The Aramaic Bible: Targums in their Historical Context

192 The Aramaic Bible: Tar gums in their Historical Context
(see 1QH 6.21-22; 1QS 3.21-4.8). Having followed such an advice
'you may rejoice at the end of time'. In 4QMMT strong eschatological
convictions are expressed: at the end the blessings and curses in the
book of Moses will be fully realized. The zeal for a holy life, the
belief in angels, and the expectation of the coming judgment worked
out the decision to separate themselves from the ordinary people and
to make an exodus out of the unclean world. Separatism and sectarian
tendencies become visible in 4QMMT C 7: '(you know that) we have
separated from the mass of people (parashnu merob ha'am) and
refused from becoming intermingled with these things' (nimne'u
mehit'areb bidebarim ha'ellah). The authors of 4QMMT claim to be
the true 'Pharisees', that is, men who are separated from evil, as they
are the true Sadducees, i.e. Zadoqites, the genuine Sons of Sadoq.
What exactly does the verb para is mean in our letter? Does it suggest a
kind of spiritual exclusiveness or a ritual peculiarity, or must we
reckon with a real exodus from the world of civilization and a
withdrawal into the wilderness? In 1QS 5.1-2 those who volunteer for
repentance have 'to separate themselves (hibbadel) from the congregation
of the men of perversion'; this means to leave their dwellingplace
and to go to the wilderness (1QS 8.13-14).
G. The Zadoqite-Sadducean Question in the Light of4QMMT
It is interesting, that in 1QS 5.1-2 separation and sectarianism are
accomplished under the leadership of the Zadoqites, the 'Bene Sadoq,
the priests', who keep the covenant (1QS 5.8). In CD 3.21-4.4 the
Bene Sadoq are those 'who repented in Israel (sabe Jisra'el) and went
out of the Land of Judah'. But there is an inner exodus also: 'The
repentant of Israel deviated from the way of the people' (CD 19.29),
see 4QMMT C 7: 'We have separated from the mass of the people'.
Repentance means to turn away from evil (1QS 5.1) and to return to
the law (1QS 5.8).
Josephus confirms the special concern of the Essenes for purity
and the peculiar performance of their holy service, which means
their separatistic tendency. In Ant. 18.19 he mentions their different
way of practising rites of sanctification (diaphorotes hagneion). The
beginnings and the motif of this development can be discovered
in 4QMMT. The Greek term hagneia is the equivalent of Hebrew