THE SPIRIT OF HOLINESS AS ESCHATOLOGICAL
PRINCIPLE OF OBEDIENCE IN SECOND-TEMPLE JUDAISM

By
Barry D. Smith

1. The Book of Jubilees
2. Words of the Luminaries (4Q504)
3. Qumran Sectarian Writings
   3.1. Rule of the Community (1QS)
      3.1.1. 1QS 4.18-19
      3.1.2. 1QS 2.19-3.12
      3.1.3. 1QS 9.3b–4a
      3.1.4. Summary
   3.2. Blessings (1QSb)
   3.3. Thanksgiving Hymns (1QH-a)
      3.3.1. 1QH-a 8
      3.3.2. 1QHa 15.6-7
      3.3.3. Summary
    3.4. Barkhi Nafshi (Bless, Oh My Soul) (4Q434-438)
4. Conclusion

Originally published in Craig Evans and John Collins (eds.), Christian Beginnings and the Dead Sea Scrolls (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 2006) 75-99.

Israel’s propensity to disobedience tragically led to exile from the land. In the Hebrew Bible, the promise is made that post-exilic Israel will never again violate the Law, because God will make disobedience an impossibility for his people. This eschatological promise is expressed in different ways.[1] The idea that God would spiritually transform his people at the eschaton persists into the second-Temple period. In this period one way of expressing this idea is by God’s granting to his people “a spirit of holiness.” In these contexts, “spirit of holiness” denotes a new spiritual disposition imparted by God to individual Jews.[2] In other words, “a spirit of holiness” is an eschatological principle of obedience.[3] The purpose of this study is to gather together and investigate such uses of “spirit of holiness” in second-Temple Jewish texts, many of which are found among the Dead Sea Scrolls.

1. The Book of Jubilees

The author of the Book of Jubilees recognizes that there is something fundamentally wrong with Israel, God’s chosen people. He holds that Israel’s failure to keep the covenant with God is inevitable until the dawn of eschatological salvation. In Jub. 1:7-14, in dependence on Deut 31:14-21, the author describes how God reveals to Moses that the Israelites will apostatize and be exiled as punishment.[4] Upon hearing of this bleak and sordid future, Moses intercedes on behalf of the people, imploring God that he prevent the apostasy of the people by creating for them “an upright spirit” (1:20).[5] The original Hebrew phrase was probably something like rwch 'shr, which does not appear in the Hebrew Bible. Later Moses requests that God, “Create a pure heart and a spirit of holiness for them” (1:21), which is clearly reminiscent of Ps 51, in which the psalmist also asks God to create for him a pure heart, and pleads with God “not to remove your spirit of holiness from me” (51:10-11). The creation of an upright spirit, a pure heart and a spirit of holiness seem to be synonymous, each denoting the creation of a disposition to obedience, the possession of which would make disobedience impossible. Moses asks that God would give to each Israelite this new disposition to obedience, so that the possibility of national rebellion would forever vanish.

God responds by saying that, when in exile the people return to him “in all uprighteousness and with all their heart and soul,” he will effect the national spiritual transformation requested by Moses: “And I shall cut off the foreskin of their heart and the foreskin of the heart of their descendents” (1:23). Clearly dependent on Deut 30:1-10, the author interprets the period up to the exile as the period of Israel’s inevitable failure; this is only remedied by God’s act of eliminating all possibility of future apostasy by circumcising the hearts of the Israelites and their descendents (Deut 30:6). But this national spiritual renewal is conditional upon national repentance. It seems that the author is reading Deut 30:1-10 in light of Lev 26:40-45, where it is specified that if the exiled nation confesses its iniquity and that of the fathers and turns, if their uncircumcised hearts are humble, then God will remember the covenant, and bring the nation back to the land.[6] (How national repentance can occur without national spiritual transformation, however, is not explained.) The Lord continues, “And I shall create for them a spirit of holiness, and I shall purify them so that they will not turn away from following me from that day and forever” (1:23; see also 50:5).[7] Parallel to the idea of an eschatological circumcision of the heart is that of the creation of a spirit of holiness and God’s purification of his people. The creation of a spirit of holiness is God’s implanting of a disposition towards holiness in his people; similarly, purification is the removal of the disposition to sin. The result of God’s creating a spirit of holiness for the Israelites and his purification of them is that the people will henceforth keep the commandments, never again turning away from God.[8] It must be noted that, however, from the author’s second-century point of view, this spiritual transformation was still future, being reserved for the eschaton, in spite of the fact that Jews had returned to the land long ago.[9]

2. Words of the Luminaries (4Q504)

The text entitled Words of the Luminaries is a collection of prayers, one for each day of the week; each prayer is a “communal petition motivated by historical reminiscences.”[10] In what remains of the two copies of this text found in cave four at Qumran, there are references to the fourth day of the week and the day of the Sabbath.[11] The prayer preceding the one for the day of the Sabbath presumably is the prayer for Friday. Likely, the rest of the days of the week were assigned prayers; each day probably began with the heading “Hymns on the…” followed by the day of the week.[12] Paleographically, the oldest of the three copies (4Q504) may date from as early as the middle of the second century BCE.[13] Based on the paleographical evidence and the fact that there is nothing distinctly sectarian about the surviving texts, Words of the Luminaries probably antedates the formation of the Qumran community.[14] This is despite the fact that the two copies of the text are written in the unique system of orthography and language used by the Qumran scribes.[15] Furthermore, the lack of polemic against the idea of Israel’s return from Babylon as fulfillment of the promised restoration suggests that the prayers originated in a non-sectarian context (4Q504 frg. 2, col. 5.9-13).[16] It is probable that Words of the Luminaries was copied and used by the Qumran community.

In the prayer to be recited on Friday there is found a reflection upon the exile and God’s subsequent mercy to his people (see similar material in Ezra 9; Neh 9; Dan 9) (4Q504 frg. 2, col. 5). This mercy culminates in the spiritual transformation of the people. After he had poured out his wrath upon the nation, God remembered his covenant, and redeemed his people from among the nations where they were scattered. The influence of Lev 26:44–45 is evident on 4Q504 frg. 2, col. 5.9b–11.[17] In the view of the author, God was merciful to the Israelites while they dwelt among the nations, in order that they “might be caused to return to their heart and to return again to you and to heed your voice [according to] everything that you commanded by the hand of your servant Moses” (4Q504 frg. 2 col. 5.13–14). According to this salvation-historical reflection, while Israel was still in exile, God took measures to make future disobedience impossible: “For you have poured your spirit of holiness upon us, to fill us with your blessings, so that we would look for you in our anguish” (frg. 2, col. 5.15–16).[18] In other words, God gave to the exiles a new disposition to obedience, in order that their chastisement would not drive them even further away from him, but, rather, would lead them to repentance.[19] Thus, one could argue that repentance is the effect of the pouring out of God’s spirit of holiness.[20] It seems that, unlike what is said in Lev 26:40–41 and more in keeping with Deut 30:1–10, God poured his spirit of holiness on the people before they returned to him, so that the spirit of holiness is the cause of their repentance. Because they viewed themselves as in community with the exiles, with the result they were equal participants in whatever befell them, those who recited this prayer could use the first person plural in describing this exilic event. What is implied is that subsequent generations are likewise beneficiaries of this spiritual renewal described as the pouring out of the spirit of holiness upon the people, for it continues to be in effect among post-exilic generations. Whether the author of this prayer would see this promise as fulfilled of all Jews in his day or just a remnant from among them, however, is not clear.

