not the Messiah. The Teacher was opposed and persecuted by a “Wicked Priest.” Attempts to identify the Teacher of Righteousness and the Wicked Priest with specific historical figures, as some scholars have tried to do, are purely conjectural.

The Qumran sect had a strong messianic hope. They believed that they were living in the last days before the coming of the Messiah (or Messiahs) and the final battle with wickedness. The “Damascus Document” used the expression “the anointed ones [messiahs] of Aaron and Israel.” Many scholars see in the expression a reference to two messiahs: a superior priestly messiah (descended from Aaron) and a lesser kingly messiah (descended from Israel). Some scholars even see three messianic figures: one descended from David, a messianic king; one from Aaron, a messianic priest; and one from Moses, a messianic prophet (cf. Dt 18:18). The Teacher of Righteousness may even have had the role of the anticipated prophet. Members of the community believed in the resurrection of the dead and the immortality of the righteous. The wicked, they taught, would be punished and annihilated by fire.