1. Introduction
2. Removal of Guilt in Non-Sectarian Literature
3. Removal of Guilt in Qumran Sectarian Literature
3.1. Renewal
of Covenant
3.2. Removal
of Guilt upon Entering Renewed Covenant
God is depicted in the Old Testament as merciful. He is described formulaicly as: "slow to anger" and "abounding in love/mercy" (regularly in combination with "compassionate and gracious" (see Exod 34:6; Num 14:18; Neh 9:17; Ps 86:15; 103:8; 145:8; Joel 2:13; Jonah 4:2). God is also said to be lenient towards his people, not treating them as their sin deserves (Ezra 9:13-15; Ps 78:35-38; Ps 103 8-10), and to be willing to forgive wickedness, rebellion and sin (Exod 34:7; Num 14:18). In other, God is depicted as mercifully removing the guilt of the individual. This view of how God relates to human beings extends into in the second-Temple period.
2. Removal of Guilt in Non-Sectarian Literature
In many non-sectarian texts from the second-Temple period God is also depicted as merciful insofar as he does not deal with human beings as they deserve. Rather, God as merciful removes the guilt of human beings resulting from disobedience. The sources agree in depicting God as offering this provision of mercy to all human beings, but especially to Jews; there is no guilt resulting from sin that cannot be removed. Ben Sira teaches that God is “mighty to forgive” (Sir 16:11b) and in biblical terms as “compassionate and full of lovingkindness” who “forgives sins” (2:11). Likewise, in 4QWords of the Luminaries, in what is probably the prayer to be recited on Sunday (4Q504 frg. 8 recto + 9; frg. 6; 4.1-15), one finds the petition for God as merciful to forgive sin: “Do not remember against us the iniquities of the ancestors with all their evil conduct” (frg. 4.6). (It seems, however, that the Watchers are not so favored as human beings, because the possibility forgiveness is denied to them, even before final judgment [1 Enoch 1–36].) The idea of God’s removal of guilt is expressed variously, in different languages. God can forgive a person (Pr. Man. 13), grant his forgiveness (Sir 18:12), or just pardon (4 Ezra 7:139). God can also cleanse from sin (Sir 23:10), cleanse a soul from sin (Ps. Sol. 9:6), cleanse from all sin and defilement (Jub. 22:14), purify of iniquity (Prayer of Deliverance 14) or just cleanse a person (Ps. Sol. 10:2). A person can atone for his sin by means of an action (Ps. Sol. 3:7–8; LAB 64:9) or an action can atone for sin (Sir 3:3, 30–31) or wickedness (LAB 64:9). God can forgive sins (or equivalent term) (Sir 2:11; Jub. 5:17; 22:14; Ps. Sol. 9:7; 4Q504 frg. 4.7; Prayer for Deliverance 13). God can also overlook sin (4Q417 frg. 2 col. 1.15), pardon transgressions (Jub. 5:17) or wipe away their transgressions (Ps. Sol. 13:10) or blot out sins (4 Ezra 7:138–40). On the assumption that God renders to each according to his works one would not expect the possibility of all-inclusive removal of guilt.
In the many of the texts examined, it is often on the simple condition of repentance that God as merciful will remove all guilt resulting from disobedience. This idea is ubiquitous in the sources and is expressed by means of different terminology in different languages. (By implication, those who do not make use of this merciful provision are judged according to their merits or lack thereof; God is never unconditionally merciful.) According to Ben Sira, in spite of being described as a rendering to each what each deserves, God is said to allow for the possibility of the removal of guilt on the condition of repentance: “How great is the mercy of the Lord and his forgiveness for the one who returns to him” (Sir 17:29; see 8:5; 17:23-26). In 4QInstruction, the sage says that if a person does not “pass over” his sins, God “will appear, his anger will turn back and he will overlook your sin” (4Q417 frg. 2 col. 1.14). In other words, in response to confession and repentance, God will remove the guilt resulting from sin. Similarly, in Ps. Sol. 9:7, the author affirms, “And your goodness is upon those who sin, when they repent.” Similarly, in the Book of Jubilees, Judah is forgiven for his sin having sexual relations with his daughter-in-law. The angel explains to Moses: “And we told him [Judah] in a dream that it was forgiven him because he made great supplication and because he mourned and did not do it again” (41:24). In 4QWords of the Luminaries, based on the experience of the exiles, the prayer to be recited on Fridays seems to have had the purpose of obtaining pardon for sins individually and collectively on the condition of repentance: “And now on this day on which our heart has been humbled, we obtain pardon for our sins and the sin of our fathers, together with our disloyalty and rebellion” (4Q504 frg. 2 col. 6.4b–6a). Manasseh came to be viewed as an extreme example of God’s mercy. If anyone deserved to die, Manasseh did, but, because of his repentance in exile, God removed his guilt. Manasseh explains that according to the fullness of his goodness, God has promised release from sins to all who repent (Pr. Man. 7). He calls God “the God of those who repent” (13). (Probably 4Q381 33.8–11 is a parallel version of the Greek Prayer of Manasseh.) Even in 4 Ezra, one finds the view that God removes guilt on the condition of repentance. The angel says, “And as many as scorned my Law while they still had freedom, and did not understand but despised it while an opportunity of repentance was still open to them, these must in torment acknowledge it after death” (9:12; see 7:82). Until death, it is possible for the sinner to return to God. Likewise, according to Ezra, God is “gracious to all who turn in repentance to His Law” (7:133). In some cases, acts of penance may be included as part of the repentance process (Ps. Sol. 3.7–8). The possibility of repentance and the removal of guilt end at death, which is explicitly stated in some texts (1 Enoch 94:10; 102:8-9; 4 Ezra 7:88; 9:12; LAB 33:2-5). Nevertheless, this is still good news for sinners who have not yet died.
