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THE DAMASCUS DOCUMENT’S “THREE NETS OF BELIAL:” A REFERENCE TO THE ARAMAIC LEVI DOCUMENT ?

Hanan Eshel* Bar-Ilan University

Two exceptions to the rarity of allusions to, or quotations from, apoc- ryphal and pseudepigraphical works in the are found in the Damascus Document. CD 16:3–4 makes reference to the , and CD 4:15 quotes the words of Levi, the son of Jacob, attributed by most scholars to a pseudepigraphical Levi composition.1 The existence of these allusions in CD has signicant bearing on the question of the dating of Jubilees and of the composition from which the Levi quote derived. The rst part of this article attempts to identify the source for, and to explain how CD’s author interpreted the apho- rism attributed to Levi; its second part suggests that the Levi citation in CD was understood as reecting the reasons for the Qumranites’ split from Jerusalem.

The Three Nets of Belial

CD’s pesher to Is. 24:17–18 contains a statement attributed to Levi ben Jacob: hyhy hlah ynçh lkbw .12 ˆb aybnh hy[çy dyb la rbd rçab larçyb jlwçm l[ylb .13

* I thank my friend Professor Menahem Kister for his pertinent comments. This article was translated by Dena Ordan, who is delighted to have this small part in her friend Betsy’s Festschrift. 1 Apart from the references in CD treated here, only three other Qumran scrolls (4Q228, 4Q166, and 4Q390) appear to quote Jubilees. See J. C. VanderKam, “228. Text with a Citation of Jubilees,” Qumran Cave 4.VIII: Parabiblical Texts, Part I (ed. H. Attridge et al., DJD 13; Oxford: Clarendon,1994), 177–85. M. Kister (“Two For- mulae in the Book of Jubilees,” Tarbi 70 [2001]: 297 n. 44 [Hebrew]) is not convinced that the quotes in 4Q228 are from Jubilees; similarly, he doubts that the quote in CD refers to Jubilees. In a personal communication he commented that this reservation holds for 4Q228 as well. Evidently, Pesher Hoseaa (4Q166=4QHosa)’s interpretation of Hosea 2:13 cites Jub. 6:34–38, and 4Q390 (cols. 1:8, 2:10) twice cites the same verses from Jubilees. See M. J. Bernstein, “Walking in the Festivals of the : 4QpHoseaa 2.15–17 and Jubilees 6.34–38,” JSP 9 (1991): 21–34. For the view that 244 hanan eshel

wrçp rah bçwy yl[ jpw tjpw djp rmal wma .14 bq[y ˆb ywl hyl[ rma rça l[ylb twdwxm tçwlç .15 ynym tçwlçl hynp ntyw larçyb hb çpt awh rça .16 tyçylçh hynçh ayh hnwçarh qdxh .17 çpty hzm lxynw hzb çpty hzm hlw[h .18 2hzb .19 12. . . . But during all those years, 13. Belial will run unbridled amidst , as God spoke through the hand of the prophet , son of 14. Amoz, saying, “Fear and a pit and a snare are upon you, O inha- bitant(s) of the land.” This refers 15. to the three nets of Belial, of which Levi, the son of Jacob, said 16. that he (Belial) entrapped Israel with them, making them seem as if they were three types of 17. righteousness. The rst is fornication, the second avarice, and the third 18. delement of the sanctuary. He who escapes from this is caught by that and he who is saved from that is caught 19. by this . . .3 I interpret lines 16–18 as follows: Belial has placed before Israel three nets of [un]righteousness: the rst is fornication, the second avarice, and third is delement of the Temple. In what follows, CD goes on to detail some of the laws relating to fornication and delement of the Temple (4:19–5:21).4 In suggesting this pesher, its author seems to have not only Isa. 24:17 but also Jer. 48:43–44 in mind: “Terror, and pit, and trap upon you who dwell in Moab!—declares the Lord. He who ees from the terror shall fall into the pit; and he who climbs out of the pit shall be caught in the trap” (NJPS). Based on Jeremiah, this in turn led the author to conclude the pesher by stating: “He who escapes from this is caught by that and he who is saved from that is caught by this.” I am by no means the rst to attempt to identify the source of the Levi quote. Upon his publication of the two Geniza manuscripts of

CD 16:3–4 does not quote Jubilees, see D. Dimant, “Two ‘Scientic’ Fictions: The so called Book of Noah and the Alleged Quotation of Jubilees in CD 16:3–4,” in Studies in the , Qumran, and the (eds. P. W. Flint, J.C. VanderKam and E. Tov; Leiden: Brill, 2006): 230–49. 2 M. Broshi, ed., The Damascus Document Reconsidered ( Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society, 1992), col. 4, 16–17; emphases here and in succeeding quotes are mine. 3 J. H. Charlesworth, ed., The Dead Sea Scrolls, vol. 2: The Damascus Document, War Scroll, and Related Documents (Tübingen: Möhr Siebeck, 1995), 19; slightly revised. 4 A small fragment of this section was preserved in 4QDa (4Q266) frg. 3i. See J. M. Baumgarten, Qumran Cave 4.XIII: The Damascus Document (4Q266–273) (DJD 18; Oxford: Clarendon, 1996), 40.