The Rule of the Congregation

The Rule of the Congregation (1QSa) is an appendix to one of the first seven Dead Sea Scrolls discovered in caves near the Qumran site in 1946. Three related sectarian documents were discovered in Qumran Cave 1: The Community Rule (1QS), The Rule of the Congregation (1QSa), and The Rule of the Blessing (1QSb). The Rule of the Congregation and the Rule of the Blessing were at first overlooked by researchers and considered a continuation of the much longer Community Rule. After careful study, it was revealed that the two texts acted as appendices to the first Community Rule scroll, and described an eschatological community (identified as the Yahad in the Community Rule) existing in Israel during the “end of times.”

Since their discovery, the two passages have been called many names, including The Messianic Rule, The Charter for Israel in the Last Days, The Rule of the Benedictions, and A Priestly Blessing for the Last Days. The book’s Hebrew names are Serekh ha-‘Edah, and Serekh ha-Berakhot. They have also been referred to by 5 sigla: 1QSa and 1QSb are the most common, but 1Q28a, 1Q28b, and 4Q249a-i may also be used to reference passages.

Only one complete copy of the book exists with certainty, but 9 other copies of the Rule of the Congregation written in a cryptic script may exist. This first scroll (the scroll containing the Community Rule, the Rule of the Congregation, and the Rule of the Blessing) dates from 100-75 BCE. As this document is not an autograph document, it has been hypothesized that the original composition of the Rules occurred in the 2nd century BCE.

The Rule of the Congregation is the longer of the two appendices, and describes an eschatological congregation of men, women and children who have kept God’s covenant and atoned for the ways of wicked men. The title of the work itself is derived from the opening passage, which follows:

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