Rereading S: A New Model of Textual Development in Light of the Cave 4 Serekh Copies

AbstractAfter the publication of the Cave 4 copies, reconstructing the textual history of the Community Rule (Serekh ha-Yahad or S) was further complicated. Because of both the divergences and the continuities between these versions, their relationship could no longer be explained by a simple chronological line of development. This paper offers a new, chronological-spatial model that better accounts for the textual history of S. In doing so, it asks larger methodological questions about the study of this text, and by extension, how we unnecessarily read Qumran into S. Using this broader model, we can better resolve yet unexplained dilemmas concerning the relationship between 1QS and the Cave 4 copies.