שוקיים סימן לבחירה (צד חדש בתורתם של אנשי כת מדבר יהודה)

The recently published 'astrological' texts from Qumarn (mainly 4QCrypt), are physiognomical rather than astrological. Astrology appears in them as a matter of minor interest only, their chief interest being the determination of the bodily types of men as representing various 'spiritual' characters, belonging either to Light or Darkness. This system is rooted in the typical dualistic anthropology of Qumran, and therefore necessarily different from other systems of physiognomy. The problem raised by these texts is the exact position of their view of man vis-à-vis the rest of Qumranic literature; and especially their confrontation with the central theoretic text, viz. "The Treatise of the Two Spirits" (1QS iii—iv). To effect this confrontation, the author has attempted to interpret 1QS iii—iv by the application of 4QCry. This experiment has yielded some interesting results, in giving a 'new' (though not necessarily correct) sense to some passages. But the main finding of this confrontation is that the two texts are not in full agreement. 1QS iii—iv is not only spiritual and contemplative, but also opposed to any compromise in its (deterministic) moral dualism; it says that men are either good or bad. 4QCry is not only naively 'practical'; it also implies that Light and Darkness coexist in the great majority of individuals, although in varying proportions. The harsh dualism is thus causalistically broken down and softened. However, this view does not go so far as to admit the possibility of balanced (neutral) character. All proportions are given in ninths (1 : 8, 6 : 3, etc.), so that either Light or Darkness always predominate. Thus, as our acquaintance with Qumranic literature grows, further evidence of richness in thought is found. However, the basic attitude, a 'diversity in unity', remains unchanged.