The Aramaic Bible: Targums in their Historical Context

BETZ The Qumran Halakhah Text 4QMMT 193
ta-harah, which stands for the act and the status of purity in 4QMMT
B 3.13.54.
A second sectarian feature of the Essenes and the Qumran writings
is their emphasis on the sanctity of the sabbath: They are 'very different
from all the other Jews with regard to keeping the sabbath free
from any activities' (War 2.147). This is confirmed by the long list of
sabbath rules in CD 10.14-21.1. The sabbath is mentioned at the
beginning of 4QMMT, where the solar-lunar calendar is introduced.
The special calendar for the sabbath days and the feasts seems to be
the first and therefore very important issue in 4QMMT. In A 1-2 the
completion of the solar year with its 364 days is mentioned. 25 This
solar-lunar calendar was characteristic for the Qumran Community.
In the scholarly debate on 4QMMT and other new fragments from
Cave 4 sometimes the suggestion is made that other Jewish groups of
that period may have used the solar-lunar calendar too. Such a possibility
is explicitly denied. In CD 3.14-15 we are told that God has
revealed to those who kept his commandmants 'hidden things in which
all Israel went astray, namely: His holy sabbath-days and the [feast-]
times of his glory, his righteous testimonies and the ways of his truth
and the wishes of his will which man shall do'. Among the unpublished
fragments from Cave 4 we have quite a few which deal with
this special calendar. We also find it in the book of Jubilees, in
1 Enoch, and in the Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs; of these
writings we have fragments in Cave 4.
H. Historical Conclusions: The Sender and the
Addressee of 4QMMT
When compared with the Qumran writings, 4QMMT is unique with
regard to its literary form, style, and terminology. It is the only letter
that has been found in the Qumran caves. This uniqueness is to some
extent true for the content of this letter also, because it deals with the
tasks of the Jerusalem priests and their temple-service; this was not the
business of the Qumran community. The peculiar form and content of
4QMMT may perhaps explain the deviations with regard to terminology,
style, and attitude toward the addressee from the other
25. Weshalemah ha-shanah. After the Shabbat, that falls on the 28th of the 12th
month, a first day ('achad) and the second (ha-sheni) 'come up and a third day has to
be added'. There are 31 days in the 3rd, 6th, 9th, and 12th month.