ונספתה רוחו הצמאה עם הרויה': על פירוש דברים כט 18 במגילות קומראן'

To date, the implications of references to Deut. 29:18 in the scrolls have not been satisfactorily explained. The Rule Scroll quotes Deut. 29:18b (ונספתה רוחו הצמאה עם הרוה) to the effect that the sinner's "thirsty spirit will be swept away with the saturation" (1QS 2:12–16). A more passing reference to this verse appears in Pesher Habakkuk 11:12–14. The present paper puts forth a new proposal for understanding these references. The Septuagint version renders the mysterious expression as: "lest the sinner destroy the guiltless with him", interpreting the 'thirsty' as the righteous, and the 'sated' as the sinner. This interpretation is reflected in several allusions found in later Hellenistic Jewish writings (Wisdom of Solomon, Prayer of Manasseh, Epistle of Barnabas) but with a twist: not the sinner, but sin itself destroys with it (sunapóllumi) the human being. The same understanding probably underlies the Qumranic passages: the spirit of the member of the community who has been unable to abandon his wicked ways will be swept away together with his sin; similarly, the priestly adversary of Pesher Habakkuk started out promisingly but then walked in the ways of sin that will ultimately wipe away his spirit.