Classics and Religious Studies, Department of
Date of this Version
January 2003
Abstract
In this paper I will investigate two fragmentary texts from the Qumran scrolls, each of which gives us a tantalizing glimpse of women, first as part of the community presupposed by each text, and second as having a particular role or status within that community. That role or status is indicated by the use of particular titles, which, according to their grammatical forms, are applied only to women. I will then trace the use of these same titles in later Jewish inscriptions and texts, in order to suggest a wider context in which the Qumran titles might be understood. Finally, I will look at the use of these titles in the early Christian community as illustrated by certain passages in the New Testament. I hope to show thereby a certain continuity of usage among Jewish communities in the second temple period, from the late second century B.C.E. to the early second century C.E.
Comments
Published in The Dead Sea Scrolls as Background to Postbiblical Judaism and Early Christianity: Papers from an International Conference at St. Andrews in 2001. Edited by James R. Davila. Brill: Leiden & Boston, 2003. Pages 177–191. Copyright © 2003 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. Used by permission.