The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls
Worship in the Community of the Covenant
3. Worship in the Community of the Covenant
In addition to the worship of God offered through a life of holiness, the Qumran sectary had more particularly to perform the ritual acts prescribed by Moses in the correct manner and at the right times. The earthly liturgy was intended to be a replica of that sung by the choirs of angels in the celestial Temple.
To judge from the many references to it, the time element both calendric and horary was crucial. The Community Rule lays down that the Community was not to 'depart from any command of God concerning their times; they shall be neither early nor late for any of their appointed times, they shall stray neither to the right nor to the left of any of His true precepts' (IQS 1, 13-15). This injunction asks for exact punctuality in regard to the two daily moments of prayer meant to coincide with and replace the perpetual burnt-offering sacrificed in the Temple at sunrise and sunset (Exod. xxix, 30; Num. xxviii, 4), but it demands in addition a strict observance of the sect's own liturgical calendar.
"He shall bless Him [with the offering] of the lips at the times ordained by Him: at the beginning of the dominion of light, and at its end when it retires to its appointed place; at the beginning of the watches of darkness when He unlocks their storehouse and spreads them out, and also at their end when they retire before the light; when the heavenly lights shine out from the dwelling-place of Holiness, and also when they retire to the place of Glory; at the entry of the (monthly) seasons on the days of the new moon, and also at their end when they succeed to one another ..."
— IQS IX, 26-x, 4
To understand the peculiarity of Essenism in this respect, a few words need to be said about the calendar followed by non-sectarian Judaism. Essentially, this was regulated by the movements of the moon; months varied in duration from twenty-nine to thirty days and the year consisted of twelve months of 354 days. Needless to say, such a lunar year does not correspond to the four seasons determined by the movements of the sun in terms of solstices and equinoxes. The shortfall of about ten days between the lunar and the solar years was therefore compensated for by means of 'intercalation', i.e. by inserting after Adar (February/March), the twelfth month of the year, a supplementary 'Second Adar' at the end of every thirty-six lunar months.
The Qumran sect rejected this seemingly artificial system and adopted instead a chronological reckoning, probably of priestly origin, based on the sun, a practice attested also in the Book of Jubilees and 1 Enoch, and fully laid out in the remains of a series of calendrical documents (4Q320-30). The outstanding feature of this solar calendar was its absolute regularity in that, instead of 354 days, not divisible by seven, it consisted of 364 days, i.e. fifty-two weeks precisely. Each of its four seasons was thirteen weeks long divided into three months of thirty days each, plus an additional 'remembrance' day (IQS x, 5) linking one season to another (13 x 7 = 91 = 3 x 30 + I). In tune in this way with the 'laws of the Great Light of heaven' (IQH XII, 5) and not with the 'festivals of the nations' (4QpHos=4Q171 11, 16), Qumran saw its calendar as corresponding to 'the certain law from the mouth of God' (IQH xx [formerly XII], 9). Its unbroken rhythm meant furthermore that the first day of the year and of each subsequent season always fell on the same day of the week. For the Essenes this was Wednesday, since according to Genesis 1, 14-19, it was on the fourth day that the sun and the moon were created. Needless to add, the same monotonous sequence also implied that all the feasts of the year always fell on the same day of the week: Passover, the fifteenth day of the first month, was always celebrated on a Wednesday; the Feast of Weeks, the fifteenth day of the third month, always on a Sunday; the Day of Atonement, the tenth day of the seventh month, on a Friday; the Feast of Tabernacles, the fifteenth day of the seventh month, on a Wednesday, etc.
The 4QMMT Letter — Miqsat Ma'ase Ha-Torah
4QMMT (Miqsat Ma'aśe Ha-Torah — "Some of the Works of the Torah") is a halakhic letter from the Qumran community to the Jerusalem leadership. It contains legal rulings on various matters, including the solar calendar and the priestly courses. The epilogue of the letter reads as follows:
Epilogue of 4QMMT (4Q394-399)
"These are some of our words [concerning the Torah] which we have written to you, that you might understand the [truth] of the matters, and that you might [return] to us, and that you might [walk] in the ways of [justice] and [righteousness], and that you might [keep] the commandments of the LORD with a perfect heart, and that you might [walk] in the paths of [His] statutes."
"And concerning the calendar, we have written to you that you might understand the appointed times of the LORD, and the festivals of the covenant, and the holy convocations, and the priestly courses which are established for all the days of the year."
"For the sun and the moon are the great lights which the Most High created to govern the day and the night, and to serve as signs for the seasons, and for days, and for years."
"And the priestly courses were established according to the twenty-four divisions which the LORD commanded, from the first day of the first month until the last day of the twelfth month, being 364 days in perfect measure."
— 4QMMT (Miqsat Ma'ase Ha-Torah), c. 150 BCE
Source: The epilogue of 4QMMT (4Q394-399) as preserved in the Dead Sea Scrolls. The text has been reconstructed from the fragmentary manuscripts. For a full translation, see Geza Vermes, The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English (Penguin, 1997), pp. 220-228.
Zacharias Ministration
The Biblical Account
Luke 1:5-20 — "There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abijah: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth."
"And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest's office before God in the order of his course, according to the custom of the priest's office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord."
Qumran Calendar Alignment
According to the Qumran priestly course system (4Q320-4Q330), the course of Abijah serves in:
- Year 1: Weeks 7-8 (Month 1-2)
- Year 2: Weeks 31-32 (Month 4-5)
- Year 3: Weeks 55-56 (Month 8)
- Year 4: Weeks 79-80 (Month 11)
- Year 5: Weeks 103-104 (Month 2-3)
- Year 6: Weeks 127-128 ← Month 4, Days 4-10
- Year 7: Weeks 151-152 (Leap Year Shift)
✅ Zacharias served in Year 6, Month 4, Days 4-10 — exactly when the Abijah course was ministering.
The Angel's Message
"Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John."
Luke 1:13-17 — The birth of John the Baptist was foretold during the Abijah course's service.
Enter the calendar and jump to the Abijah course service
The Annunciation — Gabriel Visits Mary
"And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary."
— Luke 1:26-27
Timeline Alignment:
- • Zacharias Ministration: Year 6, Month 4, Days 4-10
- • Elizabeth Conceives: Year 6, Month 4, Day ~14
- • Annunciation: Year 6, Month 10, Day 14 ← 6 months later
- • Yeshua's Birth: Year 7, Month 7, Day 15 (Tabernacles)
"And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us..." — John 1:14
Enter the calendar and jump to Gabriel's visit to Mary