Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University / The problem is to describe the idea of man, both as individual and as community member, that is expressed in literature peculiar to the Jewish sectarian community which existed at the site of Khirbet Qumran. The research method has included translation and exegesis of passages of Qumran literature relevant to the problem, and exegetical analyses were correlated in order to describe as fully as possible the general idea of man in Qumran literature. This idea was compared with deutero-canonical texts and archaeological evidence from the Qumran complex in order to substantiate or correct exegetical inferences. Finally, the formalized idea was evaluated in the light of the idea of man in canonical scriptures in order to outline the origin, development, and influence of the sectarian idea. The investigation has disclosed that the idea of man in Qumran literature is the result of a re-forming of the general idea of man in the Old Testament according to the apocalyptic orientation of the Qumran sect. The mood of apocalyptic eschatology determined the degree of differentiation between the sectarian idea of man and the idea normally encountered in Old Testament documents; the former manifested the radical implications of the latter. Therefore, to describe the idea of man in Qumran manuscripts by moralistic, philosophical, or scientific categories is to distort it. [TRUNCATED]

Ηirbet-Qumran lies about 15km south of Jericho. Between 1947 and 1956 eleven caves were discovered that contained thousands of fragments, mainly of prepared animal skin, representing approximately 900 texts many of which are considered copies. Over 100 of these texts are in Aramaic, though many are short fragments. The provenance of these texts is uncertain, but the fact that copies of some of them are known from beyond Qumran indicates that not all the Aramaic texts found at Qumran are likely to have originated there, though Qumran may have been a site where they were copied. Hitherto, this Aramaic corpus has been referred to as a single entity linguistically, but increasingly it is recognized that heterogeneity of textual features is present. Such heterogeneity may provide clues as to the origins of different texts. The current classification of Qumran texts is in terms of the cave they were found in and the order in which they were found: it does not provide any information about textual relationships between texts. In this thesis I first review the literature to identify suitable quantitative criteria for classification of Aramaic Qumran texts. Second, I determine appropriate statistical methods to classify edited Aramaic Qumran texts according to quantitative textual criteria. Third, I establish ‘proof of principle’ by classifying Hebrew bible books. Fourth, I classify the Aramaic Qumran texts as a corpus without reference to external reference texts. Fifth, I investigate the alignment of this internally-derived classification with external reference texts. Sixth, I perform confirmatory analyses to determine the number of different text-type groups within the corpus. Seventh, I use this classification to allocate previously unclassified texts to one of these text-types. Finally, I examine the textual characteristics of these different text-types and discuss what this can tell scholars about individual texts and the linguistic development of Aramaic during Second Temple Judaism as reflected by Qumran.

No description available.

Texte remanié de: Dissertation--Faculty of Religious studies--Montreal, 1971, soutenue sous le titre "Atonement ideas in the Qumran scrolls" / Bibliogr. p. 136-140. Index.