Parallel in meaning to the idea of God’s pouring out of a spirit of holiness upon the people is that of the implanting of the Law in the hearts of the people found in column two: “And to implant your Law in our heart, [in order that we do not stray] to the right or to the left” (frg. 1, col. 2.13–14). Clearly, this is an allusion to Jer 31:31 (see also Jer 24:4–7 and perhaps Isa 51:7). Although, unfortunately, the text is fragmentary, it seems that this is a petition to God to turn once again in mercy to Israel and make future disobedience impossible through the internalization of the Law, the implanting of the Law in the collective heart of the people. The fact that the author petitions God to do this may imply it has not yet happened, but will in the eschatological future. If so, this stands in tension with what is affirmed in column five, where the author speaks of God’s eschatological transformation of Israel as having already occurred, even in the exile.

3. Qumran Sectarian Writings

The Qumran community understands its existence as owing to the eschatological mercy of God. Central to these texts is the assumption that the community represents the beneficiaries of God’s present and future eschatological promises.[21] One such promise is the granting of a disposition to obedience,[22] sometimes called in the Qumran sectarian texts “a spirit of holiness.”[23] Significantly, in these texts this promise is understood as both already realized in the present and yet to be realized in the future.[24] Apparently, it is realized in the present in a partial way but will be realized completely in the future, at the visitation of God.

3.1. Rule of the Community (1QS)

The Rule of the Community is a composite document serving as something of a constitution for the Qumran community. It provides not only regulations for entrance into the community and the ordering of common life, but also some of the theoretical underpinnings of this sectarian movement. In the Rule of the Community there are three references to “spirit of holiness” to consider.

3.1.1. 1QS 4.18-19

At his visitation, the time of final salvation and judgment, God will put an end to the existence of deceit (4.18–19). It is said, “God will purify by his truth all the works of man and purge for himself some from the sons of man.[25] He will utterly destroy the spirit of deceit from within his flesh” (4.20–21). What is being described is the eschatological removal of the possibility of disobedience, the spirit of deceit. The sons of truth may be generally righteous, having a greater portion of the spirit of truth, but they still have a share in the spirit of deceit. Only at the time of God’s visitation will the possibility of disobedience be eliminated altogether. Jaubert calls this the “renouvellement eschatalogique” of the covenant, at which time, “la perversité aura été exterminée à jamais” and the time when “l’homme sera entiérement purifié et délivré pour toujours de Belial.” Jaubert sees in the clause “And the making of the new” in 1QS 4.25 an allusion to Isa 43:19, in which the prophet foretells that God will do a new thing in Israel, unlike the old thing. In the community’s interpretation, the new thing that God will do is the eschatological removal of the possibility of sin.[26]

The means by which God will carry out this eschatological purging is described in 1QS 4.20 as “his truth.” This important but ambiguous term in this context seems to mean that attribute of God whereby he opposes and ultimately defeats the deceit infecting creation. Parallel to this, in 1QS 4.21, it is said that God will purify “man”—understood generically—from all evil acts “by means of a spirit of holiness” and that God will also sprinkle upon “man” “a spirit of truth” like waters of purification.[27] It seems that these three terms—his [God’s] truth, a spirit of holiness and a spirit of truth—are synonymous.[28] Each denotes the means by which God will purify the members of the community at the eschaton.[29] That is, each denotes an a principle of obedience to be given at the time of final salvation (see 1QS 3.7–8),[30] the means by which God shall destroy at his visitation the very possibility of disobedience.[31]

3.1.2. 1QS 2.19-3.12

Although 1QS 4.18-21 anticipates a time in the future when God would render disobedience impossible through purifying human beings by “a spirit of holiness,” in 1QS 3.6-8, it is said that a spirit of holiness is already present in the community, effecting repentance and atonement. This is a present manifestation of the eschatological mercy of God. 1QS 2.19–3.12 specifies what appears to be the procedure for the annual renewal of the covenant by the community in which all members of the community must participate.[32] The members renew their original commitment to enter the covenant in order to obey the Law perfectly. In this context, the one who refuses to enter the covenant is discussed. This one is said to be unable to repent, in order that he might live (3.1).[33] The same “cannot be purified by atonement” (3.4). Repentance is conditional upon entrance into the community, which explains why the one who refuses to enter is said to be unable to repent; repentance then brings atonement.[34]

How entering the community, the ability to repent and obtaining atonement relate to one another is further explained. The reason that atonement is denied to the one who refuses to enter the covenant is given as follows: “It is by a spirit of holiness of the community in his [God’s] truth that he is cleansed from all his iniquities. It is by an upright and humble spirit that his sin can be atoned” (3.7–8). Atonement occurs by means of “a spirit of holiness” (3.7), which is synonymous with “an upright and humble spirit” (3.8). The meaning seems to be that atonement occurs when a person enters the community and comes under the influence of a principle of obedience, which naturally leads to repentance, the turning from sin towards obedience to the Law.[35] In response to this repentance, God atones for sin.[36] The idea that God responds to repentance by atoning for past sin is not unusual in second-Temple Jewish understanding. The unique aspect of the Qumran sectarian perspective is the idea that there is a principle of obedience at work in the community effecting repentance, being a manifestation of the eschatological mercy of God. Since it is called “a spirit of holiness of the community,” this principle of obedience is accessible only to those who enter the community.[37] The phrase “in his truth” attached to “by a spirit of holiness of the community” should probably be taken to mean that the cause of the existence of this spirit of holiness is God’s “truth,” meaning in this context his eschatological mercy.

The variant reading in 4QS-a (= 4Q255) frg. 2 line one—“by his holy spirit” rather than “by a holy spirit”—probably indicates that, in the community’s view, this new disposition to obedience characteristic of those who have entered the covenant originates with God. That is, the principle of obedience comes to human beings from without, being a gift of God’s mercy.

