A — The Rules

Part 14

The nineteen badly mutilated columns of this manuscript from Cave first appeared in 1954 in a posthumous work by E. L. Sukenik, and were re-edited in 1955, with an English introduction, under the title The Dead Sea Scrolls of the Hebrew University. A few detached scraps are represented by 1Q33 and copious fragments of six further manuscripts were discovered in Cave 4, and published in 1982 by M. Baillet in DJD, 4Q497 represents tiny fragments of a related text, and 4Q471 or 4QMg a shorter version of 1QM. For a new edition of all the War Scroll material except 4Q471 see J. Duhaime in J. H. Charlesworth et al. eds. The DSS II, Damascus Document, War Scroll and Related Documents, 1995, 80-203. Some of the 4Q fragments basically reflect the Cave text and help to complete its gaps: Ma, Mb, Md and Me have been used for this purpose, especially in columns I, and XIX. On the other hand, Ma and Mc attest different recensions of the War Rule. Representative sections from these manuscripts will be translated separately. The contents of the War Rule are as follows: Proclamation of war against the Kittim Reorganization of Temple worship Programme of the forty years' war The trumpets The standards Disposition and weapons of the front formations Movements of the attacking infantry Disposition and movements of the cavalry Age of the soldiers

The camp Duties of the Priests and Levites Addresses and prayers of the battle liturgy Prayer recited at the moment of victory Thanksgiving ceremony Battle against the Kittim Since the five last columns are more or less repetitious, there has been some doubt concerning the unity of the composition as a whole. Those who consider all nineteen columns to be the work of one writer find in column an introduction, in columns II-XIV general rules, and in columns XV-XIX a 'prophetic' description of the final battle fought according to those rules. Other experts explain that columns XV-XIX are a Rule annexe dependent on the principal Rule. I am myself inclined to follow the theory first advanced by J. van der Ploeg. The primitive work, represented in the present composition by columns and XV- XIX, draws its inspiration from Daniel xi, 40-XII, 3, and describes the final battle against the Kittim. This account was later combined with the concept of a holy forty years' war against the entire Gentile world, and was extended by the addition of a long series of Rules concerned with the military and religious preparation and with the conduct of the fighting. This appears to me to offer a more satisfactory explanation of the literary complexities of the manuscript than do the previous hypotheses. The text of the manuscripts from Cave 4, especially Ma and Mc > indicate that diverse redactions of the War Rule coexisted in the Qumran library. The only certain pointer to the date of the compilation of the War Rule is that, since the author made use of the Book of Daniel written shortly after BCE, his own work must have been started after that time. But a more accurate dating may be attempted by studying the military strategy and tactics described in the Scroll. Scholars are divided in their opinion as to whether the sons of light modelled them on Greek or Roman custom, or whether they merely drew their ideas from the Bible. Scripture doubtless exercised a definite influence on

the author of this Rule, but there is nevertheless a great deal of material completely foreign to it, and he must have possessed, in addition, at least some acquaintance with contemporary warfare. With Y. Yadin and other archaeologists and historians, I believe that both the weapons and the tactics of the War Rule correspond to the art of war practised by the Roman legion rather than by the Greek phalanx. In particular, the square shield of the foot-soldier, and the buckler of the horseman, the battle array of three lines, the 'gates of war' or openings between the units, seem to be characteristically Roman. In addition, only the cavalry were to wear greaves - a custom introduced into the Roman army during the time of Julius Caesar in the middle of the first century BCE. This and similar details, as well as the general representation of the Kittim as masters of the world, lead one to conclude that the War Rule was written some time after the middle of the first century BCE, and since the reference to the 'king' of the Kittim points to the Imperial epoch, the date of its composition should probably be placed in the last decades of the first century BCE or at the beginning of the first century CE. This work should not be mistaken for a manual of military warfare pure and simple. It is a theological writing, and the war of which it treats symbolizes the eternal struggle between the spirits of Light and Darkness. The phases of its battle are fixed in advance, its plan established and its duration predetermined. The opposing forces are equally matched and only by the intervention of 'the mighty hand of God' is the balance between them to be disturbed when he deals an 'everlasting blow' to 'Belial and all the host of his kingdom'.

I For the Master. The Rule of War on the unleashing of the attack of the sons of light against the company of the sons of darkness, the army of Belial: against the band of Edom, Moab,and the sons ofAmmon, and against the army of the sons of the East and the Philistines, and against the bands of the Kittim of Assyriaand their allies the ungodly of the Covenant. The sons of Levi, Judah, and Benjamin, the exiles in the desert, shall battle against them in.. all their bands when the exiled sons of light

return from the Desert of the Peoples to camp in the Desert of Jerusalem; and after the battle they shall go up from there. The king of the Kittim shall enter into Egypt, and in his time he shall set out in great wrath to wage war against the kings of the north, that his fury may destroy and cut the horn of Israel. This shall be a time of salvation for the people of God, an age of dominion for all the members of His company, and of everlasting destruction for all the company of Belial. The confusion of the sons of Japheth shall be great and Assyria shall fall unsuccoured. The dominion of the Kittim shall come to an end and iniquity shall be vanquished, leaving no remnant; for the sons of darkness there shall be no escape. The sons of righteousness shall shine over all the ends of the earth; they shall go on shining until all the seasons of darkness are consumed and, at the season appointed by God, His exalted greatness shall shine eternally to the peace, blessing, glory, joy, and long life of all the sons of light. On the day when the Kittim fall, there shall be battle and terrible carnage before the God of Israel, for that shall be the day appointed from ancient times for the battle of destruction of the sons of darkness. At that time, the assembly of gods and the hosts of men shall battle, causing great carnage; on the day of calamity, the sons of light shall battle with the company of darkness amid the shouts of a mighty multitude and the clamour of gods and men to the might of God. And it shall be a time of great tribulation for the people which God shall redeem; of all its afflictions none shall be as this, from its sudden beginning until its end in eternal redemption. On the day of their battle against the Kittim they shall set out for carnage. In three lots shall the sons of light brace themselves in battle to strike down iniquity, and in three lots shall Belial's host gird itself to thrust back the company of God. And when the hearts of the detachments of foot-soldiers faint, then shall the might of God fortify the hearts of the sons of light. And with the seventh lot, the mighty hand of God shall bring down the army of Belial, and all the angels of his kingdom, and all the members of his company in everlasting destruction.. {.. The priests, the Levites and the heads of the tribes.. the priests

