סיים במה שפתח': על סיומה של מגילת ברית דמשק ומשמעו הספרותי'

The conclusion of the Damascus Document, as found in Qumran fragments 4Q266–4Q270, includes a passage that summarizes the previous section of laws ("this is the list of laws..."), and also refers to events "visited" by God upon the people and to the migrations of the members of the sect. Said to be written in "the latest teaching of the Torah" (מדרש התורה האחרון), previous constructions of this passage understood "the laws" as having been written "in accordance with the latest [or final] interpretation of the Torah". A new rendering of this passage (containing a slightly different reading) suggests that it is comprised of two separate sentences: the first serves as a conclusion to the second part of the Damascus Document, namely, the part containing the "laws", and the second relates chiastically to the first section of the document, the "Admonition". In its survey of the ancient history of Israel, the Admonition places emphasis on the backsliding of previous generations from the true commands of God and on the granting of an enlightened revelation to the leaders of the elect "sons of light" who enter the "new covenant". The proposed reading, substantiated by a detailed analysis of the terms found in the passage, supports a view of the Damascus Document as being intended for new proselytes to the sect. By providing the theoretical, historical basis for the sect's allegation that it possesses the true, newly revealed understanding of God's commandments and intentions, the historical survey is particularly germane to the claims made by the sect in its address to the proselytes. In his concluding sentence (which seems to be modeled after a passage in 2 Chron. 24:23–27 that mentions the taking of booty to Damascus), the author of the Damascus Document states that the source of his historical account is itself based on divinely inspired exegesis of scriptural prophetic texts. He names as his source a work entitled מדרש התורה האחרון ("the contemporary teaching of the Torah"), evidently a known written work: perhaps a pesher.