PREFACE

Some forty years ago the remains of more than 800 Hebrew and Aramaic manuscripts came to light unexpectedly in eleven caves on the western shore of the Dead Sea, near ruins known as Khirbet . The antiquity of these manuscripts, dating to a few centuries BeE and immediately after, as well as their large number and peculiar character, electrified and captured the imagination of both scholars and the wider public. Expectations ran high for exceptional discoveries regarding the origins of Christianity and its Jewish background. These expectations were soon disappointed, and excitement and interest gradually died out. Most of the readers, both within and outside the scholarly world, were under the impression that most of the scrolls were published and that what there was to be said about them had already been said. Few were aware of the fact that the largest part of the major cave, cave 4, was still unpublished and remained practically unknown, except to the few who worked at leisure on its publication. In the last five years a real change began to be felt, as more and more texts from cave 4 were made known. New texts and younger scholars have raised a whole new range of questions. A new excitement was born, and students of the Qumran documents felt that a new era, and perhaps a rediscovery of the scrolls, was at hand. It was precisely at this moment, and in order to advance the publication of texts from cave 4, that the Institute for Advanced Studies at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, decided to aid in this process by providing fellowships to a group of scholars working on the Qumran scrolls. The research group included: Joseph M. Baumgarten, Magen Broshi, Devorah Dimant, Jacob Milgrom, Emile Puech, Lawrence H. Schiffman, , , Eugene Ulrich, and Moshe Weinfeld. Esti Eshel served as research assistant. It so happened that shortly after the year of their tenure at the Institute, all the scrolls were opened to the public. With this development, a new era in Qumran studies has indeed been inaugurated. Working within the already changing context, members of this group felt the need to share their new knowledge with colleagues and to indicate to the wider public the new trends emerging in our understanding of the . This collection of articles is the fruit of such an initiative. The editors have agreed to accept responsibility for preparing it for publication viii PREFACE on behalf of the entire group. Originally we had hoped to cover more topics and to address wider issues. But it may be too early for such an ambitious perspective. At best this collection represents the ongoing work of editing and interpreting one of the greatest discoveries of our century, and we offer it as a contribution to fulfilling the words of the Rule of the Community (lQS 9:19-20): ''It is time to prepare the way in the Wilderness." We wish to thank the Institute for Advanced Studies for providing the means and framework for the research of the group, part of which is published in this volume. Professors Moshe Weinfeld and Emanuel Tov of the Hebrew University directed the group. Dr. Elisheva Yaron, the Associate Director of the Institute, was most helpful in the organization of this project. We especially wish to thank Rama Friedlander of the Institute for expertly preparing the manuscript for camera-ready publication. Erik Larson of New York University was kind enough to proofread the final copy. We thank Dr. Florentino Garcia Martinez and Dr. Adam S. van der Woude for accepting the volume for publication in the series under their editorship, Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah. The final stages in the editing of this volume took place during our tenure as fellows at the Annenberg Research Institute, Philadelphia.

Devorah Dimant Lawrence H. Schiffman