There are also other means by which God removes the guilt resulting from disobedience, that is to say to nullify the consequences of sin. The Day of Atonement seems to have become in the second-Temple period the annual opportunity for the atonement of all sins. In the Book of Jubilees, it is said, “He will have mercy on all who return from their error, once each year” (5:18); this probably refers to the Day of Atonement. In Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum, “Through a fast of mercy you will fast for me for your own souls, so that the promises made to your fathers may be fulfilled” (13:6). The fast of mercy is probably a reference to the Day of Atonement. There seems to be no restrictions on efficicacy of this annual rite. Similarly, in Wisdom of Ben Sira the validity of the Temple cult is presupposed. Likewise, in Jub. 6:14; 50:11, the daily morning and evening sacrifices as effecting atonement for the people. (One might argue from silence that the other texts implicitly make this assumption, insofar as they presuppose the validity of the Temple cult.) The idea that, corresponding to the priests who serve in the Temple, there are angelic priests who serve in the heavenly archetype of the earthly Temple and there atone sins or propitiate God on behalf of either the righteous or those who turn from sin occurs in Songs of Sabbath Sacrifice. It is also specified in Wisdom of Ben Sira that the forgiveness of others is a condition of the release from sin (Sir 28:2-4), and in Ps. Sol. 9:6–7, making restitution is said to be a condition of being cleansed from sin. Other means of obtaining God’s forgiveness include almsgiving (Sir 29:9–13; 40:17, 24), fasting (Sir 34:26 [31]; Ps. Sol. 3:7–8) and a having prior record of obedience (Sir 3.3, 14–15). In addition, disciplinary suffering itself atones for sin (Ps. Sol. 13.7, 10). Finally, death may atone for one’s sins, but, it seems, only on the condition of the confession of one’s sin, which only the righteous would do (LAB 64:9). In general, there are enough ways by which a person can effect the removal of guilt that no one should ever be able to complain he is cut off from the mercy of God.
3. Removal of Guilt in Qumran Sectarian Literature
God is also depicted as merciful in the Qumran sectarian writings insofar as he does not deal with Jews as they deserve. Rather than destroying the nation for its sin, God as merciful preserved a remnant with which he renewed his covenant; that remnant is identical with the community. The Qumran community understood itself as the fulfillment—albeit delayed—of the promise to Israel that after the exile God would turn again in mercy to his people and renew the covenant made with the fathers. Alluding to Lev 26:45, the author of CD 1.4–5a says, "When he remembered his covenant with the men of former times, God left a remnant for Israel and did not give them to destruction." To remember the covenant is to remember the unconditional promises made to the patriarchs. In fact, it is affirmed that God turned in mercy to the repentant of Israel because of the covenant made with the patriarchs (CD 8.14-18a). Implicitly, Israel is now redefined as the community. The community views itself as that remnant from Israel with which God as merciful would renew the covenant; accordingly, its members are called “the repentant of Israel” (CD 4.2; 6.5; 8.16; 20.17b). God established a covenant forever with Israel, but Israel now denotes the community, the obedient minority within the nation (CD 3.12b-4.4). For this reason it understands itself as “a root of planting to grow from Israel and Aaron to possess the land” (CD 1.7–8a; see 4Q434 Frg. 1, 1.6–7). Thus, the biblical idea of the remnant of Israel is redefined so that it now includes only those Jews who have repented and in so doing have become part of the community. The fact that the community is the result of the renewal of the covenant made with the patriarchs explains why entrance into the community is synonymous with entering or crossing over into the covenant (1QS 1.16-20). It also explains why the community is called “the council of God” (see 1QS 2.25; 3.2, 6; 6.16; 7.2; 8.1, 5), which means the totality of God’s people. Similarly, one of the Festival Prayers seems describe the founding of the community: “However, you have chosen a people in the period of your favor, because you have remembered the covenant...You have renewed your covenant with them” (1Q34 frg. 3 col. 2.5–6).