This “spirit of holiness,” or “upright and humble spirit,” is also synonymous with “a spirit of the true counsel of God” (3.6b), which is likewise said to atone for iniquity: “For by the spirit of the true counsel of God are the ways of man—all his iniquity—atoned” (3.6b–7a). On the assumption that 'tzth 'mth should be translated as “true counsel,” perhaps the designation “a spirit of the true counsel of God” emphasizes the cognitive dimension of this new spiritual disposition. The spirit consists of the true counsel of God, for without an understanding of God’s will there can be no proper repentance, since a person must know what God requires in order to repent. To have this new disposition to obedience results in being able “to look upon the light of life” (3.7a). To look upon the light is to understand God’s will, the doing of which leads to life: the light is for the purpose of life. But the phrase could be translated as “the spirit of God’s true council,” meaning the spirit possessed by or characterizing God’s true council or community. If so, it is parallel to the phrase “the spirit of holiness of the community” (3.7b).[38]

3.1.3. 1QS 9.3b–4a

In 1QS 9.3b–4a, it is said that, when established, the community will be “a foundation of a spirit of holiness in (or of) eternal truth.” Spirit of holiness seems to refer to the principle of obedience that God has granted to the community by means of which atonement ultimately is procured, since atonement is conditional upon repentance and repentance on coming under the influence of this principle of obedience. Thus, the community can be described as “a foundation of a spirit of holiness,” insofar as this spirit of holiness given by God is responsible for the existence of the community: it is a foundation consisting of a spirit of holiness. Without it, there would be no repentance, no possibility for the members of “cleansing their way by separating themselves from deceit” (9.9). The phrase “in (or of) eternal truth” modifying “a foundation of a spirit of holiness” makes it unambiguous that this foundation has as its basis God’s eschatological mercy, expressed by means of the term “truth.”[39]

3.1.4. Summary

In the passages from Rule of the Community considered, spirit of holiness denotes an eschatological principle of obedience; it is the disposition to obedience that God in his mercy has bestowed upon the community. There is, however, a present and a future dimension to this eschatological gift. On the one hand, a spirit of holiness is the means by which God will purify human beings at his visitation (1QS 4.18-21). On the other hand, in two other passages in Rule of the Community (1QS 3.6-8; 9.3), a spirit of holiness is assumed already to be present in the community.[40] One need not, however, resort to the positing of different sources and careless redaction to account for this apparent discrepancy. Rather, to use a well-worn phrase, this juxtaposition of the eschatological present and future betrays the “already, but not yet” perspective so characteristic of this community. It is a distinctive of the Qumran community’s self-understanding that its membership represents the recipients of God’s eschatological mercy, foretold in the Hebrew Bible. Not with all Israel, but only with a minority within the nation did God renew his covenant, or establish the new covenant, foretold by the prophet Jeremiah. (Of course, potentially, all Jews could be the beneficiaries of God’s eschatological blessings on the condition of joining the community.) Yet the establishment of the community is merely the first phase of the realization of God’s salvation. (In fact, the members of the community are to be soldiers in the final, but protracted war.) A spirit of holiness is given to the community in the present in order to make repentance and atonement possible, and this same spirit of holiness will be the means by which God destroys forever the possibility of disobedience in the future.[41] Paradoxically, it seems that until God’s visitation the possibility of sin remains open the members of the community, even though they have come under the influence of this spirit of holiness [see 1QS 3.21-23].)

3.2. Blessings (1QSb)

The sectarian text known as the Blessings (1QSb), serving as something of an appendix to the Rule of the Community, contains blessings that are to be recited after the visitation of God, when the sons of darkness and evil will have been removed from the world; for this reason, these are eschatological blessings. At that time, the maskil is to bless “[those] who fear [God, do] his will, and keep his ordinances and are strengthened by his s[pirit] of holiness and walk perfectly” (1.2).[42] The blessing, in other words, will be directed towards those who obey God, the members of the community. What is significant is that the members of the community after God’s visitation are referred to as those strengthened by God’s spirit of holiness. From the context, God’s spirit of holiness seems to be an eschatological principle of obedience. That is, at the visitation of God the members will be able to obey God, because they will have been strengthened by God’s “spirit of holiness.”[43]

3.3. Thanksgiving Hymns (1QH-a)

In the Thanksgiving Hymns, there occur several references to spirit of holiness as a present reality in the life of the community.[44] In some of these, it is clear that the spirit of holiness is a principle of obedience. A spirit of holiness is granted to the founder and the members of his community, with the result that obedience becomes possible. Without this provision of mercy, obedience would be impossible, since human beings are thought to be naturally weak and sinful.[45] Since the community understands its origin and nature in eschatological terms, God’s granting a spirit of holiness in the hanksgiving Hymns should be interpreted as the fulfillment of his eschatological promise to make any future disobedience impossible. Of course, the community applies this promise to its own members, not to the whole nation.

3.3.1. 1QH-a 8

In 1QH-a 8.15, the author refers to being “strengthened by a (or your) spirit of holiness.”[46] Following this, there occur three more infinitive constructs: “To adhere to the truth of your covenant, to serve you in truth with a perfect heart, to love your [ ].”[47] Unfortunately, the text is full of lacunae, so that it is not clear how these three infinitive constructs relate to the previous infinitive construct, “to be strengthened by a spirit of holiness.”[48] It is probable, however, that being strengthened by a spirit of holiness is to be enabled to obey the Law, which the three infinitive constructs express in different ways (This is the central theme of this passage).[49] (In 1QH-a 9.31–32, God is said to strengthen the spirit of man, but with no reference to the means, the spirit of holiness.) A few lines later the author adds, “I know that no one is righteous except through you” (8.20). On this assumption, he implores God by means of the spirit that God has given him “to perfect your [loving]kindnesses to your servant [forever], to purify me by your spirit of holiness and to draw me near to yourself by your grace according to your lovingkindnesses” (1QH-a 8.19-20). The “spirit” that God has given the author is doubtless to be identified with God’s spirit of holiness. What is significant is that God’s spirit of holiness is said to be the means of purification.[50] The meaning is probably that receiving a spirit of holiness issues in repentance, which results in being purified from sins, since repentance is the condition of the removal of guilt resulting from sin.[51]

3.3.2. 1QHa 15.6-7

A similar use of the term “spirit of holiness” occurs in 1QH-a 15.6–7. The author begins his hymn on a note of thankfulness: “I thank you, O Lord, that you have supported me with your strength, that you have spread your spirit of holiness upon me in order that I might not stumble.”[52] God enables the founder to carry out his appointed task of leadership within the community against all opposition by means of his spirit of holiness.[53] To stumble would be not only to fail but also to sin against God. This spirit of holiness is a principle of obedience, a new spiritual disposition. This interpretation is confirmed by what the founder says in 1QH-a 12.31–32: “And the path of man is not secure except by the spirit that God creates for him, to perfect the path of the sons of man, in order that all his creatures know the strength of his power.” In this passage, “the spirit that God creates” is the capacity for obedience implanted in a human being by God and is doubtless a synonym for the phrase “spirit of holiness.” (By it a person’s way is made perfect.) In other words, a human being cannot obey God unless God first imparts to him a principle of obedience.[54] In this way, it becomes known to all that God is active in enabling obedience, which is called “the strength of his power.”[55]

3.3.3. Summary

The fact that God makes obedience possible for the leader of the community and the members of his community is sometimes expressed as God’s giving them a spirit of holiness in the hanksgiving Hymns. This spirit of holiness is an eschatological principle of obedience, the fulfillment of God’s promise to transform spiritually his people at the eschaton.

