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Marriage Regulations of the Dead Sea Community
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 July 2014
Extract
One of the so-called “Damascus Covenant” fragments discovered in Qumran Cave 4 calls for bona fides in negotiations leading to marriage.
The following is Baumgarten's reading of the text and his translation:
4. … And concerning what is said (Lev. 25:14)
5. [“When you sell anything to or buy anything from] your neighbour, you shall not defraud one another,” this is the expli[cation …
6. …] everything that he knows that is found …
7. … and he knows that he is wronging him, whether it concerns man or beast. And if
8. [a man gives his daughter to another ma]n, let him disclose all her blemishes to him, lest he bring upon himself the judgment
9. [of the curse which is said (Deut. 27:18)] (of the one) that “makes the blind to wander out of the way”. Moreover, he should not give her to one unfit for her, for
10. [that is kil'ayim, (plowing with) o]x and ass and wearing wool and linen together (Deut. 22:10–11) …
The first item (lines 4–9) should be read against the background of rabbinical morals extending to the rule of fraud to other forms of injury by word of mouth:
a. Just as a concept of ona'ah (fraud) exists regarding sales, there exists a concept of ona'ah (offence, fraud) by mere speech. One should not ask for the price of goods without having the intention of buying, one should not remind a repentant person of his sinful past or a proselyte of his ancestors' deeds. This was meant by the admonition: “Do not offend or oppress the stranger, for you were strangers in Egypt”.
- Type
- Ancient and Jewish Law
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- Copyright
- Copyright © Cambridge University Press and The Faculty of Law, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem 1995
References
1 4 Q 271 (D f; No. 43.279) published and translated by Baumgarten, J. in Sussman, A. and Peled, R., eds., Scrolls From the Dead Sea: Catalog of the Exhibition (Washington D.C., Library of Congress, 1993) 10Google Scholar; also published in Eisenman, R. H. and Robinson, J. M., eds., A Facsimile Edition of the Dead Sea Scrolls (Washington D.C., Biblical Archaeological Society, 1991) pl. 1315.Google Scholar
2 Mishnah Baba Metzia 4:10, quoting Ex. 22:20.
3 Leviticus Rabba 33:4 and Lev. 25:14.
4 Maimonides, , Mishneh Torah, Mekhirah 18:1Google Scholar; Caro, R. Josef, Shulhan Arukh, Hoshen Mishpat 228:6.Google Scholar
5 Mishnah Ketubbot 7:7–9 (my own translation).
6 Tosefta Ketubbot 7:10, according to the Vienna ms.
7 According to the version of the Erfurt ms.; cf. Lieberman, S., Tosefta ki-fshutah (New York, Jewish Theological Seminary of America, 1967) vol. 6, p. 299.Google Scholar
8 The use of curses for moral development of the law was known also by rabbis. Cf. my Religious Law and Ethics (Jerusalem, Mesharim, 1991) 101.
9 Cf. Babylonian Talmud, Yevamot 44a, 59a; Sanhedrin 53a.
10 The Damascus Document 4:20 – 5:11; hinting at Lev. 18:18 and quoting Gen. 1:27. Cf. Knibb, M. A., The Qumran Community (Cambridge U.P., 1987) 39–41CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Baumgarten, J. M., “The Qumran-Essene Restraints on Marriage”, in Schiffman, L. H., Archaeology and History in the Dead Sea Scrolls (Sheffield, JSOT/ASOR) Monograph 2, 1990) 13–24.Google Scholar The reaction of the rabbis against the Sectarian impediment of niece appears in Tosefta Qiddushin 1:4; BT Yevamot 62b-63a. Cf. Rabin, Ch., Qumran Studies (Oxford U.P., 1957) 91.Google Scholar
11 The Rule of the Congregation (1 Q Sa) 1:9–11; cf. M. A. Knibb, The Qumran Community, supra n. 10, at 147–149; Baumgarten, supra n. 1, at 14.
12 The Disciple Scroll 8:21; cf. Rabin, supra n. 10, at 29.