CHAPTER EIGHT

MIQAT MAAŚE HA-TORAH AND THE TEMPLE SCROLL

Recently, there has come to light the so-called “halakhic letter,” 4Q Miqat Maaśe ha-Torah (abbreviated as 4QMMT).1 This text has opened up a valuable window on the sectarian constellation of the period immediately following the Maccabean revolt. (I thank Professor John Strugnell for allowing me the opportunity to read this document and to comment on the draft of the commentary he and Dr. Elisha Qimron are preparing. The present paper draws much from the work of these distinguished editors.) The text is preserved in six manuscripts. It is essentially a letter, either actual or “apocryphal,” which purports to be from the leaders of the sect to the leaders of the priestly establish- ment in Jerusalem. The text lists some 20 laws in which the writers disagreed with the Temple priests and their procedures. The views of the authors are usually introduced with ananu oshevim, “we are of the view that . . .,” and the polemical nature of the material is evident in the use of we-attem yodeim, “and you well know”. We shall examine here those sections where the rulings of 4QMMT may be compared with those of the Temple Scroll.2 In light of the significance of 4QMMT as a possible foundation document for what became the Qumran sect and the still open question of the provenance of the Temple Scroll, a detailed study of the parallels between these texts is a desideratum. This paper will treat the most significant of these parallels.

1 E. Qimron and J Strugnell, “An Unpublished Halakhic Letter from Qumran,” Biblical Archaeology Today, ed. J. Amitai ( Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society, 1985) 400–407. 2 For a full listing of the regulations contained in 4QMMT and some preliminary comments see L.H. Schiffman, “The Temple Scroll and the Systems of Jewish Law of the Second Temple Period,” Temple Scroll Studies, ed. G.J. Brooke (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1989), 239–255. 124 chapter eight

Shelamim Sacrifices

4QMMT B 9–13 is a prohibition on leaving the meat of a shelamim sacrifice (usually translated “peace offerings”)3 offered as a todah4 (thanks- giving offering)5 over to the next day. Rather, the meal offering, fats (alavim) and meat must all be offered on the same day as the shelamim is sacrificed. The priests are to admonish the people regarding this law so that they are not led astray. This law is derived from Lev 7:15, as noted by the editors of 4QMMT. It is significant that 4QMMT takes as a unit the meat, fats and meal offering, understanding them all to be required to be eaten on the very day the sacrifice is offered. The Temple Scroll does not contain a direct reference to this offer- ing. The closest parallel is a passage in the sacrificial calendar, 11QT 20:11–13:6 That which remains of them they shall eat in the [in]n[e]r court. The priests shall e[at] them [as unleavened cakes]. It shall not be eaten [as leavened cakes]. On that day it shall be eat[en], [before] the sun goes [down.]7 This passage refers to the sacrifices for the festival of new oil. From the text it is clear that this offering is, in procedural terms, a shelamim. Yet it must be noted that the entire sacrificial calendar avoids the term shelamim, “presentation offering”, although it appears elsewhere in the scroll. The scroll describes at length the procedure for this sacrifice of fourteen lambs,8 as well as the attendant fats (elev), the fat tail, the meal offering and libation (11QT 20:2–9). Then the text refers to the

3 On the term shelamim see B.A. Levine, The JPS Torah Commentary, Leviticus (Phila- delphia, New York, Jerusalem: Jewish Publication Society, 1989) 14 on Lev 3:1 and our comments in L.H. Schiffman, “Shelamim Sacrifices in the Temple Scroll,” ErIs 20 (1988/89) 176*–77* (pp. 365–377 in this volume). That study must now be supple- mented with the results of the present investigation of 4QMMT. 4 The editors raise the possibility of restoring nidvat and understanding 4QMMT to refer to freewill shelamim offerings. For purposes of our comparison, it is immaterial which restoration is accepted. Nevertheless, according to Lev 6:16–18, the freewill offering (neder o nedavah) may be eaten on the day it is offered and on the morrow. So such a restoration is extremely unlikely, as noted by the editors. 5 See Levine, Leviticus, 42 on Lev 7:12. 6 Y. Yadin, The Temple Scroll ( Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society, 1983) vol. II, 88f. 7 The reading [we-lo tavo] a[law] ha-shemesh is supported by the fragment Rockefeller 43.978 (Yadin, Temple Scroll, II, 85). 8 On this offering see Schiffman, “Shelamim Sacrifices,” 178* f.