as well as the Levites and the divisions of} the fifty-two heads of family of the congregation. They shall rank the chief Priests below the High Priest and his vicar. And the twelve chief Priests shall minister at the daily sacrifice before God, whereas the twenty-six leaders of the priestly divisions shall minister in their divisions. Below them, in perpetual ministry, shall be the chiefs of the Levites to the number of twelve, one for each tribe. The leaders of their divisions shall minister each in his place. Below them shall be the chiefs of the tribes together with the heads of family of the congregation. They shall attend daily at the gates of the Sanctuary, whereas the leaders of their divisions, with their numbered men, shall attend at their appointed times, on new moons and on Sabbaths and on all the days of the year, their age being fifty years and over. These are the men who shall attend at holocausts and sacrifices to prepare sweet-smelling incense for the good pleasure of God, to atone for all His congregation, and to satisfy themselves perpetually before Him at the table of glory. They shall arrange all these things during the season of the year of Release. During the remaining thirty-three years of the war, the men of renown, those summoned to the Assembly, together with all the heads of family of the congregation, shall choose for themselves fighting-men for all the lands of the nations. They shall arm for themselves warriors from all the tribes of Israel to enter the army year by year when they are summoned to war. But they shall arm no man for entry into the army during the years of Release, for they are Sabbaths of rest for Israel. In the thirty-five years of service, the war shall be fought during six; the whole congregation shall fight it together. And during the remaining twenty-nine years the war shall be divided. During the first year they shall fight against Aram-Naharaim; during the second, against the sons of Lud; during the third, against the remnant of the sons of Aram, against Uz and Hul and Togar and Mesha beyond the Euphrates; during the fourth and fifth, they shall fight against the sons of Arpachshad; during the sixth and seventh, against all the sons of Assyria and Persia and the East as far as the Great Desert; during the

eighth year they shall fight against the sons of Elam; during the ninth, against the sons of Ishmael and Keturah. In the ten years which follow, the war shall be divided against all the sons of Ham according to their clans and in their habitations; and during the ten years which remain, the war shall be divided against all the sons of Japheth in their habitations.

The Rule for the trumpets of Summons and the trumpets of Alarm according to all their duties.. the trumpets of Summons shall sound for disposal in battle formations and to summon the foot-soldiers to advance when the gates of war shall open; and the trumpets of Alarm shall sound for massacre, and for ambush, and for pursuit when the enemy shall be smitten, and for retreat from battle. On the trumpets calling the congregation they shall write, The Called of God. On the trumpets calling the chiefs they shall write, The Princes of God. On the trumpets of the levies they shall write, The Army of God. On the trumpets of the men of renown and of the heads of family of the congregation gathered in the house of Assembly they shall write, Summoned by God to the Council of Holiness. On the trumpets of the camps they shall write, The Peace of God in the Camps of His Saints. And on the trumpets for breaking camp they shall write, The mighty Deeds of God shall Crush the Enemy, Putting to Flight all those who Hate Righteousness and bringing Shame on those who Hate Him. On the trumpets for battle formations they shall write, Formations of the Divisions of God for the Vengeance of His Wrath on the Sons of Darkness. On the trumpets summoning the foot-soldiers to advance towards the enemy formations when the gates of war are opened they shall write, Reminder of Vengeance in God's Appointed Time. On the trumpets of massacre they shall write, The Mighty Hand of God in War shall Cause all the Ungodly Slain to Fall. On the trumpets of ambush they shall write, The Mysteries of God

shall Undo Wickedness. On the trumpets of pursuit they shall write, God has Smitten All the Sons of Darkness; His Fury shall not End until They are Utterly Consumed. On the trumpets of retreat, when they retreat from battle to the formation, they shall write, God has Reassembled. On the trumpets of return from battle against the enemy when they journey to the congregation in Jerusalem they shall write, Rejoicings of God in the Peaceful Return.

The Rule for the standards of the whole congregation according to their levies On the great standard at the head of the people they shall write, The People of God, together with the names of Israel and Aaron, and the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. according to the order of their precedence. On the standards of the camp columns formed by three tribes they shall write,. of God, together with the name of the leader of the camp.. On the standard of the tribe they shall write, Banner of God, together with the name of the leader of the tribe and the names of the chiefs of its clans. On the standard of the Myriad they shall write,. of God, together with the name of the chief of the Myriad and the names of the leaders of its Thousands. On the standard of the Thousand they shall write,. of God, together with the name of the chief of the Thousand and the names of the leaders of its Hundreds. On the standard of Hundred.. On the standard of Merari they shall write, The Votive-Offering of God, together with the name of the chief of Merari and the names of the leaders of its Thousands. On the standard of the Thousand they shall write, The Wrath of God is Kindled against Belial and against the Men of his Company, Leaving no Remnant, together with the name of the chief of the Thousand and the names of the leaders of its Hundreds.