As the title indicates, this work has two related objectives. The first is to determine whether the literary conventions of the pesher genre deprive the "historical allusions" of any significance. In other words, do the allusions refer to real events and characters, or are they simply symbols or allegories. The second objective follows closely upon the first. Once the historical nature of the allusions is demonstrated, we proceed to investigate the consequences of that demonstration in one specific area: the identification of the three principal characters: the Wicked Priest, the Teacher of Righteousness and the Liar. This work is divided into three parts: Part One: Literary Genre. This section is devoted to the first objective: to determine whether the pesher allusions are in any way historical. Part Two: Information in the Pesharim. Here we list and interpret the references to the Wicked Priest, the Teacher of Righteousness and the Liar found in the commentaries. Part Three: Identification of the Characters. This final section is dedicated to the identification of the three principal characters. The information collected from the pesharim is arranged and compared to what we know about possible candidates from outside contemporary sources. Part One consists of two chapters. The first (The Problems of History in the Pesharim) spells out the problems involved in historical research based on the pesher allusions: has history been subordinated to literary device, and if so, is it possible to determine the extent of this subordination; are the characters individuals, or are they categories, types or titles. There follows upon this exposition of the question, a brief review of the various theories of identification which have been proposed for the Wicked Priest, the Teacher and the Liar. The second chapter (The Effect of Literary Genre on the Pesharim) answers the questions raised in the previous chapter. After analyzing the content, conventions and finality of the pesharim, we conclude that the allusions must refer to known events and characters. The allusions are too fragmentary and basically uninformative to have any meaning or power to convince, if they did not call to mind people and occasions that were well known to the readers. The fact that the readers necessarily had to be well acquainted with the events involved, if they were to make sense of these allusions, does not allow the author to tamper excessively with the historical narrative. Moreover, the very purpose of the whole exercise would be defeated if the author could both re-interpret the texts and falsify the history. He did not tailor 'history to fit prophecy, but rather strained the meaning of the prophet's words to fit the events of the sect's history. The second part begins with a brief introduction which explains the method we shall follow to work out the identity of the principal characters. We then gather all the passages in the pesharim which name them (principally IQpHab, 4QpPss^a, and 4QpNah.) We consider as well those places in the Damascus Document where the Teacher of Righteousness and the Liar are mentioned. The third part is divided into three chapters. Chapter Five examines the background of the documents: archaeology, paleography, the identity of the Kittim and the Qumran Community, and finally the single, apparently chronological indication to be found in the scrolls: the three hundred and ninety years in the Damascus Document. We then examine the pesher allusions to the Wicked Priest (Chapter Six) and distinguish between those statements which refer to verifiable facts, and those that merely express the hostility and disapproval of the author. By comparing these statements to information in external contemporary sources (Josephus and the Books of Maccabees) we reach the conclusion that the most likely individual to fit the scroll description of the Wicked Priest is Jonathan Maccabaeus. The texts referring to the Liar are subjected to the same scrutiny, but the results are less satisfying. There is, however, a strong possibility, but only a possibility, that the Liar and the Wicked Priest are the same individual. In that case, Liar would be another name for Jonathan Maccabaeus. Finally we analyze the pesher allusions to the Teacher of Righteousness and compare them to what we know from non-Qumran sources (Chapter Seven.) Although there is abundant information about the Teacher's role in the community, his peculiar teaching, and the esteem in which his followers held him, there is little that points towards his personal identity. Similarly, there is too little information in external sources about those individuals who might be the Teacher of Righteousness to allow us more than random guesses. We can only go so far along truly evidential lines: we can determine a certain period, discover a likely candidate for the Wicked Priest and possibly the Liar, and make certain definite exclusions. Anything beyond this enters the realm of pure conjecture.

Texte remanié de: Doctoral dissertation--Jerusalem--Hebrew university, 2005. / Bibliogr. p. 289-307.

Proefschrift--Groningen. / Summary in English. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (B. Div.)--St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary, 1971. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 69-73).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--UCLA, 2008. / Vita. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 299-316).

Este trabalho de pesquisa visa a verificar quais fatores psicossociais presentes em determinado ambiente favorecem ou determinam a fixação de uma nova interpretação de um texto ou situação. Tomou-se como base o experimento de Stanley Milgram realizado para determinação dos fatores que impõem um determinado comportamento. A pesquisa comprova a hipótese de que os fatores que impõem comportamentos também estão presentes na imposição de uma determinada interpretação. Para tanto, no primeiro capítulo, analisou-se o experimento realizado por Milgram na Universidade de Yale em 1962 a respeito da obediência à autoridade, e deste experimento retirou-se as variáveis determinantes do comportamento dos voluntários. No capítulo segundo analisou-se os escritos sectários da comunidade do Mar Morto, especificamente a de Qumran, verificando que houve mudanças de interpretação do texto canônico tomando como referência o livro de Habacuque. No terceiro capítulo apresenta-se a comprovação que os mesmos fatores presentes no experimento de Milgram se encontravam na comunidade de Qumran e que estes foram refletidos nos textos sectários. Também são apresentados outros eventos históricos que evidenciam a presença das variáveis estudadas confirmando a hipótese. Na sequência, apresentam-se sugestões de análise complementar que podem direcionar uma futura investigação científica. / The aim of this research is to verify which psychosocial factors present in a certain environment determine or favour the establishment of a new interpretation of a text or situation. The Stanley Milgram experiment to determine which factors impose certain behaviors was used as the starting point. This research proves the hypothesis that the factors which impose behaviors are also present in imposing a specific interpretation. For this purpose, in the first chapter, the experiment carried out by Milgram in Yale University in the year 1962 concerning the obedience to authority was analyzed, and from this experiment were drawn the variables which determine the behavior of the volunteers. In the second chapter, the sectarian scriptures of the Dead Sea community, specifically of Qumran were analyzed, verifying that changes of interpretation of the canonical text occurred, focusing on the book of Habakkuk. In the third chapter it is demonstrated that the same factors presented in the Milgram experiment were found in the Qumran community and were reflected in the sectarian texts. Other historical events are also shown which provide evidence of the same variables confirming the hypothesis. In sequence, some suggestions are made for further future scientific analysis.