Further evidence that the community viewed itself as the remnant of Israel with which God as merciful has renewed the covenant is the fact that its members are required participate in corporate confession: "Truly we have acted wickedly, we and our fathers, in that we have walked contrary to the statutes of the covenant; righteousness and truth are your judgments upon us" (CD 20.28b–30a). Similarly, when they cross over into the covenant, initiates are required to make a public confession in which they identify with rebellious Israel past and present and confess God’s righteous judgment against his people (1QS 1.24–2.1). In so doing, they implicitly make the claim to being in continuity with Israel and, indeed, to belonging to the remnant of Israel, to which God has now turned in mercy. Barkhi Nafshi describes the founding of the community as follows: “God opened his eyes upon the downtrodden, heard the cries of the orphans, and turned his ear to their cry” (4Q434 frg. 1 col. 1.2-3). It is further said that God judged them in “the abundance of his mercy” (4Q434 frg. 1, col. 1.6–7), which describes God’s mercy to the remnant of Israel after the exile. Likewise, in the Halakhic Letter (MMT), the author gives expression to the idea that the community that he represents is the remnant of Israel that has turned back to obedience to the Law: “These are the last days, when those in Israel are to return to the La[w of God with all their heart], never to turn back again” (MMT C 21b–22a 107b–108a).
The covenant is also called the new covenant, because the renewal of the covenant is interpreted to be a fulfillment of Jeremiah’s new covenant (CD A 7.6; 8.21 = CD B 19.33b–35/CD A 8.21b; CD B 20.8b–12; 1QpHab 2.3); the new covenant is actually the renewed covenant. Until the end, when “deceit” will be destroyed forever, the members of the community renew the covenant annually (1QS 2.19–25a). In their understanding, they alone belong to the new covenant and are the recipient of God’s post-exilic mercy.
3.2. Removal of Guilt upon Entering Renewed Covenant
In accordance with the promise of a post-exilic renewal of the covenant, God as merciful removes from those who enter the covenant the guilt incurred by previous sins. The removal of guilt occurs on the condition of repentance, the turning from sin to obedience to the Law as interpreted by the community; God as merciful allows repentance to be the means by which guilt is removed. Those who enter the community enter a "covenant of repentance" (CD B 19.16). The same covenant is also called "the covenant of mercy" (1QS 1.8), because God mercifully allows repentance to remove guilt resulting from past transgressions of the Law. Until the eschaton, the possibility of repentance and the removal of guilt through joining with “the house of Judah,” stands open for all Jews (CD 4.10-12).
There are numerous terms and expressions used to describe the removal of guilt. In the Thanksgiving Hymns, the idea of the removal of guilt is expressed variously as God’s forgiving or forgiveness, purification, cleansing, atonement, removing or casting away sin, destroying all sin and wickedness and being declared righteous. Outside of the Hodayot, the most frequently occurring term is “to atone.” A description of God’s atonement of the pristine members occurs in CD 3.18: "And God by his wonderful mysteries atoned for their iniquity" (see CD 4.9-10). In CD 4.6b–7a, God is said to atone for these original members. Those who join the community subsequently also have access to atonement: “Just as the covenant that God established with the first ones to atone for their iniquities, so also God will atone for them” (CD 4.9–10). In fact, it because of God’s love for the original members that the possibility of atonement is available to those who subsequently join the community: “Such shall be the case for the repentant of Israel who turn aside from the way of the people. Because of God’s love for the first who testified in his favor God loves those who come after them, for to them belongs the covenant of the fathers” (CD 8.16–18a). The person who refuses to enter the covenant by entering the community is said to be unable to repent; as a result, such a person “cannot be purified by atonement” (1QS 3.4), because atonement is causally tied to repentance. The word "to atone" is used in other passages to express the idea of the removal of guilt that is available to all Jews on the condition of repentance and joining the community. In some cases God or one of his attributes is the subject of the verb, whereas at other times it is a human beings. Similarly, sometime a word for "sin" is used as the object of the verb and at other times the human being is the object. The men of the community are "to atone for all those who devote themselves," which is a vicarious atonement for those who join the community (1QS 5.6). The community’s atoning function is also described in 1QS 9.3–4: "When these exist in Israel...they shall atone for the guilt of transgression and the unfaithfulness of sin to obtain favor for the land without the flesh of burnt offerings and the fat of sacrifice." In the same vein, it is said that the fifteen will “atone for the land” (1QS 8.6, 10), which seems to be a synonymous expression. In 1QS 11.14b–15a, the author writes, "In his [God’s] great goodness, he atones for all my iniquities." Likewise, God is said to "to atone for all who repent from sin," insofar as “Longsuffering and abundant forgiveness are with him” (CD 2.4b–5a). Sometimes, the passive voice is used (pual) so that it is implicit that God is doing the atoning (1QS 3.7, 8).