3.4. Barkhi Nafshi (Bless, Oh My Soul) (4Q434-438)

Five collections of fragments of a work that has been given the name Barkhi Nafshi (Bless, Oh My Soul) (4Q434-438) were discovered in cave four at Qumran.[56] This name was chosen because the opening line of 4Q434, which probably represents the beginning of the text, begins “Bless, O my soul, the Lord.” The author was probably imitating Pss 103, 104, which also begin in this manner, but use the tetragrammaton rather than “my Lord.” Each of the five collections is each from a different scribal hand, but each also contains text that is parallel to text in at least one other copy, indicating that each collection of fragments is of the same document. Fragments of 4Q434 contain text found in 4Q435 and 4Q437, and 4Q435 has textual parallels to 4Q435, 4Q436 and 4Q437. The fragments of 4Q436 contain text that is also found in 4Q435, and 4Q437 has parallels to 4Q434, 4Q435 and 4Q438. Finally, 4Q438 has text in common with 4Q437.[57] It is probable that each of the five collections represents only a small portion of a much larger document, which may explain why what remains of it has such little literary unity. The Barkhi Nafshi document probably originates with the Qumran community.[58]

What remains of the Barkhi Nafshi document gives expression to the idea of God as merciful to his people. 4Q434 frg. 1, col. 1 (= 4Q435 frg. 1; 4Q437 frg. 1) represents the beginning of the text. On the assumption of the sectarian origin of the text, this opening section appears to be a description of the beginnings of the community, similar to what is found in CD 1.1-2.1, although there are no significant verbal parallels between the two accounts.[59] The description in Barkhi Nafshi is more general, poetic and less historical than that in the Damascus Document. Of significance is the fact that the author explains that God’s mercy was manifested to the pristine members of the community as his spiritual transformation of them: “He circumcised the foreskins of their hearts” (4Q434 frg. 1. col. 1.4). This passage is obviously dependent on Deut 30:6, which promises that God will circumcise the hearts of post-exilic Israel (see Jub. 1:23).[60] It is also said that God “has established their feet on the path” (4Q434 frg. 1, col. 1.4), which is an idiom meaning that God has so transformed them spiritually that they now live obediently (see Ps 85:14; 1QH-a 12[4].31-32).[61] Finally, God “made darkness light before them.” This is probably an allusion to Isa 42:16, which describes the eschatological transformation of Israel; the community is applying this prophecy to itself.

In a section of Barkhi Nafshi preserved in 4Q435 frg. 1, col. 1 and 4Q436 frg. 1, cols. 1-2 this spiritual transformation is further described probably using the phrase “spirit of holiness.” The author says, “[ ] you have driven with rebukes from me, and put a pure heart in its place” (4Q436 frg. 1, col. 1.10 = 4Q435 frg. 1, col. 1.1), which is dependent on Ps 51:12 where “pure heart” stands parallel to the phrase “steadfast spirit.”[62] Who is speaking in this passage and whether the “I” is gnomic is unclear. The author continues, “And the evil inclination you have driven with rebukes from within me and a spirit of holiness you have set within my heart” (4Q436 frg. 1, col. 1.10-col. 2.1 = 4Q435 frg. 1, col. 1.2). The phrase “spirit of holiness” is reconstructed from Ps 51:13, which seems justified, since the author is dependent on Ps 51 for his phraseology.[63] In this context, the phrase “spirit of holiness” denotes an eschatological principle of obedience, being parallel to “pure heart.” Synonymous with driving the evil inclination with rebuke from a person is God’s act of destroying the spirit of deceit: “A spirit of deceit you have destroyed” (4Q435 frg. 1, col. 1.5). The spirit of deceit is used as a technical term in 1QS 3-4 for the innate disposition to evil in human beings. According to this passage, God has destroyed that disposition to evil in the author or in the members of the community.[64]

4. Conclusion

In the passages examined, spirit of holiness denotes an eschatological principle of obedience. Expressed differently, it is a divinely-granted capacity of repentance, which in some cases is said to result in atonement.[65] In some of the texts, the granting of a spirit of holiness is viewed as yet to take place, in the eschatological future, whereas in other texts, it is a present reality, an incipient manifestation of eschatological mercy. Defined as such, the term spirit of holiness is synonymous with the various expressions in the Hebrew Bible used to describe the means by which Israel will be spiritually transformed at the eschaton. Clearly not every use of the term spirit of holiness in second-Temple Jewish texts has this meaning.[66] Nevertheless, this is a distinctive use of the term, and ought to serve as a religious-historical point of departure for understanding some of the occurrences of the term “Holy Spirit” in the New Testament.[67]

NOTES

[1] In Deuteronomy it is promised that the hearts of the exiles and their descendents will be circumcised, resulting in obedience (Deut 30:6). Ezekiel prophesizes that God will give them a singleness of heart (11:19), removing the heart of stone and replacing it with a heart of flesh (Ezek 11:19; 36:26); he will give them a new heart (36:26). The prophet also says that God will give his people a new spirit (11:19; 36:26) and even that he will give them his own Spirit (36:27; see 37:14; 39:29) (In Joel 2, the giving of the Spirit does not result in spiritual transformation.) Jeremiah promises on God’s behalf that at the restoration God will put his Law within and write it unto the hearts of the people (Jer 31:33). In 32:39 Jeremiah, like Ezekiel, promises that God will give the people a singleness of heart, and in 32:40 he says on behalf of God: “I will put the fear of me in their hearts, in order that they not turn away from me.

[2] In 4 Ezra the idea expressed by “spirit of holiness” is expressed by “a different spirit”: “And the heart of the earth’s inhabitants will be changed and converted to a different spirit” (6.26; see also 7.113-14); what is being described is the eschatological transformation of Israel, the removal of the innate propensity to sin. But before the eschaton, all human beings, including Jews, are subject to what W. Harnisch calls “der Verhängnischarakter des Bösens” (Verhängnis und Verheißung der Geschichte. Untersuchungen zum Zeit- und Geschichteverständnis im 4 Esra und in der syr. Baruchapocalypse [FRLANT 97; Göttingen: Vanderhoeck und Ruprecht, 1969] 170).

[3] The term “spirit of holiness” occurs infrequently in the Hebrew Bible (Isa 63:11 [see Isa 63:14]; Ps 51:11), and never with the meaning of eschatological principle of obedience. As already indicated the closest parallel to the idea of the “spirit of holiness” as eschatological principle of obedience is found in Ezekiel: the prophet proclaims that God will give his people a new spirit (11:19; 36:26) and that he will give them his own Spirit (36:27; see 37:14; 39:29).

[4] 4Q216 (4QJub-a) frg. 1, col. 2 preserves Jub. 1:7-15; in this fragment are several clear parallels to Deut 31. Copies of the Book of Jubilees from cave 4 have been officially published by J. VanderKam and J. Milik, “Jubilees” in Qumran Cave 4. VIII Parabiblical Texts Part I (Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 13; Oxford: Clarendon, 1994) 1-140. On the influence of the deuteronomic material on Jub. 1, see R. A. Werline, Penitential Prayer in Second Temple Judaism (EJIL 13; Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1998) 110-13.

[5] G. Davenport argues that Jub. 1:4b-26; 23:14-20, 22-31 were the additions made to what he calls “The Angelic Discourse” by the first redactor (R1), writing sometime during the Maccabean struggles (166-60 BCE) (The Eschatology of the Book of Jubilees [SPB 20; Leiden: Brill, 1970]). The first edition of the Book of Jubilees was written before the Maccabean wars during the late third century or early second century. The redactor sought to accomplish two purposes. First, in the context of Seleucid oppression, the redactor aimed to explain that the reason for national suffering was national sin. Second, the purpose of the redactor was to reassure that God remained faithful to the nation, and would soon bring deliverance from the Seleucids. Davenport’s redactional work on the Book of Jubilees or parts thereof may be correct, but it lacks definitive proof. This type of study is fraught with conjecture. It is probably better to treat the Book of Jubilees as a unity, even while admitting the use of sources and stages in its evolution.

