עדים וזוממים: לתולדותיה של פרשנות הלכתית קדומה

Damascus Document 9:16–10:3—the sectarian rule of testimony—presents serious difficulties that have challenged scholars for years. In light of the evidence from Qumran Cave 4, we suggest an emendation and a new reading of the passage. This reading reflects an understanding of the pentateuchal laws of testimony in Deut 19:15–19 that is markedly different from the conventional reading of this biblical pericope and the established halakhah. A similar interpretation of the biblical passage is also echoed in early rabbinic sources, and may well be the key to understanding an enigmatic dispute between Simon ben Shataḥ and Judah ben Tabbai, recorded in Mekhilta de-Rabbi Ishmael to Exod 23:7. An earlier, less developed version of this article was published in Dead Sea Discoveries 20 (2013), pp. 179–199.