Throughout the history of research on the Dead Sea Scrolls, the investigation of religious sacrifice has been neglected. This book examines the views of sacrifice in the non-biblical sectarian Dead Sea Scrolls, through exploration of the historical and ideological development of the movement related to the scrolls (the DSS movement), particularly from the vantagepoint of the movement's later offshoot group known as the Qumran community
SKU (ISBN): 978-1-4632-4241-1
Publication Status: In Print
Publication Date: Apr 26,2022
Interior Color: Black
Trim Size: 6 x 9
Page Count: 393
Language: English
ISBN: 978-1-4632-4241-1
Since the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls beginning in 1947, its material witness and evocative content have captured the religious imagination of scholars and the general public alike. Hailed as one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of the 20th century, the excavated material content has illuminated and revitalized the vast fields of biblical-related scholarship. To date, investigation of the material discoveries related to religious sacrifice has received limited attention. In this study, Jamal-Dominique Hopkins examines the traces of the life and archaeology of Qumran, and the cherished views of sacrifice in the non-biblical sectarian Dead Sea Scrolls. Hopkins explores the historical and ideological development of the Jewish priestly movement related to the scrolls, focusing predominantly on the vantage point of the movement’s later offshoot group known as the Qumran community. This panoramic examination of sacrifice in the Dead Sea Scrolls offers a historical reconstruction of this principal community and its gripping story. Hopkins reveals the development of a community, from its pre-Qumranic to Qumranic settlement stages, which chose to spiritualize the Jerusalem temple and sacrificial practices. As a consequence of being driven into the Qumran desert, in the absence of the physical temple in Jerusalem, this nomadic priestly community viewed itself as “temple.” In exchange for actual animal sacrifice, through the acts of prayer and praise, the community offered the fruit of their lips as an alternative modality of sacrifice. In leaving the larger community, this Qumran community thus became an eschatological community engaging in the practice of cultic spiritualization.
ENDORSEMENTS
"Jamal-Dominique Hopkins has tackled an immensely important topic for understanding turn-of-the-era Judaism and Christianity. In what ways the cultus could be spiritualized, especially with reference to sacrifice, was vital for the Christian movement in its thinking about atonement and it was vital for post-70 Judaism that no longer had a temple or altar. Cultic Spiritualization lays a foundation on which future study in this topic must be built." -- Craig A. Evans, John Bisagno Distinguished Professor of Christian Origins, Houston Baptist University
"Jamal-Dominique Hopkins’s book offers a new window into the idea and practice of sacrifice at Qumran. Hopkins’s reconstruction not only contributes to an understanding of sacrificial and non-sacrificial worship at Qumran, but further intervenes in the discourse surrounding the origins and shifting identity of the community at Qumran and the textual history of the Dead Sea Scrolls. This book is a welcome addition to scholarship on the Dead Sea Scrolls and early Judaism." -- Yael Landman, Assistant Professor of Bible, Jewish Theological Seminary