[6] E. Sjöberg writes, “Die Tat Gottes is darum eigentlich nur die Antwort auf die aufrichtige Umkehr des Volkes” (Gott und die Sünder im palästinischen Judentum [BWANT 79; Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 1938] 255).

[7] M. Testuz, points out that Jub. 1.23 has a parallel in Jub. 23.26: At the end the younger generation will “search out the commandments” and “return to the way of righteousness” (see also 23.16-17) (Les idées religieuses du livre des Jubilés [Geneva: E. Droz; Paris: Minard, 1960] 166-69).

[8] In the Book of Jubilees, there are three phases of human history, defined in accordance with the basic moral and spiritual disposition of human beings. In the antediluvian period, human beings could only be wicked, with the exception of Noah and his family. In the postdiluvian period, human beings can obey, if they so choose. In the eschatological period, Israelites will be so transformed that disobedience will be an impossibility.

[9] M. A. Knibb, “The Exile in the Literature of the Intertestamental Period,” HeyJ 17 (1976) 253-72, esp. 266-67; B. Halpern-Amaru, “Exile and Return in Jubilees,” in Exile. Old Testament, Jewish, and Christian Conceptions (ed. J. Scott; SJSJ 56; Leiden: Brill, 1997) 127-44.

[10] E. Chazon, “4QDibHam: Liturgy or Literature,” RQ 15 (1991–92) 447–55, esp. 448. See also L. Schiffman, “The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Early History of Jewish Liturgy,” in The Synagogue in Late Antiquity (ed. L. Levine; Philadelphia: American Schools of Oriental Research, 1987) 33-48, esp. 40-41.

[11] Baillet originally identified 4Q505 as a third copy of Words of the Luminaries, but this is now contested (see the discussion in D. Falk, Daily Sabbath, and Festival Prayers in the Dead Sea Scrolls [STDJ 27; Leiden: Brill, 1998] 59-61).

[12] D. Dennis Olson, “Words of the Lights,” in The Dea Sea Scrolls: Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek Texts with English Translations, vol. 4A, Pseudepigraphic and Non-Masoretic Psalms and Prayers (ed. J. Charlesworth; Louisville: Westminster/John Knox, 1997) 107–53; E. Schürer, The History of the Jewish People in the Age of Jesus Christ (ed. G. Vermes, F. Millar and M. Goodman; 3 vols.; Edinburgh: Clark, 1987) 3/1.459.

[13] The other text, 4Q506, can be dated to the mid-first century CE (M. Baillet, Qumrân Grotte 4: III [Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 7; Oxford: Clarendon, 1982], 168, 170).

[14] See Baillet, Qumrân Grotte 4: III (Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 7) 137; M. Lehmann, “A Re-Interpretation of 4QDibrê Ham-Me’oroth,” RevQ 5 (1964) 106-10; Olson, “Words of the Lights,” 108; Falk, Daily Sabbath, and Festival Prayers in the Dead Sea Scrolls, 61-63. H. Lichtenberger agrees that 4QDibHam antedates the formation of the Qumran community (Studien zum Menschenbild in Texten der Qumrangemeinde [SUNT 15; Göttingen: Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht, 1980] 93, n. 1). He notes that the stress on Israel’s election and the value of the Temple (4), as well as the petition for the liberation of Israel from its gentile captivity makes it unlikely that this collection of liturgical texts is sectarian in origin. E. Chazon argues that one would expect to find some account of the community’s history in the historical prologues to the seven prayers, especially the prayer for Friday, which concerns the post-exilic period (“Is Divrei Ha-Me’orot a Sectarian Prayer?,” 15-16).

[15] Chazon, “Is Divrei Ha-Me’orot a Sectarian Prayer?,” 5-7.

[16] R. A. Werline, Penitential Prayer in Second Temple Judaism (EJIL 13; Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1998) 148.

[17] The parallels between Lev 26:44–45 and 4Q504 frags.1- 2, col 5.9b–12a are as follows:

[18] It is possible that the author of Words of the Luminaries was influenced by Isa 44:3: “For I will pour out my spirit on your seed.”

[19] A similar idea occurs in Baruch. In Bar 2:30–35 it is said that God will make an everlasting covenant with his people at the restoration, so that he will be their God and they will be his people. In Bar 3:5–7, however, the author says about exiled Israel, “For you put the fear of you in our hearts, in order that we would call upon your name.” This implies that the first steps towards the realization of the everlasting covenant have already been taken before the actual restoration.

[20] It is interesting that the phrase “which Moses wrote and your servants the prophets whom you sent, in order that evil would overtake us in the last days” occurs in the fragment of the prayer found in column three (4Q504 frg. 1-2 col. 3.13–14a). The phrase “in the last days” is used by the Hebrew prophets as a designation for the period when God would restore his exiled people to the land under ideal conditions. Although the text is fragmentary, the phrase “in the last days” probably indicates that the composer of this prayer believed that his time was the time of the eschaton. Whether the evil that overtook those who offered this prayer was the exile or some subsequent national crisis, such as the Antiochan persecution, is unknown. Regardless, there is an eschatological perspective evident in this prayer: those who prayed this prayer believed that they stood in the period of the fulfillment of the promise given to the prophets to Israel.

[21] Indicators of the eschatological self-understanding of the community include: ] 1. References to “the end of days” or "the end time" as already present (CD 4.4; 1QpHab 2.5-6; 7.1-8; 4QMMT C14-14, 21, 30). (There are other such references that are futuristic in orientation (CD 6.11; 4QFlor frg. 1, col. 1.2, 11-12); 2. The interpretation of the formation of the community as the result of God’s restoration, foretold in the prophets (CD 1-4); 3. References to the members of the community as having entered the covenant (1QS; CD) and more significantly, the new covenant (CD A 6.19; 8.21; B 20.12; 1QpHab 2.3); 4. The statement in 4QFlor 2 that the present is the time of the eschatological refining mentioned in Dan 12. See A. Steudel, “'chryth hymym" in the Texts from Qumran,” RevQ 16 (1993) 225-46.

[22] An echo of Jeremiah’s prophecy that God will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, which, in part, will result in God’s placing His Law within them and in writing it upon their hearts (Jer 31:31-34) is found in 1QH-a 12.10-12, where the founder affirms that God has engraved his Law upon his heart. (Of course, in two places in the Damascus Document (text A) it is said explicitly that those who belong to the community have actually entered the new covenant [6:19; 8:21; cf. also 20:12 text B].) E. Sjöberg refers to God’s spiritual transformation of the Qumran community as “Neuschöpfung” (“Neuschöpfung in den Toten-Meer-Rollen,” Studia Theologica 9 (1956) 131-36).

[23] See A. A. Anderson, “The Use of ‘Ruah’ in 1QS, 1QH-a and 1QM,” JSS 7 (1962) 293-303, especially 301-302. F. F. Bruce categorizes the uses of the term “spirit of holiness” in the DSS, but fails to notice its use as the eschatological principle of obedience (“Holy Spirit in the Qumran Texts,” Annual of Leeds University Oriental Society 6 (1969) 49-55).

