מחזורי השמיטה והיובל בקומראן ויחסם אל השנה בת 364 יום

The article relates to two traditions of septenary reckoning in Second Temple literature: the calendrical tradition of the 364-day year, on the one hand, and the apocalyptic tradition of long-range Sabbatarian division of world history, on the other. The latter tradition, which appears in different variations in the Apocalypse of Weeks, in the book of Jubilees, and in Qumran scrolls such as 4Q390 (Apocryphon of Jeremiah Ce), counts historical epochs in units of jubilees and weeks of jubilees. It is claimed here that the two traditions are hard to reconcile. The seven-year cycle, a central concept in the latter tradition, is altogether meaningless in the calendrical tradition, which uses three- and six-year cycles. This discrepancy is discussed in relation to several textual sources, notably the historical Mishmarot texts (4Q331–333) and 4Q319's Otot list. The latter is explained as an attempt to reconcile the divergent numerical templates of the two traditions. The article highlights three points: (1) Qumran literature does not attest to the use of shemitah cycles as a historical dating device, as opposed to later Jewish literature; (2) the apocalyptic compositions that employ Jubilean chronology do not mention the priestly courses, and do not take the details of the 364-day year into consideration; and (3) Qumran calendars do not relate to the shemitah cycle. 4Q330 (Mishmarot I) and 4Q319 (Otot), the only scrolls that mention shemitah, do not adhere to the apocalyptic Jubilean tradition.