Another Look at Dualism in 4QVisions of Amram

Amram's dream-vision in the aramaic work 4QVisAmram is infused with a blend of cosmological dualism and priestly concerns. Because this work almost certainly originated before and beyond the ken of the scribal community at Qumran, the dualistic ideology it contains provides important context for the dualistic ideas that emerge in the Qumran sectarian literature as well as in other ancient Jewish and Christian writings. The fragmentary nature of the manuscript evidence of 4QVisAmram, however, does not provide a complete knowledge of the composition's dualistic outlook. This article consists of two short notes on two related issues central to our understanding of dualism in Amram's dream-vision. These include: (i) the limited evidence for 'free choice' dualism in the extant text, and (ii) the problematics of depiciting thhe angel of darkness in serpentine imagery.