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have been that the righteous will be like a clean garment, white and unstained (cp. Dan. 12.10),
whereas the wicked, themselves 'sons of darkness', will be like the dark patch, symbolic of lingering
impurity, which had then to be cut out; the implication being, of course, that they will be severed from
the community of Israel.
16. Cp. Eccles. 7.25.
17. See Analytical Index, E. 3 (e). This suggests the Iranian frashokereti.
18. See above, n. 12. Cp. also Isa. 9.1; 58.8; 60.1, 19-20; Manual, iv.8.
10 - Destiny (The Epochs of Time)
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Introduction
Josephus tells us (Ant., xiii.5, 9) that the Essenes—with whom the Qumran Brotherhood may be
identical—believed that all things were predetermined. Interesting light is shed on this by a
fragmentary text recovered from Cave Four. (1) Reconstructed from scraps of two mutually
complementary copies, the contents present an intriguing combination of two doctrines, viz., (a) that
the history of mankind is disposed by God in a series of preordained epochs, (2) and (b) that the
cardinal events of each epoch are brought about by angels whose activities were determined by God
before He created them. (3) The former of these doctrines probably reflects, in a religious vein, a
preoccupation with systematic chronology which was a notable feature of Hellenistic literature,
attested especially by quotations from the lost work of the historiographer Demetrius (ca. 215 B.C.)
and by the Book of Jubilees.
The text opens with a summary statement of these two doctrines. In proof of the former it is then
pointed out that the sequence of the ages seems indeed to follow a systematic scheme, since exactly
ten generations elapsed from Adam to Noah and from Noah to Abraham's begetting of Isaac. (4) The
latter doctrine is in turn validated by the observation that all the crucial events in the career of
Abraham, viz., the promise of the land to his descendants (Gen. 17.1-8), the apparition beside the oaks
of Mamre and the rescue of Lot (ib., 18.2, 29; 19.1, 15), the incident on Mount Moriah (ib., 22.11,
15), and the Plaguing of Pharaoh for molesting Sarai (ib., 12.17), involved the intervention of angels.
There is, however, one obvious objection which has to be offset: in at least one notorious instance,
namely, that of the commerce between the 'sons of God' and the daughters of men, recounted in Gen.
6.1—4, the angels in fact flouted God. (5) Identifying the ringleader (as in the Book of Enoch) with
Azazel, the author surmounts this difficulty by the argument that, after all, the rebels received condign
punishment, while those who did not join them enjoyed divine favor, (6) so that, in the long run, what
the incident really demonstrated was that God will not brook any interference with His plan and that
His rule is essentially benevolent.
Then, too, in the case both of the promise about the land and of the plaguing of Pharaoh the author has
to stretch a point in order to find evidence of intervention by angels, for the Scriptural text describes
them as actions performed directly by God Himself. Such pious substitution has, however, good
precedent and parallel. Thus—to cite but a few examples—the strange being with whom Jacob
wrestles at the Ford of Jabbok (Gen. 32.23ff.) am who is indeed subsequently identified as a god
(verses 29, 31), is described in Hos. 14.5 as an angel. Similarly, in Exod. 4.24, where the traditional
Hebrew text states that 'the LORD met Moses at the inn, meaning to kill him', the Greek (Septuagint)
Version and the Aramaic Targum substitute 'an angel of the LORD'; and in the case of the disease
inflicted on Pharaoh, the Qumran Memoirs of the Patriarchs says that the LORD sent 'a noisome spirit'
to do so, (7) and the same statement is made also in the Ethiopic Kebra Nagast (ch. 82, ed. Bezold).
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Notes
1. The texts were first published in full by J.M. Allegro in Discoveries in the Judaean Desert, V
(1968), nos. 180-81, and were then combined and interpreted by J.T. Milik in a brilliant study which
appeared in Journal of Jewish Studies 23 (1972), pp. 109ff. Valuable corrections of Allegro's readings
were supplied by J. Strugnell in Revue de Qumran, 1970, pp. 252-55.