Other ways of expressing the idea of the removal of guilt outside of the Thanksgiving Hymns include “being purified by atonement” (1QS 3.4), “being cleansed from iniquities” (1QS 3.7b–8a), being “cleansed from the impurity of men and the sin of the sons of Adam” (11.14b–15a), being “accepted by a soothing atonement before God” (1QS 3.11), “blotting out transgression” (1QS 11.3) and “removing sin” (CD 3.18). In two passages, there is a probable allusion to the idea of “paying for iniquity” from Lev 26:41, 43, which serves as the biblical basis of atonement for those entering the community. On analogy to the nation, the representative fifteen is said “to pay for iniquity by the practice of justice and suffering affliction” (1QS 8.3b–4a). Because of their own suffering and obedience, hey seem to offer the possibility of the vicarious removal of guilt resulting from sin to all who join the community. (It is not clear, however, how the possibility of the vicarious removal of guilt relates to the requirement of individual repentance.) Similarly, in the Barkhi Nafshi document, there occurs another allusion to Lev 26:41, 43: “And they atone for their sins and the sins of their fathers and expiate with...” In the same way that the exiles pay for their iniquity through suffering, the means by which the community will atone for sins is the fact that they are judged and as a result suffer: “The judgments of his were for the purpose of refining them” (4Q434 Frg. 1, 1.7). It seems that the community believed that now, at this point in salvation history, it alone had the right to call itself Israel, so that what was said of Israel in the Torah must be true of itself. This is why its experience was interpreted in light of Lev 26.
The fact that atonement is made available to Jews through belonging to the community explains why the community is described by means of Temple imagery, being called a “a holy house for Israel and an assembly of the holy of holies for Aaron” (1QS 8.5b–6a), a “a holy house for Aaron, for the community of the holy of holies, and a house of the community for Israel” (9:6) and “a dwelling of the holy of holies for Aaron...offering up a soothing odor,” a “house of perfection and truth in Israel”(1QS 8.8b-9a) and “a holy house for Aaron, for the community of the holy of holies, and a house of the community for Israel” (9.6). The community is also called a “house of holiness” in 1QS 11.8.
It also seems that the removal of guilt is a possibility in perpetuum, not just a one time occurrence actualized upon entrance into the community. There is no doubt that members of the community were expected to have repented, to have turned from sin to obedience to the Law as interpreted by the community. Prospective members were examined for their sincerity and suitability and, once admitted, were examined annually and ranked according to their understanding and obedience. Yet, it is clear that the community did not expect perfect obedience, but only habitual obedience, since only at the eschaton would the possibility of sin be removed (1QS 3.21–23; 4.18–26). Thus, sometimes members in good standing sinned uncharacteristically and were disciplined accordingly; such transgressors needed a means of restoration, the removal of their guilt. The legislation found in Community Rule and Damascus Document presuppose an imperfect membership; moreover, the general tenor of the Thanksgiving Hymns is that God is merciful and willing to remove the guilt of Teacher and his followers. So long as those violations were not liable to permanent expulsion, the violators were restored and presumably their guilt was removed in the process. This aspect of Qumran theology, however, is not developed at all; rather, what is stressed is that the members are or at least expected be perfectly obedient to the Law. Nevertheless, there is evidence that on-going removal of guilt was available to the otherwise habitually righteous. The author writes in 1QS 11.3, “By his [God’s] righteousnesses he will blot out my transgression,” and in 1QS 11.14b–15a “In his [God’s] great goodness, he atones for all my iniquities. In his righteousness he cleanses me of the impurity of men and the sin of the sons of Adam.” Likewise, the founder confesses that God as merciful is willing to remove all guilt resulting from sin: “With my steps there is much forgiveness and an abundance of compassion in your judgment of me” (1QHa 17[9].33b–34a).
It is probable that the community observed the Day of Atonement, called the “day of fasting” in CD 6.18-19, even without access to the Temple, and perhaps saw this an annual opportunity to remove the guilt of its membership. This opportunity would endure until the eschaton when, because to sin would no longer be a possibility, the Day of Atonement would no longer be necessary. There is evidence that the community observed the Day of Atonement according to its own calendar (1QpHab 11.5–8; CD 6.19). If so, then prayer to be offered on the Day of Atonement may be part of a ritual by which the guilt of the membership annually was removed. In the Festival Prayers, the Day of Atonement is called “the feast of your compassion and the time of the return” (4Q508 frg. 2, col. 2.1–2). This implies that the community observed this day as an annual opportunity for the atonement of sins.
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