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Re: orion-list probably not Maccabees; etc.

Stephen Goranson writes, in part:

>  1. Emile Puech's DJD XXV is an important and interesting and learned
>  volume, IMO. Yet he apparently did sometimes try (as Collins' DSD review
>  suggested) a bit much to fit some texts to a Maccabean setting. We know,
>  e.g., that 1 Maccabees, probably written in Hebrew circa 100 BCE, and
>  therefore available to Qumranites, is quite absent at Qumran. Even the word
>  "maccabee," as far as I know, does not appear in Qumran ms. Hanukkah is
>  also absent, despite great focus on calendar issues. And there's a
>  difference on temple tax (see A. Baumgarten in Hengel FS). Etcetera. Puech
>  tried to link Hasidim in 4Q521 with Essenes. Not much new in that attempt,
>  though "hasidim" is no more prominent in Qumran mss than one would expect
>  of a group using Hebrew Bible; ordinary.

    I quite agree with Stephen's assessment of the use of "hasidim" in 4Q521.

    As has been already extensively discussed on Orion, the lack of mention 
of Hanukkah in scrolls calendrical documents is not diagnostic, since 
festival lists in the scrolls are restricted to those whose authority derives 
from Moses (i.e. the Pentateuch or the Temple Scroll).  See the Orion thread, 
"Hanukkah civil holiday?; Etc." from Dec. 1998 - Jan. 1999.  My summary 
statement, which received a concensus agreement from those participating in 
the discussion, was as follows:

     "In light of Martin Jaffee's insightful comments, perhaps the following 
analysis will prove generally agreeable.
     "We may properly distinguish between holidays with a sacred mandate 
(Torah, 11QT) and those with a civil; mandate (e.g. those inaugurated by the 
Hasmoneans).  Having a civil mandate does not necessarily exclude a holiday 
from the sphere of the religious.  By the same token, holidays that are 
religious (in whole or in part) do not necessarily thereby fall into the 
sphere of the sacred.  Hanukkah, originally possessing a civil mandate, and 
later a rabbinic mandate, had both religious and nationalist overtones (in 
various mixture through time).  However, Hanukkah never possessed the status 
of a sacred holiday alongside those of the Torah or 11QT.  That being the 
case, Hanukkah's absence in the Qumran calendar texts is only to be expected, 
and is not useful in determining the attitude of the scrolls authors toward 
the Hasmoneans."

    I would suggest to Professor Goranson that the absence of 1 Maccabees at 
Qumran is not diagnostic either, since (with minor exceptions early in the 
century) modern scholarship has not attributed this book to the Hasidim, i.e. 
the supporters of Judas Maccabee after 166 BCE.   (Indeed, some see 
anti-Hasidic polemics in 1 Maccabees.)  Why, then, would a predominantly 
Hasidic library be reasonably expected to contain a history of the Maccabean 
period authored by someone outside their circle?  Rather, one would expect 
the Qumran scrolls to contain a history of the Hasidim authored by the 
Hasidim themselves.  The Animal Apocalypse of 1 Enoch, written in summer 163 
BCE, is precisely such a document, containing a history (in symbolic but 
transparent language) of the Hasidic movement from its inception c. 200 BCE, 
and celebrating Maccabean victories during the period 166-163 BCE.  According 
to the majority of scholars, this document was written by the Hasidim.  the 
question therefore is not, why doesn't a Hasidic library contain 1 Maccabees. 
 Rather, the question is, why would a non-Hasidic library contain the Animal 
Apocalypse?  Clearly the presence of the Animal Apocalypse and the War Scroll 
(the Maccabean war manual also authored by the Hasidim in summer 163 BCE) 
both indicate the depositors of the scrolls revered the older literature of 
the Hasidim.

>  some Qumran texts (S, MMT, pesharim...) are self-identified
>  as Essene.
  
    Perhaps Stephen might qualify such categorical statements with the 
comment, "assuming that 'Essenes' translates 'doers [of the Torah]' " (a 
proposition not all are yet prepared to grant the status of fact).

    Best wishes,
    Russell Gmirkin
For private reply, e-mail to RGmyrken@aol.com
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