The Serekh Texts

(Hardback)

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The Serekh Texts discusses the central rule documents produced by a pious Jewish community of the Essenes that lived at Qumran by the Dead Sea at the turn of the era. The texts describe the life of a highly ascetic group that had rejected the hellenistic Jewish culture and had withdrawn into the desert to live a life of perfect obedience to the Torah. Sarianna Metso introduces the twelve manuscripts of the Community Rule found in Qumran Caves 1, 4 and 5 in terms of their content, textual history, literary function, and significance for the study of ancient Judaism and early Christianity. The writings of the community open a fascinating window onto the religious life in Palestine at the time of the emergence of early Christianity and rabbinic Judaism. There are few other contemporary Jewish sources in which the life and religious practices of a Jewish group are so vividly and authentically illustrated. The Serekh Texts provides an accessible summary of current scholarly discussion on the central topics related to the Community Rule, such as the community's identity and history, and offers comprehensive bibliographies for further study.

The Serekh Texts discusses the central rule documents produced by a pious Jewish community of the Essenes that lived at Qumran by the Dead Sea at the turn of the era. The texts describe the life of a highly ascetic group that had rejected the hellenistic Jewish culture and had withdrawn into the desert to live a life of perfect obedience to the Torah. Sarianna Metso introduces the twelve manuscripts of the Community Rule found in Qumran Caves 1, 4 and 5 in terms of their content, textual history, literary function, and significance for the study of ancient Judaism and early Christianity. The writings of the community open a fascinating window onto the religious life in Palestine at the time of the emergence of early Christianity and rabbinic Judaism. There are few other contemporary Jewish sources in which the life and religious practices of a Jewish group are so vividly and authentically illustrated. The Serekh Texts provides an accessible summary of current scholarly discussion on the central topics related to the Community Rule, such as the community's identity and history, and offers comprehensive bibliographies for further study.

The Serekh Texts discusses the central rule documents produced by a pious Jewish community of the Essenes that lived at Qumran by the Dead Sea at the turn of the era. The texts describe the life of a highly ascetic group that had rejected the hellenistic Jewish culture and had withdrawn into the desert to live a life of perfect obedience to the Torah. Sarianna Metso introduces the twelve manuscripts of the Community Rule found in Qumran Caves 1, 4 and 5 in terms of their content, textual history, literary function, and significance for the study of ancient Judaism and early Christianity. The writings of the community open a fascinating window onto the religious life in Palestine at the time of the emergence of early Christianity and rabbinic Judaism. There are few other contemporary Jewish sources in which the life and religious practices of a Jewish group are so vividly and authentically illustrated. The Serekh Texts provides an accessible summary of current scholarly discussion on the central topics related to the Community Rule, such as the community's identity and history, and offers comprehensive bibliographies for further study.

Reviews

"Over the last eight years the Companion to the Qumran Scrolls series by T&T Clark has succeeded in becoming one of the most accessible and up-to-date resources on the Dead Sea Scrolls. Intended for scholars, graduate students, and advanced undergraduates, this series has consistently produced high-quality introductions on the Dead Sea Scrolls written by well-known specialists in the field of Qumran studies. With the publication of The Serekh Texts, by Sarianna Metso, the Companion to the Qumran Scrolls series has gone from strength to strength by offering a detailed yet accessible volume on what is arguably one of the most important genres of literature to be recovered from the caves surrounding the ancient site of Khirbet Qumran. The Serekh Texts by Sarianna Metso is but the latest indication that the field of Qumran studies is entering a new and exciting phase of development." -Ian Werrett, Review of Biblical Literature, October 2008
"For those with interest in the Dead Sea scrolls, this book can be a fascinating window into the life of ancient Judea...This is a very readable book but not one for the casual reader. For the interested reader, it is a treasure chest of detail." - Rabbi Louis A. Rieser, Congregational Libraries Today, May/June 2008 -- Rabbi Louis A. Rieser
"Sarianna Metso's The Serekh Texts is an important contribution to scholarship on this group of Dead Sea Scrolls manuscripts. The volume is published as an entry in two T&T Clark series, the Library of Second Temple Studies and the Companion to the Qumran Scrolls series. It is a comprehensive introduction to particular Qumran texts and relevant scholarship, as characterizes the latter...this is a very valuable introduction to the Serekh texts that goes far beyond the basics. Metso, clearly in strong command of the primary and secondary sources, has succeeded admirably in her treatment of the texts and her proposal to explain their function in the life of the Qumran community...This volume should be required reading for anyone undertaking serious work on this corpus and on the Dead Sea Scrolls in general." - Eric F. Mason, Review of Biblical Literature, August 2008 -- Eric F. Mason * Review of Biblical Literature *

Author Bio

Sarianna Metso is Associate Professor in the Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations at the University of Toronto and author of The Textual Development of the Qumran Community Rule(Leiden: Brill, 1997).