1QS 6: 2c-4a – Satellites or Precursors of the Yahad?

This paper builds on my earlier work on 1QS 6:2c-4a highlighting shared elements between the former and that the well known description of the council of the community made up of twelve lay persons and three priests in 1QS 8:1-7. The common features include council of the community language exclusively (i.e., without הרבים), a small scale setting, a concern for the ratio of lay members to priests, and a lack of concern for the genealogical background of the priestly component (over against a preference elsewhere for designations such as the sons of Zadok or the sons of Aaron). The present paper engages with the important observation put forward by colleagues that my interpretation of 1QS 6:2-4 needs to account for the larger pool from which the small number of ten people is taken, i.e. “from the council of the community.” The preposition מן ( “from”) suggests that the council of the community is already larger. I probe this important issue further by a comparative study of 1QS 6:3 and CD 13:2-3 where a ‘parallel’ statement occurs that lacks the reference to the council of the community altogether. The evidence of CD 13:2-3 sheds important light on the literary development of 1QS 6:2-4 and suggests an original account of small scale social fellowship groups was subsequently associated with the council of the community in 1QS 6 but not in CD 13.