The usual translation of Miqsat Ma‘ase Ha-Torah—MMT—obscures its relationship to Paul’s letters. The Dead Sea Scrolls are a collection of 981 Hellenistic-period manuscripts found within caves on the north shore of the Dead Sea. The fact that the phrase miqsat ma‘ase ha-torah (“pertinent works of the law”) appears nowhere in rabbinic literature suggests that the theology of the Qumran sect was not destined to become normative for Judaism. ����1���h�Ƅ�z�D 8��`8b�GN�Ą8;%zу_f����3;3ٙ ��({��@�臆9X��X�A@���ʙr&��Н���?�~hLͶ����y�q^�>X:�h��}g�ٛ�/�\[_�����7:*2"L��j�Q��Ғ�2�|�9Ò����G��dslQan�������J,pc��v��blmijl������:lturlG7F�ũ��c{{�4�"18<4�ݱQ��w�`1�����t�θ����؅��4*�J�����E�.�ശ�.^�/�yc���F�C1�A׀B��p��W{}ڛ�"��H�.lӒGIl��Ŷ�1kG'� … Thus Abraham “believed God, and it was, reckoned to him as righteousness.” So you see that it is, men of faith who are the sons of Abraham. J. Amitai (Jerusalem; Israel Exploration Society, 1985), pp. Most of the rulings espoused by the author of MMT are based directly upon Biblical law (for example, the prohibition against plowing with unlike animals in Deuteronomy 22:10). The addressee may have advocated a compromise with both group’s mutual opponents, the Pharisees. %%EOF In this way, a transcription and translation of MMT was sent anonymously to the editor of a Polish publication devoted to the Dead Sea Scrolls, The Qumran Chronicle. I am in agreement with Robert Eisenman and Michael Wise, The Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered (Rockport, MA: Element, 1992), in connecting “works of the Law” with the Apostle Paul; and “reckoned as righteousness” with Phinehas and Psalm 106:31. a. For the Qumran sect, a priestly paradigm of righteousness would have been especially pleasing. This Dead Sea Scroll and Paul use the very same phrase. The Leon Levy Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Library offers an exceptional encounter with antiquity. MMT claims that adherence to the works of the law “will be accounted to you as righteousness”; Paul’s answer is that “No human being is justified by works of the law but only through faith in Jesus Christ” (Galatians 2:16).7. Here is a document detailing works of the law. Lawrence H. Schiffman, “The New Halakhic Letter (4QMMT) and the Origins of the Dead Sea Sect,” Biblical Archaeologist 53 (1990), p. 67. This phrase was originally translated "Some of the Precepts of the Torah," by Dead Sea Scholars Strugnell and Qimron. And “you will be reckoned righteous, in that you have done what is right and good before Him.” This claim is “to your own benefit and to Israel’s.”. And the, scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by. Dead Sea Scrolls were copied; and to provide some insight into the questions raised and the "mystery" surrounding this great manuscript find. Also, the preposition lamed is used to indicate the “product” of the reckoning in both Psalm 106:31 and MMT (“as righteous”), whereas in Genesis 15:6 “righteous” is the direct object of the verb. : "%c" In the psalm, the poet celebrates what Phinehas did when there was an unholy mixture of an Israelite with a foreign woman. 0000004478 00000 n The exhibit has an introductory as well as three main sections: The introductory area presents the Psalms Scroll, the largest of the scroll fragments in the exhibition, 0000008032 00000 n Two other considerations point to this relationship between Psalm 106 and MMT. THE . In this case, miqsat does not mean simply “some.” The same word is used in Genesis 47:2, where Joseph presents five of his brothers to Pharaoh. Psalm 106:31 and Genesis 15:6 are the only Biblical verses that contain both the verb hashab, to reckon, and the noun sedaqah, righteousness. The provocative final statement in MMT, “you will be reckoned righteous,” is reminiscent of Genesis 15:6: “And Abraham believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” This Biblical quotation was of course used by Paul to support his understanding that faith, rather than works, leads to a reckoning of righteousness. (“The Manual of Discipline” (“The Dead Sea Scrolls of St Mark’s Monastery”) II, New Haven, M. Burrows) Ten other manuscript fragments of The Community Rule were discovered in Cave 4. The case centered on an appendix of the book which included a … As Professor Schiffman has noted, the Qumran sect spurned the rabbinic extensions called Talmud, which effectively built a fence around the