Ritual
Purity Laws
4QTohorota=4Q274
Paraphrase
and comments by Cynthia Bailey
Introduction
The ritual
purity laws are found in Leviticus 13-15 in the Bible. It addresses diseases
and discharges that cause contamination such as: leprosy, seminal discharge, discharge
of blood, the Niddah[1], and contact with corpses. All of these
impurities are alike for one reason: people with these impurities were
ostracized from the towns and from the holy temple.
The destruction
of the temple in Jerusalem in 586 BC and 70 CE helped to remove the
"justification of the laws of impurity" (Biale 147). After the
destruction of the temple, the laws concerning a Niddah became less severe.
Before the temples were destroyed, a woman who had her menstrual cycle was not allowed
to touch anyone until her menstruation was over. After the destruction the laws
were not as strict, and it came to be that the only thing a Niddah was not
allowed to do was have sex with her husband.
There are some
difficulties that one will run into when researching these laws. Some
translations will show three fragments while others will show only two.
Although the numbers of fragments are different, the content is the same. For
example, Martinez uses fragment 1, fragment 2 col.1, fragment 2 col.2, and fragment
3, Wise, Abegg, and Cook use fragment 1 col.1, fragment 1 col.2, fragment 2
col.1, and fragment 2 col.2, while Vermes uses three fragments. There are also
other complications concerning these laws. There is no information on the laws
themselves, like what language they are in. The information about the laws is
very scarce and is mostly on what the laws contain.
Paraphrase
4Q274
Fragment 1
col.1:
1He will begin
by not] casting his lot [?for priestly service?]. He will lie down in the bed
of trouble, and reside in a house of grief. He will live away from the pure,
2with all the unclean at the distance of twelve cubits . He will live to the
northeast of any habitation at the same distance. 3Anyone who has a discharge,
will bathe and wash his clothes and afterwards he may eat[2]. For it
says (Lev. 13:45) "unclean, unclean" 4they will shout all the days of
their discharge. And she who is discharging blood, for seven days she may not
touch the man who has a discharge or any of the objects that he uses. 5Also for
any of the objects he has laid on or sat on. And if she touches anything she
will wash her clothes and bathe and afterwards she may eat. In no way may she
mingle during her seven 6days so she does not contaminate the camps of the holy
ones of Israel. She may not touch any woman who has had a discharge of blood
for several days. 7And the one who is counting their seven days, whether they
are male or female may not touch ... during the start of her period, unless she
is clean from her menstruation. For the blood 8from menstruation is considered
a discharge for anyone who touches it. And if a flow of semen is discharged, it
is a misfortune. And he will be unclean... and anyone who touches 9any of these
unclean people, they will not eat during their seven days of their impurity,
just like the person who is unclean through contact with a corpse. And they
will bathe and wash and then...
Fragment 1
col.2:
1...which they
sprinkle on themselves the first time, and they will bathe and wash before 2...
they will immerse themselves the seventh time on the Sabbath day. 3They may not
touch the pure food until they change their clothes 4... anything that touches
the discharge of semen, whether it is a person or an object, they will immerse,
and the one who carries it 5will immerse... and they will immerse the garment
which is on them and the object which they carry 6... And if there is a man in
the camp whose hands or feet has not reached...7 the garment which has not
touched it. Only they may not touch their food. And the one who touches it,8
will immerse... they will live alone. If they have not touched it, was their
clothes in water and if 9... and they will wash. And concerning all holy
things, they will wash in water...
Fragment 2
col.1:
1...when God reveals
the apple of his eye and he calls out 2... and every statute...3 who eats...
4not... 5it is their flesh and it is unclean 6... their drink and they may not
eat the pure food and all 7... after they are pressed and their juices run out,
no one may eat them 8... if the unclean person touches them and also the
greens...9 or boiled cucumber, and the person who waters...
Fragment 2
col.2:
1...they are
unclean. The...3 Anything which has a seal... 4they will leave all the greens
for the person who is cleansed...5 from the moisture of the dew, they may eat,
but if not...6 in the middle of the water unless a person...7 the land, if they
come against it...8 the rain on it, and if the... touches it... 9on the field
in all its measures in respect to the season of the year...10 any clay object
that will fall in it... and any 11that are clean in its middle... and every
12drink that they will drink...
Footnotes
[1] Niddah- a
mentraunt woman.
[2] The impure have to fast until they are clean again.
Works cited
Biale, Rachel.
Women and Jewish Law. 1984: pg. 147-174.
Martinez,
Florentino Garcia. The Dead Sea Scrolls Translated.1994:pg 88.
Vermes, Geza.
The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English. 1997:pg 230-231.
Wise, Michael,
Martin Abegg, Edward Cook. The Dead Sea Scrolls: A New Translation. 1996: pg
281-283.