[24] W. Foerster explains, “Die Qumrangemeinde weiß sich also in einem eigenartigen ‘Zwischen’ lebend: die Heilszeit ist eingeleitet, Gott hat die Würzel der Pflanzung sprießen lassen, aber die Vollendung steht noch aus, noch ist die Zeit Belials” (“Der heilige Geist im Spätjudentum,” NTS 8 [1960-62] 117-34, esp. 132). “Spirit of holiness” correspondingly is understood as a present and a future reality. E. Sjöberg anachronistically interprets references to “spirit of holiness” and other similar formulations as God’s Holy Spirit: “Er [Gott] hat seinen heiligen Geist auf ihn gesprengt, um ihn zu reinigen und die Schuld zu sühnen” (“Neuschöpfung in den Toten-Meer-Rollen,” 135). In most of the passages in question, however, spirit should be taken to mean human spirit or disposition as influenced by God. M. Treves is on the right track when he insists that “spirit” in 1QS 3-4 refers to “tendencies or propensities that are implanted in every man’s heart” (“The Two Spirits of the Rule of the Community,” RevQ 3 [1961-62] 449-52). He errs, however, in not recognizing that some uses of “spirit” refer to angelic beings.

[25] Licht believes that the text should read “the building of man” (“An Analysis of the Treatise on the Two Spirits in DSD,” Scripta Hierosolymitana, vol. 4, Aspects of the Dead Sea Scrolls [ed. C. Rabin and Y. Yadin; Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 1965] 97).

[26] A. Jaubert, La notion d’alliance dans le judaïsme (Patristica Sorbonensia 6; Paris Seuil, 1963) 226.

[27] See the discussion in A. Sekki, The Meaning of Ruah at Qumran (SBLDS 110; Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1989) 207-12.

[28] F. Noetscher, “Geist und Geister in den Texten von Qumran,” in Mélanges bibliques rédigés en l’honneur de André Robert (Paris: Blaud and Gay, 1957) 306–308; P. Wernberg-Møller, “A Reconsideration of the Two Spirits in the Rule of the Community (1QSerek III, 3-IV, 26),” RevQ 11 (1961) 413-41, esp. 423, 440.

[29] The relationship between spirit of truth or spirit of holiness as the eschatological means of the purification of the sons of truth and the spirit of truth who resides in every human being from birth is difficult to determine (1QS 3–4; see also T. Judah 20; T. Asher 1.3–9). J. Schreiner has proposed that they are the same (“Geistbegabung in der Gemeinde von Qumran,” BZ 9 (1965) 161-80, esp. 174–77). Similarly, Foerster argues that spirit of holiness in 1QH-a is synonymous with spirit of truth in 1QS 3–4 (“Der heilige Geist im Spätjudentum,” 129–30). It is preferable, however, to allow for polyvalence and even ambiguity of usage of the terms “spirit,” “spirit of holiness,” “spirit of truth,” or any other phrase consisting of “spirit” in genitive construct with another noun. One should not assume that there is a single consistent doctrine of “spirit” underlying each of the occurrences of “spirit” used by itself or in construct form. The spirit of truth present in each human being from birth is not the spirit of truth by which God will purify eschatologically.

[30] A. R. C. Leaney feels obliged to connect the use of “spirit of holiness” in 1QS 4.21 with other uses of “spirit of holiness,” “spirit” and other phrases with “spirit” in them, on the assumption that there is a shared root meaning (The Rule of Qumran and its Meaning [London: SCM, 1966] 158–59). This is a difficult task, and probably in the end results in misinterpretation, since there is no root meaning.

[31] Strangely, in his study, “An Analysis of the Treatise on the Two Spirits in DSD,” Licht does not comment on the use of the phrase “spirit of holiness” in 1QS 4.21.

[32] Jaubert, La notion d’alliance dans le judaïsme, 211–27. Jaubert argues convincingly that the Qumran sectarians saw themselves as being in the covenant, which they annually renewed during a ceremony on the Day of Pentecost, the fifteenth day of the third month (see also Jub. 6.17–20; 44:1–8). She explains that, in their understanding, the one covenant had more than one historical phase, and the phase into which they entered upon their repentance was second only in importance to initial phase of covenant, its establishment with Abraham. This was because their covenant was the “new covenant,” the fulfillment of the promise of eschatological spiritual renewal of the nation. It is this eschatological phase of the covenant that the sectarians renewed once a year. Participation in the covenant renewal ceremony was equally a commitment to obey the Law as interpreted by the community. In addition to 1QS 2.19–25a, see also 4Q267 frg. 18, col. 5.17-18; 4Q270 frg. 11, col. 2.11-12; 1Q34 frg. 3, col. 2.3–7 for other references to the annual covenant renewal. See also B. Nitzan, “4QBerakot-a-e (4Q286-290): A Covenant Ceremony in the Light of Related Texts,” RevQ 16 (1995) 487-506; id., “The Concept of the Covenant in Qumran Literature,” in Historical Perspectives from the Hasmoneans to Bar Kokhba in Light of the Dead Sea Scrolls (ed. D. Goodblatt, A. Pinnick, D. Schwartz; STDJ 37; Leiden: Brill, 2001) 85-104; W. Eiss, “Das Wochenfest im Jubiläenbuch und im antiken Judentum,” Studies in the Book of Jubilees (ed. M. Albani; J. Frey; A. Lange; TSAJ 65; Tübingen: Mohr-Siebeck, 1997) 164-78; D. Falk, Daily, Sabbath, and Festival Prayers (STDJ 27; Leiden: Brill, 1998) 219-36; S. Pfann, “The Essene Yearly Renewal Ceremony and the Baptism of Repentance,” in The Provo International Conference on the Dead Sea Scrolls (STDJ 30; ed. D. Parry and E. Ulrich; Leiden: Brill, 1999) 337-52; J. VanderKam, “Covenant and Biblical Interpretation in Jubilees 6,” in The Dead Sea Scrolls: Fifty Years after Their Discovery (ed. L. Schiffman, E. Tov, J. VanderKam; Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society, 2000) 92-104.

[33] The phrase translated as “He is unable to repent, in order that he might live—adopted by P. Wernberg-Møller and Charlesworth—is not the only translation possible for this phrase. For example, the Hebrew has also been also rendered as: “He has not persisted in the conversion of his life” (Vermes); “He has not devoted himself to the conversion of his life” (Knibb); and “He has not mastered his backslidings” (Leaney). Wernberg-Møller, however, offers convincing arguments for his translation, finding a parallel to it in 4 Ezra 7.81–82 (The Manual of Discipline [STDJ 1; Leiden: Brill, 1957] 58).

[34] For a discussion of 1QS 3.4–12, see G. Klinzing, Die Umdeutung des Kultus in der Qumrangemeinde und im Neuen Testament (SUNT 7; Göttingen: Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht, 1971) 99–102.