Torah, successive layers of which have become codified in the rabbinic works of the Mishnah and the two Talmuds. The phrase gives the document its shorthand name—MMT. On March 15, 1988, as part of my duties as the new graduate research assistant to Professor Ben Zion Wacholder, I climbed the three flights of stairs of the Klau Library at Cincinnati’s Hebrew Union College to pick up his mail. 8“The Concealed Scrolls” is the Hebrew name of the Dead Sea Scrolls. The Qumran Caves are close to the Dead Sea. Unlike Paul, however, the Qumran author does not offer righteousness on the basis of his reader’s belief, but rather “in that you have done what is right and good before Him.” For MMT’s author, it is the “works of the law” that fuel such a reckoning. He was a direct descendant of Phinehas, both Zadok and Phinehas being of the priestly line of Eleazar the son of Aaron. }) MMT is the most important of these samizdat texts. 0000010302 00000 n Looking at Galatians and Romans in the light of MMT, it seems clear that Paul, using the same terminology, is rebutting the theology of documents such as MMT. 0000011205 00000 n Back in his office I opened the envelope and found a 12-page photocopy of a handwritten Hebrew manuscript whose first line read “‘elleh miqsat debareynu” (these are some of the words). It seems to be a letter sent from a … … <<9F602A4D8500F84480254D5CCBC0CD7E>]>> 0000003454 00000 n 0000014304 00000 n In this elaborated version of the interview I did on Parable of the Vineyard, I discuss various topics related to the 1946 - 1948 time period. June 29 2013 As Professor Schiffman has noted, the Qumran sect spurned the rabbinic extensions called Talmud, which effectively built a fence around the Torah, successive layers of which have become codified in the rabbinic works of the Mishnah and the two Talmuds.6 The Qumranites were the “Bible only” group of their day. 0000016974 00000 n The title of an obscure Dead Sea Scroll is MMT, which stands for Miqsat Ma'ase HaTorah. One possibility is that he relied on Genesis 22:16, where, following Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son Isaac at God’s command, God blesses Abraham because of “what you have done.” I believe, however, that MMT relies on another text. 0000007103 00000 n In the past, this view was supported by the fact that the phrase “works of the law” nowhere appears in the foundational books of rabbinic Judaism. Paul’s answer is that “No human being is justified by works of the law but only through faith in Jesus Christ” (Galatians 2:16). But what does it mean? We have also brought suit against Professor Qimron in an American court, not for damages, but simply for a declaration that Professor Qimron does not own the copyright in MMT, so that we can proceed with our work (see “American Professors Seek to Block Qimron’s Control of MMT,” BAR 19:06). MMT is an acronym for Miqsat Ma'ase Ha-Torah - one of the most enigmatic and fiercely guarded Dead Sea Scroll finds. The pickup quote "It's a mystery" references the item's effect, as well as the fact that the real Dead Sea Scrolls are so … Reviewer: 3Z3K13L - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - January 10, 2019 Subject: The Dead Sea Scrolls I have been wanting to read this book for many years now. 0000005444 00000 n In short, ma‘ase ha-torah is equivalent to what we know in English from Paul’s letters as “works of the law.” This Dead Sea scroll and Paul use the very same phrase. The letter that followed remains open to debate. I have italicized the word “reckoned righteous” because of their special importance—both to the author of MMT and to Paul. MMT is couched in the exact language of what Paul was rebutting in his letter to the Galatians. We are continuing our work on MMT as well as on other scrolls. Similarly, the central theme of MMT is the call to turn from the sin of unholy mixture. If I am correct, MMT enables us to understand in a new way what the Apostle Paul wrote to the Galatians, and perhaps to the Romans as well. The term is Miqsat Ma’ase Ha-Torah, or MMT, the translation of which, by Strugnell and Qimron, is Some of the Precepts of Torah. xڔ�KLAǿ���me����z��ߏe��My���~ Elisha Qimron and John Strugnell, “An Unpublished Halakhic Letter from Qumran,” Israel Museum Journal (1985), pp. This was all I had read before Professor Wacholder reasoned that this could only be a bootleg transcription of Miqsat Ma‘ase Ha-Torah, already well known in the scholarly world by its acronym MMT. %PDF-1.4 %���� “Miqsat Ma‘ase Ha-Torah” read the words highlighted in the Dead Sea Scroll fragment above. 