2. On this doctrine, see Analytical Index, E. 1—2; II Baruch, chs. 56-71; IV Ezra, 14.11-12. As
applied eschatologically, cp. Dan. 9.24-27; Testament of Levi, 16.1; Enoch, 93.1-10; 91.12-17 (The
Apocalypse of Weeks').
3. On the predetermined roles of angels, cp. HI 7, 20, 28; Hymns viii.8; xi.34; xv.14, 22; xx.14.
4. Cp. Gen. 5.1-31; 11.10-26. This is pointed out specifically in Mishnah, Aboth, v.1-2.
5. On this legend in post-Biblical literature, cp. Enoch, chs. 6-10; 15-16; Jubilees, 5.1, 10; 10.5, 11;
11.4; Testament of Reuben, ch. 5; Testament of Judah, 25.3; Syr. Baruch, 56.10-13; Josephus, Ant., i,
3, 1; Philo, De Gigantibus, i.2; TB, Yama, 67b; Midrash Akbir, quoted in Yalqut, Gen. §44; L.
Ginzberg, Legends of the Jews, vol. v, pp. 150ff.
6. For my interpretation of this passage, which differs from that proposed by Milik, see below, Notes
to the Text, n. 5.
7. See above, p. 366.
~~~~~~~
The Epochs Of Time
~~ (i) ~~
Clarification (1) (Of The Doctrine) Concerning The Fixed Epochs (Of History):
As regards GOD's (*) having set a fixed epoch for the [occurrence of everything past] and future, (the
fact is that) before He created [the angels] He determined what [they] were to do [in their several
epochs], epoch by epoch. Moreover, this was engraved on (heavenly) tablets (2) [and duly prescribed]
for the respective epochs La which they were to bear rule.
Here is the ordered scheme: [from Adam to Noah, and again from Noah] until [Abraham] begat Isaac
[He appointed] ten [generations].
CLARIFICATION (OF THE STORY) CONCERNING AZAZEL AND THE ANGELS WHO [HAD
INTERCOURSE WITH THE DAUGHTERS OF MEN], SO THAT THE LATTER BORE GIANTS
TO THEM, AND CONCERNING HOW AZAZEL [LED MEN ASTRAY ALONG WAYS OF]
INIQUITY AND (THEREBY) LEFT ISRAEL A LEGACY OF WICKEDNESS (WHICH IS TO
LAST) THROUGH AN EPOCH OF SEVENTY WEEKS (OF YEARS): (3)
[(The fact is that) GOD eventually sent these rebels to perdition] (4) for [ever, so as to execu]te
(condign) judgments (upon them), [and He also brought] judgment on all who had associated
themselves with them in their filth. (5) These were [ ], lovers of iniquity and such as leave a legacy of
guilt. [At the same time, however, God showed mercy and displayed His glory] in the sight of all that
indeed acknowledged (lit. knew) Him and mini[stered to His holiness. To those who serve Him His
love is endless (?)], and His goodness knows no bounds. [ ].
----
[*] Written in archaic script
----
Such men have (ever) been singled out through [their] knowledge (of Him) (6), E ]; through His truth
has He given them ordered mode of life [ ] throughout their various epochs [ ], whenso [they] are
brought into being.
~~ (ii) ~~
(The next passage seems to allegorize the Story of the Fallen Angels, taking them to typify the
reprobate among men, who are destined, on account of their impurity, to suffer 'great judgments and
grievous diseases'. The text is too imperfect and obscure to permit reliable translation. One recognizes
such significant words as 'guilt', 'the communion of unch[astity]', (7) 'wallowing(?) in human
sinfulness', and '(destined) for great judgments and grievous diseases of the flesh in conformity with
God's acts of power and in face of their wickedness'.
This is followed by a much clearer passage in which, conversely, those who did not join the rebels are
taken to typify the godly and pure among men. Here too, however, the restoration of several phrases
can be little more than guesswork:)
(Howbeit), in accordance with the tender mercy of (Sob, in accordance with His goodness and with
the wondrous manifestation of His glory, He has (always) granted it to some of the earth-born to gain
admittance (8) to the Congregation of the Holy, to be reckoned among the community of angelic
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