[35] R. Kvalvaag concludes concerning the meaning of in 1QS 3.7-8: “The spirit of holiness cleansing the devout person of all his sins is no doubt the Holy Spirit” (“The Spirit in Human Beings in Some Qumran Non-Biblical Texts,” in Qumran between the Old and New Testaments [ed. F. Cryer and T. Thompson; JSTOTSS 290; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1998] 159-80, esp. 171). If he means by “Holy Spirit” what the early church meant, then it seems that he is wrong. The context suggests that all the phrases containing “spirit” in 1QS 3.6-8 are synonymous: “spirit of the true counsel of God,” “spirit of holiness” and “upright and humble spirit.” Kvalvaag also misleadingly interprets some instances of the phrase “spirit of holiness” in the Hodayot as referring to the Holy Spirit (173-75; 176-79). See J. Schreiner, “Geistbegabung in der Gemeinde von Qumran,” BZ 9 (1965) 161–80.

[36] The connection between a spirit of holiness and atonement is missed when the former is not understood as a principle of obedience. See, for example, O. Betz, who affirms that the spirit serves as a “Reinigungsmittel,” but without explaining why (Offenbarung und Schriftforschung in der Qumransekte [WUNT 6; Tübingen: Mohr-Siebeck, 1960] 131). See also F. F. Bruce, “Holy Spirit in the Qumran Texts,” 49–55, esp. 53; H. Braun, Spätjüdisch-häretischer und frühchristlicher Radikalismus [BHT 24–1; Tübingen: Mohr-Siebeck, 1957] 41–47. Klinzing says that both a blameless life or obedience and spirit of holiness were means of expiation in the community, but does not seem to notice that this is really one means of atonement: repentance (Die Umdeutung des Kultus in der Qumrangemeinde und im Neuen Testament, 93–106). Likewise, P. von der Osten-Sacken does not make explicit that a “spirit of holiness” cleanses those who enter the community because it leads to repentance and God mercifully allows repentance to have an expiatory effect (Gott und Belial: Traditions-geschichtliche Untersuchungen zum Dualismus in den Texten aus Qumran [SUNT 6; Göttingen: Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, 1969] 134–35). Finally, Sekki does not view the phrase “spirit of holiness” as a principle of obedience, the impartation of a new human spirit or disposition, but, in most cases, views it as God’s Spirit (The Meaning of Ruah at Qumran, 71-93). It seems that the Christian teaching of the Holy Spirit has influenced him in his interpretation of pre-Christian Jewish texts.

[37] P. Garnet, Salvation and Atonement in the Qumran Scrolls (WUNT 2.3; Tübingen: Mohr-Siebeck, 1977) 58.

[38] Wernberg-Møller, The Manual of Discipline, 61–62.

[39] Klinzing notices the connection between the spirit of holiness with Temple imagery applied to the community, non-sacrificial atonement and the obedience of the community, but without explaining the nature of this connection (Die Umdeutung des Kultus in der Qumrangemeinde und im Neuen Testament, 65).

[40] In CD 5.11b-19 occurs a reference to those who heard the community’s interpretation of the Torah, but rejected it. They are described as follows: “Also they have made their spirit of holiness unclean, and with blaspheming tongue they have opened their mouths against the statutes of the covenant of God, saying, ‘They are not unfounded’” (5.11b-12). The term “spirit of holiness” as used in this context seems to intend something like an original disposition to good or the conscience. Rejecting the “statutes of the covenant” results in the defilement of this the spirit of holiness, damage to this original disposition to good or an impairment of the function of the conscience. Likewise, in CD 6.11b-8.2a, each member of the community is warned not to “defile his spirit of holiness” (7.3b-4a). From the context it is clear that defiling one’s spirit of holiness results from violating the laws of purity, especially dietary laws (7.3). To defile one’s spirit of holiness through ritual impurity is to defile that original disposition to good or perhaps a restored disposition to good. The phrase “to defile one’s spirit of holiness” seems to be an interpretation of Lev 11:43; 20:25, in which the verb “to defile” is used in the context of ritual defilement; in these passages, however, the object of the defilement is not spirit of holiness, but “soul.” See Betz, Offenbarung und Schriftforschung in der Qumransekte, 126-30.

[41] Osten-Sacken, Gott und Belial, 178-79.

[42] Some have reconstructed the text as "in his holy covenant" (see J. T. Milik, “Recueil des Bénédictions (1QSb),” in Qumran Cave 1 (ed. D. Barthélemy and J. T. Milik; Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 1 (Oxford: Clarendon, 1955); E. Lohse, Die Texte aus Qumran [Munich: Kösel-Verlag, 1964]).

[43] In 1QSb 2.24, another reference to a spirit of holiness occurs: “May he be gracious to you through the spirit of holiness.” Unfortunately, the context to which this statement belongs is lost, so that the full meaning of this text is unrecoverable.

[44] On this topic, see M. Mansoor, The Thanksgiving Hymnsl (STDJ 3; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1961) 74-77.

[45] This is a long-recognized aspect of Qumran anthropology, and serves as a presupposition of the teaching on the spirit of holiness in the DSS (see A. Dietzel, “Beten im Geist,” ThZ 13 (1957) 12–32, esp. 12-14; Sjöberg, “Neuschöpfung in den Toten-Meer-Rollen”; Betz, Offenbarung und Schriftforschung in der Qumransekte, 120-23.

[46] Vermes translates as “cleaving to Thy Spirit of [holiness], but this seems to obscure the intended meaning (The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English [4 ed.; Middlesex, UK: Penguin, 1997]).

[47] J. Becker, Das Heil Gottes (SUNT 3; Göttingen: Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht, 1964) 162. Becker correctly interprets the reference to spirit of holiness in 1QH-a 8.15 as “Kraft...die sowohl negativ reinigend, als auch positiv den Wandel festigend, dem Frommen helfend beisteht” (162). This coheres with his hypothesis that the community constituted a sort of “Heilssphäre.” Becker does not connect this spirit with repentance and does not connect repentance with the removal of guilt. He considers this spirit as a power (Kraft) that removes sin; it is synonymous with the Heilsphäre. As already indicated, Becker’s analysis may be a case of over-interpretation.

[48] As Becker explains, in some contexts “(God’s) truth” is the equivalent of God’s commandments or God’s will as expressed concretely in the Law (Das Heil Gottes, 155–60). With respect to 1QH-a 8.15, he writes, “Da der Mensch wohl kaum an Gottes Treue zu seinem Bund kleben soll, wird man tma hier als Inhalt des Bundes fassen müssen, d.h. tma ist hier die in den Gesetzen konkret gewordene Wahrheit Gottes” (159).

[49] See Dietzel, “Beten im Geist,” 23–24.

[50] In 1QH-a 17.32 the author says that God has delighted him with “your spirit of holiness” (1QH-a 17.32). Why he was delighted is not disclosed, but presumably it was because this spirit of holiness is a principle of obedience.

[51] See Dietzel, “Beten im Geist,” 18.

[52] In 1QH-a 4.26 an author other than the founder of the community writes, “[I thank you, Lord, that] you have shed [your] spirit upon your servant.” As in 1QH-a 15.7, the verb "to shed" or "to spread upon" is used to describe the giving of a spirit of holiness, presumably with the same meaning. The probable use of the pronominal suffix denotes that the new spiritual disposition has its origin with God and is not an innate human capacity. Probably, the shedding of this spirit occurred at the time of the author’s entrance into the community.