0000008919 00000 n The topic of the work is reflected in the phrase tohorat haqodesh, “the purity of the holy.” Stated simply: “Do not allow the holy to be profaned by what is impure.”. 0000003302 00000 n From 1957 to 1991 he It is quite possible that some Essenes or other Jewish sectaries who were familiar with the phrase “works of the law” had become followers of Jesus the Nazarene. He is coauthor of Preliminary Edition of the Unpublished Dead Sea Scrolls (Biblical Archaeology Society, 1991), a series of texts reconstructed with the aid of a computer. Here the word could be understood to mean the most important of the brothers or perhaps the choice or select. Did you, receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with, faith? 219–20. MMT demonstrates that Paul was not jousting with windmills, but was indeed squared off in a dramatic duel—not with mainstream Judaism but with a sectarian theology—that ultimately defined Christianity. Sabbath Keeper ob.commentCount(document.querySelector("#comment-count-62797777"), { "The History of 'Halakha' and the Dead Sea Scrolls -- Preliminary Observations on Miqsat Ma`ase Ha-Torah (4QMMT)" (in Hebrew), Tarbiz 59 (1990):11-76. 0000008237 00000 n He reprinted it as a special appendix to the December 1990 edition. Like MMT, Paul too is addressing his wandering flock: O foolish Galatians. These terms appear frequently in Qumran literature and are much more likely to be the correct reconstruction in MMT. is professor of religious studies and co-director of the Dead Sea Scrolls Institute at Trinity Western University in Langley, British Columbia, Canada. One can only understand this historical Jew within the setting and constraints of first-century Torahand religious first-century Jews. In other words, when the word is used in MMT, it does not refer just to some random laws; these laws are important to the writer. Psalm 106 commemorates an incident recounted in Numbers 25:1–8, in which the Israelites, on their trek to the Promised Land, fraternize with the Moabites, worship their gods and sleep with their daughters. 400–407. 0000007740 00000 n Hershel Shanks (New York: Random House, 1992), pp. xref Martin Abegg is professor of religious studies and co-director of the Dead Sea Scrolls Institute at Trinity Western University in Langley, British Columbia, Canada. The Dead Sea Scrolls have been Dr. Schiffman's life's work. The exhibition Scrolls From the Dead Sea: The Ancient Library of Qumran and Modern Scholarship brings before the American people a selection from the scrolls which have been the subject of intense public interest. The remains of nearly two dozen legal issues are recorded in MMT. 2. Later on the Court refers to the scroll as either “the scroll” or MMT. Wave Nunnally and Dr. Keri Wynn; we all are indebted to ProfessorWacholder for a unique experience. 0000003758 00000 n MMT espouses works of the law as exemplified in Phinehas’s deed; those who perform works of the law will be reckoned righteous unto eternity. 0000017198 00000 n He began his study of the legal material with his doctoral dissertation in 1974, which dealt with "The Halakhah at Qumran." The large brown envelope at the bottom of the stack was not in itself strange, but the lack of a return address seemed odd. We find no certain record of the Qumran sect after the Roman suppression of the first Jewish revolt (66–70 A.D.). 9–12, also in Biblical Archaeology Today: Proceedings of the International Congress on Biblical Archaeology, Jerusalem, Apr. The issues include bringing Gentile corn into the Temple, the presentation of Gentile offerings, and the cooking of sacrificial meat in unfit (impure) vessels. For the first time we can really understand what Paul is writing about. Dead Sea Scrolls called MMT which says: 4QMMT (Miqsat Ma’ase ha-Torah) (Some of the Works of the Law) Galatians Now we have written to you some of the works of the law, those which we determined would be beneficial for you… And it will be reckoned to you as righteousness, in that you have done what is right and good before Him… He has focused on the Israelites Rule the Community ” are also important for tracing the history of Christianity! 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