Identifying Sectarian Characteristics in the Phylacteries from Qumran

The present study has examined the question of whether the Qumran phylacteries are to be viewed as representative of practices generally observed by mainstream Judaism during the second temple period, or whether these exemplars represent customs peculiar to the Qumran sectarians. Two scribal characteristics have been identified as distinctive of biblical texts deriving from sectarian circles – vulgar orthography and non-Masoretic textual character. It has been shown that the vast majority of the phylactery exemplars from Qumran display at least one of these sectarian characteristics, and should thus be recognized as sectarian phylacteries. Only two exemplars, 8QPhyl I and 4QPhyl D-F, were found to have been completely compatible with Pharisaic scribal norms. While virtually all of the exemplars displaying sectarian scribal practices include “extended” scriptural passages not prescribed by rabbinic law, the two exemplars which are compatible with normative Pharisaic scribal practices contain only the four “abbreviated” scriptural passages prescribed by rabbinic law. As such, the phylactery exemplars from Qumran provide no evidence for the theory that the Decalogue was commonly included in phylacteries during the second temple period as part of “extended” scriptural portions.