[53] The somewhat oblique reference in 1QH-a 6.11 to the existence of two spirits corresponding to good and evil could imply that there is a counterpart to this spirit of holiness operative among human beings, similar to the spirit of deceit in 1QS 3–4. The fragmentary nature of the text makes it difficult to determine exactly the intended meaning, but it seems to be alluding to two forces or influences responsible for all human volitional activity. The fact that, immediately following, the author refers to God’s spirit of holiness could be taken as confirmation of this interpretation (6.13). Another possible reference to the negative counterpart to a spirit of holiness could be hmXa rcy, translatable as “guilty inclination”: “There is no salvation for guilty inclination; it will be trampled to destruction” (14.32; see also 15.16). The guilty inclination seems to be the natural disposition to evil in human beings, which will bring God’s judgment. When this disposition is supplanted by God’s spirit of holiness, the result is obedience and salvation.

[54] M. Delcor, Les Hymnes de Qumran (Hodayot) (Paris: Letouzey et Ané, 19) 148.

[55] Garnet, Salvation and Atonement in the Qumran Scrolls, 24–27.

[56] M. Weinfeld and D. Seely, “Barkhi Nafshi,” in Qumran Cave 4.XX: Poetic and Liturgical Texts, Part 2 (ed. E. Chazon et. al.; Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 29; Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1999) 255-334.

[57] D. Seely, “4Q437: A First Look at an Unpublished Barki Nafshi Text,” in The Provo International Conference on the Dead Sea Scrolls (STDJ 30; ed. D. Parry and E. Ulrich; Leiden: Brill, 1999) 146-60, esp. 148-49.

[58] D. Seely, “The Barkhi Nafshi Texts (4Q434-439),” in Current Research and Technological Developments on the Dead Sea Scrolls (ed. D. Parry and S. Ricks; STDJ 20; Leiden: Brill, 1996) 194-214, esp. 211-13. This is contrary to G. Brooke’s assessment of the evidence (“Body Parts in Barkhi Nafshi and the Qualifications for Membership of the Worshipping Community,” in Sapiential, Liturgical and Poetical Texts from Qumran [ed. D. Falk, F. Garcia Martinez and E. Schuller; STDJ 35; Leiden: Brill, 2000] 79-94, esp. 79).

[59] A perhaps accidental parallel is the use of the verb hlk: “He did not give them up to destruction” (CD 1.5) and “And he did not destroy them” (4Q434 frg. 1. col. 1.5).

[60] The idea of the circumcision of the heart also occurs in Deut 10:16; Jer 4:4; 1QS 5.5 and 1QpHab 11.13; 4Q504 frg. 4.11.

[61] On the theme of God’s spiritual transformation of the community in Barki Nafshi, see D. Seely, “Implanting Pious Qualities as a Theme in the Barki Nafshi Hymns,” in The Dead Sea Scrolls: Fifty Years after Their Discovery (ed. L. Schiffman, E. Tov, J. VanderKam; Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society, 2000) 322-31.

[62] Weinfeld and Seely propose “heart of stone” as the object of the verb “to drive with rebukes” based on parallels to Ezek 11:19; 36:26; 1QH-a 21.11 [18.26] (“Barkhi Nafshi,” 302).

[63] Weinfeld and Seely, “Barkhi Nafshi,” 303.

[64] Another description of the spiritual transformation effected by God on either an individual in the community or all the members of the community occurs in 4Q437 frg. 4 = 4Q438 frg. 12, line 2). God’s transforming action upon him is described as prospering him by means of a “firm disposition” (see Isa 26:3; 1QS 4.5; 8.3; 1QH-a 9.35; 10.9, 36) (l. 2). The correlative to being granted a firm disposition is to the removal of evil (l. 3). Similarly, the author says that God has removed from him “the spirit of destruction” (tyxm xwr) and has clothed him with “the spirit of salvation” (l. 5-6) (see Zech 3:4 for the use of he metaphor of being clothed). The spirit of destruction seems to be another way to denote the innate disposition to disobedience, whereas the spirit of salvation is its opposite, synonymous with “firm disposition” or “spirit of holiness.”

[65] Leaney errs in objectifying the “spirit of holiness” in the Dead Sea Scrolls, so that it refers to an entity that exists apart from its effects; in other words, he does not interpret the term functionally. Leaney writes, for example, “The holiness of God’s spirit is emphasized again and again: only God’s spirit is holy and only he can bestow it upon a man” (The Rule of Qumran and its Meaning, 35). This is probably the result of the influence of the Christian conception of the Holy Spirit on his interpretation of these uses of the term “spirit of holiness.” O. Betz also errs does not see the functionality of the term; rather he objectifies the “spirit of holiness,” interpreting it as a substance or an entity that originates from above and overcomes the flesh and its inherent weakness and impurity. He writes, “Der Geist dagegen kommt von oben, denn er ist Gottes Geist und, wie aus seiner Bezeichung hervorgeht, heilig wie der heilige Gott” (Offenbarung und Schriftforschung in der Qumransekte, 125). G. Maier likewise wrongly concludes that the spirit of holiness is “also nicht der schlechthin menschliche…. Der ‘Heilige Geist’ ist wirklich Gotttes Geist, geht aber gewissermaßen in das Inventar des Frommen über” (Mensch und freir Wille [WUNT 12; Tübingen: Mohr-Siebeck, 1971] 188-89). At least with respect to the instances studied in this paper, it is better to say that the term “spirit of holiness” is a means of describing God’s action on individual Jews, creating in them a disposition to obedience. In other words, it is a divinely-grant attitude or spirit that leads to obedience to the Law or holiness.

[66] There are other meanings for the term “spirit of holiness.” First, in the Dead Sea Scrolls, the phrase “the spirit of holiness” is used to denote the means of prophetic inspiration: 1QS 8.16 “According to that which the prophets have revealed by his spirit of holiness. (In CD 2.12 a similar meaning is probably intended: “And he informed them through those anointed of the spirit of holiness.” This text is ambiguous for two reasons: 1. There is no preposition with holy spirit, so that it can be the object of the verb (see Vermes’ translation); 2. It is necessary to emend "his anointed" to "anointed of" (see M. A. Knibb, The Qumran Community [CCWJCW 2; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987], 27). The context suggests that the prophets are meant (and not God’s Messiah) to whom will be granted “the power to make the spirit of his holiness known to the ‘remnant’.” Second, the spirit of holiness denotes the means of obtaining spiritual knowledge otherwise inaccessible to human beings (see 1QH-a 20.11-12; 5.18; 6.12b-13a); the same idea is found in WisSol 9:17: Who has known your consel unless you have given wisdom and sent your spirit of holiness from on high." The use of “spirit of holiness” in these texts is a synonym for the term “spirit of insight” in Sir 39.6 (see also Sir 48.12a, 24).

[67] See M. Philonenko, “‘Que ton esprit saint vienne sur nous et qu’il nous purifie’ (Luc 11,2): l’arrière-plan qoumrânien d’une variante lucanienne du ‘Notre Père’,” RHPR 75 (1995) 61-66.

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